Market structure and the competitive effects of switching costs

C-Tier
Journal: Economics Letters
Year: 2015
Volume: 126
Issue: C
Pages: 150-155

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

0.503 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 0.5x C-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We revisit the effects of switching costs on dynamic competition. We consider stationary Markovian strategies, with market shares being the state variable, and characterize a relatively simple Markov Perfect pricing equilibrium at which there is switching by some consumers at all times. For the case of low switching costs and infinitely lived consumers, we show that switching costs are pro-competitive in the long-run (steady state) while the overall effect in the short-run (transient state) depends on market structure. In particular, switching costs are anti-competitive in relatively concentrated markets, and pro-competitive otherwise.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:ecolet:v:126:y:2015:i:c:p:150-155
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25