Price Dispersion and Consumer Reservation Prices

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economics & Management Strategy
Year: 2005
Volume: 14
Issue: 1
Pages: 61-91

Authors (2)

Simon P. Anderson (University of Virginia) André De Palma (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

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

Abstract

We describe firm pricing when consumers follow simple reservation price rules. In stark contrast to other models in the literature, this approach yields price dispersion in pure strategies even when firms have the same marginal costs. At the equilibrium, lower price firms earn higher profits. The range of price dispersion increases with the number of firms: the highest price is the monopoly price, while the lowest price tends to marginal cost. The average transaction price remains substantially above marginal cost even with many firms. The equilibrium pricing pattern is the same when prices are chosen sequentially.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:jemstr:v:14:y:2005:i:1:p:61-91
Journal Field
Industrial Organization
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-24