We show that a private label is an indirect mean to contract on quality in a vertical structure, and is signed by a downstream firm only when its bargaining power is high. When its bargaining power decreases, sharing the fixed cost of quality in a private label with the upstream firm is not...

Private labels (or own-brand products) play a prominent role for consumers in their perception of retailers' reputation. In a model where products are experience goods, a retailer has the opportunity to introduce his own store brand, or to sell a branded product. However, the retailer does only...

This article analyses the impact of recent mergers in the retailing sector as a mean to improve retailers' buying power. Such power can lead produce rs to be economically abused by retailers or more generally to pay them fi xed fees as commercial cooperation strategies. Private labels, with...

In this paper, we analyze how the upstream Bertrand competition is distorted when we take into account repetition of the interactions within a vertical relationship. We argue that, in a two-period setting, a downstream monopsonist may prevent an efficient producer to prey on a less efficient...