We study horizontal product differentiation as a strategic decision of downstream firms facing a threat of vertical integration and market foreclosure by an upstream monopolist. We model product differentiation either as pure market segmentation or as generating positive value to consumers....

We argue in this paper that differences in corporate taxes between economies stimulate vertical integration of final goods producers and suppliers of intermediate goods causing more intra-firm trade. This is due to the fact that vertically integrated firms can shift profits from a high-tax...

This paper analyses the impact of competition among downstream firms on an upstream firm's payoff and on its incentive to vertically integrate when firms on both segments negotiate optimal contracts. We argue that tougher competition decreases the downstream industry profit, but improves the...

Compared with ordinary products, environmentally friendly products (EFPs) usually have higher cost for R%D and uncompetitive price. Also, there may be technological renovation and policy uncertainty leading to volatility of demand, which causes high risk to firms in green supply chains....

We study the impact of vertical separation between an upstream firm and its subsidiary, which competes in the retail market with an independent firm, with the incentive to invest in network upgrade. This question is discussed under two alternative regimes concerning the price of the vital input...

We study the make-or-buy decision of oligopolistic firms in an industry in which final good production requires specialised inputs. Firms’ mode of operation decision depends on both the incentive to economize on costs and on strategic considerations. We explore the strategic incentives to...

This paper studies how different types of unbundling – accounting, management, legal and ownership unbundling – influence the electricity wholesale market. Starting from the current market situation as observed in many countries, with imperfect competition in generation and imperfect...

In telecommunications some operators have deployed their own networks whereas others have not. The latter firms must purchase wholesale products from the former to be able to compete on the final market. We show that, even when network operators compete in prices and offer homogenous products on...

This paper analyzes the interactions between competitive (wholesale) spot, retail, and forward markets and vertical integration in electricity markets. We develop an equilibrium model with producers, retailers, and traders to study and quantify the impact of forward markets and vertical...