We test whether a nonbinding price ceiling may serve as a focal point for tacit collusion, using data from the credit card market during the 1980's. Our empirical model can distinguish instances when firms match a binding ceiling from instances when firms tacitly collude at a nonbinding ceiling....

Incompatibility in markets with network effects can either benefit or harm consumers. Incompatibility reduces consumers’ ability to “mix and match” components offered by different sellers, but can also be associated with changes in product attributes that might benefit consumers. In this...

We test whether a non-binding price ceiling may serve as a focal point for tacit collusion. Our sample contains data from the credit card market during the 1980s; in the sample, most credit card issuers face a state-level interest rate ceiling, and well over half match their ceiling. Our...