This paper considers horizontal merging decision under price and quality competition and examines whether two competing firms should merge and which merging strategy (i.e., centralized or decentralized merger) is optimal. Although horizontal mergers are prevalent in practice and have been...

We investigate mergers in markets where quality differences between products are central and firms may reposition their product lines by adding or removing products of different qualities following a merger. Such mergers are materially different from those studied in the existing literature....

In the first essay, I analyze a symmetric duopolistic market where each firm's choice regarding certain quality attributes such as the environmental friendliness of its product is its own private information. I find that the extent of horizontal differentiation between firms plays a crucial role...