In this paper, we examine how the introduction of network externalities impact an open and vertically integrated platform’s post-merger contractual relationship with third-party sellers distributing through its marketplace. Regardless of whether the platform uses linear contracts or two-part...

The competitive strategies of `gatekeeper' platforms are subject to enhanced scrutiny. For instance, Apple and Google are being accused of charging excessive access fees to app providers and privileging their own apps. Some have argued that such allegations make no economic sense when the...

We study the competitive and welfare effects of wholesale price-parity agreements. These contracts prevent a monopolist, who sells its product to final consumers both directly and indirectly through alternative distribution channels, to charge different input (wholesale) prices to competing...

We study a two-period perfectly competitive industry where firms are run by agents privately informed about their (persistent) costs, and principals can only use spot contracts. The interplay between payoff externalities and spot contracting has novel implications for industry dynamics. With...

We characterize the degree of price discretion that competing principals award their agents in a framework where agents are informed about demand and seek to pass on their unveriÖable distribution costs to consumers at the principalsí expense. Principals learn demand probabilistically and may...