This paper examines the output effect of third-degree price discrimination in symmetrically differentiated oligopoly. We find that when the sellers' input costs are chosen endogenously by an upstream supplier with market power, as opposed to being fixed exogenously, long-standing qualitative...

This article studies the effects of consumer information on the intensity of competition. In a two dimensional duopoly model of horizontal product differentiation, firms use consumer information to price discriminate. I contrast a full privacy and a no privacy benchmark with intermediate regimes...

We consider a conduct parameter model where firms price discriminate based on the consumers' willingness to pay. For any conduct, the average price is invariant to the extent of price discrimination. Moreover, when the number of prices goes to infinity, there is a linear relationship between...

Critics have long faulted the wide-spread practice of trade promotions as wasteful. It has been estimated that this practice adds up to $100 billion worth of inventory to the distribution system. Yet the practice continues. In this paper, we propose a price-discrimination model of trade...

We study the value of price discrimination in large random networks. Recent trends in industry suggest that increasingly firms are using information about social network to offer personalized prices to individuals based upon their positions in the social network. In the presence of positive...

Using estimable concepts, this paper provides sufficient conditions for third-degree price discrimination to increase or decrease aggregate output, social welfare, and consumer surplus in differentiated oligopoly when all discriminatory markets are open even in the absence of price...

In this paper it is analysed, how, under price discrimination, the tax burden is shared between the distinct consumer groups. Unit and ad valorem taxes are compared, revealing an impossibility of fiscal discrimination with regard to price changes. Contrary to conventional tax incidence analysis,...

We analyze two-part tariffs in an oligopoly, where each firm commits to a quantity and a fixed fee prior to the determination of unit prices. In the case of homogeneous consumers, Harrison and Kline (2001) showed that the equilibrium involves marginal cost pricing and that increased competition...

Multi-part tariffs, such as menus of two-part tariffs and three-part tariffs, are widely used in industry, especially for pricing of information goods, online services, telecommunications products, etc. This paper examines the effectiveness of these price structures for price discriminating...

The distribution of consumer incomes is a key factor in determining the structure of a vertically differentiated industry when consumer's willingness to pay depends on his income. This paper computes the Shaked and Sutton (1982) model for a general specification of consumers' income distribution...