Integrating Industrial Organization and International Business to Explain the Cross-National Domestic Airline Merger Phenomenon

Lecture on the first SFB/TR 15 meeting, Gummersbach, July, 18 - 20, 2004: The domestic airline merger phenomenon of the late 1980s and early 1990s sparked a great deal of Industrial Organization literature; yet, that literature neglected non-US merger activity and the potential for international competitive incentives. Using an International Business perspective to complement a primarily Industrial Organization analysis, I argue that factoring international competitive gains helps explain the domestic airline merger phenomenon. A Cournot model of airline competition illustrates the international incentives behind integrating domestic with international routes and behind acquiring domestic competitors. Further, comprehensive panel data tests also support large domestic networks and actual mergers improving the international competitiveness of airlines.