The impact of the internet on retail competition : evidence from technological differences in internet access

Georg Gebhardt

Does the internet increase competition? To address this question, I exploit two institutional details unique to Germany: (1) Some municipalities received glass fibre cables that cannot be upgraded to DSL; I use these municipalities as a treatment group with reduced online competition. (2) German law mandates resale price maintenance for books; I compare three retailing sectors, electronics (price competition), books (no price competition), and food (no online sales), to identify the effect of price competition: The effect of price competition is highly significant. Full broadband access reduces offline electronics retailers' producer rents by 1.5 percent per year from 1999 to 2007.

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Year of publication:	2010
Authors:	Gebhardt, Georg
Publisher:	Mannheim [u.a.] : Sonderforschungsbereich/Transregio 15
Subject:	Internet; Market Structure \| Retail Competition \| Differences in Differences \| Internet \| Online-Handel \| Online retailing \| Marktstruktur \| Market structure \| Einzelhandel \| Retail trade \| Preiswettbewerb \| Price competition \| Breitbandkommunikation \| Broadband communications \| Schätzung \| Estimation \| Deutschland \| Germany \| 1999-2007