In their seminal article on multilateral vertical contracting, McAfee and Schwartz (1994) argue that nondiscrimination clauses may be ineffective in curbing opportunism and may thus have no bite. This begs the question why nondiscrimination clauses are commonly observed in intermediate-goods...

Bargaining power affects the terms of trade negotiated between agents in the economy. When multiple players with interrelated payoffs negotiate contracts, the outcome of each negotiation depends on all the players' bargaining powers. In a model in which a buyer negotiates in sequence with two...