This paper explores the relationship between the structure of the market for the refining and distribution of gasoline and the wholesale price of unbranded gasoline sold to independent gasoline retailers. Theoretically, the effect of an increase in vertical integration is ambiguous because...

Stepwise models of technological progress described by Philippe Aghion and his co-authors (1997, 2001, 2005) capture the incentives of firms to innovate in order to escape competition and the disincentives from sharing profits with other technological leaders. The models yield intuitively...

This paper examines empirically the relationship between vertical integration and wholesale gasoline prices. We use discrete and differential changes in the extent of vertical integration generated by mergers in West Coast gasoline refining and retailing markets to test for incentives to raise...