A manufacturer contracting secretly with several downstream competitors faces an opportunism problem, preventing it from exerting its market power. In an infinitely repeated game, the opportunism problem can be relaxed. We show that the upstream firm's market power can be restored even further...

This study examines the 'logic' or underlying causality of supply relationships. It develops and tests hypotheses, in a LISREL model, on detailed data for 553, 450 and 226 supply relationships in the US, Japanese and European automobile industries. The differences found between the three regions...

This paper demonstrates that the standard conclusions regarding the comparison of Cournot and Bertrand competition are reversed in a vertically related market with upstream monopoly and trading via two-part tariffs. In such a market, downstream Cournot competition yields higher output, lower...

We analyze a vertical structure with an upstream monopoly and two downstream retailers. Demand is uncertain but each retailer receives an informative private signal about the state of the demand. We construct an incentive compatible and ex ante balanced mechanism which induces the retailers to...

Relying on transaction cost logic we consider the likelihood that contract duration and monitoring are jointly determined in 241 cable franchise renewal agreements. Results indicate that municipalities award longer contracts to larger cable companies with more asset specific investments, but...

We analyse competition between perfectly substitutable networks. Monopolization can be sustained in equilibrium by asymmetric access prices whereby entry is deterred by a set of margin squeezes. A regulatory package consisting of (i) mandatory interconnection; (ii) reciprocal access prices;...

Entry into a network industry is modeled, focusing on consumers' expectations formation. Equilibrium expectations are endogenous and they depend on prices, acting as a coordination device among consumers. The model is able to account for aggressive pricing policies by the incumbent and by the...

This chapter surveys the legal and economic literatures on the antitrust analysis of tying arrangements and exclusive dealing contracts. We review the analytical framework applied under U.S. antitrust law to tying, bundling and exclusive dealing arrangements as well as the existing theoretical...

This paper studies a two stage incomplete contract between a buyer and a seller, with specific investments and endogenous outside options. Given that a party's outside option identifies counterpart's competitors, with such endogenous outside options, some of the main conclusions of the standard...