Differential pricing, parallel trade, and the incentive to invest

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Valletti, Tommaso M.
• 署名单位: Imperial College London; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2005.07.010
• 发表日期: 2006
• 页码: 314-324
• 关键词: Price discrimination; parallel trade; INVESTMENT

摘要

I consider the case for imposing uniform pricing on a monopolist in a setting where markets can be segmented according to differences in marginal costs and/or consumer demand. I also analyze the ex ante impact on incentives to invest in R&D. I show how two opposite trade-offs arise. When differential pricing is demand-based, uniform pricing has good ex-post welfare properties but leads to lower investment ex ante. Conversely, when differential pricing is cost-based, uniform pricing has bad ex-post welfare properties but leads to higher investment ex ante. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.