Spatial Differentiation and Vertical Mergers in Retail Markets for Gasoline

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Houde, Jean-Francois
• 署名单位: University of Pennsylvania
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.102.5.2147
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 2147-2182
• 关键词: empirical-evidence; price dispersion; contract changes; COMPETITION; demand; PRODUCTS; manufacturers; integration; inference; models

摘要

This paper studies an empirical model of spatial competition applied to gasoline markets. The main feature is to specify commuting paths as the locations'' of consumers in a Hotelling-style model. As a result, spatial differentiation depends in an intuitive way on the structure of the road network and the direction of traffic flows. The model is estimated using panel data on the Quebec City gasoline market and used to evaluate the consequences of a recent vertical merger. Difference-in-difference and counterfactual simulation methods are compared, and the results, to a large extent, validate the assumptions of the demand model. (JEL G34, L13, L42, L81, Q41, R41)