Opportunism in Vertical Contracting: A Dynamic Perspective

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Do, Jihwan; Miklos-Thal, Jeanine
• 署名单位: Yonsei University; University of Rochester
• 刊物名称: RAND JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0741-6261
• DOI: 10.1111/1756-2171.70023
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: perfect equilibrium; price-competition; COORDINATION; oligopoly; nondiscrimination; exclusivity; foreclosure; integration; common

摘要

This article proposes a dynamic approach to modeling opportunism in bilateral vertical contracting between an upstream monopolist and competing downstream firms. Unlike previous literature on opportunism which has focused on games in which the upstream firm makes simultaneous secret offers to the downstream firms, we model opportunism as a consequence of asynchronous recontracting in an infinite-horizon continuous-time model. We find that the degree of opportunism depends on the absolute and relative reaction speeds of the different bilateral upstream-downstream firm pairs and on the firms' discount rate. Patience, fast reaction speeds, and asymmetries in reaction speeds across upstream-downstream pairs are shown to alleviate opportunism. Our results are relevant for vertical merger policy and for competition policy on vertical restraints.