Market Power in Vertically Related Markets

生产者直接向最终消费者销售产品的经典观点在现代经济中是例外，而不是规则。在大多数市场中，生产者和消费者通过零售商和其他中介机构相互作用。因此，典型的生产结构是一个垂直链，卖方和买方都有一定程度的市场支配力。我们研究项目的目标是更深入地了解价值链垂直分离结构的明确描述如何影响市场绩效。我们关注的是垂直产业链中不完全竞争的影响。特别是，我们要问垂直结构中的市场力量平衡如何影响经济效率，特别是价格、质量和产品种类。最终，我们对垂直链的研究旨在为现代竞争政策领域的政策制定者提供强有力的指导方针。虽然在垂直链方面已经做了一些重要的工作，但仍有许多悬而未决的问题，特别是在垂直结构中市场力量的政策影响方面。目前，参与调查的人员已经在独立研究垂直链的不同问题。这项研究计划将这些不同的努力统一成一个重点研究小组。我们的小组将增加参与者之间的互动，避免重复的研究工作，并从互补中受益，以推进垂直生产链的研究。整个项目分为四个模块化工作包。第一个工作包是解决垂直结构竞争方式问题，重点解决价格歧视、维持转售价格、串谋等问题。工作包2侧重于买方权力；特别是买方权力的决定因素及其对投资激励和产品质量结果的影响。在工作包3中，我们考虑了生产链中的互补性（由一站式购物偏好引起）以及它们如何影响整合激励和位置选择。最后，在工作包4中，我们分析了消费者对垂直链组织的质量信息不完善的问题，其中我们关注产品的认证和品牌问题。

The classical view of producers selling directly to final consumers is the exception rather than the rule in modern economies. In most markets, producers and consumers interact with each other through retailers and other intermediaries. The typical production structure is, therefore, one of vertical chains, where both sellers and buyers have some degree of market power. The goal of our research project is to gain a deeper understanding on how an explicit account of the vertically separated structure of value chains affects market performance. We focus on the effect of imperfect competition in vertical chains. In particular, we ask how the balance of market power within the vertical structure affects economic efficiency in general and prices, quality, and the product variety of products in particular. Ultimately, our proposed research on vertical chains is meant to lead to robust guidelines for policy makers in the arena of modern competition policy.Although some important work on vertical chains has been done, there are many open questions, especially with regard to the policy implications of market power in vertical structures. At present the participating investigators are already working independently on different issues of vertical chains. This research proposal unites and unifies these diverse efforts into a focused research group. Our group will increase the interaction between the participants, avoid duplication of research efforts, and benefit from complementarities in order to advance research on vertical production chains.The overall project is structured in four modular work packages. In the first work package we deal with the mode of competition in vertical structures, where we focus on the role of price discrimination, resale price maintenance, and collusion. Work package 2 focuses on buyer power; in particular, the determinants of buyer power and its effects on investment incentives and product quality outcomes. In work package 3 we consider complementarities (provoked by one-stop shopping preferences) in the production chain and how they affect integration incentives and location choice. Finally, in work package 4, we analyze the issue of consumers imperfect quality information on the organization of vertical chains where we focus on issues of certification and branding of products.