Market Power in Vertically Related Markets

生产者直接向最终消费者销售的经典观点是现代经济中的例外，而不是规则。在大多数市场，生产者和消费者通过零售商和其他中介相互作用。因此，典型的生产结构是一种垂直链条，卖家和买家都有一定程度的市场力量。我们研究项目的目标是更深入地理解价值链的垂直分离结构是如何影响市场表现的。我们关注垂直链中不完全竞争的影响。特别是，我们问垂直结构中的市场力量平衡如何影响总体的经济效率，特别是价格、质量和产品的种类。最终，我们提出的关于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。尽管已经在垂直链方面做了一些重要的工作，但仍有许多悬而未决的问题，特别是关于垂直结构中市场力量的政策含义。目前，参与调查的人员已经在就垂直链的不同问题独立开展工作。这项研究提案将这些不同的努力统一起来，形成一个有重点的研究小组。我们的小组将增加参与者之间的互动，避免研究工作的重复，并从互补中受益，以推进垂直生产链的研究。整个项目由四个模块工作包组成。在第一个工作包中，我们处理垂直结构中的竞争模式，其中我们重点讨论价格歧视、转售价格维持和串通的作用。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、激励和地点选择。最后，在工作包4中，我们分析了消费者在垂直链组织上的质量信息不完善的问题，其中我们重点讨论了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.