Market Power in Vertically Related Markets

生产者直接向最终消费者销售的古典观点是现代经济中的例外而不是规则。在大多数市场中，生产者和消费者通过零售商和其他中间商进行互动。因此，典型的生产结构是一种纵向链，卖方和买方都具有某种程度的市场支配力。我们的研究项目的目标是更深入地了解价值链的垂直分离结构如何影响市场绩效。我们关注的是垂直链中不完全竞争的影响。特别是，我们要问的是，纵向结构内市场力量的平衡如何影响经济效率，特别是产品的价格、质量和产品种类。最终，我们提出的关于垂直链的研究旨在为现代竞争政策竞技场的政策制定者提供强有力的指导方针。虽然已经完成了一些关于垂直链的重要工作，但仍然存在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，参与的调查人员已经在就纵向链的不同问题独立开展工作。这项研究计划将这些不同的努力统一到一个有重点的研究小组中。我们的团队将加强参与者之间的互动，避免重复研究工作，并从互补中受益，以推进垂直生产链的研究。整个项目由四个模块工作包组成。在第一个工作包中，我们处理的垂直结构的竞争模式，在那里我们专注于价格歧视，转售价格维持和串通的作用。第二套工作侧重于买方力量，特别是买方力量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的）以及它们如何影响一体化激励和地点选择。最后，在工作包4中，我们分析了消费者不完善的质量信息组织的垂直链，我们专注于产品的认证和品牌的问题。

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.