Spatial Distribution of Supply and the Role of Market Thickness: Theory and Evidence from Ride Sharing

Soheil Ghili () and Vineet Kumar
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Soheil Ghili: Cowles Foundation & School of Management, Yale University, https://som.yale.edu/faculty/soheil-ghili
Vineet Kumar: School of Management, Yale University

No 2219R, Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers from Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University

Abstract: This paper studies the e ects of economies of density in transportation markets, focusing on ridesharing. Our theoretical model predicts that (i) economies of density skew the supply of drivers away from less dense regions, (ii) the skew will be more pronounced for smaller platforms, and (iii) rideshare platforms do not nd this skew ecient and thus use prices and wages to mitigate (but not eliminate) it. We then develop a general empirical strategy with simple implementation and limited data requirements to test for spatial skew of supply from demand. Applying our method to ride-level, multi-platform data from New York City (NYC), we indeed nd evidence for a skew of supply toward busier areas, especially for smaller platforms. We discuss the implications of our analysis for business strategy (e.g., surge pricing) and public policy (e.g., consequences of breaking up or downsizing a rideshare platform).

Keywords: Spatial Markets; Transportation; Economies of Density; Market Thickness; Ridesharing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D62 L13 R41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 92 pages
Date: 2020-01, Revised 2020-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-ore, nep-pay and nep-reg
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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