Contestability in the Presence of an Alternate Market: An Experimental Examination

Jamie L. Brown-Kruse

RAND Journal of Economics, 1991, vol. 22, issue 1, 136-147

Abstract: Most earlier experimental tests of the contestable market hypothesis assume a zero opportunity cost of entry. This design feature makes interpretation of results in terms of entry behavior problematic. The experimental study that I report tests contestability with the addition of an alternative market that yields a positive profit with certainty. This safe haven operationalizes a positive opportunity cost of entry. Hit-and-run entry is observed in the experiments. Adjusted mean prices are not significantly different from the zero opportunity cost case. Two methodological questions are also examined. In one treatment, sellers' price offers are allowed only in $0.25 increments. The simplification of the sellers' decision space makes collusive arrangements more probable. Secondly, market outcomes using human subject buyers are compared with outcomes from experiments with computer-simulated demand. The disciplining effect of human subject buyers results in market prices that converge to competitive levels more quickly.

Date: 1991
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Downloads: (external link)
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0741-6261%2819912 ... O%3B2-1&origin=repec full text (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to JSTOR subscribers. See http://www.jstor.org for details.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rje:randje:v:22:y:1991:i:spring:p:136-147

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://editorialexp ... i-bin/rje_online.cgi

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in RAND Journal of Economics from The RAND Corporation
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().