Competition, Product Proliferation, and Welfare: A Study of the US Smartphone Market

Ying Fan () and Chenyu Yang

American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2020, vol. 12, issue 2, 99-134

Abstract: This paper studies (1) whether, from a welfare point of view, oligopolistic competition leads to too few or too many products in a market, and (2) how a change in competition affects the number and the composition of product offerings. We address these two questions in the context of the US smartphone market. Our findings show that this market contains too few products and that a reduction in competition decreases both the number and variety of products. These results suggest that product choice adjustment may exacerbate the welfare effect of a merger.

JEL-codes: D43 G34 K21 L13 L41 L63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (37)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Competition, Product Proliferation and Welfare: A Study of the U.S. Smartphone Market (2016)
Working Paper: Competition, Product Proliferation and Welfare: A Study of the U.S.\ Smartphone Market (2016)
Working Paper: Competition, Product Proliferation and Welfare: A Study of the U.S. Smartphone Market (2014)
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DOI: 10.1257/mic.20180182

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