Product differentiation, cost-reducing mergers, and consumer welfare

George Norman (), Lynne Pepall and Daniel Richards ()

Canadian Journal of Economics, 2005, vol. 38, issue 4, 1204-1223

Abstract: Cost synergies are an explicitly recognized justification for a two-firm merger, and empirical techniques are now widely used to assess the impact of cost-reducing mergers on prices and welfare in the post-merger market. We show that if the merger occurs in a vertically product differentiated market, then the merger will lead to a reduction in product offerings that limits the usefulness of pre-merger empirical estimates. Indeed, we further show that in such markets, two-firm mergers will typically lead to higher prices regardless of the merger's cost savings.

JEL-codes: L10 L41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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