Measuring the competition effects of price-matching guarantees

Samir Mamadehussene ()
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Samir Mamadehussene: University of Texas at Dallas

Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), 2021, vol. 19, issue 3, No 1, 287 pages

Abstract: Abstract The theoretical literature on price-matching guarantees (PMGs) finds that this policy has both a competition-softening and a competition-enhancing effect. Which effect dominates depends on market structure. This paper is the first to propose a structural framework to measure the impact of PMGs on market competition through a counterfactual analysis. The structural model proposed here can be estimated using price data alone. I estimate the model using data from the automotive tire market, and I find that the competition-softening effect is stronger than the competition-enhancing effect. PMGs keep transaction prices between 1% and 8% higher than they would be in the absence of such policy. PMGs exert the strongest effect on price-sensitive consumers, who tend to be the poorest. This consumer segment pays up to 10% higher prices in the presence of PMGs. The tire market has some unique features that facilitate the competition-enhancing effect of PMGs. Hence, that the competition-softening effect dominates even in the tire market suggests that PMGs may increase prices in many other markets, too.

Keywords: Price-matching guarantees; Competition effects; Counterfactual analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C51 L13 L40 M38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:qmktec:v:19:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11129-021-09242-1

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DOI: 10.1007/s11129-021-09242-1

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