Product differentiation and firm size distribution: an application to carbonated soft drinks

Ciara Whelan and Patrick Walsh ()

Open Access publications from School of Economics, University College Dublin

Abstract: Using brand level retail data, the firm size distribution in Carbonated Soft Drinks is shown to be an outcome of the degree to which firms have placed brands effectively (store coverage) across vertical (flavour, packaging, diet attributes) segments of the market. Regularity in the firm size distribution is not disturbed by the nature of short-run brand competition (turbulence in brand market shares) within segments. Remarkably, product differentiation resulting from firms acquiring various portfolios of product attributes and stores in market evolution determines the limiting firm size distribution.

Keywords: Firm size distribution; Product differentiation; Carbonated soft drinks; Business enterprises--Size; Product differentiation; Soft drinks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D40 L11 L66 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002-08
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://hdl.handle.net/10197/139 First version, 2002 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Product Differentiation and Firm Size Distribution: An Application to Carbonated Soft Drinks (2002)
Working Paper: Product differentiation and firm size distribution: an application to carbonated soft drinks (2002)
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