Multimarket Contact and Intensity of Competition: Evidence from an Airline Merger

Bilotkach, Volodymyr (2011) Multimarket Contact and Intensity of Competition: Evidence from an Airline Merger. Review of Industrial Organization, 38 (1). pp. 95-115. ISSN 0889-938X

Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between multimarket contact (MMC) and the intensity of competition. We take advantage of a recent merger, which altered the extent of MMC throughout the US airline industry, to understand the nature of MMC’s impact on the airlines’ frequency of service. Evidence that non-price effects of MMC are a part of the longer-term industry equilibrium is not robust. However, we observe that following the merger the market players started taking the degree of MMC into account in making their frequency decisions in line with the ‘mutual forbearance’ hypothesis; however, the effect showed signs of diminishing over time. Our results have implications for merger evaluation in industries where consolidation may lead to a higher extent of multimarket contact.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	airline industry, mergers, multimarket contact, product quality
Subjects:	N100 Business studies N800 Tourism, Transport and Travel
Department:	Faculties > Business and Law > Newcastle Business School
Depositing User:	Ay Okpokam
Date Deposited:	20 Dec 2011 09:00
Last Modified:	19 Nov 2019 09:52
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/4298

Downloads