Search

The market power of monopolies can severely restrict citizens' freedom of choice. In the case of utilities, often portrayed as natural monopolies, such power may result in high prices and unreliable or absent services, especially in marginalized communities such as low-income neighborhoods or remote rural villages. While government regulation has been the traditional remedy to curb natural monopolies' power, in this paper, we address a different solution: monopoly bypassing through collective action. We present two types of monopoly bypassing—partial and complete—through the lens of civic wealth creation (CWC): the generation of social, economic, and communal endowments that benefit communities. Through our analysis of three water and sanitation utility services cases, we demonstrate how CWC is used to catalyze the collective action of engaged citizens to effectively bypass monopoly power. The cases highlight the three stakeholder categories involved in CWC initiatives—communities, enterprises, and regimes of support—and illustrate how they act collectively to provide credible market-based solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using novel shadow bank funding data, I find that shadow banks are funded by the very banks they compete with when originating mortgages. Evidence suggests that banks have market power in the upstream market for shadow banks' funding, which in turn softens mortgage market competition through their strategic behaviors in both markets. I build and calibrate a quantitative model of vertical integration and competition to show that those consumers who would most benefit from shadow bank services are the ones to bear the costs. Secondary market innovation could increase downstream competition by reducing shadow banks' reliance on their competitors. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix , which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has drawn attention to states' backlash against international organizations (IOs), including whether member state withdrawals affect the longevity of IOs. We therefore ask when do member state withdrawals lead to the death of IOs? We are skeptical of a general link between withdrawal and IO death because on average, any one member is not critical for the survival of an IO. Also, withdrawal is often driven by one member state's preferences diverging from remaining members; these remaining states may band together after withdrawal, ensuring or even enhancing the longevity of the IO. Even withdrawal by several states may not contribute to IO death because a smaller group of remaining members may better overcome collective action challenges. Nonetheless, exit by an important member may affect IO survival by removing resources, market power, and guidance. We test these arguments using survival models on an original dataset of withdrawals across 532 IOs from 1909 to 2014/2020 and illustrate the dynamics with case vignettes. The results support our arguments: withdrawals in general do not lead to IO death but the withdrawal of founding members can speed IO death. Interestingly, withdrawal by economically powerful states seems to facilitate IO survival (often through reform and/or re-entry). These findings contribute to a better understanding of the lifecycle of IOs as well as to the resilience and vulnerabilities of international cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• China's Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) has a positive impact on average labor wage. • Labor income share increases more in local state-owned and nonstate-owned enterprises. • AML effectively promotes industry competition and boosts the labor income share. • AML reduces market power, curbs monopoly profit, and increases the average labor wage. This study examines the impact of increased market competition on labor income share. We use the enactment of China's Anti-Monopoly Law as a quasi-natural experiment. The results reveal that the Anti-Monopoly Law has a significant positive effect on the labor income share of firms with higher market power. This is because the rising market competition, effected by the Anti-Monopoly Law, inhibits market power and increases average labor wages. Our findings are relevant for firms in provinces with higher administrative monopolies, with less competition, and under industries with less competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has debated about whether institutionalization could improve market efficiency. We develop a theoretical model under anticipated utility combined with probability weighting to study the impacts of institutionalization on market participation and market efficiency. The prudence attitude towards probability uncertainty leads to limited participation by investors. We find that institutionalization influences the market in two different ways. An increase in the total sector size of institutional investors facilitates price discovery but discourages market participation from naïve investors due to information asymmetry. However, when the top institution has high market power, this large institution trades strategically to induce more participation by naïve traders for risk-sharing at the cost of lowering information efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the relationship between the heterogeneity of business models and the banking sector's resilience, in light of the interplay between diversification, market power, and resilience. Our goal is to tackle the open puzzle related to the effects of diversification-induced homogeneity of banks' business models on the banking sector's stability. Using a sample of 1268 banks from 33 countries (Europe, Asia, America), for the period between 2005 and 2021, we estimate a 3SLS model that accounts for the interplay between revenue diversification, heterogeneity, market power and resilience. We apply principal components and clustering analysis to identify the banks' business models and compute an ecology-based measure of heterogeneity per country. We find that revenue diversification reduces bank heterogeneity, suggesting that banks pursue uniform diversification strategies. We also uncover a positive relationship between bank heterogeneity and market power, suggesting low rivalry among different business models. Importantly, our results indicate that bank heterogeneity positively impacts resilience and is economically significant. Namely, we estimate a 4.5% increase in the Z-score due to a one (within) standard deviation increase in business model heterogeneity. We discuss several implications of our results for micro- and macro-prudential supervision and regulation, and identify potential avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess the relation of macroprudential policy and competition to bank risk for a sample of 1373 banks from 13 East Asian countries, using the IMF iMaPP dataset of macroprudential policy from 1990 to 2018. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to include both macroprudential policy and individual bank market power, as well as their interaction, as determinants of bank risk. On the one hand, we find direct effects of both macroprudential policy and competition on risk, in line with the existing literature. On the other hand, we detect important interaction effects. Notably in the developing and emerging East Asian countries, the interactions between competition and macroprudential measures often show a lesser response to such measures in terms of risk reduction for banks with more market power. We suggest that this links in turn to ability of such banks to undertake risk-shifting in response to macroprudential policy. We also find for banks in advanced East Asian countries—and in wider samples—some tendency in the long term for banks facing intense competition to take relatively more risks in face of macroprudential measures, in line with the traditional "franchise value" view of bank competition and risk taking. These findings have important implications for regulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine a supply chain with a single risk-averse manufacturer who purchases from suppliers and sells to consumers. Within this context, we focus on two channels that drive blockchain adoption by the manufacturer: manufacturer risk aversion and consumer information asymmetry. Regarding the first channel, blockchain enables efficient tracing of defective products so that the manufacturer can selectively recall defective products rather than conducting a full recall. This tracing ability reduces the risk involved in the manufacturer purchasing from multiple suppliers and thereby leads the manufacturer to endogenously diversify across suppliers when blockchain is adopted. The diversification enhances the manufacturer's welfare due to the manufacturer's risk aversion and thus drives the manufacturer to adopt blockchain. With regard to the second channel, blockchain stores details from the manufacturing process and reveals them to consumers, thereby ameliorating consumer information asymmetry. This reduction in information asymmetry improves consumer decision making that, in isolation, would enhance consumer welfare. However, the manufacturer responds by increasing the consumer price, thereby transferring potential consumer welfare gains to the manufacturer, and consequently serving as a second channel to drive blockchain adoption by the manufacturer. This paper was accepted by Lin William Cong, finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The trend toward subscription economy accelerated the rise of access-based consumption models for durable consumer goods, replacing individual ownership with subscription contracts. At the same time, disruptive platform businesses have arisen in several consumer markets, bypassing traditional value chains while growing through network effects. In a conceptual approach, the authors address the future market for durable consumer goods in light of developments toward access-based consumption, subscription models and platform business models. Design/methodology/approach: In a conceptual approach, the authors apply a scenario analysis following the Framework Foresight method and address trends, constants, plans and projections shaping the future market of subscriptions for durable goods. The authors create a baseline scenario and two alternative scenarios for the future of consumer durables and thereby discuss platform growth stages and implications for manufacturer brands. Findings: The rising market power of platform companies leads to a baseline scenario where these platforms enter the market of subscriptions for durable goods. Alternative scenario 1 addresses the successful market entry of new platform businesses. In contrast, alternative scenario 2 describes the rise of manufacturer brand platforms. Originality/value: This conceptual research enriches the discussion of access-based business models by creating scenarios depicting possible future developments. Moreover, it adds to the increasing focus on platform business models and thereby addresses the role of traditional manufacturer brands in markets for durable consumer goods subscriptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate labor market monopsony power among manufacturing firms in four Sub‐Saharan African countries using a parametric production function approach on panel dataset. Pooled estimate suggests that wages are approximately 38 percent of the marginal revenue product of labor, implying a labor supply elasticity of 0.62. Nonparametric robustness checks indicate these results are robust to concerns over parametric model misspecification. Departure from competitive labor market leads to approximately 50.80 percent higher employer rent, 75.61 percent lower employee rent, and 15.95 percent deadweight loss. Overall, our results are suggestive of monopsonistic labor markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current model, the unclear and unreasonable method of revenue sharing among wind-solar-storage hybrid energy plants may a lso hinder the effective measurement of energy storage power station costs. This lack of clarity discourages energy storage from effectively collaborating with renewable energy stations for green power trading and spot trading. Therefore, this study proposes an optimal revenue sharing model of wind-solar-storage hybrid energy plant under medium and long-term green power trading market to facilitate the coordinated operation and equitable revenue allocation. Firstly, a method for decomposing transaction volume of green power is introduced by considering the uncertainty of spot market prices and physical delivery characteristics of green power trading. Then, a coordinated scheduling strategy of hybrid renewable energy plant is proposed to maximize revenues generated from both the green power and spot markets. Consequently, a cost-benefit contribution index system is developed to quantify the contribution of energy storage in the wind-solar-storage hybrid power plant. The revenue sharing model based on the minimum cost-remaining savings (MCRS) method can significantly increase overall revenue for renewable energy plants by reducing deviation penalties. It also enhances the operating revenue of energy storage power stations by considering the contributions of both energy storage and renewable energy plant in the green power market. The superiority of the proposed cooperation revenue sharing model for profitability enhancement of energy storage is validated through comparative case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research leverages bibliometric methodologies, enhanced by the visual analytics capabilities of CiteSpace, to meticulously examine the evolution and current trends in energy trading within power markets, analyzing 642 scholarly articles from the Web of Science Core Collection spanning from 1996 to 2023. The study aims to illuminate the prevailing research landscape, growth patterns, and future directions in energy trading dynamics. Key findings include: (1) A noticeable escalation in the volume of publications, especially from 2021 to 2023, indicating a burgeoning interest and rapid evolution in this research area; (2) The author and institutional collaboration networks are in a nascent stage, with a predominantly China-centric international collaboration pattern, including significant partnerships with the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom; (3) The focal points of research are centered around themes such as "energy management", "demand-side innovation", "decentralized energy trading", and "strategic optimization", covering areas such as intelligent grid technologies, energy market dynamics, and sustainable energy solutions. The study recommends enhancing collaborative networks, fusing technological and strategic dimensions in research, increasing focus and funding for emerging technologies, and promoting wider international and cross-disciplinary collaborations to enrich the understanding of energy trading dynamics in the context of electricity markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antitrust laws are fully stated in two statutes that seem absurdly brief in relation to the work they do. Their brevity in relation to coverage has led to three phenomena. First is the tendency of courts to use the statutory text as no more than a starting point, treating it as a general principle, or "Magna Carta," of free enterprise, and sometimes ignoring the statutory language altogether. Second, courts have responded to the statutory brevity with judicial development of numerous rules not mentioned in the statutory texts. The third phenomenon is a kind of expansionism, or belief that the antitrust laws can be used to control the entire world, or at least the entire economic world. This article considers what antitrust policy would look like if an antitrust "textualist" actually relied on the antitrust statutes themselves to control all important issues of interpretation. The language of the antitrust laws, although brief, actually says a great deal more than is commonly acknowledged. Further, the Sherman and Clayton Acts are statutes after all. They should provide the first place to look to for guidance on enforcement policy. How much different would antitrust look if we centered policy on the statutory language, using only generally accepted forensic tools and recognized canons of statutory interpretation to understand it? Among the areas where the statutory language provides considerable direction are the goals of the antitrust laws; market power and market delineation requirements; the probabilistic effects requirement of the Clayton Act, standing and the indirect purchaser rule, conspiratorial capacity and antitrust personhood, and extraterritorial effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 70% of Medicaid beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicaid managed care (MMC). MMC provider networks therefore represent a critical determinant of access to the Medicaid program. Many MMC insurers also participate in commercial insurance markets where prices are high, and some insurers exercise considerable market power. In this paper, we examined the relationship between commercial insurer market power and MMC physician network breadth using linked national enrollment data and provider directory data. Insurers with more commercial market power had broader Medicaid physician networks. Insurers with over 30% market share had 37.3% broader Medicaid networks than insurers in the same county that had no commercial market share. These differences were driven by greater breadth among primary care providers, as well as other specialists including OB/GYNs, surgeons, neurologists, and cardiologists. Commercial insurance market power may have spillovers on access to care for MMC beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a unified framework, this study explores the influence of regional intellectual property protection (IPP) on domestic value added in exports. A theoretical model is constructed to illustrate that IPP affects the types and prices of intermediate goods through effects of market power, product category, and crowding-out, influences the choice of domestic and imported raw materials, and finally affects the domestic added value in exports of enterprises. Empirical evidence on the influence of IPP on the domestic added value in exports is provided utilizing China Customs Statistics, the Chinese Industrial Enterprise Database, and Chinese prefectural-level data from 2000 to 2007. The results show that IPP significantly promotes the domestic value added of exports in China, but the effect is heterogeneous in terms of region and mode of enterprise trade; in the eastern region and processing trade enterprises the IPP effect is more pronounced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional, price-focused antitrust tools for assessing dominance under Article 102 TFEU and merger control are challenged by the business models and features of multisided digital platforms. This article demonstrates the importance of data in digital markets and how data enable the utilization of network effects and economies of scale in a manner that challenges the traditional dominance evaluation. Based on this, the article systematizes the solutions to the challenges caused by decreased accuracy of price-based tools through an analysis of various approaches to the issue. It is argued that potential competition should be emphasized more strongly throughout the dominance assessment and that different approaches can be chosen based on the case at hand. Thus the article contributes to the development of the dominance analysis for digital markets with a thorough overview of possible solutions and ties it to the proposed renewal of the Market Definition Notice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the antitrust investigations by the European Commission (AT.40703 – Amazon Buy Box) and Italian Competition Authority (A528-FBA AMAZON), and the regulatory proceeding by the Italian Authority for Communications and Postal Services (AGCom's resolution 94/22/CONS), surrounding Amazon's Store, and the interplay with its logistics and delivery services. While these authorities have raised concerns about Amazon's alleged "self-preferencing", rapid growth, and its alleged ability to leverage its (upstream) e-commerce market power to strengthen its position in (downstream) logistics services, this paper highlights alternative perspectives that are often overlooked or neglected. To achieve a comprehensive understanding of Amazon's conduct related to the above-mentioned investigations, we consider its business model, monetisation strategy, and underlying incentives. By delving deeper into the Amazon Store and its connection to logistics services, we argue that the allegations do not fully capture the evidence surrounding Amazon's practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing market concentration has become a topical issue in competition law worldwide. This article explores how firms, especially digital platform businesses, increase market concentration which may facilitate entrenched market power and anti-competitive conduct in their upstream or downstream markets. It considers in an Australian context two specific ways in which the power of a dominant firms including digital platforms may be constrained. The first is allowing the parties with lesser market power to collectively bargain, which can redress the imbalance in bargaining power to make the market work more effectively. A second and related option is the introduction of mandatory codes of conduct, which may be suitable in markets where perennial problems with market power imbalances exist. Australian experience suggests that these options can assist markets to function more effectively, and they may provide additional flexibility for other jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of digital economy, more particularly platform markets has increased the role of 'data' massively. Data is the central fuel around which business strategies are made coupled with associated algorithms to increase the conversion rates. It is true that since today's markets are data-driven in nature, dominant undertakings having access to data may end up prohibiting competitors to scale up their networks by exhibiting some explicit or implicit exclusionary conduct against them. Moreover, platform economies exhibit certain distinct characteristics such as network effects, feedback loops, economies of scope and scale and switching costs which in reality end up facilitating ostracization of small or new players. Various antitrust cases against big tech giants such as Google, Microsoft etc. in the recent past have brought forth the reality of such exclusionary conduct. Considering the fact that data is not only needed but is essential for today's digital businesses, the question arises if sharing of data with market players in certain situations must be ensured. From the lens of antitrust, the central issue is whether data should be considered as an 'essential facility' and under what circumstances. Essential facilities doctrine is inspired by the firms' duty to share which initially was applicable for infrastructural facilities such as phone lines and bridges, but considering that firms may refuse to share data impeding innovation in today's era, the author argues that the said doctrine, with some qualifications, must be revisited to grant open access to data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used the New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO) approach to estimate the presence and factors affecting the market power of the rice milling industry in Sri Lanka. Annual data from 1982 to 2019 were used for the analysis. The miller's pricing and demand models were estimated using the non-linear Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) estimation technique. The estimated conjectural variation elasticity and the Lerner index of the Sri Lankan rice milling industry were 0.348 and 0.677 correspondingly and the results were significantly (p < 0.05) different from zero and one respectively. This depicts that the rice milling market exhibits oligopoly power in setting the price of rice above its marginal cost. Market power was significantly (p < 0.05) reduced by the implementation of the Government Ceiling Price (GCP) on rice. The study findings suggest the importance of consistent implementation and monitoring of GCP policies to control the market power of the rice milling industry in Sri Lanka. JEL Classification: D22, D43, L00 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides direct empirical evidence that preferential trade agreements (PTAs) are consistent with the terms‐of‐trade theory. Using PTAs that occur between 2001 and 2015, we first show a PTA is associated with being more likely if countries have greater importer market power over one another. Second, using recently available tariff data for 39 bilateral PTAs, we show high levels of importer market power lead to tariff cuts that are larger in magnitude when PTAs enter into force. These results provide a rationale for why PTAs are permitted by the World Trade Organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines one million land transactions and firm census data sets to determine the effect of market concentration on entry deterrence in China from 2006 to 2013. We find that a one standard deviation increase in the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index leads to a one standard deviation decrease in local government‐designated industrial land sales to nonlocal firms and to a 2.9 standard deviation increase in land cost. Further evidence suggests that firms with high market power lobby their local governments to deter the entry of nonlocal firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the literature that postulates a relationship between income inequality and the relative importance of "market" and "organization" in the direction of resources. The paper emphasizes that both are endogenous; therefore, the empirical associations observed in the empirical data between inequality measures and production organization variables cannot be interpreted as indicative of causal relationships. The paper solves for the composition and size of occupational groups, the distribution of firm size, and the distribution of income as market equilibrium outcomes of an occupational choice economy, and performs a comparative static analysis. We find that the interaction between cross‐economy differences in the distribution of general skills in the labor force and the loss of control in the supervision of workers by managers can explain the empirical regularities observed in the relationship between the organization of production (distribution of firm size) and income inequality (distribution of labor income). This explanation of the empirical regularities differs from others proposed in the literature, such as those based on institutional constraints or the market power of firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the intersection between market power and the environment, based on a study of environmental disasters in Brazil and their relationship with the activities of dominant firms. It argues that a narrow focus on price dimensions of corporate behaviour limits the legal responses for addressing broader environmental concerns emerging from market power. This highlights the need for a broader approach to understanding the operation of major players and the resulting impact on the environment. The paper concludes by discussing the institutional implications of an integrated approach for diverse fields of law for addressing market power as a driver of environmental harm, emphasising the importance of structural remedies that transcend mere compensation of affected parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interconnectors play a crucial role in electric power systems. They contribute to balancing demand and supply in real-time, guaranteeing efficient dispatch in wide geographic regions, and increasing competition by creating large markets. However, interconnector capacity is a scarce resource because vertically integrated utilities were required to have generating capacity enough to supply most customers within their operating region under a regulated monopoly. Hence, identifying the efficient allocation method is essential, particularly after recent electricity market restructuring. This study evaluates the competitive effect of the implicit auction on the interconnector transmission capacity. The implicit auction allocates all the interconnector capacity simultaneously with electric energy in the day-ahead market. This method prevents market participants from strategically withholding the physical interconnector capacity ex ante to exercise market power, as allowed under the first come, first served rule. This study empirically shows how the capacity was withheld from the day-ahead market under the first come, first served rule using detailed reservation data. Next, I show that the implicit auction increases interconnector capacity available at the day-ahead market and trade volume. I use machine-learning methods, such as random forest and deep neural networks, to predict the counterfactual market outcomes without implicit auction. I find that the gain from trade under the implicit auction is more than US$55 million per year in Japan, which is more than 100 times the implementation cost of the implicit auction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calculations for 15 countries reveal falling unit costs of financial intermediation in most cases, especially where unit cost was high during the 1970s. This result coincides with the concomitant convergence of both unit cost and the deregulation index over the period: Countries with a high unit cost were initially more strictly regulated and subsequently deregulated more. Despite this, the international unit cost barely declined due to the decreasing weight of low unit cost countries in total financial production after the mid‐1980s. Focusing on the specific effect of deregulation, the econometric analysis displays a negative and significant link between deregulation change and unit cost variation. Further analyses reveal that the effect of a change in deregulation depends on banks' market power. Thus, the stagnating unit cost observed in the United States and the United Kingdom, the two largest providers of financial services, could be due to weaker deregulation reforms—deregulation was already high in these countries during the 1980s—and a concomitant reduction in competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focuses on market power in the private healthcare sector. This topic has been poorly explored by the extant literature and the reasons mainly rely on the peculiarities of the sector and the specific market. In fact, health providers' market power is influenced by multiple factors and by the fact that prices are often regulated by national or regional public authorities. To fill this gap, the article explores the relationship between performance characteristics and health providers' market power, measured through the Lerner index. The research is based on the analysis of panel data for 437 Italian private healthcare providers over the period 2012–2020. To explore the determinants of health providers' market power, this research employs System-generalized method of moments (SYS-GMM) estimation models. The results highlight a significant and non-linear relationship between market power and process performance, as well as with gender diversity. Intangible assets are another input variable that has a significant and positive relationship with market power. The study contributes to the identification of the performance characteristics driving health providers' market power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The final version of the 2023 Merger Guidelines, which were issued in December 2023, is a vast improvement over an earlier draft—which indicates that the Agencies took the many comments that they received on a draft very seriously. These Guidelines break some new ground that older Guidelines did not address, and make many positive contributions, which this paper spells out. They are also excessively nostalgic for a past era, however, and this may explain their propen sity to treat empirical questions as issues of law: This is one way to insulate these Guidelines from further revision. The excessive reliance on one decision, Brown Shoe, is unfortunate—particularly since that decision has been so often repudiated, even by the Supreme Court itself. This paper pays particular attention to: the Guidelines' treatment of structural triggers and direct measures of competitive effects; their aggressive position on potential competition mergers; their willingness to weigh a "trend" toward concentration as a factor; and their treatment of serial acquisitions. The Guidelines include a welcome new section on mergers involving multi-sided networks, although their view of networks is too one-sided; and the Guidelines also contain an expanded section on mergers with harmful effects on suppliers—including labor. The Guidelines' treatment of market definition is likely to lead to underenforcement because they define markets too broadly. Finally, the Guidelines could have made better use of recent retrospective studies—many of which would have provided further support for the substantive positions that the Guidelines take. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous deepening of electricity marketization reform and the large-scale integration of clean energy into the system, the problem of transmission congestion in the power system is frequent, and research on congestion management methods has become a major focus. Therefore, this paper studies the optimization strategy of transmission congestion management in the power spot market. Firstly, the existing congestion management mechanisms were sorted out from two aspects: dynamic management mechanisms, and market steady-state mechanisms. At the same time, the advantages and disadvantages of various mechanisms were summarized. Then, optimization strategies for congestion management were proposed from three aspects: cost optimization, surplus diversion, and risk optimization. Firstly, based on the ATC reduction method and rescheduling method, a congestion cost optimization strategy is proposed. Secondly, a congestion cost pool and multidimensional allocation indicators, are established and a congestion surplus diversion strategy is proposed. Thirdly, a two-level market for transmission rights trading has been constructed to optimize congestion risk. Finally, a case study was conducted in a certain province in eastern and western China, and the results showed that: 1) Considering the rescheduling method and ATC reduction method to optimize congestion costs can reduce congestion costs by 8.22% and 18.83%, compared to only considering the scheduling method and using ATC reduction method. 2) Establishing a congestion cost pool and multi-dimensional allocation indicators to channel congestion surplus can form price guidance signals. 3) Constructing a two-level market for transmission rights trading can increase the efficiency of system operators by 62.75%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how expatriates deal with host country informal business practices that differ from their home country institutional frameworks. We note that expatriate business people working in emerging markets of Africa often contend with corrupt business practices rooted in local informal institutions and the lack of strong formal institutions regulating business practices. We also observe that while local people take informal institutions such as magendo, as a way of life and adjust to them, expatriates being 'outsiders' respond in different ways. The study employed a qualitative phenomenological design that involved in-depth interview of a small sample of expatriates operating in Uganda. For data analysis, NVivo 11 was used to search for and retrieve chunks of labelled data. The key findings indicate that expatriates from countries with strong formal institutions experience the most frustrations and often reject informal business practices. On the other hand, expatriates from countries with weak institutions are more pragmatic and easily adapt to existing practices in the new environments. Multinationals however, often reject informal business practices due to their market power and strict codes of conduct. The study recommends that small-medium category expatriates targeting Africa need to align with influential local people so as to navigate business informalities that characterise informal business environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural cooperatives are often promoted as a way to give farmers countervailing market power and greater income stability. This paper investigates to what extent cooperatives in food supply chains achieve these objectives. We estimate firm-level markups and markup volatility in the Italian fruits and vegetable (F&V) and dairy sectors at both the farming and processing stages for the period 2007–2014. We find mixed results: compared to non-cooperatives, F&V processor cooperatives have higher markups, while F&V farmer cooperatives and dairy processor cooperatives have lower markups. We do not find strong evidence of their role on markup volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is dedicated to the study of the issue of compensation for damages caused by violations of competition law within the European Union. The author analyzes the main provisions of Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union, as well as the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning compensation for damages caused by an undertaking in a dominant position. The article addresses problematic issues that were either not sufficiently covered or only fragmentarily outlined in the provisions of Directive 2014/104/EU, but which were clarified in the preliminary rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The author pays particular attention to issues related to the implementation of Directive 2014/104/EU by the Member States of the European Union and evaluates the progress of its implementation. Additionally, based on the analysis of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the article reflects the key positions of the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding clauses on the choice of court/jurisdiction in the context of claims for damages caused by abuse of a dominant position. Specifically, the article highlights the approaches of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning the determination of the place related to the occurrence of consequences of illegal behavior in the form of abuse of a dominant position. Furthermore, given that claims for damages caused, in particular, by the abuse of a dominant position can be filed both without a prior decision of the competition authority establishing a violation of competition law and after the adoption of the relevant decision by the competition authority, the author reveals problematic issues regarding the disclosure of evidence contained in the materials of the competition authority's case and analyzes the main levels of protection of evidence contained in the materials of the competition authority's case as reflected in Directive 2014/104/EU. The author finds that the provisions of directive in question are not aimed at resolving all issues that may arise in private enforcement, but considering the positions of the Court of Justice of the European Union during the reform of domestic competition law will allow for the full implementation of the provisions of the aforementioned directive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines market concentration's influence on popular music. The data cover popular music from weekly Billboard Hot 100 songs from 1952 to 1989, for which song characteristic data including tempo and duration is available from the Million Song Dataset (MSD). Greater market concentration of the top four artists is found to impact song length, with longer #1 songs and shorter songs in the #2 through #10 spots on the Billboard charts. However, tests for alterations in song construction by top artists that might indicate a form of "sell‐out" behavior do not reveal evidence of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the case of Meta v Bundeskartellamt, where the German competition agency found Facebook's data collection policy to be in violation of German competition law. The agency argued that Facebook abused its dominant position by imposing unfair terms on users, and that the terms also violated the GDPR and infringed on users' right to informational self-determination. The European Court of Justice ruled that competition agencies can consider whether an undertaking's data collection terms comply with the GDPR when assessing conduct under competition law. The ruling establishes that data protection laws are relevant in determining if conduct qualifies as fair competition, and may extend to other regulatory tools in the future. However, there are still unanswered questions about the interpretation of Article 102 TFEU in cases involving data-based conduct. [Extracted from the article]

Economists have widely endorsed pricing CO 2 emissions to internalize climate change-related externalities. Doing so would significantly affect coal, the most carbon-intensive energy source. However, U.S. coal markets exhibit an additional distortion: the railroads that transport coal to power plants can exert market power. This article estimates how coal-by-rail markups respond to changes in coal demand. I identify markups in a major intermediate goods market using both reduced-form and structural methods. I find that rail carriers reduce coal markups when downstream power plant demand changes due to a drop in the price of natural gas (a competing fuel). My results imply that decreases in coal markups have increased recent U.S. climate damages by $11.9 billion, compared to a counterfactual where markups did not change. Incomplete pass-through would likely erode the environmental benefits of an incremental carbon tax, shifting the tax burden towards upstream railroads. Still, a non-trivial tax would likely increase welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines recent court decisions in South Africa regarding merger control and competition law interpretation. Two mergers were blocked due to concerns about potential price increases, even though they would not have impacted competition before the mergers. The Constitutional Court and the Competition Tribunal both determined that price increases alone can constitute a significant reduction or prevention of competition. The article raises questions about the rationale behind these decisions and their potential consequences. It discusses specific cases involving a private hospital merger and a merger involving an industrial chemical used in gold mining. The article also analyzes the Sasol/Draslovka merger and its impact on the pricing of liquid NaCN. The Tribunal concluded that the price increase resulting from the merger could be considered a substantial reduction or prevention of competition, but the article challenges this conclusion and its implications for future mergers. [Extracted from the article]

The authors present a Web application they designed in the R programming language as an experiential learning tool for teaching production theory. The app simulates production decisions where a manager is tasked to find the optimal mixture of inputs through experimentation. Users of the application are instructed to use calculations and intuitions from production theory to improve profitability quickly. The underlying parameters and starting points are randomized to allow for additional practice. Variations of the exercise correspond to cost-minimization and profit-maximization problems with and without market power in the output market. Also, the app provides dynamic, interactive visualizations in 3D in order to assist in a better understanding of standard production theory graphs. The app is located at . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is widespread belief that intermediaries in African agri-food value chains have disproportionate market power. In this paper, the authors examine this belief by uncovering the purchasing and selling prices, costs and profit margins by farmers, intermediaries and retailers in the matooke (cooking banana) value chain in Uganda, and by analysing the prevailing value chain and market structures, seasonal entry and exit dynamics and the trading relationships in the chain. Design/methodology/approach: Data for this study were collected along the trading routes from the main matooke producing districts in South-West Uganda (Kabarole, Bunyangabo, Bushenyi, Isingiro and Mbarara) to the main urban markets around the capital Kampala. A structured survey was administered with 383 producers, 172 collectors and wholesalers and 71 retailers. In addition, key informant interviews and focus group discussions were held. Findings: The authors find that price mark-ups by intermediaries (selling prices minus purchasing prices) vary with the type of intermediary, season and location but generally reflect the costs of moving matooke down the value chain to the urban consumer. The authors do not find evidence for disproportionate market power among the intermediaries in the chain. Intermediaries enter and exit the market in peak and off-peak season, such that profits are kept in check. This seasonality does imply a small shift in market power in favour of farmers in off-peak season and in favour of intermediaries in the peak season. Research limitations/implications: The investigation concentrated on an important and relatively homogenous staple crop along its main trade route. More remote areas, where there is less of an abundance of matooke, might still be characterised by local monopsonies where intermediaries have more market power due to high search and transport costs. Similarly, (local) monopsonies might exist for products for which there is a smaller market (segment), for products with a stronger seasonal variation in supply and for more perishable products. Originality/value: While there is an important literature on the role of intermediaries in African agri-food value chains, the evidence on intermediary market power is scant. Beliefs on intermediary market power are largely based on anecdotal evidence from farmers or inferred from observed prices or market structures. The paper contributes in addressing this important knowledge gap by studying the matooke value chain in Uganda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effects of market power on income disparities when firm‐specific parameters are considered to test how they shape the gap between capital and labor earnings through their pricing decisions. The dataset consists of 2895 UK manufacturing and services firms over 2010–2019. The results provide the following insights: (a) There is a strong positive association between market power and income disparities across the market, (b) liquidity constraints exert a positive effect on the asset‐based disparities ratio, but a negative effect on the profit‐based ratio. The robustness of the results is also checked when market‐specific characteristics are included in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers have little market power and improving their market positions can be achieved by organizing and implementing joint marketing activities. Joint marketing activities contribute to addressing the market challenges faced by Bulgarian farmers. The purpose of the article is to propose a model for organizing and conducting joint marketing activities. Implementation of joint marketing activities can only be achieved if successful management models are developed in agribusiness. The correct design of the interaction between independent agricultural holdings requires the construction of relevant structures to which specific rights and responsibilities for the implementation of joint marketing activities will be delegated. The activities themselves are implemented through the management functions - planning, organizing, implementation, and control.

The ability to substitute goods and services is crucial for maintaining market stability during price fluctuations, particularly in the livestock market, where products are interchangeable. This study aimed to analyse market integration and asymmetric price transmission concerning livestock commodity prices in Thailand. Specifically, it focused on beef cattle, swine, broiler chicken, and chicken egg prices, using time-series data from January 2011 to December 2022. The analysis employed unit root tests to check if the time series data were stationary, Granger causality tests to determine the direction of relationships among livestock prices and an asymmetric price transmission model to examine short-term asymmetry and adjustment in cross-commodity prices. The findings indicate three directions of price integration in Thailand’s livestock market: from broiler chicken price to chicken egg price, from swine price to chicken egg price, and from swine price to broiler chicken price. The results suggest that price transmission in Thailand is symmetrical, demonstrating an efficient interdependent relationship. Thus, the findings indicate that chicken eggs are a substitute for broiler chickens and swine when prices fluctuate, while broiler chickens are a substitute for swine. The results reveal that chicken eggs can replace swine consumption more effectively than broiler chickens within Thailand. This study highlights that chicken eggs are the most effective substitute during livestock price fluctuations in Thailand, with broiler chickens being the second most effective. Consequently, stakeholders in the livestock supply chain, such as policymakers, entrepreneurs, and farmers, should understand the integration of different commodities and price transmission in Thailand’s livestock market. To guarantee market stability, stakeholders should manage the demand and supply of livestock commodities and acquire chicken eggs and broiler chickens during significant fluctuations in domestic livestock commodity prices

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are engaged in a harsh battle for market dominance. This article examines the emergence of a dominant design in terms of technology, service, and business model innovation. We conduct a theoretical synthesis of the literature on industrial organization, technology management, network economics, operations management, and strategic management—with the implications of each theory related to the dominant-design battle in AI. The findings indicate a dominant design for AI will be based on innovation concerning business models as much as on technology, and that the dominant business model will include AI as a service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last couple years, the world has experienced the highest levels of inflation in more than four decades. This paper provides a framework for analyzing the causes and the appropriate responses. We show that it is not caused by an excess of aggregate demand, and in particular, not caused by any excess consumption arising from excessive pandemic spending, but by supply-side shocks, largely induced by the pandemic (e.g., chips), and also by the war in Ukraine, combined with sectoral demand shifts. We analyze the role played by market power and the lack of resilience. Increases in interest rates, beyond normalizing levels, will do little to address the underlying problems and may exacerbate them, impeding effective responses to supply shortages. The paper describes alternative fiscal and other measures that, while addressing current inflation, have further long-term welfare benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether auditor market power is associated with audit quality. Regulators around the world have repeatedly expressed concerns about the high levels of supplier concentration, the limited number of audit suppliers in the audit market, and the potential adverse consequences of their (alleged) market power. Using U.S. data from 2009 to 2017, we examine the effect on audit quality of two competing measures of auditor market power: (a) a "traditional" market concentration measure (Herfindahl index) and (b) a competing measure derived from spatial competition theory (i.e., market share distance from the closest competitor). Following Aobdia, we infer audit quality from two measures of financial reporting quality: (a) the level of absolute abnormal accruals, and (b) the incidence of financial statement restatements. Our results indicate that industry market share distance is positively associated with audit quality, but we do not find an association between market concentration and audit quality. In addition, we find that the positive association between market share distance and audit quality only holds when the incumbent auditor is a market leader, although industry leadership itself is not significantly associated with audit quality. These findings suggest that audit quality is positively affected by a market leader's industry market share dominance over its competitors rather than by industry specialization per se. JEL Classification : M4; L0 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research revealed the factors that cause firm distress in the Chinese market. The stock exchange–listed firm samples are classified as moderate or severe distressed firms if they receive a special treatment warning from stock exchanges due to continuous negative net loss or are suffering from negative equities. By applying ordinary least square and logit regressions to the 2015–2022 data sample, the results showed that market power and internal and external monitoring significantly affect the likelihood of firm distress. Interestingly, debt only negatively affects a firm's earnings, has no impact on moderate firm distress, and reduces the likelihood of falling into severe distress. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) receive government support and are therefore less likely to be distressed, in contrast to family-owned firms. The recovery results confirmed that SOEs are easier to recover that family-owned firms. The ability to repay debt increases credibility and is a good signal of recovery. We differentiated from past discussions that focused on earning management and business failure. Our research contributes to the literature by analyzing firm distress and recovery from market power and monitoring, which are not well discussed with observable evidence. These findings could be helpful for both corporate and regulatory policy decision-making.

This paper explores the impact of firms’ ESG performance on their trade credit financing and working capital efficiency, utilizing a sample of 586 Indian firms listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) from 2015 to 2022. The study offers robust evidence supporting the positive connection between superior ESG disclosure and trade credit, as well as the negative link between ESG disclosure and the cash conversion cycle. These findings underscore the role of ESG disclosure in increasing suppliers’ willingness to extend trade credit and facilitating efficient working capital management practices. The result shows that improved ESG disclosure practices increase payable turnover days and reduce both inventory turnover and receivable turnover days, reflecting the enhanced operational efficiency and market power of the firm.

As the power grid undergoes transformation and the Internet's influence grows, the electricity market is evolving towards informatization. The expanding scale of the power grid and the increasing complexity of operating conditions have generated a substantial amount of data in the power market. The traditional power marketing model is no longer suitable for the modern power market's development trend. To tackle this challenge, this study employs random forest and RBF models for processing electricity market data. Additionally, it explores the synergy of graph convolutional network and spectral clustering algorithms to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of data mining, enabling a comprehensive analysis of data features. The experimental results successfully extracted various electricity consumption features. This approach contributes to the informatization efforts of power grid enterprises, enhances power data perception capabilities, and offers reliable support for decision makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The requirement of sustainable development has led to challenges for DTF (i.e., digital transformation of firms). Extensive studies have been conducted on how the personality traits of executives influence the behavior of firms. However, the effect of military experience on DTF has yet to be determined. This concern is addressed in this study from the imprinting theory (IT) and upper echelons theory (UET) perspectives. We aim to investigate whether and how military executives impact DTF. Analysis of data from listed firms in China between 2010 and 2020 indicates that military executives positively enhance DTF. This research also evaluates the moderating effects of symbiosis orientation and the market power of firms on the above relationship. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of executives' military experience on DTF is only significant in non-regulated, high-technology, and low-pollution industries. Our findings expand the literature on leadership and DTF. We introduce the concept of symbiosis orientation and examine the moderating roles of symbiosis orientation and market power in the above effect, which elucidates the interplay between organizations and the external environment. Our findings provide insights into enhancing digital transformation efforts by strategically selecting suitable military leadership for firms and further promoting the sustainable development of firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The macroeconomic implications of movements in labour income share across several economies are of serious concern. This study examines the relationship between labour income share and its key drivers: market power, capital intensity and automation. The study uses data on Indian firms from 2013 to 2021. The relationship is analysed by employing panel fixed effects and method of moments panel quantile estimators. The results indicate that market power is significantly and negatively associated with the labour share of income. Similarly, capital intensity and automation have a positive impact on the labour income share. Estimates of quantile regression reveal that the influence of market power and automation becomes more pronounced at higher quantiles of the labour share. In general, the relationship is consistent even after accounting for firm size and ownership type. The study also indicate complementary nature of labour and capital. • Examines the significance of market power, capital intensity, and automation on labour income share using firm-level data. • Finds a significant inverse relationship between market power and labour income share. • Capital and labour are found to be complementary as capital intensity has a positive effect on labour income share. • Positive and significant coefficient for automation indicates the prevalence of productivity effect in the Indian context. • Market power and automation have a greater impact on firms with higher labour share. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the evolution of productivity and markups in US food and beverage manufacturing from 1959 through 2018. We account for non‐Hicks‐neutral (labour‐augmenting) productivity changes and compare markups with those in general manufacturing using the same dataset and model. We also compare our results with those of the increasingly popular De Loecker and Warzynski (2012, American Economic Review, 102, 2437) method, which does not account for non‐Hicks‐neutral productivity growth. Empirical results show that productivity growth in the food and beverage sector has been relatively slow and driven with equal intensity by Hicks‐neutral and labour‐augmenting productivity gains. General manufacturing shows higher productivity growth that is mostly labour‐augmenting, with markups comparable to those of food manufacturing. We find that accounting for labour‐augmenting productivity produces more moderate markup estimates than the De Loecker and Warzynski (2012) method. We also find no evidence of markups rising in either food manufacturing or general manufacturing in the last 20 years, in contrast to much of the recent economic literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]