The Impact of the Internet on Retail Competition: Evidence from Technological Differences in Internet Access

Arbeitspapier

Does the internet increase competition? To address this question, I exploit two institutional details unique to Germany: (1) Some municipalities received glass fibre cables that cannot be upgraded to DSL; I use these municipalities as a treatment group with reduced online competition. (2) German law mandates resale price maintenance for books; I compare three retailing sectors, electronics (price competition), books (no price competition), and food (no online sales), to identify the effect of price competition: The effect of price competition is highly significant. Full broadband access reduces offline electronics retailers' producer rents by 1.5 percent per year from 1999 to 2007.

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• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: SFB/TR 15 Discussion Paper ; No. 345

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Market Structure, Pricing, and Design: Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection ; Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce ; Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
• Subject: Internet ; Market Structure ; Retail Competition ; Differences in Differences ; Internet ; Online-Handel ; Marktstruktur ; Einzelhandel ; Preiswettbewerb ; Breitbandkommunikation ; Schätzung ; Deutschland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Gebhardt, Georg
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Sonderforschungsbereich/Transregio 15 - Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems (GESY)
• (where): München
• (when): 2010

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.5282/ubm/epub.13209
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/93915
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:19-epub-13209-4