Third-degree price discrimination in oligopoly when markets are covered

Arbeitspapier

We analyze oligopolistic third-degree price discrimination relative to uniform pricing, when markets are always covered. Pricing equilibria are critically determined by supply-side features such as the number of firms and their marginal cost differences. It follows that each firm's Lerner index under uniform pricing is equal to the weighted harmonic mean of the firm's relative margins under discriminatory pricing. Uniform pricing then decreases average prices and raises consumer surplus. We provide an intriguingly simple approach to calculate the consumer surplus gain from uniform pricing only based on market data of the discriminatory equilibrium (prices and quantities).

Object Details

• ISBN: 978-3-86304-335-3
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: DICE Discussion Paper ; No. 336

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Market Structure, Pricing, and Design: Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection ; Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets ; Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices ; Antitrust Law
• Subject: Third-Degree Price Discrimination ; Uniform Pricing ; Harmonic Mean Formula ; Covered Demand

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Dertwinkel-Kalt, Markus ; Wey, Christian
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE)
• (where): Düsseldorf
• (when): 2020

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/216730
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET