(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)"> (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)">
[go: up one dir, main page]

IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jeczfn/v104y2011i3p239-263.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘Just one of us’: consumers playing oligopoly in mixed markets

Author

Listed:
  • Marco Marini
  • Alberto Zevi
Abstract
Consumer cooperatives represent a highly successful example of democratic form of enterprises operating in developed countries. They are usually medium to large-scale companies competing with the profit-maximizing firms in the retail sector. This paper describes this situation as a mixed oligopoly in which consumer cooperatives maximize the utility of consumer-members and, in return, refund them with a share of the profits corresponding to the ratio of their individual spending to the cooperative's total sales. We show that when consumers possess quasi-linear preferences over a bundle of symmetrically differentiated goods, and companies operate using a linear technology, the presence of consumer cooperatives positively affects total industry output, as well as welfare. The effect of cooperatives on welfare proves to be even more significant when goods are either complements or highly differentiated, and when competition is à la Cournot rather than à la Bertrand.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Marini & Alberto Zevi, 2011. "‘Just one of us’: consumers playing oligopoly in mixed markets," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 239-263, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jeczfn:v:104:y:2011:i:3:p:239-263
    DOI: 10.1007/s00712-011-0219-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00712-011-0219-7
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00712-011-0219-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard J. Sexton & Terri A. Sexton, 1987. "Cooperatives as Entrants," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 18(4), pages 581-595, Winter.
    2. Hamilton, Jonathan H. & Slutsky, Steven M., 1990. "Endogenous timing in duopoly games: Stackelberg or cournot equilibria," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 29-46, March.
    3. Mikami, Kazuhiko, 2003. "Market power and the form of enterprise: capitalist firms, worker-owned firms and consumer cooperatives," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 52(4), pages 533-552, December.
    4. David Kelsey & Frank Milne, 2010. "Takeovers and cooperatives: governance and stability in non-corporate firms," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 99(3), pages 193-209, April.
    5. repec:adr:anecst:y:1994:i:33:p:06 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Hart, Oliver & Moore, John, 1998. "Cooperatives vs. outside ownership," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19360, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Avinash Dixit, 1979. "A Model of Duopoly Suggesting a Theory of Entry Barriers," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 20-32, Spring.
    8. Fulton, Murray E., 1989. "Cooperatives in Oligopolistic Industries: The Western Canadian Fertilizer Industry," Journal of Agricultural Cooperation, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, vol. 4, pages 1-19.
    9. Albaek, Svend & Schultz, Christian, 1998. "On the relative advantage of cooperatives," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 397-401, June.
    10. Tennbakk, Berit, 1992. "The Case of Cooperative Mixed Duopoly," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt8wp406w7, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    11. Cremer, Helmuth & Marchand, Maurice & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 1989. "The Public Firm as an Instrument for Regulating an Oligopolistic Market," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 41(2), pages 283-301, April.
    12. Farrell, Joseph, 1985. "Owner-consumers and efficiency," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 303-306.
    13. Vives, Xavier, 1984. "Duopoly information equilibrium: Cournot and bertrand," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 71-94, October.
    14. Goering, Gregory E., 2008. "Welfare impacts of a non-profit firm in mixed commercial markets," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 326-334, December.
    15. Mikami, Kazuhiko, 2010. "Capital procurement of a consumer cooperative: Role of the membership market," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 178-197, June.
    16. Murray Fulton & Konstantinos Giannakas, 2001. "Organizational Commitment in a Mixed Oligopoly: Agricultural Cooperatives and Investor-Owned Firms," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1258-1265.
    17. David Kelsey & Frank Milne, 2008. "Imperfect Competition and Corporate Governance," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 10(6), pages 1115-1141, December.
    18. V. James Rhodes, 1983. "The Large Agricultural Cooperative as a Competitor," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1090-1095.
    19. Bulow, Jeremy I & Geanakoplos, John D & Klemperer, Paul D, 1985. "Multimarket Oligopoly: Strategic Substitutes and Complements," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(3), pages 488-511, June.
    20. Cremer, Helmuth & Cremer, Jacques, 1992. "Duopoly with employee-controlled and profit-maximizing firms: Bertrand vs Cournot competition," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 241-258, June.
    21. Marco Marini & Alberto Zevi, 2010. "Consumer Cooperatives and Welfare in a Mixed Oligopoly," Working Papers 1010, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini, revised 2010.
    22. de Fraja, Giovanni & Delbono, Flavio, 1990. "Game Theoretic Models of Mixed Oligopoly," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(1), pages 1-17.
    23. Pennerstorfer, Dieter & Weiss, Christoph R., 2007. "Do Cooperatives Offer High Quality Products?," 103rd Seminar, April 23-25, 2007, Barcelona, Spain 9403, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    24. Corneo, Giacomo G., 1997. "Taxpayer-consumers and public pricing," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 235-240, December.
    25. Peter J. LAW & Geoff STEWART, 1983. "Stackelberg Duopoly with an Illyrian and Profit-Maximising Firm," Discussion Papers (REL - Recherches Economiques de Louvain) 1983026, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    26. Hart, Oliver & Moore, John, 1996. "The Governance of Exchanges: Members' Cooperatives versus Outside Ownership," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 12(4), pages 53-69, Winter.
    27. David Kelsey & Frank Milne, 2006. "Takeovers And Cooperatives," Working Paper 1113, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    28. Arthur L. Bekenstein, 1943. "A Theoretical Analysis of Consumer Co-Operatives: The Managerial Problem," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(3), pages 251-251.
    29. Richard J. Sexton, 1990. "Imperfect Competition in Agricultural Markets and the Role of Cooperatives: A Spatial Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 72(3), pages 709-720.
    30. de Fraja, Giovanni & Delbono, Flavio, 1989. "Alternative Strategies of a Public Enterprise in Oligopoly," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 41(2), pages 302-311, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sadowski, Bert M., 2017. "Consumer cooperatives as an alternative form of governance: The case of the broadband industry," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 86-97.
    2. Marco A. MARINI & Paolo POLIDORI & Desiree TEOBALDELLI & Alberto ZEVI, 2015. "Welfare Enhancing Coordination In Consumer Cooperatives Under Mixed Oligopoly," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(3), pages 505-527, September.
    3. Saha, Souresh, 2014. "Firm's objective function and product and process R&D," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 484-494.
    4. Michael Kopel & Marco A. Marini, 2012. "Optimal Compensation Structure in Consumer Cooperatives under Mixed Oligopoly," DIS Technical Reports 2012-06, Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Universita' degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza".
    5. Kopel, Michael & Brand, Björn, 2012. "Socially responsible firms and endogenous choice of strategic incentives," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 982-989.
    6. Michael Kopel & Marco Marini, 2014. "Strategic delegation in consumer cooperatives under mixed oligopoly," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 275-296, November.
    7. Michael Kopel & Marco A. Marini, 2012. "Optimal Compensation Structure in Consumer Cooperatives under Mixed Oligopoly," DIS Technical Reports 2012-06, Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Universita' degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza".
    8. Lisa Planer-Friedrich & Marco Sahm, 2020. "Strategic corporate social responsibility, imperfect competition, and market concentration," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 129(1), pages 79-101, January.
    9. Rudy Santore & Youping Li & Stephen Cotten, 2015. "Colluding with a conscience," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 255-269, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marco A. MARINI & Paolo POLIDORI & Desiree TEOBALDELLI & Alberto ZEVI, 2015. "Welfare Enhancing Coordination In Consumer Cooperatives Under Mixed Oligopoly," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(3), pages 505-527, September.
    2. Michael Kopel & Marco Marini, 2014. "Strategic delegation in consumer cooperatives under mixed oligopoly," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 275-296, November.
    3. Tennbakk, Berit, 1992. "The Case of Cooperative Mixed Duopoly," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt8wp406w7, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    4. Evans, Lewis & Meade, Richard, 2005. "The Role and Significance of Cooperatives in New Zealand Agriculture, A Comparative Institutional Analysis," Working Paper Series 3847, Victoria University of Wellington, The New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation.
    5. Kazuhiro Ohnishi, 2008. "Strategic Commitment and International Mixed Competition with Domestic State-owned and Foreign Labor-managed Firms," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 64(4), pages 458-472, December.
    6. Ohnishi, Kazuhiro, 2019. "Capacity choice in an international mixed triopoly," MPRA Paper 94051, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Berit Tennbakk, 1995. "Marketing Cooperatives In Mixed Duopolies," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 33-45, January.
    8. repec:vuw:vuwscr:18942 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Evans, Lewis & Meade, Richard, 2005. "The Role and Significance of Cooperatives in New Zealand Agriculture, A Comparative Institutional Analysis," Working Paper Series 18942, Victoria University of Wellington, The New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation.
    10. Kyriakos Drivas & Konstantinos Giannakas, 2010. "The Effect of Cooperatives on Quality‐Enhancing Innovation," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 295-317, June.
    11. Luca Lambertini & Arsen Palestini & Alessandro Tampieri, 2016. "CSR in an Asymmetric Duopoly with Environmental Externality," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(1), pages 236-252, July.
    12. Rabah Amir & Giuseppe Feo, 2014. "Endogenous timing in a mixed duopoly," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 43(3), pages 629-658, August.
    13. Hueth, Brent & Marcoul, Philippe, 2007. "The Cooperative Firm as Monitored Credit," Staff Paper Series 508, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    14. Drivas, Kyriakos & Giannakas, Konstantinos, 2006. "The Effect Of Cooperatives On Product Innovation In The Agri-Food System," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21223, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    15. Sorensen, Ann-Christin, 2005. "Mixed Markets in the Food Processing Industry," 2005 International Congress, August 23-27, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark 24741, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. David Kelsey & Frank Milne, 2010. "Takeovers and cooperatives: governance and stability in non-corporate firms," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 99(3), pages 193-209, April.
    17. Toshihiro Matsumura, 2003. "Endogenous Role in Mixed Markets: A Two‐Production‐Period Model," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 70(2), pages 403-413, October.
    18. J Hindriks & D Claude, 2006. "Strategic Privatization and Regulation Policy in Mixed Markets," The IUP Journal of Managerial Economics, IUP Publications, vol. 0(1), pages 7-26, February.
    19. João Correia-da-Silva & Joana Pinho, 2018. "Collusion in mixed oligopolies and the coordinated effects of privatization," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 19-55, May.
    20. Panagiotou, Dimitrios, 2019. "Pricing behavior in a mixed spatial duopsony with an agricultural cooperative under asymmetric information," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 0(Issue 1).
    21. Koji Okuguchi, 2012. "General Analysis of Cournot Mixed Oligopoly with Partial Privatization," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 2(1), pages 48-62, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumer cooperatives; Profit-maximizing firms; Mixed oligopoly; L13; L21; L22; L31; L33; L81; P13;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • P13 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Cooperative Enterprises
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jeczfn:v:104:y:2011:i:3:p:239-263. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.