Price and Quality Regulation in a Physical Network Industry

Our paper models the relationship between price and quality regulation in a physical network industry. The analysis is closely inspired by some of the major regulatory features of the current organisation of the British railways industry, even though its insights have more general implications. Our model focuses on the combination of price and quality regulation and accounts for the existence of entry costs which create a competitive advantage for the incumbents in the competitive franchise bidding. We show that the effectiveness of the quality control is nonmonotone in the quality standard set by the Regulator. Moreover, we advance that price regulation negatively affects the extent to which the service quality can be controlled. By partially subsidising the entry costs, the Regulator can intensify the competition for the market and improve the regulation of the service quality. Nevertheless, since entry costs subsidisation involves social costs (e.g., distortionary taxation), the Regulator faces a trade-off between price regulation, on the one hand, and quality regulation and entry costs subsidisation, on the other hand.

Quality and location choices under price regulation

In a model of spatial competition, we analyse the equilibrium outcomes in markets where the product price is exogenous. Using an extended version of the Hotelling model, we assume that firms choose their locations and the quality of the product they supply. We derive the optimal price set by a welfarist regulator and find that this (second-best) price causes over-investment in quality and an insufficient degree of horizontal differentiation (compared with the first-best solution) if the cost of investing in product quality, or the transportation cost of consumers, is sufficiently high. Comparing with the case of price competition, we also identify a hitherto unnoticed benefit of regulation, namely improved locational efficiency.Spatial competition; Product quality; Location; Price regulation.

Quality and location choices under price regulation

In a model of spatial competition, we analyse the equilibrium outcomes in markets where the product price is exogenous. Using an extended version of the Hotelling model, we assume that firms choose their locations and the quality of the product they supply. We derive the optimal price set by a welfarist regulator and find that this (second-best) price causes over-investment in quality and an insufficient degree of horizontal differentiation (compared with the first-best solution) if the cost of investing in product quality, or the transportation cost of consumers, is sufficiently high. By comparing the case of price competition, we also identify a hitherto unnoticed benefit of regulation, namely improved locational efficiency. -- In einem räumlichen Wettbewerbsmodell untersuchen wir die Gleichgewichte, die sich bei exogen gegebenem Preis einstellen. In einem erweiterten Hotelling Modell unterstellen wir, dass die Firmen den Standort (Produktdifferenzierung) und die Qualität ihres Produktes wählen. Wir ermitteln den, aus der Sicht eines sozialen Planers, optimalen Preis. Es zeigt sich, dass dieser (zweitbeste) Preis im Vergleich zum effizienten Ergebnis zu einer Überinvestition in Qualität und zu einer unzureichenden Produktdifferenzierung führt, wenn die Qualitätskosten der Firmen oder die Transportkosten der Konsumenten hinreichend groß sind. Ein Vergleich mit dem Marktergebnis bei Preiswettbewerb offenbart einen bisher unbeachteten positiven Effekt der Preisregulierung, den verbesserten Grad der Produktdifferenzierung.Spatial competition,product quality,location,price regulation

Pricing and Trust

We experimentally examine the effects of flexible and fixed prices in markets for experience goods in which demand is driven by trust. With flexible prices, we observe low prices and high quality in competitive (oligopolistic) markets, and high prices coupled with low quality in non-competitive (monopolistic) markets. We then introduce a regulated intermediate price above the oligopoly price and below the monopoly price. The effect in monopolies is more or less in line with standard intuition. As price falls volume increases and so does quality, such that overall efficiency is raised by 50%. However, quite in contrast to standard intuition, we also observe an efficiency rise in response to regulation in oligopolies. Both, transaction volume and traded quality are, in fact, maximal in regulated oligopolies.markets; price competition; price regulation; reputation; trust; moral hazard; experience goods

Can Minimum Prices Assure the Quality of Professional Services?

This papers studies the effects on service quality and consumer surplus of a minimum price which is fixed by a bureaucratic non-monopolistic professional association. It shows that the price floor set by a Niskanen-type professional assocation will maximize consumer surplus only if consumers demand the highest possible average quality. If consumers demand services of lesser quality, the association's price floor will be too high if measured by consumer surplus. Moreover we show that a de-regulated market will always reproduce the favorable result of a uniformly high price in the case of top quality demand while delivering superior results in the case of a mixed demand for high and low quality services. The general picture that emerges from this discussion is that the current EU Commission's initiative to abolish fixed price schemes for professional services will not lead to a decrease in quality that would be undesirable from a standpoint of consumer protection. This holds even if we acknowledge the opponent's claim that there is a chance of deprivation of professional ethics due to price competition.Liberal professions; Price regulation; Quality; Professional association; Self-regulation; EU competition policy; Intrinsic motivation

Product differentiation and welfare in a mixed duopoly with regulated prices: the case of a public and a private hospital

Hospital markets are often characterised by price regulation and the existence of different ownership types. Using a Hotelling framework, this paper analyses the effect of different objectives of the hospitals on quality, profits, and overall welfare in a price regulated duopoly with symmetric locations. In contrast to other studies on mixed oligopolies, this paper shows that in a duopoly with regulated prices privatisation of the public hospital may increase overall welfare depending on the difference of the hospitals' marginal costs and the weight of the additional public hospital's motive. --mixed oligopoly,price regulation,quality,hospital competition

Gatekeeping in Health Care

We study the competitive effects of restricting direct access to secondary care by gatekeeping, focusing on the informational role of general practitioners (GPs). In the secondary care market there are two hospitals choosing quality and specialisation. Patients, who are ex ante uninformed, can consult a GP to receive an (imperfect) diagnosis and obtain information about the secondary care market. We show that hospital competition is amplified by higher GP attendance but dampened by improved diagnosing accuracy. Therefore, compulsory gatekeeping may result in excessive quality competition and too much specialisation, unless the mismatch costs and the diagnosing accuracy are sufficiently high. Second-best price regulation makes direct regulation of GP consultation redundant, but will generally not implement first-best.gatekeeping, imperfect information, quality competition, product differentiation, price regulation

Explaining High Health Care Spending in the United States: An International Comparison of Supply, Utilization, Prices, and Quality

Compares healthcare spending, supply, utilization, prices, and quality in thirteen industrialized nations and examines the factors behind high U.S. spending, including higher prices and obesity rates, and low spending in Japan, including price regulation

Quality and location choices under price regulation

In a model of spatial competition, we analyze the equilibrium outcomes in markets where the product price is exogenous. Using an extended version of the Hotelling model, we assume that firms choose their locations and the quality of the product they supply. We derive the optimal price set by a welfarist regulator. If the regulator can commit to a price prior to the choice of locations, the optimal (second-best) price causes overinvestment in quality and an insufficient degree of horizontal differentiation (compared with the first-best solution) if the transportation cost of consumers is sufficiently high. Under partial commitment, where the regulator is not able to commit prior to location choices, the optimal price induces first-best quality, but horizontal differentiation is inefficiently high

Does Price Signal Quality? Strategic Implications of Price as a Signal of Quality for the Case of Genetically Modified Food

When products are differentiated and quality is highly subjective (e.g., fashion or art), novel (e.g., a new feature), or difficult to verify prior to purchase (e.g., credence attributes), consumers may turn to price as a signal of quality. Products containing genetically modified (GM) ingredients meet each of these criteria, i.e., GM ingredients are novel, their presence is difficult to verify, and their impact on subjective quality may be viewed differently across individuals with the same knowledge. We add to the limited empirical literature on consumers' use of price as a quality signal by testing for non-monotonicity of consumer demand in price for GM products using data collected from a nationally representative mail survey featuring several hypothetical product choice scenarios. We find mixed evidence across three products for non-monotonicity of demand in price and argue the results suggest that survey respondents use price as a signal of the quality of GM products for at least one of the three products investigated. Implications for firm strategy and regulation are discussed.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,