Intra-firm Coordination and Horizontal Merger

We look at an industry of Cournot oligopolists each of which consists of production facilities which enjoy some degree of freedom in deciding their output quantities and that way influence the total output of a firm. This structure can be motivated e.g. the existence of profit centers or by the specifics of a cooperative firm. The extent of coordination inside the firms is captured in a simple way, and market equilibrium is derived for potentially asymmetric firms using the concept of a replacement function. We use this model to address the question of profitability of horizontal mergers and of the welfare consequences of such mergers. Contrary to the standard literature, we find a wide range of potentially profitable mergers without having to refer to cost synergies. This result is driven by the effect of size in terms of the number of production facilities and by the strategic consequences of intra-firm decentralization. A number of seemingly conflicting results from the literature can be considered special cases of our model.merger, oligopoly, organization, vertical coordination

Vertikale Kooperation im Oligopol : die Gestaltung der Genossenschaftsorganisation als strategischer Zug

Die Kompetenzverteilung in Genossenschaften zwischen Mitgliedern und Genossenschaftsbetrieb führt zu einer Organisationsform zwischen Hierarchie und Wettbewerb. Sowohl Mitglieder als auch das Management erhalten Teile der Entscheidungsbefugnis. In dieser Arbeit wird gezeigt, dass die Ausgestaltung der Organisationsstruktur als strategischer Zug genutzt werden kann. Die hybride Struktur der Organisation wird dabei mit dem Konzept der Conjectural Variations beschrieben, die Reaktionsvermutungen werden dabei als Verhaltensparameter interpretiert. Die Analyse von zwei unterschiedlichen Interpretationen des Förderungsauftrages bestätigt Vorteile für die Mitglieder einer Genossenschaft. Darüber hinaus können gewinnmaximierende Unternehmen im Wettbewerb mit einer Genossenschaft ihre Marktmacht nicht völlig durchsetzen. Im Ergebnis resultieren positive Wohlfahrtseffekte durch Genossenschaften in Duopolmärkten.In cooperatives, allocation of competences results in an organizational form which differs from other enterprises. The members partly remain independent in doing their business and delegate only a part of their competence to the jointly owned firm. Therefore a cooperative is neither a single firm nor a group of fully independent entities. In this paper the conduct of the hybrid organization is characterized by the concept of "conjectural variations". I show for two different objectives of the cooperative that it is possible to patronise members in competition with a profit maximizing firm. The choice of decentralization of decision making is crucial for the results. It can be seen as a credible commitment to the behaviour of the cooperative and it has therefore important influence on the outcomes: In a mixed duopoly with a cooperative patronizing their members the results are more competitive than in a pure duopoly

Intra-firm Coordination and Horizontal Merger

We look at an industry of Cournot oligopolists each of which consists of production facilities which enjoy some degree of freedom in deciding their output quantities and that way influence the total output of a firm. This structure can be motivated e.g. the existence of profit centers or by the specifics of a cooperative firm. The extent of coordination inside the firms is captured in a simple way, and market equilibrium is derived for potentially asymmetric firms using the concept of a replacement function. We use this model to address the question of profitability of horizontal mergers and of the welfare consequences of such mergers. Contrary to the standard literature, we find a wide range of potentially profitable mergers without having to refer to cost synergies. This result is driven by the effect of size in terms of the number of production facilities and by the strategic consequences of intra- firm decentralization. A number of seemingly conflicting results from the literature can be considered special cases of our model

Vertikale Kooperation im Oligopol Die Gestaltung der Genossenschaftsorganisation als strategischer Zug

In cooperatives, allocation of competences results in an organizational form which differs from other enterprises. The members partly remain independent in doing their business and delegate only a part of their competence to the jointly owned firm. Therefore a cooperative is neither a single firm nor a group of fully independent entities. In this paper the conduct of the hybrid organization is characterized by the concept of "conjectural variations". I show for two different objectives of the cooperative that it is possible to patronise members in competition with a profit maximizing firm. The choice of decentralization of decision making is crucial for the results. It can be seen as a credible commitment to the behaviour of the cooperative and it has therefore important influence on the outcomes: In a mixed duopoly with a cooperative patronizing their members the results are more competitive than in a pure duopoly.E-Commerce, Personalization, Asymmetric information, Price discrimination

Intra-firm coordination and horizontal merger

We look at an industry of Cournot oligopolists each of which consists of production facilities which enjoy some degree of freedom in deciding their output quantities and that way influence the total output of a firm. This structure can be motivated e.g. the existence of profit centers or by the specifics of a cooperative firm. The extent of coordination inside the firms is captured in a simple way, and market equilibrium is derived for potentially asymmetric firms using the concept of a replacement function. We use this model to address the question of profitability of horizontal mergers and of the welfare consequences of such mergers. Contrary to the standard literature, we find a wide range of potentially profitable mergers without having to refer to cost synergies. This result is driven by the effect of size in terms of the number of production facilities and by the strategic consequences of intra-firm decentralization. A number of seemingly conflicting results from the literature can be considered special cases of our model

Vertikale Kooperation im Oligopol: die Gestaltung der Genossenschaftsorganisation als strategischer Zug

In cooperatives, allocation of competences results in an organizational form which differs from other enterprises. The members partly remain independent in doing their business and delegate only a part of their competence to the jointly owned firm. Therefore a cooperative is neither a single firm nor a group of fully independent entities. In this paper the conduct of the hybrid organization is characterized by the concept of "conjectural variations". I show for two different objectives of the cooperative that it is possible to patronise members in competition with a profit maximizing firm. The choice of decentralization of decision making is crucial for the results. It can be seen as a credible commitment to the behaviour of the cooperative and it has therefore important influence on the outcomes: In a mixed duopoly with a cooperative patronizing their members the results are more competitive than in a pure duopoly.Die Kompetenzverteilung in Genossenschaften zwischen Mitgliedern und Genossenschaftsbetrieb führt zu einer Organisationsform zwischen Hierarchie und Wettbewerb. Sowohl Mitglieder als auch das Management erhalten Teile der Entscheidungsbefugnis. In dieser Arbeit wird gezeigt, dass die Ausgestaltung der Organisationsstruktur als strategischer Zug genutzt werden kann. Die hybride Struktur der Organisation wird dabei mit dem Konzept der Conjectural Variations beschrieben, die Reaktionsvermutungen werden dabei als Verhaltensparameter interpretiert. Die Analyse von zwei unterschiedlichen Interpretationen des Förderungsauftrages bestätigt Vorteile für die Mitglieder einer Genossenschaft. Darüber hinaus können gewinnmaximierende Unternehmen im Wettbewerb mit einer Genossenschaft ihre Marktmacht nicht völlig durchsetzen. Im Ergebnis resultieren positive Wohlfahrtseffekte durch Genossenschaften in Duopolmärkten

Horizontale Fusionen von Genossenschaften im Oligopol

Horizontale Fusionen von Genossenschaften im Oligopol. - In: Wettbewerbsfähigkeit des genossenschaftlichen Netzwerks / Theresia Theurl ... (Hrsg.). - Aachen : Shaker, 2005. - S. 221-242. - (Münstersche Schriften zur Kooperation ; 64

Vertikale Kooperation im Oligopol: die Gestaltung der Genossenschaftsorganisation als strategischer Zug

In cooperatives, allocation of competences results in an organizational form which differs from other enterprises. The members partly remain independent in doing their business and delegate only a part of their competence to the jointly owned firm. Therefore a cooperative is neither a single firm nor a group of fully independent entities. In this paper the conduct of the hybrid organization is characterized by the concept of "conjectural variations". I show for two different objectives of the cooperative that it is possible to patronise members in competition with a profit maximizing firm. The choice of decentralization of decision making is crucial for the results. It can be seen as a credible commitment to the behaviour of the cooperative and it has therefore important influence on the outcomes: In a mixed duopoly with a cooperative patronizing their members the results are more competitive than in a pure duopoly.Die Kompetenzverteilung in Genossenschaften zwischen Mitgliedern und Genossenschaftsbetrieb führt zu einer Organisationsform zwischen Hierarchie und Wettbewerb. Sowohl Mitglieder als auch das Management erhalten Teile der Entscheidungsbefugnis. In dieser Arbeit wird gezeigt, dass die Ausgestaltung der Organisationsstruktur als strategischer Zug genutzt werden kann. Die hybride Struktur der Organisation wird dabei mit dem Konzept der Conjectural Variations beschrieben, die Reaktionsvermutungen werden dabei als Verhaltensparameter interpretiert. Die Analyse von zwei unterschiedlichen Interpretationen des Förderungsauftrages bestätigt Vorteile für die Mitglieder einer Genossenschaft. Darüber hinaus können gewinnmaximierende Unternehmen im Wettbewerb mit einer Genossenschaft ihre Marktmacht nicht völlig durchsetzen. Im Ergebnis resultieren positive Wohlfahrtseffekte durch Genossenschaften in Duopolmärkten

Vertikale Kooperation im Oligopol: die Gestaltung der Genossenschaftsorganisation als strategischer Zug

In cooperatives, allocation of competences results in an organizational form which differs from other enterprises. The members partly remain independent in doing their business and delegate only a part of their competence to the jointly owned firm. Therefore a cooperative is neither a single firm nor a group of fully independent entities. In this paper the conduct of the hybrid organization is characterized by the concept of "conjectural variations". I show for two different objectives of the cooperative that it is possible to patronise members in competition with a profit maximizing firm. The choice of decentralization of decision making is crucial for the results. It can be seen as a credible commitment to the behaviour of the cooperative and it has therefore important influence on the outcomes: In a mixed duopoly with a cooperative patronizing their members the results are more competitive than in a pure duopoly.Die Kompetenzverteilung in Genossenschaften zwischen Mitgliedern und Genossenschaftsbetrieb führt zu einer Organisationsform zwischen Hierarchie und Wettbewerb. Sowohl Mitglieder als auch das Management erhalten Teile der Entscheidungsbefugnis. In dieser Arbeit wird gezeigt, dass die Ausgestaltung der Organisationsstruktur als strategischer Zug genutzt werden kann. Die hybride Struktur der Organisation wird dabei mit dem Konzept der Conjectural Variations beschrieben, die Reaktionsvermutungen werden dabei als Verhaltensparameter interpretiert. Die Analyse von zwei unterschiedlichen Interpretationen des Förderungsauftrages bestätigt Vorteile für die Mitglieder einer Genossenschaft. Darüber hinaus können gewinnmaximierende Unternehmen im Wettbewerb mit einer Genossenschaft ihre Marktmacht nicht völlig durchsetzen. Im Ergebnis resultieren positive Wohlfahrtseffekte durch Genossenschaften in Duopolmärkten

Intra-firm coordination and horizontal merger

We look at an industry of Cournot oligopolists each of which consists of production facilities which enjoy some degree of freedom in deciding their output quantities and that way influence the total output of a firm. This structure can be motivated e.g. the existence of profit centers or by the specifics of a cooperative firm. The extent of coordination inside the firms is captured in a simple way, and market equilibrium is derived for potentially asymmetric firms using the concept of a replacement function. We use this model to address the question of profitability of horizontal mergers and of the welfare consequences of such mergers. Contrary to the standard literature, we find a wide range of potentially profitable mergers without having to refer to cost synergies. This result is driven by the effect of size in terms of the number of production facilities and by the strategic consequences of intra-firm decentralization. A number of seemingly conflicting results from the literature can be considered special cases of our model