A theory of stable price dispersion

We propose a two-stage replacement for established “clearinghouse" or “captive and shopper" pricing models: second-stage retail prices are constrained by first-stage list prices. In contrast to the mixed-strategy equilibria of single-stage games, a unique profile of d...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Myatt, DP, Ronayne, D
Format: Working paper
Language:English
Published: University of Oxford 2019
Description
Summary:We propose a two-stage replacement for established “clearinghouse" or “captive and shopper" pricing models: second-stage retail prices are constrained by first-stage list prices. In contrast to the mixed-strategy equilibria of single-stage games, a unique profile of distinct prices is supported by the play of pure strategies along the equilibrium path, and so we predict stable price dispersion. We find novel results in applications to models of sales, product prominence, advertising, and consumer search.