Multimarket Contact and Intensity of Competition: Evidence from an Airline Merger

Volodymyr Bilotkach

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

48 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between multimarket contact (MMC) and the intensity of competition. We take advantage of a recent merger, which altered the extent of MMC throughout the US airline industry, to understand the nature of MMC’s impact on the airlines’ frequency of service. Evidence that non-price effects of MMC are a part of the longer-term industry equilibrium is not robust. However, we observe that following the merger the market players started taking the degree of MMC into account in making their frequency decisions in line with the ‘mutual forbearance’ hypothesis; however, the effect showed signs of diminishing over time. Our results have implications for merger evaluation in industries where consolidation may lead to a higher extent of multimarket contact.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)95-115
JournalReview of Industrial Organization
Volume38
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011

Keywords

  • airline industry
  • mergers
  • multimarket contact
  • product quality

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