Competition in or for the Field: Which is Better?
Yale University of Economic Growth Center Discussion Paper No. 844
1 Pages Posted: 15 Apr 2002 Last revised: 27 Feb 2011
There are 2 versions of this paper
Competition in or for the Field: Which is Better?
Competition in or for the Field: Which is Better?
Date Written: July 1, 2007
Abstract
A principal, who wants prices to be as lowas possible, contracts with agents who would like to charge the monopoly price. The principal chooses between a Demsetz auction, which awards an exclusive contract to the agent bidding the lowest price (competition for the field) and having two agents provide the good under (imperfectly) competitive conditions (competition in the field). We obtain a simple sufficient condition showing unambiguously which option is best. The condition depends only on the shapes of the surplus function of the principal and the profit function of agents, and is independent of the particular duopoly game played ex post. We apply this condition to three canonical examples -- procurement, royalty contracts and dealerships -- and find that whenever marginal revenue for the final good is decreasing in the quantity sold, the principal prefers a Demsetz auction. Moreover, a planner who wants to maximize social surplus also prefers a Demsetz auction.
Keywords: Demsetz auction, Double marginalization, Franchising, Joint vs. separate auctions, Monopoly, Procurement, Dealerships, Royalty contracts
JEL Classification: D44, L12, L92
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation