(Translated by https://www.hiragana.jp/)
Attribute Dependence and the Provision of Quality
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/1635.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Attribute Dependence and the Provision of Quality

Author

Listed:
  • Degryse, Hans
  • Irmen, Andreas

Abstract

A quality improvement often necessitates modifications of varietal product features. This paper studies firms’ incentives to provide quality when this decision affects the goods’ degree of horizontal differentiation. Intuitively, one is inclined to argue that private incentives to provide quality are insufficient relative to the social optimum if a quality improvement reduces horizontal differentiation. We find that this argument depends on whether the game is simultaneous or sequential. In the former case private incentives prove excessive relative to the social optimum, and in the latter case, insufficient. As a result, a regulator might want to impose either minimum or maximum quality standards.

Suggested Citation

  • Degryse, Hans & Irmen, Andreas, 1997. "Attribute Dependence and the Provision of Quality," CEPR Discussion Papers 1635, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:1635
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=1635
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Crampes, Claude & Hollander, Abraham, 1995. "Duopoly and quality standards," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 71-82, January.
    2. Thomas von Ungern-Sternberg, 1988. "Monopolistic Competition and General Purpose Products," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 55(2), pages 231-246.
    3. Dos Santos Ferreira, Rodolphe & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 1996. "Horizontal and vertical differentiation: The Launhardt model," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 485-506, June.
    4. Matutes, Carmen & Padilla, A. Jorge, 1994. "Shared ATM networks and banking competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 1113-1138, May.
    5. repec:bla:jindec:v:45:y:1997:i:3:p:305-28 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Irmen, Andreas & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 1998. "Competition in Multi-characteristics Spaces: Hotelling Was Almost Right," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 76-102, January.
    7. Marcel Canoy & Martin Peitz, 1997. "The Differentiation Triangle," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 305-328, September.
    8. Bouckaert, Jan & Degryse, Hans, 1995. "Phonebanking," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 229-244, February.
    9. Fudenberg, Drew & Tirole, Jean, 1984. "The Fat-Cat Effect, the Puppy-Dog Ploy, and the Lean and Hungry Look," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(2), pages 361-366, May.
    10. Mussa, Michael & Rosen, Sherwin, 1978. "Monopoly and product quality," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 301-317, August.
    11. Economides, Nicholas, 1989. "Quality variations and maximal variety differentiation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 21-29, February.
    12. Degryse, Hans, 1996. "On the Interaction between Vertical and Horizontal Product Differentiation: An Application to Banking," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 169-186, June.
    13. Uri Ronnen, 1991. "Minimum Quality Standards, Fixed Costs, and Competition," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 22(4), pages 490-504, Winter.
    14. Hans Degryse & Andreas Irmen, 2001. "On the incentives to provide fuel-efficient automobiles," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 149-165, June.
    15. Nils‐Henrik M. von der Fehr & Kristin Stevik, 1998. "Persuasive Advertising and Product Differentiation," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(1), pages 113-126, July.
    16. Neven, D. & Thisse, J-F., 1989. "On Quality And Variety Competition," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 1989020, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    17. Tabuchi, Takatoshi, 1994. "Two-stage two-dimensional spatial competition between two firms," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 207-227, April.
    18. A. Michael Spence, 1975. "Monopoly, Quality, and Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 6(2), pages 417-429, Autumn.
    19. Mark B. Vandenbosch & Charles B. Weinberg, 1995. "Product and Price Competition in a Two-Dimensional Vertical Differentiation Model," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 224-249.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Brekke, Kurt R. & Siciliani, Luigi & Straume, Odd Rune, 2010. "Price and quality in spatial competition," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 471-480, November.
    2. Yan, Yingchen & Zhao, Qiuhong & Qin, Zhongfeng & Sun, Gaoji, 2022. "Integration of development and advertising strategies for multi-attribute products under competition," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 300(2), pages 490-503.
    3. Jean-Luc Demeulemeester & Olivier Debande, 2008. "Quality and Variety Competition in Higher Education," Working Papers 08-10, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC).
    4. Barigozzi, Francesca & Ma, Ching-to Albert, 2018. "Product differentiation with multiple qualities," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 380-412.
    5. Matsumura, Toshihiro & Matsushima, Noriaki, 2007. "Congestion-reducing investments and economic welfare in a Hotelling model," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 161-167, August.
    6. Hans Degryse & Andreas Irmen, 2001. "On the incentives to provide fuel-efficient automobiles," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 149-165, June.
    7. José A. Novo‐Peteiro, 2023. "Product design with attribute dependence," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 91(4), pages 361-385, July.
    8. Dorothée Brécard, 2017. "Consumer misperception of eco-labels, green market structure and welfare," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 340-364, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrea Mangani & Paolo Patelli, 2002. "The Max-Min Principle of Product Differentiation: An Experimental Analysis," LEM Papers Series 2002/05, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    2. Garella, Paolo G. & Lambertini, Luca, 2014. "Bidimensional vertical differentiation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 1-10.
    3. José A. Novo-Peteiro, 2020. "Two-dimensional vertical differentiation with attribute dependence," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 149-180, October.
    4. Olivier Debande & Jean Luc De Meulemeester, 2008. "Quality and variety competition in higher education," DULBEA Working Papers 08-12.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    5. Hans Degryse & Andreas Irmen, 2001. "On the incentives to provide fuel-efficient automobiles," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 149-165, June.
    6. P. G. Garella & L. Lambertini, 2008. "Bidimensional quality competition and scope economies," Working Papers 653, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    7. Lutz, Stefan, 1998. "Can taxing foreign competition harm the domestic industry?," ZEI Working Papers B 15-1998, University of Bonn, ZEI - Center for European Integration Studies.
    8. Heski Bar-Isaac & Guillermo Caruana & Vicente Cuñat, 2023. "Targeted Product Design," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 157-186, May.
    9. Barigozzi, Francesca & Ma, Ching-to Albert, 2018. "Product differentiation with multiple qualities," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 380-412.
    10. Takatoshi Tabuchi, 2009. "Hotelling's Spatial Competition Reconsidered," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-674, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    11. Lutz, Stefan H., 2002. "The Effects of Quotas on Vertical Intra-Industry Trade," ZEW Discussion Papers 02-61, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    12. Crampes, Claude & Hollander, Abraham, 1995. "Duopoly and quality standards," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 71-82, January.
    13. Laurent Reynald-Alexandre, 2006. "Choice of new attributes in the 'Elimination by Aspects' duopoly," Working Papers halshs-00590311, HAL.
    14. Manez, J.A. & Waterson, M., 2001. "Multiproduct Firms and Product Differentiation: a Survey," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 594, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    15. Subhadip Chakrabarti & Hans Haller, 2011. "An Analysis Of Advertising Wars," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 79(1), pages 100-124, January.
    16. G. Ecchia & L. Lambertini, 1997. "Full vs Partial Market Coverage with Minimum Quality Standards," Working Papers 285, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    17. Dos Santos Ferreira, Rodolphe & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 1996. "Horizontal and vertical differentiation: The Launhardt model," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 485-506, June.
    18. Mantovani, Andrea & Tarola, Ornella & Vergari, Cecilia, 2016. "Hedonic and environmental quality: A hybrid model of product differentiation," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 99-123.
    19. Scatasta, Sara & Wesseler, Justus & Hobbs, Jill E., 2005. "The Impact of Labeling Practices on Perceived Quality of GM Food Products: A Revealed Preferences Approach," 2005 International Congress, August 23-27, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark 24599, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. S Lutz, 2005. "Can a Tariff on Foreign Competition Harm the Domestic Industry?," Economics Discussion Paper Series 0510, Economics, The University of Manchester.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Competitive Positioning; Multi-dimensional product differentiation; Quality Standards;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:1635. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.