Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
轴辐式合谋与第三方定价算法
Hub‐and‐Spoke Collusion With a Third‐Party Pricing Algorithm
摘要
A data analytics company delivers an efficiency by supplying a pricing algorithm that allows prices to more effectively respond to demand variation. In this setting, I consider a new form of hub-and-spoke collusion: A data analytics company (hub) coordinates the prices of competitors (spokes) through its pricing algorithm. A novel finding is that the data analytics company's efficiency is a facilitating factor for collusion; a rise in this efficiency increases the supracompetitive markup and the incremental profit from collusion. Thus, markets in which a third party's services are solidly grounded in efficiency still warrant scrutiny by competition authorities because they are more prone to the emergence of collusion and anticompetitive harm.
中文摘要
一家数据分析公司通过提供定价算法来提升效率，使价格能更有效地响应需求变化。在此背景下，我探讨了一种新型的轴辐式合谋形式：数据分析公司（轴心）通过其定价算法协调竞争对手（辐条）的价格。一个新颖的发现是，数据分析公司的效率是促进合谋的因素；这种效率的提升会增加超竞争加成和合谋带来的增量利润。因此，即使第三方服务基于坚实的效率基础，市场仍应受到竞争当局的审查，因为这些市场更易出现合谋和反竞争损害。