期刊-NBER美国国民经济研究局-Fall1997_1_28页_2mb

NBER Reporter Summary - Fall 1997

Core Content

The NBER Reporter for Fall 1997 provides an overview of the NBER Program in Industrial Organization (IO) and highlights key research areas, including market restructuring, pricing behavior, differentiated products markets, firm internal organization, vertical integration, and auction markets. The report also includes a brief summary on the evolution of retirement in the U.S.

Main Research Themes in Industrial Organization

1. Deregulation, Restructuring, and Market Design

• Electricity Markets: The U.K. electricity market has been restructured, moving from a regulated natural monopoly to a competitive market. NBER researchers have studied the implications of this change, particularly the behavior of dominant firms and the role of auction mechanisms.

  • Catherine Wolfram analyzes the pricing behavior of generating firms in the U.K. electricity market and finds that they do not fully exploit their market power.
  • Frank Wolak and Robert Patrick examine the impact of capacity payment rules on generator profits and suggest that strategic manipulation of capacity is a key mechanism for profitability.

• U.S. Electricity Market: Restructuring is in its early stages, with states like California and New England moving toward more market-based systems.

  • Matthew White investigates the political and economic factors influencing the timing and intensity of deregulation across states.

2. Pricing and the Exercise of Market Power

• Gasoline Market: Research by Severin Borenstein and colleagues shows that gasoline retailers exercise short-run market power, and price patterns align with models of sustainable price collusion.
• Supermarket Pricing: Judith Chevalier and David Scharfstein develop a model where liquidity constraints can lead to countercyclical pricing.
• Medicaid Reimbursements: Fiona Scott Morton analyzes how a "Most Favored Customer" clause in 1990 legislation may have coordinated price increases among pharmaceutical firms.
• Airline Pricing: Studies by Borenstein and Rose suggest that bankrupt airlines do not harm their healthier rivals, and that price dispersion is influenced by competitive price discrimination.

3. Differentiated Products Markets

• Automobile Industry: Steven Berry, James Levinsohn, and Ariel Pakes develop structural models to analyze pricing and market power in the U.S. auto industry.
• Personal Computers: Timothy Bresnahan, Scott Stern, and Manuel Trajtenberg explore product differentiation and sources of rents in the PC market.
• New Goods: The NBER volume The Economics of New Goods (edited by Bresnahan and Gordon) compiles significant research on new product markets.

4. Internal Organization of Firms

• Mutual Fund Management: Judith Chevalier and Glenn Ellison use data on fund performance and compensation to analyze managerial risk-taking and its relation to incentive structures.
• CEO Compensation: Andrea Shepard and Rose investigate whether CEO pay premiums are due to managerial ability or entrenchment. They find that diversified firms pay more, but incumbent CEOs who diversify earn less.
• Regulatory Constraints: Paul Joskow, Rose, and Shepard examine how regulatory and political factors influence CEO pay and firm performance.

5. Vertical Organization of Firms

• Vertical Integration: Researchers explore whether vertical integration is driven by market power or efficiency.
  • Douglas Bernheim and Michael Whinston analyze exclusive dealing contracts.
  • Wallace and Joseph Mullin study the U.S. Steel lease of iron ore properties, suggesting it was an efficient contractual arrangement.
  • Franchising: Francine Lafontaine investigates the motives behind franchising and the role of contracts in solving principal-agent problems, particularly in the fast-food industry.

6. Auction Markets

• Government Auctions: NBER researchers have studied the design and performance of auctions used for selling Treasury bills, allocating property rights, and setting prices in deregulated markets.
• Strategic Bidding: Catherine Wolfram analyzes multi-unit auctions in the U.K. electricity market, showing how bid behavior affects pricing.
• Bid Rigging: Robert Porter and Douglas Zona develop statistical methods to detect bid rigging in procurement auctions.
• Sulfur Dioxide Emissions: Paul Joskow, Richard Schmalensee, and Elizabeth Bailey examine the efficiency of alternative trading mechanisms in the sulfur dioxide permit market.

Key Information

• The NBER Program in Industrial Organization focuses on applied economic research related to firm behavior, market structures, and government regulation.
• The last decade has seen significant changes in market structures, including deregulation and the shift to market-based institutions.
• Researchers have developed new databases and microeconometric techniques to analyze pricing, market power, and firm organization.
• The evolution of retirement in the U.S. is marked by increasing life expectancy and earlier exits from the labor force, particularly among men.

Summary of Research Findings

• Market Restructuring: Deregulation has led to more competition, but dominant firms still exert influence through strategic pricing and capacity manipulation.
• Pricing Behavior: Firms in various sectors, including airlines and gasoline, exhibit market power and strategic pricing.
• Differentiated Products: Structural models and empirical data help understand pricing and market outcomes in industries like automobiles and PCs.
• Firm Organization: Internal structures and CEO compensation are influenced by both managerial ability and regulatory constraints.
• Vertical Integration: Vertical linkages may reflect efficiency rather than market power, and contracts can help coordinate firm behavior.
• Auctions: Auction design, bidder behavior, and performance are critical areas of study, with applications in both public and private markets.

Additional Information

• The NBER provides access to over 5000 working papers, books, and databases.
• The NBER Project on Industrial Technology and Productivity combines traditional data with direct firm access to study productivity and efficiency.
• The Reporter is not copyrighted and can be freely reproduced with proper attribution.