Document de travail

A Leverage Theory of Tying in Two-Sided Markets

Jay Pil Choi et Doh-Shin Jeon

Résumé

Partly motivated by the recent antitrust investigations concerning Google, we develop a leverage theory of tying in two-sided markets. We analyze incentives for a monopolist to tie its monopolized product with another product in a two-sided market. Tying provides a mechanism to circumvent the non-negative price constraint in the tied product market without inviting an aggressive response as the rival firm faces the non-negative price constraint. We identify conditions under which tying in two-sided markets is profitable and explore its welfare implications. Our mechanism can be more widely applied to any markets in which sales to consumers in one market can generate additional revenues that cannot be competed away due to non-negative price constraints.

Mots-clés

Tying; Leverage of monopoly power; Two-sided markets; Zero pricing; Non-negative pricing constraint;

Codes JEL

  • D4: Market Structure and Pricing
  • L1: Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
  • L5: Regulation and Industrial Policy

Remplacé par

Doh-Shin Jeon et Jay Pil Choi, « A Leverage Theory of Tying in Two-sided Markets with Non-Negative Price Constraints », American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, vol. 13, n° 1, février 2021, p. 283–337.

Référence

Jay Pil Choi et Doh-Shin Jeon, « A Leverage Theory of Tying in Two-Sided Markets », TSE Working Paper, n° 16-689, septembre 2016, révision octobre 2019.

Voir aussi

Publié dans

TSE Working Paper, n° 16-689, septembre 2016, révision octobre 2019