Seminar

Past

Vertical Integration and Consumer Choice: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Alexander Mackay

  • Date4 May 2026
  • Time 14h15 - 15h30
  • Room Auditorium 4

Abstract

Digital platforms offer consumers vertically integrated products alongside third-party alternatives. Using a field experiment that hides Amazon brands, we quantify the impacts of vertical integration—through both the availability of private labels and their placement in search results. In their absence, consumers choose similar products with no increase in search effort or cross-platform substitution. Yet some consumers prefer Amazon brands, and removing these products reduces consumer welfare by 5.5 percent. Contrary to concerns about self-preferencing, demoting Amazon brands in search results does not increase welfare, as heterogeneous preferences make their prominent placement valuable to a meaningful share of consumers.

Other seminars

To be announced

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  • Industrial Organization seminar

  • Date 7 December 2026

  • Place Auditorium 4

  • Speaker or organiser Teck Yong Tan (University of Rochester)

Details

To be announced

  • Seminar

  • Industrial Organization seminar

  • Date 16 November 2026

  • Place Auditorium 4

  • Speaker or organiser Sandro Shelegia (University of Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona)

Details

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  • Date 9 November 2026

  • Place Auditorium 4

  • Speaker or organiser Kathy Yuan

Details