Minimum Quality Standards and Collusion
研究了在垂直差异化双寡头市场中引入最低质量标准的影响，发现社会福利最大化会改变消费者剩余分配，且当消费者足够富裕时，该标准会阻碍企业合谋。
We model the introduction of a minimum quality standard in a vertically differentiated duopoly. We extend the literature by determining the standard endogenously, showing that the maximisation of social welfare entails an increase in the surplus accruing to consumers served by the low quality firm and a decrease in the surplus of the remaining consumers. Then, we consider the effects of the standard on the stability of price collusion, proving that the standard makes it more difficult for firms to collude if consumers are sufficiently rich.