PRICING POLICY REACTIONS TO AGGLOMERATION IN A MARKET WITH SPATIAL SEARCH*
研究在消费者信息不完全且进行空间搜索的市场中，孤立企业如何通过定价策略应对竞争对手的集聚，发现空间和时间价格分散是有效策略，但效果因市场条件而异。
ABSTRACT. Price dispersion (variation) and agglomeration are common characteristics of spatial markets, in particular, markets with imperfect consumer information and search. However, pricing and location strategies in these markets are not well analyzed since spatial search is difficult to model without restricting the spatial dimension of the problem. This paper analyzes pricing and location strategies in a market with spatid search using a probabilistic modeling strategy that does not restrict search patterns in the plane. Specifically, the analysis considers the pricing strategy of an isolated firm in response to the agglomeration of competing firms. Results indicate that spatial and temporal price dispersion are effective responses to competitors'agglomeration. However, the relative effectiveness of these strategies varies with market conditions. In addition, agglomeration can have some counterintuitive effects. This paper also provides insights into existing theories of spatial search and spatial competition in spatially‐restricted (linear and circular) markets.