Making Sense of Nonbinding Retail-Price Recommendations
研究了制造商向零售商提供的非约束性零售价格建议如何作为沟通工具，在重复交易中通过关系契约传递成本与需求信息，以最大化联合剩余。
We model retail-price recommendations (RPRs) as a communication device in vertical supply relations with private manufacturer information on production costs and consumer demand. With static trade, RPRs are irrelevant, and the equilibrium outcome is inefficient. With repeated trade, RPRs can become part of a relational contract, communicating private information from manufacturer to retailer that is indispensable for maximizing joint surplus. We show that this contract is self-enforcing if the retailer's profit is independent of production costs and punishment strategies are chosen appropriately. The predictions of our analysis are consistent with the available empirical evidence.