Implicit yardstick competition between heating monopolies in urban areas: Theory and evidence from Sweden
研究了多个地方垄断企业间因消费者比较价格而产生的隐性标尺竞争机制，利用瑞典未受监管的区域供热企业数据，发现邻居价格对自身定价有显著约束作用。
This article examines a novel regulatory mechanism in a setting with multiple local monopolists. The mechanism rests upon the behavioral assumption that cus- tomers form opinions about prices by comparing them with prices set by nearby mo- nopolies and that this comparison influences their behavior. In this way, an “implicit yardstick competition” emerges among monopolists although they do not operate in the same markets. We test this mechanism using a unique dataset of unregulated district heating monopolists in Sweden. We find a large effect of neighbors’ prices, which indicates that the implicit yardstick competition has a considerable disciplin- ing effect on monopolies’ pricing behavior.