Efficiencies Brewed: Pricing and Consolidation in the U.S. Beer Industry / Orley C. Ashenfelter, Daniel Hosken, Matthew C. Weinberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ashenfelter, Orley C.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Hosken, Daniel.

Weinberg, Matthew C.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w19353.

NBER working paper series no. w19353

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Efficiencies Brewed

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2013.

Summary:

Merger efficiencies provide the primary justification for why mergers of competitors may benefit consumers. Surprisingly, there is little evidence that efficiencies can offset incentives to raise prices following mergers. We estimate the effects of increased concentration and efficiencies on pricing by using panel scanner data and geographic variation in how the merger of Miller and Coors breweries was expected to increase concentration and reduce costs. All else equal, the average predicted increase in concentration lead to price increases of two percent, but at the mean this was offset by a nearly equal and opposite efficiency effect.

Notes:

Print version record

August 2013.