Northwestern Events Calendar

Oct
9
2023

Industrial Organization Grad Student Seminar

When: Monday, October 9, 2023
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CT

Where: Kellogg Global Hub, 3301, 2211 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208 map it

Audience: Faculty/Staff - Post Docs/Docs - Graduate Students

Contact: Mariya Acherkan   (847) 491-5213

Group: Department of Economics: Industrial Organization Lunch

Category: Academic

Description:

Speaker: Jin Yang

Title: Bargaining and Competition in the US Freight Rail Industry

Abstract: I study the US Freight Rail Industry, where both standard posted prices and privately negotiated contract prices are prevalently used. I document key facts about railroad competition under the two pricing mechanisms: contract prices are much more responsive to competition than posted prices, and the exact effects depend on specific local market structures. Drawing from these observations and the institutional background, I develop a two-stage bargaining and shipment demand model. Each shipper first simultaneously bargains with all available railroads, who use posted prices as their reserve prices and bid against each other in contract negotiation. In the second stage, the shipper exclusively trades with the winning railroad to fulfill all her shipment demand. Compared to the literature, my model highlights the role of buyer's preference heterogeneity and sellers' competitiveness in endogenously shaping the bargaining power.
 

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