They Played the Merger Game: A Retrospective Analysis in the UK Videogames Market

Aguzzoni, Luca ; Argentesi, Elena ; Buccirossi, Paolo ; Ciari, Lorenzo ; Duso, Tomaso ; Tognoni, Massimo ; Vitale, Cristiana (2013) They Played the Merger Game: A Retrospective Analysis in the UK Videogames Market. Bologna: Dipartimento di Scienze economiche DSE, p. 44. DOI 10.6092/unibo/amsacta/3836. In: Quaderni - Working Paper DSE (908). ISSN 2282-6483.
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Abstract

We study the effect of a merger in a dynamic high-technology industry–the videogame market– which is characterized by frequent introduction of new products. To assess the impact of the merger between two large specialist retailers in the UK, we perform a difference-in-differences analysis comparing the price evolution of the merging parties to that of their 7 major competitors on an original sample of 196 videogames belonging to six different consoles. The results of our econometric analyses suggest that there has been a reduction in the general level of prices of both new and pre-owned games after the merger. This decline has been more marked for the merging parties, which suggests that the merger between Game and Gamestation did not lead to a substantial lessening of competition; rather it is consistent with the existence of efficiency gains.

Abstract
Document type
Monograph (Working Paper)
Creators
CreatorsAffiliationORCID
Aguzzoni, Luca
Argentesi, Elena
Buccirossi, Paolo
Ciari, Lorenzo
Duso, Tomaso
Tognoni, Massimo
Vitale, Cristiana
Keywords
Mergers, Ex-post Evaluation, Videogames market, Retail sector
Subjects
ISSN
2282-6483
DOI
Deposit date
07 Oct 2013 13:44
Last modified
10 Feb 2014 10:25
URI

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