Let me inform you of the following research seminar.

Date: July 10 (Thu.)  , 2025 
Time:5:20PM -6:50PM
Venue: 11th Floor, Bldg.No.2 Meeting Room B
Speaker: Ryuki Kobayashi   (Keio University) 
Organizer: Takuya Hasebe
Language: Japanese

Title:
Market Power, Efficiency, and Upstream Effects: Disentangling Multiple Merger Effects on Retail Gasoline Price
Abstract:
This study examines the market power and efficiency effects of a merger on retail prices in an industry characterized by vertical relationships. As a case study, we analyze the largescale merger between vertically integrated petroleum firms in Japan. Leveraging geographical variation across local markets, we employ a difference-in-differences approach. The results suggest that the market power effect increased retail gasoline prices, while the efficiency effect did not lead to a significant price reduction. Moreover, the market power effect was more pronounced in markets with independent retailers, where the merging firm had both the incentive and the ability to adopt a raising rivals’ costs strategy. These findings suggest that vertical industry structures can exacerbate anti-competitive effects in downstream markets.