Re: Non-Price Effects

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

One area of jurisprudence are product fixing cases.   DOJ has brought actions
where it was alledged that firms consired to limit features or innovations.
Jamie

rlande@UBmail.ubalt.edu wrote:

> I am doing some research in the area of non-price competition.  I am
> interested in cases where a monopoly or cartel might find it more
> advantageous to lower product quality or restrict product variety
> than to raise price.
>
> (One case that might fit this involved a macaroni cartel that decided to
> lower quality rather than raise price.  I do not recall why - perhaps
> the lowered quality was less visible and therefore less detectable, or
> perhaps it was less likely to lead to significantly lower sales than would
> higher macaroni prices.)
>
> Does anyone know of any other cases where this has happened, or any
> economic literature indicating when this type of behavior might
> occur?
>
> Thank you,
> Bob Lande