Essays in industrial organisation

• Autores: Akhil Ilango
• Directores de la Tesis: Sandro Shelegia (dir. tes.), Rosa Ferrer Zarzuela (dir. tes.)
• Lectura: En la Universitat Pompeu Fabra ( España ) en 2023
• Idioma: español
• Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Tomaso Duso (presid.), Andrew Rhodes (secret.), Amedeo Piolatto (voc.)
• Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Economía, Finanzas y Empresa por la Universidad Pompeu Fabra
• Materias:
  • Ciencias económicas
• Enlaces
  • Tesis en acceso abierto en: TDX
• Resumen
  • català

    Aquesta tesi conté tres capítols,cadascun desenvolupant una teoria i proporcionant proves sobre determinants únics i nous dels resultats de les empreses en les economies emergents i desenvolupades del segle 21. El primer capÃtol examina com els anuncis patrocinats en els mercats digitals afecten la concentració del mercat de productes, a través dels seus efectes sobre els preus i el comportament dels consumidors de les empreses. Desenvolupa una teoria del mercat de la publicitat en línia i proporciona proves d’una gran plataforma digital als EUA. El segon capítol examina el paper de les xarxes ètniques en la determinació de la demanda de productes i, posteriorment, els resultats de les empreses i la productivitat agregada de l’economia. Desenvolupa una teoria dels vincles consumidor-empresa basats en castes en la demanda de productes i proporciona proves de l’Índia rural. El tercer capítol examina com les empreses i els grups d’interès gestionen la seva reputació a través del lobbying. Desenvolupa una teoria de com la reputació afecta l’abast del lobby sobre els responsables polítics i proporciona proves dels lobbys estrangers als EUA.

  • English

    What are the forces that determine firms¿ outcomes? This is a question that has occupied economists and entrepreneurs for centuries. This thesis contains three chapters, each developing a theory on a unique and novel force that determine firms¿ outcomes in the 21st century, and providing evidence from emerging and developed economies.

    The first chapter examines the digital search advertising market. I develop a theory of digital markets where an intermediary provides a platform for firms to advertise their product and where consumers need to engage in costly search if they want to learn more about the product characteristics. I show that the pass-through from ad commissions to product prices is higher for the less prominent firm, thus putting it at a competitive disadvantage. In equilibrium, these asymmetries in commission pass-through lead to lower competition, consumer surplus and total transactions in the product market. I provide novel supporting evidence from clickstream data on a large platform in the US. These results contribute to the ongoing policy discussions on the effect of dominant digital platforms on product market concentration.

    The second chapter examines distortions in product demand, due to identity. We study this topic using unique data on caste-wise demand and firm performance from rural India. We show that consumers from historically disadvantaged communities (LC) are income-constrained. And since LC firms¿ demand is tied to LC households¿ consumption, these firms also suffer from stunted growth, thus hampering the aggregate productivity of the economy. We rationalize these observations using a framework of heterogeneous working-capital constraints for firms. These results suggest that, in the short run, input misallocation and stunted growth for firms are caused by limited demand, rather than the other way around.

    The third chapter examines reputation, lobbying, and adaptive strategies. We study this topic using unique data on the public speeches and foreign lobbying contacts of U.S. legislators. We find that when external events tarnish a foreign country¿s reputation, legislators with prior connections to that country¿s entities publicly distance themselves from it through their speeches, while, on the contrary, meeting more often with its lobbyists. These results suggest that legislators and interest groups navigate crises by strategically decoupling the public and private dimensions of their collaboration.