Ronayne, David (2015) Price comparison websites. Working Paper. Coventry: University of Warwick. Department of Economics. Warwick economics research papers series (WERPS) (Number 1056 (version 4)). (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The large and growing industry of price comparison websites (PCWs) or ‘web aggregators’ is poised to benefit consumers by increasing competitive pricing pressure on firms by acquainting shoppers with more prices. However, these sites also charge firms for sales, which feeds back to raise prices. I investigate the impact of introducing PCWs to a market for a homogeneous good. I find that introducing a single PCW increases prices for all consumers, both shoppers and non-shoppers. More generally, in the most profitable equilibrium for competing PCWs, prices tend to rise with the number of PCWs. (JEL: L11, L86, D43)

Item Type:	Working or Discussion Paper (Working Paper)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Prices, Internet marketing
Series Name:	Warwick economics research papers series (WERPS)
Publisher:	University of Warwick. Department of Economics
Place of Publication:	Coventry
ISSN:	2059-4283
Official Date:	October 2015
Dates:	Date Event October 2015 Available 7 October 2015 Modified June 2015 Modified January 2015 Created
Number:	Number 1056 (version 4)
Number of Pages:	46
Status:	Not Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access

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