Market Structure Research Articles

Competition vs cooperation: An agent based model for sustainable tomatoes’ import system

Food systems are dominated by multiple risks inflicted by their surrounding environments that pose pressures on the continuous and efficient supply of food products. Market dynamics represented by competitive and cooperative behaviors of the system's main players is one of the uncertainties that influence the availability and affordability of food products. Efficient modeling of these risks can assist decision-makers in simulating and predicting future actions that mitigate the impact that market dynamics have on the provision of food products. This paper suggests an Agent-based model-based framework that simulates the behavior and tracks the economic and environmental performances of the tomato supply system in the State of Qatar. It considers three different scenarios representing the current situation of the market in addition to a competitive and a cooperative trade network. Interactions between trade partners are modeled using two game theoretic approaches counting Cournot competition and Cartel collusion. Based on the research findings, a competitive global market can bring economic benefits to Qatar as an importing nation, but this approach also entails substantial water consumption and results in significant environmental emissions. Conversely, collaboration among exporting countries demonstrates a potential 20% reduction in water usage and a 15% decrease in environmental emissions compared to the competitive scenario, offering enhanced environmental performance albeit at higher economic costs. This study provides a prescriptive analysis that enables policymakers to quantify the trade-offs between economic efficiency and environmental sustainability. These insights are crucial for guiding strategic planning for food supply security and environmental conservation. By understanding the implications of market structure changes, policymakers can navigate potential challenges more effectively and develop targeted policy interventions that enhance the resilience of the food supply system against market volatility and environmental impacts. This analysis supports proactive policy-shaping that aligns with their desired outcomes, ensuring a balanced approach to managing economic benefits and environmental considerations.

GEOPOLITICS OF ENERGY RESOURCES: RECONSIDERING SECURITY AT THE GLOBAL LEVEL

The article analyses the impact of the russian-Ukrainian war on global energy markets as a trigger for rethinking the general context of energy security. Based on the latest scientific research, the author considers energy security issues' shifting from isolated aspects such as supply chain stability to an integrated geoeconomic approach. The article presents the factors that caused the national subjects' volatility regarding energy security depending on the energy market structure, relations between consumers and producers, supply and demand trends, technological changes, and readiness for potential energy supply crises or price shocks. The author's special attention is focused on the ties between energy resources and the military dimension, namely: 1) energy militarization as a cause of military actions; 2) energy resources as a secondary element of war; 3) energy profits as a source of financing armed conflicts. Against the background of increased strategic competition, most countries are leaning towards alternative spaces for developing joint political decisions, such as the friend-shoring concept, which signals a new form of protectionism for geopolitical reasons and the formation of potential chokepoints in supply chains. However, a transnational energy platform can catalyse the synergistic potential of allies, reduce security risks, and minimize supply disruptions due to political and economic influences. The success of a full-fledged launch of a transnational platform on energy security will depend on attractiveness strategies for "resourceful" but politically neutral countries; unification of production standards between participants; and the degree of reducing supply chain vulnerability relative to the participation costs.

Global inflation: modern determinism and challenges for policy

The article studies global inflation determinants, causing it in recent decades and at the present stage under the influence of cascading shocks in world economy and financial system. The relevance of the problems summarized and analyzed in the article is explained by the significant risks of the inflation duration at the present stage, which is affected by an increasing number of shocks from demand, supply, and global financial system. In these conditions, even adaptive monetary policy may cease to be effective. The purpose of the study is to assess the nature and extent of developed and developing countries’ economies vulnerability due to inflationary shocks and to identify the inflation fundamental determinants in crisis conditions on the basis of retrospective analysis. Achievement of the goal implied the solution of such priority tasks as: global inflation dynamics factors identification considering the risks of stagflationary and recessionary trends in world economy; inflation new determinants identification in the context of changes in the scale and structure of the global financial market; assessment of monetary policy adjustment and adaptation mechanisms in the current inflationary environment; consideration of the current nature of supply and demand shocks and their impact on global inflation. The current inflationary shock is unprecedented, and the study assesses it in its historical context and for its similarities and differences with significant inflation episodes observed in the post-war decades. The key factors of inflation at the present stage have been analyzed in their relationship with the monetary policy key trends.

Robots, gender economic opportunities and household adjustment: Evidence from China

Leveraging a unique historical instrumental variable—the first introduction of modern technology during China's Self-Strengthening Movement—this study utilizes macro / micro-level dataset to analyze how robotization affects gender economic opportunities and subsequent life-cycle transitions. The analysis indicates that (1) gender gaps in labor force participation, income and working hour declined significantly more in regions that introduced robots compared to other regions, increasing the relative economic status of women; (2) regions with higher robot exposure tend to experienced also a decline in marriage and childbirth, although no notable change in divorce was observed; (3) these patterns may attributable to enhanced status of women in the labor market, which in turn diminishes their satisfaction with economic and domestic contributions of men and leads to prioritizing career advancement over marriage and childbirth. Overall, our evidence shows that robots have a substantial impact on labor market structures, with potential spillover effects on a series of demographic behaviors.

Creation of Micro Market Structure in MSMEs in Review of Social Entrepreneurship Involvement, Government Policy and Empowerment

In order to better understand the role of social entrepreneurship, government policies, and empowerment initiatives, this study looks at how micromarket structure is created in micro, small, and medium-sized firms (MSMEs) in Indonesia. In order to conduct a survey with a stratified random sample of 215 Indonesian MSMEs, this study used a quantitative technique. Data analysis techniques included partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis. The findings demonstrate the important influence of social entrepreneurship, governmental policies, and empowerment programs on the evolution of micro-market structures within the MSME sector. Social entrepreneurship in particular shows the potential of creative and socially conscious business ideas and has a positive effect on market structure. While empowerment programs like loan availability and training help to create a competitive market structure, government policies also have a significant impact on how the market is shaped. Policymakers, business owners, and development organizations that want to support effective and long-lasting market networks in Indonesia's MSMEs sector should take note of these findings.

Legal Protection for Workers Receiving Wages below the Minimum Wage Provisions at the District/City Level Post the Job Creation Law

This research aims to analyze the legal protection for workers receiving wages below the minimum wage after the enactment of the Omnibus Law on Job Creation. With the regulatory changes, there is a potential decrease in the wage levels for workers at the district/city level. Therefore, this study seeks to delve into the impact of legislative changes on the rights and welfare of workers, particularly those affecting minimum wage standards. The research method employed is normative legal research, involving an analysis of relevant legislation and a literature review on the impact of the Omnibus Law on Job Creation on worker wages. The findings indicate that these regulatory changes have a significant impact on workers' rights, especially those receiving wages below the minimum standard. Furthermore, the study identifies several challenges in the legal protection of workers under minimum wage provisions, including the expansion of company authority in setting wages. Therefore, it is recommended to implement policy and regulatory improvements that prioritize the interests of workers to ensure adequate legal protection amid changes in the labor market structure. This research is expected to contribute to a deeper understanding of the changes in working conditions post-Omnibus Law on Job Creation and their implications for workers' rights. Consequently, constructive solutions are anticipated to enhance legal protection for workers receiving wages below the minimum wage at the district/city level.

Perspectives on challenges to bioenergy use in the EU

AbstractDespite bioenergy playing an important role in producing a significant amount of renewable energy in the EU, there are several differing views of its future role, as illustrated in the European Parliament and society more generally. The aim of this paper is to investigate the barriers to advancing bioenergy use and prospects for the future of bioenergy in the EU. Whereas previous studies have focused on specific aspects of EU bioenergy, such as market structure, technological considerations, and individual forms of bioenergy, this study provides results from a survey analyzing several factors that are inhibiting overall bioenergy development throughout the EU. The results show that, in general, the growth of bioenergy use in the EU can be expected to continue, although there are many issues that need to be addressed by society and through policy implementation. The most important of these issues include the relationship between the future role of the fossil fuel using industry and bioenergy, addressing the inadequate and currently confusing level of policy support, and responding to the perception of low public acceptance, reflected by pressure from some nongovernmental organizations to reduce the use of bioenergy. The study shows that biomass is not always the best option in economic terms, and other options such as heat pumps powered by green electricity or natural gas can be more financially attractive. To ensure the continuing development of the bioenergy field in the EU, it is important to increase local policy support for bioenergy, decrease imports of fossil fuels from non‐EU countries, increase investment in the bioenergy sector, and engage in effective and fact‐based education about, and promotion of, bioenergy.

Short- and long-term destination resilience in Wuhan, China under COVID-19: Differences in scenic spot type and origin market structure

Analyzing changes in destination resilience can inform critical but under-explored linkages characterizing disaster events and recovery. Based on web search data from 2011 to 2021, this study applied Tourism Background Trend Line (TBTL) modeling to calculate tourism resilience of 41 scenic spots in Wuhan, China under COVID-19. Existing government classifications and market demand data informed scenic spot categorization into three groups based on attraction type (cultural, leisure, natural) or domestic origin market structure (high, moderate and low dependence on the local market). Two-way ANOVAs tested differences in short- and long-term resilience among these different groups. Results indicate that scenic spots with low dependence on the local market were most resilient in the short-term (Jan–April 2020), while scenic spots with high dependence on the local market and natural scenic spots were most resilient in the long-term (May 2020–Dec 2021). Findings highlight heterogeneities in destination resilience at the micro-scale within a single destination, encouraging managers to develop targeted marketing strategies for various scenic spots at different stages of crises like COVID-19. The study's novel framework and implications also inform short-versus long-term resilience theory while accentuating destination recovery strategies in post-pandemic contexts.

ANALYSIS OF THE MARKET STRUCTURE OF HOSPITAL INDUSTRY IN INDONESIA

Background: Over the past decade, private investments in health care including hospital have grown significantly, more than doubling. As the number of hospitals in Indonesia increases, a competitive business environment develops. Identifying hospital market structure can help various stakeholders to optimize the hospital's performance. Aims: This study analyzed the market structure and concentration of the hospital industry in Indonesia. Methods: This study used hospital characteristics data from Ministry of Health of Indonesia that retrieved in October 2020. Market concentration is determined by the number of industry players operating in a market, the distribution of services, and the types of services offered. The hospital market concentration was identified by measuring the Concentration Ratio (CR) and the Herfindahl–Hirschman index (HHI). Results: The results showed that the market share of hospitals in Indonesia was still dominated by government hospitals, which represent 51.4% of the market share. The concentration ratio of four companies (CR4) remains <40, indicating that competition remains relatively open among private hospitals at the national level. Conclusion: Several cities have established hospital markets that are characterized by robust competition, whereas in other cities, the hospital industry remains oligopolistic or monopolistic. It is important to note, however, that this does not imply that the market structure is ineffective on account of competition; rather, it is the result of a scarcity of hospitals in a number of Indonesian cities. Keywords: Concentration ratio, Economic competition, Herfindahl–Hirschman Index, Hospital market

Cooperate or not? Strategic analysis of formal and informal recyclers under different retired power battery recycling market structures

The huge economic value of retired power battery recycling market has attracted participations of informal recyclers with recycling channel advantage and formal recyclers with environmental responsibility. Meanwhile, consumers’ preferences for recycling prices and channels have resulted in different recycling market structures. However, considering the possibility of their complementary advantages, research on the cooperation strategies between them under different market structures currently lacks. To address this gap, this paper constructs a Hotelling model consisting of a formal and an informal recycler to describe the informal recycler’s recycling channel advantage and the formal recycler’s environmental responsibility and to depict the possible recycling market structures. Under different market structures, how informal recycler’s recycling channel advantage and the formal recycler’s environmental responsibility shape their optimal decisions, economic and environmental performances are explored. In addition, whether the two members should cooperate through a wholesale-pricing contract and the threshold conditions of cooperation if should are investigated from perspectives of recycling, economic and environmental performances. The results show that under the market structure with no competition, when environmental responsibility cost is small enough, cooperation can achieve a “triple-win” outcome of the two members’ profits and environmental performance. Under the market structure with partial competition, whether cooperation can achieve a “triple-win” situation additionally depends on the unit environmental impact of the informal recycler’s recycling. Higher unit environmental impact of the informal recycler’s recycling and lower formal recycler’s environmental responsibility cost can bring “triple-win” prospect. This paper can enrich the theory of dual-channel recycling management and guide formal recyclers to better cooperate with informal recyclers to achieve economic and environmental synergy improvement.

Участники лизингового рынка в Российской Федерации

The main participants in the leasing market are lessors, lessees, and sellers. For them, the main advantages and disadvantages of leasing operations are analyzed. The structure of the leasing market is formed by lessors represented by leasing companies. For the ten largest leasing companies by volume of new business, the main indicators of their activities and the difficulties they face are analyzed.

Market Concentration, Price Dynamics, and Profitability in Indonesian Banking: An Empirical Investigation

This research delves into Indonesia’s banking sector’s competitive landscape, examining bank mergers’ effects on performance through the Structure Conduct and Performance (SCP) hypothesis. By reshaping market structure, bank mergers influence subsequent bank behavior and performance. The findings highlight a discernible pattern: an uptick in market concentration accompanies a decline in prices within the banking sector. This implies that mergers often yield economies of scale, enabling banks to offer more competitive rates. However, this reduction in prices directly impacts bank profitability. Moreover, the concentration ratio, a pivotal metric in market analysis, emerges as a significant gauge of industry competition. Serving as a structural measure of competition, the concentration ratio depicts the market share held by leading banks. Intriguingly, diminished competition, as indicated by higher concentration ratios, correlates with decreased profitability for banks operating within this framework. This exploration of Indonesia’s banking sector reveals a nuanced interplay between market structure, bank conduct, and overall performance. Through the SCP hypothesis, the study elucidates how seemingly routine bank mergers can trigger a cascade of effects, influencing market dynamics, profitability, and competitive positioning. Based on thorough analysis, the study furnishes strategic insights for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and the banking community, offering a comprehensive understanding of the ramifications of market shifts and guiding strategies to navigate Indonesia’s banking landscape adeptly.

Marketing Management and Online User Behavior: A Comprehensive Review and Prospects for Future Research

Over the past few years, digital technologies have exerted widespread influence on the business models, products, services, market structures, and consumer behavior of companies. This phenomenon has significantly enhanced the rejuvenation of relationships among companies, markets, and consumers, consequently impacting various marketing mix components. However, with today’s fiercely competitive digital landscape, understanding the evolution of research on digital marketing management and online users’ behavior, most influential studies as well as its interrelation with disciplines can provide valuable insights for e-business. Therefore, this study considered conducting a comprehensive review using a bibliometric technique for 282 high-quality papers collected from the Web of Science. The study uncovered that "user acceptance, user-generated content, quality and satisfaction, and planned behavior" received little attention. Thus, future research can examine them.

Key Informant Views of the Determinants of Child Labour Maltreatment.

(1) Background: The maltreatment of child labourers is a major public health concern. There is a dearth of research in Bangladesh on the intentional maltreatment of child labourers. This study explored the risk factors for the maltreatment of child labourers in rural Bangladesh based on the knowledge and understanding of experts; (2) Methods: Seventeen interviews were conducted with experts who were sampled using a purposeful approach. A thematic analysis was performed to analyse data using NVivo; (3) Results: Child labourers were exposed to maltreatment due to their demographic, their young age, dropping out of school, health complications, and excessive dependency on employers. Socio-cultural adversities such as corporal punishment practices, social stratification, and family disorganization pose risks of experiencing maltreatment. Economic poverty is also a factor. Child labourers were found to be victimized if they worked in violence prone sectors. Significantly, the unregulated market structure and the lack of monitoring has also led to the exploitation of children in the workplace. Gaps in public policies were also identified as risk factor for the maltreatment of child labourers; (4) Conclusion: There is a need for adequate evidence-based research on the determinants of the maltreatment of child labourers to formulate adequate policy.

Market Structures for Service Providers in Advanced Air Mobility

Proposed concepts of operations for advanced air mobility rely on private service providers being responsible for providing air traffic management services to uncrewed aircraft such as drones and autonomous air taxis. While such proposals are unprecedented in the aviation context, one can draw parallels to the Internet and the role played by Internet service providers in managing web traffic. A study of the evolution of the Internet illustrates that, without clear rules for cooperation around a nascent market, private profit motives incentivize against service provider cooperation, especially for traffic flows that traverse multiple regions managed by different service providers. To address this problem, we propose a profit-sharing mechanism based on the Shapley value that incentivizes service providers to cooperate. We show that this mechanism i) ensures that service providers route flights along globally optimal routes, and ii) encourages service providers to work together in providing more efficient routes. We study the allocation of sectors to service providers and show that different allocations can cause large differences in profit earned. Finally, we discuss some of the remaining challenges with having a federated network of private service providers supporting traffic management for advanced air mobility operations.

Should We Expect Merger Synergies to be Passed Through to Consumers?*

When reviewing horizontal mergers, antitrust agencies balance anticompetitive incentives, resulting from market power, with procompetitive incentives, created by efficiencies, assuming complete information and static, simultaneous move Nash equilibrium play. These models miss how a merged firm may prefer not to pass through efficiencies when rivals would respond by lowering their prices. We use an asymmetric information model, where rivals do not observe the size of the realized cost efficiency, to investigate how this incentive could affect post‐merger prices. We highlight how the strength of this incentive will depend on the market structure of non‐merging rivals and discuss alternative settings where similar issues arise.

Russia's transition to settlements in national currencies in the context of changes in the world monetary and financial system

Aim. To determine the background and prospects of the Russian Federation's (RF) transition to settlements in national currencies in the context of changes in the world monetary and financial system.Objectives. To analyze the current state of the currency market of the Russian Federation in terms of currency structure and main instruments; to identify the reasons for the transformation of the currency market of the Russian Federation; to characterize the prerequisites for the transition to settlements in national currencies in foreign trade; to assess the prospects of such a transition and its impact on the currency market of the Russian Federation in the context of the latest trends in the development of the global monetary and financial system.Methods. With the help of general methods of scientific cognition, graphical analysis the current state, dynamics and structure of the currency market of the Russian Federation in the conditions of sanctions are considered. In addition, the article assesses the background and prospects of the Russian Federation's transition to settlements in national currencies in view of the new trends in the development of the world monetary and financial system.Results. In 2022, after the economic sanctions against Russia were imposed, the state was forced to accelerate the process of transition to settlements in national currencies with major trading partners, and the domestic currency market underwent a significant transformation. In the conditions of digitalization of the financial sphere and the development of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) , the introduction of international settlements using the digital ruble seems to be a promising direction.Conclusions. The period after the sanctions against the Russian Federation were imposed (2022) is marked by significant changes in the domestic foreign exchange market, primarily associated with the gradual displacement of world currencies (primarily the dollar) and their replacement by the ruble and renminbi. In general, this trend reflects the state of the RF foreign trade. With the reduction in the volume of the local foreign exchange market and the withdrawal of Western players, the government is taking measures aimed at preserving the potential of the foreign exchange market. A promising direction for international settlements under sanctions is through CBDC. However, the implementation of such a system will take years, during which the financial system of the Russian Federation will have to preserve its potential in isolation from Western financial markets.

COMPETITION LEVEL ANALYSIS FOR THE FINTECH SECTOR IN TURKIYE COMPARED TO GERMANY

Purpose- This study's objective is to observe Türkiye’s fintech market structure by their competitiveness results. To get a better observation Türkiye compared with a fintech-developed country as Germany. The inconvenient definition of fintech caused this study to examine 4 massive fin-tech sectors. Especially current situation of the financial-technology market there are several branches. The study refrains from the engineering-intensive branches to serve its purpose. The study includes; Payments, Lending, Personal Finance, and Insuretech branches. We expect to observe the competitive dynamics for several branches. Methodology- The study selected the “entropy index” as a method. The entropy index shows the market depth for related sectors. It can be defined as a density analysis. We can make the index with at least 5 observations. However, the increase in the observation level causes the low-variance level index results. Findings- The study made its index by the top ten firms by their sales revenue level. The study observes the market in 5 branches. The conclusion part supplied 5 different density results. In that situation, observations can be seen more specifically for the market. The study used the entropy density index to observe the competitiveness level of the market. Results were multiple because the branches were divided from the sector. Every branch has its dynamics. On the Türkiye side, we expect fewer companies than in Germany. However, in the personal finance sector, we can observe the competitiveness levels are close. However, in this study, we can also observe high gaps between the sectors of insurance tech and lending. This study did not have the purpose of determining the factors behind them but the study tried to give political suggestions. Conclusion- The density level for lending and personal finance sectors can be compatible with a high-fintech level company. For the insure-tech side, companies value and numbers are lower. The payment sector has more technology than the other sectors but the number of firms are lower than in Germany. We were expecting the competitive structure are not improve in Turkey because of the low-quantity firms. At some branches, we obtained the results that support this expectation. However, the view of the study observed that some branches has low competitive market structure when compared the Germany. But at some points, there are massive cliffs between the two countries. We can attribute the situation to the habits. The habits of technology meant. Especially on the insurance side, Turkey should improve itself. Türkiye should be getting more investment, subsidies, etc. in the sector of insure-tech and payment sector. Because their competition level is a risk to the country’s market structure. This study includes no detailed politics but suggests to subsidies and incentives from the government side. Government should support and encourage the new-entry firms or entrepreneurs for the sector of fintech.

State Owned Companies in the European Gaming Market: Comparative Perspectives

Abstract This paper looks at different case studies of European lotteries operating games of chance for the public benefit. It takes the case studies of four national lotteries as most similar systems design comparative methodology to investigate the extent to which market structure and managerial strategy play a role in the profitability of the companies. The empirical data collected through process tracing, public statements and public records shows that while being bound to interact with each other, the market context does not dictate managerial strategies, and innovations in the latter offer very diverging results in terms of the bottom line of the different European lotteries operating games of chance. This paper contributes thus to the existing literature on market conditions for companies operating games of chance (e.g. Huttenen 2020, Grote & Matheson 2023, Clotfelter & Cook 1991) by developing a much-needed link to the academic literature on corporate governance in state-owned enterprises (e.g. Cao & Vittas 2017, Szarzec & Nowara 2017, Megginson & Netter 2019).

Audit Market Concentration for Listed Entities in Romania and the Impact Following the Latest EU Audit Reform

Abstract The concentration of the audit market has been of interest for several years as the dominance of a few companies has always been an issue of debate. The need or not to address this situation, the reasons that cause it, any possible risks assessed and solutions to reduce them have been addressed by a wide range of studies. Our research seeks to examine the structure of the Romanian Audit Market for listed entities, both before and following the recently adopted European Union Audit Reform. The main purpose is to understand the market structure, identify some of the main factors that influence auditor choice and if there was any impact following the new directive. The analyses focused on 74 listed companies, for the period from 2013 to 2022, for which we collected the relevant data in order to analyze the audit market structure, its evolution following the new audit directive and, using linear regressions models, test the influence that size, share class category, existence of long-term debt, shareholder type, evidence of shareholder direct involvement and auditor office location has on choosing one of the Big 4 auditors or not. Our analysis showed that Big4 auditors ecreased in market share especially after 2016, the date the new audit reform came into effect, from 49% to 41% and that the number of auditor changes increased significantly after this date. We also found that the number of cases where another Big4 auditor was selected decreased from 64%, in the period from 2013-2016, to only 28%, in the period from 2017-2022. These findings support therefore the assumed existence of an impact in the market following the latest European Union audit directive. The linear regression analysis performed showed no significant influence for the variables analyzed, when it comes to choosing a Big4 Auditor, the highest coming from the share class variable (26%) and size (12%). Even though our paper offers some light regarding the audit market for listed companies in Romania and the evolution following the new directive further research is needed to better understand client behavior and what influences auditor choice.