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In the past years a renewed interest in retailing has arisen, as it has become a key industry in today´s modern society. The retail industry is typically a vertical chain, with different intensities of competition on each level. The effects of various vertical restraints on different actors within this vertical chain have been extensively examined in literature when competition remains fixed. This book gives a first approach towards an investigation where levels of competition are endogenously examined. The focal point is on the welfare effects of one particular type of vertical restraint, namely the resale price maintenance. The newspaper and book industry, where some form of resale price maintenance is permitted, have been submitted to a more profound investigation. This analysis could be extremely helpful for economists and doctoral students interested in economics of a more fundamental level; or anyone else who is interested in understanding the impact of vertical restraints between manufacturers and retailers on consumers.

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Master of Applied Economics at the Catholic University of Leuven

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