Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/38683 
Year of Publication: 
2004
Series/Report no.: 
CSIO Working Paper No. 0052
Publisher: 
Northwestern University, Center for the Study of Industrial Organization (CSIO), Evanston, IL
Abstract: 
This paper examines the welfare effects of intellectual property protection, accounting for firms' optimal responses to legal environments. I examine firms' use of indirect price discrimination in response to U.S. copyright law preventing direct price discrimination. Using data covering VHS and DVD movie distribution, I explain studios' optimal pricing strategies under U.S. copyright law, and determine optimal pricing strategies under E.U. copyright law, which allows for direct price discrimination. I find that studios' use of indirect price discrimination benefits consumers and harms retailers. Optimal pricing under E.U. copyright law further benefits studios and consumers. I also reanalyze these issues assuming continued DVD adoption.
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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