TY - JOUR
T1 - Below-cost legislation and retail conduct
T2 - Evidence from the Republic of Ireland
AU - Collins, Alan
AU - Burt, Steve
AU - Oustapassidis, Kostas
PY - 2001/10/1
Y1 - 2001/10/1
N2 - The interaction between public policy, retail structure and conduct has been well debated but a paucity of empirical evidence exploring the interrelationships exists. This paper examines the impact of one policy measure, retail pricing legislation, on retail conduct. It focuses on the experience of the Republic of Ireland, which has had a ban on below-cost selling of certain grocery products since 1988. OLS regression of quarterly data on a basket of 13 grocery product categories over the period 1984-1994 identifies legislation as a key influence on retail conduct and as a significant variable in the explanation of retail gross margins. Evidence is found to support a positive relationship between the prohibition of below-cost selling and retail gross margins indicating a reduction in price competition within the category. Per capita incomes, retailer concentration and retail advertising are found to be significant but negatively related to retail gross margins.
AB - The interaction between public policy, retail structure and conduct has been well debated but a paucity of empirical evidence exploring the interrelationships exists. This paper examines the impact of one policy measure, retail pricing legislation, on retail conduct. It focuses on the experience of the Republic of Ireland, which has had a ban on below-cost selling of certain grocery products since 1988. OLS regression of quarterly data on a basket of 13 grocery product categories over the period 1984-1994 identifies legislation as a key influence on retail conduct and as a significant variable in the explanation of retail gross margins. Evidence is found to support a positive relationship between the prohibition of below-cost selling and retail gross margins indicating a reduction in price competition within the category. Per capita incomes, retailer concentration and retail advertising are found to be significant but negatively related to retail gross margins.
KW - Grocery
KW - Legislation
KW - Republic of Ireland
KW - Retailing
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84986146047
U2 - 10.1108/00070700110406978
DO - 10.1108/00070700110406978
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84986146047
SN - 0007-070X
VL - 103
SP - 607
EP - 622
JO - British Food Journal
JF - British Food Journal
IS - 9
ER -