Host: Qiang Gong, Associate Professor, RIEM
Time: 2:30pm-4pm, May 9, Friday
Venue: H513 Yide Hall, Liulin Campus
Abstract: We analyze the welfare impacts of price discrimination in a two-dimensional spatial differentiation model. Consumer information of varying qualities is available on one dimension which allows firms to price discriminate, and better information leads to more refined price discrimination. We find that as information quality improves, firms' profits monotonically increase while consumer surplus and social surplus monotonically decrease. Price discrimination has a reduced demand elasticity effect which is absent in one-dimensional models. When information quality increases, the reduced demand elasticity effect becomes stronger, sustaining higher equilibrium prices and profits.
About the speaker: Qihong LIU 是美国俄克拉荷马大学经济系副教授。2003年获美国纽约州立大学Stony Brook 分校经济学博士学位。研究方向为产业组织、微观经济学、博弈论。其论文发表于Review of Economics and Statistics、Journal of Industrial Economics、American Journal of Agricultural Economics、European Economic Review、Canadian Journal of Economics 等十余种英文期刊上。个人主页：http://faculty-sta_.ou.edu/L/Qihong.Liu-1/ 。
