Time: 10:00 am - 11:30 am, Mar. 20th, 2026
Speaker: Kohei Kawaguchi (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
Venue: Zhifuxuan Classroom, Langrun Garden, Peking University
Abstract：
Minimum resale price maintenance (RPM) is treated strictly in most jurisdictions, although in the United States it is subject to the rule of reason. Although minimum RPM can, in theory, improve consumer surplus, whether it does so empirically remains unclear. This paper evaluates minimum RPM in a setting where its procompetitive justification is theoretically relevant. Specifically, we study whether minimum RPM in the Japanese publishing industry improves consumer surplus by inducing retailers to hold more inventory under demand uncertainty. We develop a model of bookstores and a publisher under RPM and estimate its parameters using comprehensive book delivery and sales data. Counterfactual simulations show that minimum RPM decreases consumer surplus whereas improves supply-side welfare. A parameter region in which minimum RPM improves consumer surplus does exist, but it occupies only a limited part of the plausible parameter range we consider. Based on these results, we argue that the procompetitive justification for minimum RPM is better confined to exemption criteria than used in illegality judgments.
Speaker：
Kohei Kawaguchi is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He received his PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics in 2015. His research focuses on antitrust issues, business strategy, and marketing, and he has published in leading economics and business journals, including Management Science, Marketing Science, Journal of Econometrics, and International Economic Review. His recent interests center on topics related to the digital economy, the crypto economy, and artificial intelligence.