关于B2C电子商务竞争力的问题与实证分析外文翻译.docx

关于B2C电子商务竞争力的问题与实证分析外文翻译.docx

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关于B2C电子商务竞争力的问题与实证分析外文翻译

外文翻译

原文

CompetitioninB2CE-Commerce:

AnalyticalIssuesandEmpiricalEvidence

MaterialSource:

AustrianAcademyAuthor:

StefanW.Schmitz

ofSciencesandMichaelLatzer

Abstract

ThispaperquestionsthewidelyheldviewthatB2CE-Commercemarketsarecharacterizedbyahighintensityofcompetition,usingamixtureoftheoreticalargumentsandempiricalevidence.Wediscusstwohypothesisandsurveyempiricalstudieswhichtestthem.WearguethatthegoodssoldinB2CE-Commercehavetobeinterpretedasheterogeneous“compositegoods”thatmarkettransparencyinB2CE-Commerceislowerthanwidelyassumed,andthathighendogenoussunkcostslimittheintensityofcompetitioninB2CE-Commerce.

Keywords:

B2CE-Commerce;Competition;MarketTransparency;EndogenousSunkCosts;NetworkEffects

Introduction

Wewillstartwithasummaryofcommonargumentsforahighintensityofcompetition.Insection2weformulatetestablehypothesisaboutthecompetitivenessofB2CE-Commerce.Wealsodiscussthreelimitationsofthesetests.Insection3wepresentandinterpretresultsofalargenumberofempiricalstudiesonpricesandpricedispersioninB2CE-Commerce.Insection4wediscusstheexplanationsforthefindingsoftheseempiricalstudiesofferedintheliterature.Insection5weemphasizeadditionalargumentsagainstahighintensityofcompetition.Inthefinalsectionwedrawourconclusions.

ArgumentsforaHighIntensityofCompetitioninB2CE-Commerce

“OneofthemajorfeaturesoftheInternetrevolutionisitspotentialtomakethewholeeconomicsystem,nationallyandinternationally,morecompetitivebybringingmarketsclosertotheeconomists’textbookmodelofperfectcompetition,characterizedbylargenumbersofbuyersandsellersbiddinginamarketwithperfectinformation.”

“Lowersearchcostsindigitalmarketswillmakeiteasierforbuyerstofindlow-costsellers,andthuswillpromotepricecompetitionamongsellers.”

ThewidelyheldviewthatthedegreeofcompetitioninB2CE-Commercemarketsis,oratleasttendstobehigh,restsuponthefollowingargumentsinessence:

•GoodssoldinB2CE-Commerceareessentiallyhomogenous.Hencetransactioncostsarelowandmarkettransparencyishigh.

•Theabundanceofinformationresultsinlowsearchandinformationcosts,sothatthepricecanbecomparedvirtuallyatnocost.Therisinguseofsearchenginesandelectronicpricecomparisonsfurtherdecreasestransactioncostsandincreasesmarkettransparency.

•HightransparencyofB2CE-CommercemarketsleadstoahighintensityofcompetitionandhighcontestabilityofB2CE-Commercemarkets:

Technologicalbarrierstoentryarelow;accesstoproductionanddistributioncapacitiesisfastandinexpensive;possibilitiesof“boundarycrossing”forlargecompaniesarehigh.

HypothesistoEvaluatetheseArguments

Inordertoanalyzeandchallengetheargumentslistedabove,weformulateanddiscusstwotestablehypotheses.TheliteraturefocusesontwocriteriatotestthehighintensityofcompetitioninB2CE-Commerce:

pricelevelandpricedispersion.

HypothesisAregardstheargumentthattheintensityofcompetitionishigherinB2CE-CommerceandcostsarelowerthanintraditionalretailingsothatpricesshouldbelowerinB2CE-Commerce.Itisajointhypothesissothatarejectioncannotbeinterpretedasarejectionofahighintensityofcompetitionalone,butonlyasarejectionofthejointhypothesisofahighintensityofcompetitionandlowerorequalmarginalcosts.

HypothesisBisbasedonthe“Lawofoneprice”andregardstheargumentarguesthatthepricedispersionshouldbelowinB2CE-Commerce:

IfB2CE-Commercemarketsapproachtheidealofafrictionlessmarket,andthenthedispersionofpricesislowinB2CE-Commerce.

Arejectionofthishypothesisisconsistentwithanumberofpotentialexplanations,e.g.lackofmarkettransparency,hightransactioncostsandheterogeneityofgoods.

Threemajorlimitationshavetobeconsideredwhentestingthesehypothesesempirically.

（1）The“disequilibriumcritique”stressesthatthehypothesisaretheoreticallyvalidinmarketequilibriumonly.B2CE-Commercemarketsarenotinequilibrium:

ThehighlossesofmanyB2CE-Commercecompaniescannotbesustainedinalong-termequilibrium.Someofthemmightstillstruggletoreachthehighestpossiblelevelofefficiencywithrespecttotheoptimalorganizational,technological,andeconomicbusinessmodelsandstrategies.BrownandGoolsbeearguethatB2CE-Commercetendstoincreasethepricedispersioninitially,asB2CE-Commercecompaniesofferlowpricestoattractcustomers.Butthelownumberofcustomersdoesnotleadtopressureonpricesintheofflinemarket,initially.

（2）Thehypothesispresupposesdatasetswhichareveryhardtocollect–e.g.dataonmarginalcosts–sothattheyhave