The wholesale and retail book markets in the United States have a fair amount of concentration....

 

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The wholesale and retail book markets in the United States have a fair amount of concentration. The three largest book retailers (Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Books-A- Million) all buy their books from Ingram. The market share (MS) of these firms and the average cost (AC) of their operations (relative to the list price of a book) is shown in the table below: Wholesale Books Retail Books Firm MS AC Firm MS AAC Ingram 0.30 0.40 Barnes and 0.15 0.25 Noble Baker and 0.20 0.45 Borders 0.10 0.20 Taylor Bookazine 0.10 0.60 Books-A- 0.05 0.25 Million Others (8 0.05 each Firms) 0.7125 0.362 Others (60 0.01 each firms) NOTES: a. Average cost is measured as a percentage of the list price of the book. b. This is the additional average cost (AAC) so the total average cost would be the input price for a book plus the AAC. From this we can infer that the minimum point of the average cost (AC) function occurs when a firm has 30% of the wholesale book market. Furthermore, the minimum point of the additional average cost function (AAC) occurs when a firm has 10% of the retail book market. a. Calculate the HHI and C, indices for the wholesale book and retail book markets. N b. If the current wholesale market price for a book is 50% the list price, what is the profit margin for the 11 book wholesalers? N Would the HHI for the wholesale book market increase or decrease in the long-run? Explain. c. What is the profit margin for each of the 63 book retailers if the retail market price was 80% the list price (still assuming a wholesale market price of 50% of the list price)? N What would we expect to see happen in the retail book market in the long-run? d. If Baker and Taylor merged with Bookazine, what would the change in HHI be for the wholesale book market? N Do you think the U.S. government would approve this merger? Explain. The wholesale and retail book markets in the United States have a fair amount of concentration. The three largest book retailers (Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Books-A- Million) all buy their books from Ingram. The market share (MS) of these firms and the average cost (AC) of their operations (relative to the list price of a book) is shown in the table below: Wholesale Books Retail Books Firm MS AC Firm MS AAC Ingram 0.30 0.40 Barnes and 0.15 0.25 Noble Baker and 0.20 0.45 Borders 0.10 0.20 Taylor Bookazine 0.10 0.60 Books-A- 0.05 0.25 Million Others (8 0.05 each Firms) 0.7125 0.362 Others (60 0.01 each firms) NOTES: a. Average cost is measured as a percentage of the list price of the book. b. This is the additional average cost (AAC) so the total average cost would be the input price for a book plus the AAC. From this we can infer that the minimum point of the average cost (AC) function occurs when a firm has 30% of the wholesale book market. Furthermore, the minimum point of the additional average cost function (AAC) occurs when a firm has 10% of the retail book market. a. Calculate the HHI and C, indices for the wholesale book and retail book markets. N b. If the current wholesale market price for a book is 50% the list price, what is the profit margin for the 11 book wholesalers? N Would the HHI for the wholesale book market increase or decrease in the long-run? Explain. c. What is the profit margin for each of the 63 book retailers if the retail market price was 80% the list price (still assuming a wholesale market price of 50% of the list price)? N What would we expect to see happen in the retail book market in the long-run? d. If Baker and Taylor merged with Bookazine, what would the change in HHI be for the wholesale book market? N Do you think the U.S. government would approve this merger? Explain.

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ANSWER 1The major type of retail operations used by Barnes and Nobles is Speciality Stores Speciality stores are stores which specializes in selling o... View the full answer