Guest editors:
Christopher Conlon (NYU, Guest Editor)
Alon Eizenberg (Hebrew-U, IJIO Coeditor)

Paper submission deadline: December 31, 2024

 

The recent inflationary environment has brought about a lively debate concerning the relationship between the exercise of market power, on the one hand, and inflation on the other hand. This environment also creates an interesting laboratory in which the tool case of Industrial Organization (IO) may be employed to explore the connection between firms’ competitive conduct and macroeconomic conditions from a broader perspective.

The IJIO invites submissions of IO papers that shed light on this connection, to be included in a Special issue. Both theoretical and empirical papers are welcome. The scope of such papers may be quite wide. To state just a few examples of relevant research questions:

●  What is the relationship between market power and inflation? Does inflation make it easier (harder) to exploit market power? Does market power accelerate (slow down) inflationary pressures?

●  How do macroeconomic conditions (the inflation rate, the rate of GDP growth) affect the intensity of competition?

●  Do such conditions directly affect firms’ ability to tacitly coordinate on higher prices?

●  Is market power responsible for “rockets and feathers” patterns of asymmetric cost pass-through? Is this relationship stronger during the recent inflationary period?

●  How do interest rates affect competition and collusion?

These are just examples. The goal of the Special issue is to encourage IO economists to address a broad set of questions relating recent macroeconomic conditions to the microeconomic functioning of markets, whether or not they directly inform specific debates.

Papers should be submitted through the IJIO online submission system by December 31, 2024. When you submit, please choose the name of the special issue when specifying the article type. Submitted papers will undergo a fast-track anonymous review process, on a rolling basis. We aim to provide feedback in 6 to 8 weeks. We expect the special issue to be published by the end of 2025.

The special issue is edited by Chris Conlon (NYU, guest editor) and Alon Eizenberg (Hebrew-U, IJIO co-editor). The IJIO editorial team provides generous support for this special issue.

We look forward to your submission!