Essays in Industrial Organization

Abstract

This dissertation extends the economics literature in industrial organization with three empirical essays on the strategic decisions of firms in imperfectly competitive markets. Using data from the U.S. airline industry, I combine reduced-form analysis with recent econometric advances in the estimation of dynamic games to examine the market-level and industry-level behavior of oligopolistic firms. The first essay presents a framework for sensitivity analysis in merger simulation. The second essay continues the market-level analysis of merger effects by examining how airline mergers influence price dispersion. The third essay shifts focus to industry-level investment behavior, examining the role played by bankruptcy policy in disciplining capital investment.