Document Type
Other
Source Publication
Social Science Research Network
Publication Date
2-20-2012
Keywords
Nonlinear pricing, bundling, incremental discounts, all-units discounts, incentive-compatible mechanisms
Abstract
In the context of monopolistic nonlinear pricing, we compare the maximum profits of bundling, incremental discounts, and all-units discounts. When the number of pricing blocks is unrestricted, incremental discounts perform weakly the worst. However, if the performance of incremental discounts is not strictly worse when the number of blocks is unrestricted, then it performs the best when the number of blocks is restricted. It is because incremental discounts have the smallest "implementation power" and the largest "approximation power". These results are applications of our general theory of menu implementability, which characterizes the set of outcomes implementable by a menu of tariff options, where the set of admissible tariff options and the number of tariff options in the menu are pre-determined.
DOI
10.2139/ssrn.1915752
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2013 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Accepted Author Manuscript
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Wong, A. C. L. (2012). Menu implementability and practical pricing schemes. Social Science Research Network. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1915752