Double Marginalization with Cournot Oligopolies

The elimination of double marginalization has been an important consideration in recent updates to the U.S. Horizontal and Vertical Merger Guidelines, in particular, and the evaluation of whether vertical mergers are pro- or anticompetitive, in general. This article extends frameworks for analyzing the effects of eliminating double marginalization on prices from situations with upstream and downstream monopolies to encompass Cournot oligopolies both upstream and downstream.