Collusion in Markets with Syndication

May 13, 2020, Paper, "Many markets are syndicated, including markets for IPOs, club deal LBOs, and debt issuances: each winning bidder invites competitors to join its syndicate to complete production. We show that collusion in syndicated markets may become easier as market concentration falls, and that market entry may facilitate collusion. In particular, firms can sustain collusion by refusing to syndicate with any firm that undercuts the collusive price (thereby raising that firm’s production costs). Our results can thus rationalize the paradoxical empirical observations that many real-world syndicated markets exhibit seemingly collusive pricing despite low levels of market concentration."

Non-HKS Author Website - Scott Duke Kominers