NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, INC.

Universities Research Conference

Competition and Government Intervention in the Airline Industry

May 15, 2009

Severin Borenstein and Dennis Carlton, Organizers

Royal Sonesta Hotel

Charles A

40 Edwin H. Land Blvd.

Cambridge, MA

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

(participant list)

THURSDAY, MAY 14:

6:00 pm Group Dinner – Royal Sonesta Hotel, Skyline Rooms

FRIDAY, MAY 15 :

8:30 am Continental Breakfast

9:00 am Silke J. ForbeS, UC, San Diego

Mara Lederman, University of Toronto

Does Vertical Integration Affect Firm Performance?

Evidence from the Airline Industry

Discussant: MICHAEL SALINGER, Boston University

10:00 am Break

10:15 am Steven Puller, Texas A&M University and NBER

ANIRBAN SENGUPTA and STEVEN WIGGINS, Texas A&M University
Testing Theories of Scarcity Pricing and Price Dispersion in the Airline Industry

Discussant: MICHAEL MAZZEO, Northwestern University

11:15 am Break

11:30 am James Dana, Northeastern University

Eugene Orlov, Compass Lexecon

Internet Penetration and Capacity Utilization in the US Airline Industry

Discussant: KEN HEYER, US Department of Justice

12:30 pm Lunch – Somerset Room

1:30 pm Alessandro Gavazza, New York University
The Role of Trading Frictions in Real Asset Markets

Discussant: EFRAIM BENMELECH, Harvard University and NBER

2:30 pm Break

2:45 pm Jan K. Brueckner, UC, Irvine
Price vs. Quantity-Based Approaches to Airport Congestion Management

Discussant: RICHARD SCHMALENSEE, MIT and NBER

3:45 pm Break

4:00 pm Itai Ater, Tel Aviv University

Internalization of Congestion at U.S. Hub Airports

Discussant: ANDREA MARTENS, University of Illinois

5:15 pm Adjourn