DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS OF THE AMERICAN BOOK INDUSTRY: A PLAY OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

摘要

Traditional industrial organizations highlight many important distribution characteristics for this case study. Merger and market power do influence concentration, which in turn influences sales revenue. The distribution channels for books have evolved from bookstores, to super stores, to the Internet. Larger book stores seem to have a dominant position in these activities through mergers and incorporations, yet, this does not show up as high concentration for the industry. On average for the industry, the concentration seems to be held in check from cooperation with smaller independent firms for the purpose of reaching customers in the suburbs or as independent suppliers on the Internet.