You are cordially invited to attend the next CEGE4ALL: Service Management & Performance Seminar by Gizem Korpeoglu (Eindhoven University of Technology), on “Mergers of Consumer Cooperatives”.
Venue: Católica Porto Business School, Paradise Building, Room EP002
Date: 17 March
Time: 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Format: hybrid (online or in-person)
Registration is required. Please register via the link below by 16 March indicating if you will be attending in person or online.
Consumer cooperatives are owned and managed by their member consumers. They often merge to achieve buyer power and provide lower prices for their members, such as the recent mergers in Italy. We analyze how mergers of cooperatives affect consumer welfare using a two-tier supply chain model. We show that mergers of cooperatives reduce prices, as intended. However, lower prices induce suppliers to reduce their production quantities. Due to this tradeoff between lower prices and underproduction, mergers of cooperatives make a nuanced impact on consumer welfare. We show, interestingly, that mergers harm both member and non-member consumers when the pre-merger number of cooperatives is small or the production scale-up cost is low. Otherwise, mergers benefit all consumers. We show the robustness of our results considering horizontal and vertical differentiation among cooperatives and show that differentiation increases the benefit of mergers.
Gizem Korpeoglu
Gizem Korpeoglu is an assistant professor at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). Her research provides policy and managerial insights for practitioners on social responsibility (ESG) in supply chains, digital platforms, and human-AI collaboration, and contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2, 9, and 12. Her papers have appeared in Management Science, Operations Research, MSOM, and POM. Her research has been recognized by two best-working-paper awards from INFORMS TIMES and the third prize from POMS College of Behavior in OM. She has taught in the US, UK, Netherlands, and Turkiye. She has served as the president of the INFORMS TIMES Board and received a distinguished service award from INFORMS TIMES. She now serves as the DEI officer of the INFORMS TIMES Board.
