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Article: Price maintenance may benefit consumers. (advantage of allowing manufacturers to set minimum retail prices, known as resale price maintenance)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- USA TODAY
- Article date:
- August 1, 1998
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Society for the Advancement of Education. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Contrary to popular belief, new research at Ohio State University, Columbus, suggests consumers sometimes may benefit if manufacturers are allowed to set minimum retail prices for their products. Consumer groups and Federal regulators have argued that setting minimum prices--a practice known as resale price maintenance (RPM)--is anti-competitive and means consumers will pay more for goods. That's not always the case, though, maintains James Peck, co-author of the study and professor of economics.
Under RPM, consumers actually may pay less for some goods that are in high demand, such as popular holiday toys. That's because retailers are willing to order larger ...