Proposed Merger Between Staples and Office Depot Leads to Concerns of Higher Prices.

Ensure that you address:

1. How would you classify the office superstore industry? Who are the competitors? What are the characteristics of this industry that lead to this conclusion?
2. What barriers to entry help maintain the industry structure?
3. If the merger were to be allowed, how would you characterize the merged firm's own price elasticity in a geographic market that contained only that firm? How would this change over time?
4. What is the relevant market for this case? Should retailers that sell, but do not specialize in office products, be considered as part of the market? What evidence supports this conclusion? What are the geographic considerations?
5. How is the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) affected by the merger? Why does the case list a range, instead of an exact number? Are the HHI levels in the case indicative of high industry concentration?
6. What arguments have Staples and Office Depot made in defense of the proposed merger?

The paper should be 1200 words. Support your paper with data or computations. If calculations or tables are substantial, attach these as an appendix.

Remember, all written assignments must follow APA guidelines, which include the use of a cover sheet, in-text citations, at least 2 outside references (excluding the text). All rules of grammar, punctuation and spelling must be observed.