Geographic Expansion Mergers and FCC Spectrum Policy: Estimating a Matching Game with Externalities

Jeremy Fox Rice University Abstract: Wireless carriers consolidated geographically over the period 1988-2007. This consolidation was slow and therefore we seek to learn the role of FCC policy in affecting the speed of geographic consolidation. We use the history of mergers to estimate a structural model of mergers that incorporates externalities. The externalities arise from post-merger competition for consumers. We demonstrate properties of the model and introduce new estimation techniques.