Building New Plants or Entering by Acquisition? Firm Heterogeneity and Entry Barriers in the U.S. Cement Industry

Abstract: I estimate a model of entry for the cement industry that considers two options of expansion: building a plant or acquiring an incumbent. The model takes into account that there is a transfer of the buyer firm-level characteristics to the acquired plants, which affects profits from the acquisition. Estimates show that a less-permissive Reagan-Bush administration's merger policy would decrease the number of acquired plants by 71%, greenfield entry would increase by 9.2% and consumer surplus would decrease by 23.5%. Results suggest that regulators should be concerned about policies that negatively affect the efficient reallocation of assets between incumbents and entrants.