Shared Manufacturing in A Differentiated Duopoly with Capacity Constraints

This study sets up a differentiated duopoly model considering capacity constraints and shared manufacturing, investigates the equilibrium results, examines the effects of product differentiation and capacity constraints in three scenarios, and compares the equilibrium outcomes in three cases under Cournot and Stackelberg competition. We find that capacity constraints affect the relationships among product differentiation, equilibrium results, and the market share of enterprises. Shared manufacturing impacts the degree of excess capacity, profits, consumer surplus, and social welfare; however, it may sometimes play a negative role in alleviating excess capacity. Moreover, Cournot competition is a better choice for enterprises with capacity constraints compared to Stackelberg competition.

Endogenous Expectations Management with Network Effects: A Note

We examine the endogenous choice of commitment device to consumers’ expectations with network effects. Under Cournot competition, we show that choosing commitment to expectations for each firm is a dominant strategy regardless of the strength of network effects. However, under Bertrand competition, three types of commitment with both/no commitment/multiple emerge in equilibrium depending on the strength of network effects. Thus, we obtain different Pareto efficiency between Bertrand and Cournot competition, depending on the intensity of competition.

Cournot-Nash Equilibrium and Perfect Competition in the Solow-Uzawa Growth Model

The purpose of this study is to contribute to economic growth theory by introducing Cournot competition into the Solow-Uzawa neoclassical growth model with Zhang’s concept of disposable income and utility function. The Solow-Uzawa two-sector growth model deals with economic growth with two sectors with all the markets perfectly competitive. The final goods sector in this study is the same as that in the Solow model with perfect competition. The consumer goods sector is composed of two firms and characterized by Cournot competition. All the input factors are traded in perfectly competitive markets. The duopoly’s product is solely consumed by consumers. Perfectly competitive firms earn zero profit, while duopolists earn positive profits. This study assumes that the population shares the profits equally. First, we built the dynamic model. Afterward, we found a computational procedure to describe the time-dependent path of the economy and conducted comparative dynamic analyses of some parameters. Finally, we compared the economic performances of the model with Cournot competition and the perfectly competitive model.

Cartel Formation in Cournot Competition with Asymmetric Costs: A Partition Function Approach

In this paper, we use a partition function form game to analyze cartel formation among firms in Cournot competition. We assume that a firm obtains a certain cost advantage that allows it to produce goods at a lower unit cost. We show that if the level of the cost advantage is “moderate”, then the firm with the cost advantage leads the cartel formation among the firms. Moreover, if the cost advantage is relatively high, then the formed cartel can also be stable in the sense of the core of a partition function form game. We also show that if the technology for the low-cost production can be copied, then the cost advantage may prevent a cartel from splitting.

Retail outsourcing strategy in Cournot & Bertrand retail competitions with economies of scale

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>This paper investigates a manufacturer's retail outsourcing strategies under different competition modes with economies of scale. We focus on the effects of market competition modes, economies of scale and competitor's behavior on manufacturer's retail outsourcing decisions, and then we develop four game models under three competition modes. Firstly, we find the channel structure where both manufacturers choose retail outsourcing cannot be an equilibrium structure under the Cournot competition. The Cournot competition mode is less profitable to the firm than the Bertrand competition when the products are complements. Secondly, under the hybrid Cournot-Bertrand competition mode, there is only one equilibrium supply chain structure where neither manufacturer chooses retail outsourcing, when the substitutability and complementarity levels are not sufficiently high. In addition, setting price (quantity) contracts as the strategic variables is the dominant strategy for the direct-sale manufacturer who provides complementary (substitutable) products. Thirdly, both competitive firms will benefit from the situation where they choose the same competition mode. When the products are substitutes (complements), both of them choose the Cournot (Bertrand) competition mode. Finally, we show that the economies of scale have little impact on the equilibrium of the outsourcing structure but a great impact on the competition mode equilibrium.</p>