This paper shows that the adoption of flexible manufacturing techniques by firms leads to a tougher price regime. However, consumers may not benefit since the tougher regime deters entry. Flexible manufacturing's ability to deter entry is moderated by two factors: non-prohibitive costs of re-anchoring flexible manufacturing processes and the possibility that entrants choose to produce niche products using designated technologies rather than adopt flexible manufacturing. Market preemption that deters entry will be characterized by excessive product variety. Alternatively, flexible manufacturers may prefer to accommodate entry by small-scale, niche firms. Moreover, ownership matters in determining equilibrium product configurations. Copyright 1999 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
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Volume (Year): 47 (1999) Issue (Month): 3 (September) Pages: 345-72 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
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References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Brander, James A & Eaton, Jonathan, 1984.
"Product Line Rivalry,"
American Economic Review,
American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 323-34, June.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Kenneth L. Judd, 1983.
"Credible Spatial Preemption,"
Discussion Papers
577, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
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Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)
José Pedro Pontes, 2006.
"Networks and Firm Location,"
Working Papers
2006/09, Department of Economics at the School of Economics and Management (ISEG), Technical University of Lisbon..
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