Allocating cost reducing investments over competing divisions

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Allocating cost reducing investments over competing divisions

Author Info

Antonio, TESORIERE

Abstract

This paper examines a three-stage model of divisionalization wher, first, two parents firms create independent unts, second, the parents firms allocate cost reducing levels over these units, and third, the resulting uits compete in a Cournot mrket given their current costs of production. The introduction of the cost reduction phase is shown to reduce the incentives toward divisionalization severely, relative to other existing models. Namely, the scope for divisionalization in equilibrium reduces as the marginal cost of the cost reducing investment decreases, and eventually vanishes. A second-best welfare analysis shows that, for any given market structure, the equilibrium investment decisions of the parent firms are socially optimal. In addition, the no divisionalization outcome is sustainable in equilibrium only if it is socially optimal.

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Paper provided by Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques in its series Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) with number 2007021.

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Length: 26
Date of creation: 30 Jul 2007
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Handle: RePEc:ctl:louvec:2007021

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2007-08-14 (All new papers)
NEP-BEC-2007-08-14 (Business Economics)
NEP-COM-2007-08-14 (Industrial Competition)
NEP-MIC-2007-08-14 (Microeconomics)

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Salant, Stephen W & Switzer, Sheldon & Reynolds, Robert J, 1983. "Losses from Horizontal Merger: The Effects of an Exogenous Change in Industry Structure on Cournot-Nash Equilibrium," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 98(2), pages 185-99, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Rabah Amir, 2000. "On the Effects of Entry in Cournot Markets," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 1475, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- AMIR, Rabah & LAMBSON, Val, 1999. "On the effects of entry in Cournot markets," CORE Discussion Papers 1999059, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE). [Downloadable!]
- Rabah Amir & Val E. Lambson, 1998. "On the Effects of Entry in Cournot Markets," CIE Discussion Papers 1998-06, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Centre for Industrial Economics.
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Other versions:
- Ngo Van Long & Antoine Soubeyran, 1999. "Cost Manipulation Games in Oligopoly, with Costs of Manipulating," CIRANO Working Papers 99s-13, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
Kamien, Morton I & Muller, Eitan & Zang, Israel, 1992. "Research Joint Ventures and R&D Cartels," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(5), pages 1293-306, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Bergstrom, Theodore C & Varian, Hal R, 1985. "When Are Nash Equilibria Independent of the Distribution of Agents' Characteristics?," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(4), pages 715-18, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Ted Bergstrom & Hal Varian, 1985. "When Are Nash Equilibria Independent of the Distribution of Agents' Characteristics?," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series 1985B, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara. [Downloadable!]
Amir, Rabah & Evstigneev, Igor & Wooders, John, 2003. "Noncooperative versus cooperative R&D with endogenous spillover rates," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 183-207, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- AMIR, Rabah & EVSTIGNEEV, Igor & WOODERS, John, 2001. "Noncooperative versus cooperative R&D with endogenous spillover rates," CORE Discussion Papers 2001050, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE). [Downloadable!]
W. Salant, Stephen & Shaffer, Greg, 1998. "Optimal asymmetric strategies in research joint ventures," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 195-208, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Salant, S.W. & Shaffer, G., 1997. "Optimal Asymmetric Strategies in Research Joint Ventures," Papers 97-06, Michigan - Center for Research on Economic & Social Theory.
Ziss, Steffen, 1998. "Divisionalization and product differentiation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 133-138, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Corchon, Luis C. & Gonzalez-Maestre, Miguel, 2000. "On the competitive effects of divisionalization," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 71-79, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)

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