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Herding versus Hotelling: Market Entry with Costly Information

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  • David B. Ridley

Abstract

Why do businesses such as fast‐food restaurants, coffee shops, and hotels cluster? In the classic analysis of Hotelling, firms cluster to attract consumers who have travel costs. We present an alternative model where firms cluster because one firm is free riding on another firm's information about market demand. One consequence of this free riding is that an informed firm might forego a market that it knows to be profitable. Furthermore, an uninformed firm might earn higher profits when research costs are high, because it can credibly commit to ignorance.

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  • David B. Ridley, 2008. "Herding versus Hotelling: Market Entry with Costly Information," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(3), pages 607-631, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jemstr:v:17:y:2008:i:3:p:607-631
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-9134.2008.00188.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Paul S. Koh, 2022. "Stable Outcomes and Information in Games: An Empirical Framework," Papers 2205.04990, arXiv.org, revised May 2023.
    2. Espínola-Arredondo, Ana & Muñoz-García, Félix, 2013. "When does environmental regulation facilitate entry-deterring practices," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 133-152.
    3. Ana Espínola-Arredondo & Félix Muñoz-García, 2016. "Profit-enhancing environmental policy: uninformed regulation in an entry-deterrence model," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 146-163, October.
    4. Conze, Maximilian & Kramm, Michael, 2013. "The Recommendation Effect in the Hotelling Game - A New Result for an Old Model," Bonn Econ Discussion Papers 14/2013, University of Bonn, Bonn Graduate School of Economics (BGSE).
    5. Espínola-Arredondo, Ana & Gal-Or, Esther & Muñoz-García, Félix, 2011. "When should a firm expand its business?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 729-745.
    6. Ana Espinola-Arredondo & Felix Munoz-Garcia, 2011. "Environmental Protection Agencies: Measuring the Welfare Benefits from Regulation under Different Information Contexts," Working Papers 2011-11, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
    7. Aurélie Bonein & Stéphane Turolla, 2023. "Spatial competition with demand uncertainty: A laboratory experiment," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 906-939, October.
    8. Maximilian Conze & Michael Kramm, 2013. "The Recommendation Effect in the Hotelling Game - A New Result for an Old Model," Ruhr Economic Papers 0460, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    9. Ana Espínola-Arredondo & Félix Muñoz-Garcia & Jude Bayham, 2014. "The Entry-Deterring Effects of Inflexible Regulation," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 47(1), pages 298-324, February.
    10. Bonein, Aurélie & Turolla, Stéphane, 2009. "Sequential location under one-sided demand uncertainty," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 145-159, September.
    11. Munoz-Garcia Felix, 2012. "A systematic procedure for finding Perfect Bayesian Equilibria in Incomplete Information Games," Journal of Industrial Organization Education, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-18, December.
    12. Muñoz-Garcia Félix & Espinola-Arredondo Ana, 2015. "The Signaling Role of Subsidies," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(1), pages 157-178, January.
    13. Ridley, David B. & Zhang, Su, 2017. "Regulation of price increases," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 186-213.
    14. Felix Munoz-Garcia & Gulnara Zaynutdinova, 2013. "Capacity Constrained Firms and Expansion Subsidies: Should Governments Avoid Generous Subsidies?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 563-597, December.
    15. Ana Espinola-Arredondo & Esther Gal-Or & Felix Munoz-Garcia, 2009. "When Should a Firm Expand Its Business? The Signaling Implications of Business Expansion," Working Papers 2008-16, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
    16. Ana Espínola-Arredondo & Félix Muñoz-García, 2015. "Can Poorly Informed Regulators Hinder Competition?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 61(3), pages 433-461, July.
    17. Ana Espinola-Arredondo & Felix Munoz-Garcia & Jude Bayham, 2011. "Promoting Lies through Regulation: Deterrence Impacts of Flexible versus Inflexible Policy," Working Papers 2011-3, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
    18. Picone, Gabriel A. & Ridley, David B. & Zandbergen, Paul A., 2009. "Distance decreases with differentiation: Strategic agglomeration by retailers," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 463-473, May.
    19. Kultti Klaus, 2011. "Sellers Like Clusters," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-28, December.
    20. Zaikin, Andrey & Espinola-Arredondo, Ana, 2012. "The Carrot or the Stick: Water Allocation Strategies for Uzbekistan," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124680, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    21. Armstrong, Mark & Huck, Steffen, 2010. "Behavioral economics as applied to firms: a primer," MPRA Paper 20356, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    22. Koh, Paul S., 2023. "Stable outcomes and information in games: An empirical framework," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 237(1).
    23. Ana Espinola-Arredondo & Felix Munoz-Garcia, 2011. "The Informative Role of Subsidies," Working Papers 2011-10, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
    24. repec:zbw:rwirep:0460 is not listed on IDEAS

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