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Clustering In N-Player Preemption Games

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  • Rossella Argenziano
  • Philipp Schmidt-Dengler

Abstract

We study a complete information preemption game in continuous time. A finite number of firms decide when to make an irreversible, observable investment. Upon investment, a firm receives flow profits, which decrease in the number of firms that have invested. The cost of investment declines over time exogenously. We characterize the subgame-perfect equilibrium outcome, which is unique up to a permutation of players. When the preemption race among late investors is sufficiently intense, the preemption incentive for earlier investors disappears, and two or more investments occur at the same time. We identify a sufficient condition in terms of model parameters: clustering of investments occurs if the flow profits from consecutive investments are sufficiently close. This shows how clustering can occur in the absence of coordination failures, informational spillovers, or positive payoff externalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Rossella Argenziano & Philipp Schmidt-Dengler, 2014. "Clustering In N-Player Preemption Games," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 368-396, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jeurec:v:12:y:2014:i:2:p:368-396
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/jeea.12054
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    Cited by:

    1. Alexander Matros & Vladimir Smirnov & Andrew Wait, 2024. "Sunk costs, entry and clustering," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 77(3), pages 747-782, May.
    2. Guy Meunier & Jean-Pierre Ponssard & Francisco Ruiz-Alizeda, 2015. "Antitrust Versus Industrial Policies, Entry And Welfare," Working Papers hal-01117091, HAL.
    3. Paolo Zappalà & Amal Benhamiche & Matthieu Chardy & Francesco De Pellegrini & Rosa Figueiredo, 2025. "Analysis and Computation of the Outcomes of Pure Nash Equilibria in Two-Player Extensive-Form Games," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 872-905, July.
    4. Smirnov, Vladimir & Wait, Andrew, 2021. "Preemption with a second-mover advantage," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 294-309.
    5. Smirnov, Vladimir & Wait, Andrew, 2015. "Innovation in a generalized timing game," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 23-33.
    6. Barbos, Andrei, 2013. "De-synchronized clocks in preemption games with risky prospects," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 203-216.
    7. Pavan, Giulia & Pozzi, Andrea & Rovigatti, Gabriele, 2020. "Strategic entry and potential competition: Evidence from compressed gas fuel retail," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. Ruiz-Aliseda, Francisco, 2016. "Preemptive investments under uncertainty, credibility and first mover advantages," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 123-137.
    9. Argenziano, Rossella & Schmidt-Dengler, Philipp, 2012. "Inefficient entry order in preemption games," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 445-460.
    10. Smirnov, Vladimir & Wait, Andrew & Xu, Rong, 2018. "Timing of entry with heterogeneous firms," Working Papers 2018-11, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    11. Stefano Barbieri & Kai A. Konrad & David A. Malueg, 2020. "Preemption contests between groups," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 51(3), pages 934-961, September.
    12. Bobtcheff, Catherine & Levy, Raphaël & Mariotti, Thomas, 2021. "Negative results in science: Blessing or (winner's) curse ?," CEPR Discussion Papers 16024, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Sun Chia-Hung, 2020. "Timing of Adopting a Flexible Manufacturing System and Product Differentiation," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(2), pages 1-17, April.
    14. Argenziano, Rossella & Schmidt-Dengler, Philipp, 2013. "Competition, timing of entry and welfare in a preemption game," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 120(3), pages 509-512.
    15. Park, Andreas & Sgroi, Daniel, 2012. "Herding, contrarianism and delay in financial market trading," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1020-1037.
    16. Smirnov, Vladimir & Wait, Andrew, 2018. "Blocking in a timing game with asymmetric players," Working Papers 2018-05, University of Sydney, School of Economics, revised May 2019.

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