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A Perpetual Race to Stay Ahead

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  • Johannes Hörner

Abstract

This paper presents a model of dynamic competition between two firms that repeatedly engage in an innovative activity. The state of competition—measured by the difference between the number of innovations introduced by the firms—evolves stochastically according to their effort level. The structure of Markov perfect equilibria is identified. It is generally not true that competition is fiercest when firms are closest. Rather, firms invest under two distinct circumstances: while sufficiently ahead, to outstrip their rival and secure a durable leadership; while behind, to regain leadership and prevent the situation from worsening to the point where their rival outstrips them. Copyright 2004, Wiley-Blackwell.

Suggested Citation

  • Johannes Hörner, 2004. "A Perpetual Race to Stay Ahead," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 71(4), pages 1065-1088.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:restud:v:71:y:2004:i:4:p:1065-1088
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/0034-6527.00314
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Yves Breitmoser & Jonathan Tan & Daniel Zizzo, 2010. "Understanding perpetual R&D races," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 44(3), pages 445-467, September.
    2. Lee, Jeongsik & Kim, Byung-Cheol & Lim, Young-Mo, 2011. "Dynamic competition in technological investments: An empirical examination of the LCD panel industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 718-728.
    3. de Roos, Nicolas & Sarafidis, Yianis, 2018. "Momentum in dynamic contests," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 401-416.
    4. Dawid, Herbert & Keoula, Michel Y. & Kopel, Michael & Kort, Peter M., 2023. "Dynamic investment strategies and leadership in product innovation," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 306(1), pages 431-447.
    5. Peter-J. Jost, 2021. "“The ball is round, the game lasts 90 minutes, everything else is pure theoryâ€," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 22(1), pages 27-74, January.
    6. Roberto Piazza & Yu Zheng, 2023. "Innovate to lead or innovate to prevail: When do monopolistic rents induce growth?," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 76(3), pages 867-919, October.
    7. Alexei Alexandrov, 2015. "When Should Firms Expose Themselves to Risk?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(12), pages 3001-3008, December.
    8. Christian Ewerhart & Julian Teichgräber, 2019. "Multi-battle contests, finite automata, and the tug-of-war," ECON - Working Papers 318, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    9. Axel Anderson & Luís M. B. Cabral, 2007. "Go for broke or play it safe? Dynamic competition with choice of variance," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 38(3), pages 593-609, September.
    10. Qi, Shi, 2019. "Advertising, industry innovation, and entry deterrence," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 30-50.
    11. Alexander Steinmetz, 2015. "Competition, innovation, and the effect of R&D knowledge," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 115(3), pages 199-230, July.
    12. Robin Kleer, 2009. "Acquisitions in a Patent Contest Model with Large and Small Firms," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 9(4), pages 307-328, December.
    13. Ron N. Borkovsky, 2017. "The timing of version releases: A dynamic duopoly model," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 187-239, September.

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