IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bol/bodewp/377.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Delegation vs Cost-Reducing R&D in a Cournot Duopoly

Author

Listed:
  • L. Lambertini
  • G. Primavera

Abstract

We describe a duopoly model where stockholders assess the relative profitability of delegation versus process innovation. Delegation may not be a dominant strategy. When it is, the game is not necessarily a prisoners dilemma. Our model yields several equilibria where at least one firm remains entrepreneurial and finds it preferable to undertake cost-reducing R&D activities. Then, we introduce the possibility of using delegation and cost-reducing R&D jointly. The use of R&D investment by entrepreneurial firms is a dominated strategy, so that firms always separate ownership from control, while they don t necessarily combine delegation with process innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • L. Lambertini & G. Primavera, 2000. "Delegation vs Cost-Reducing R&D in a Cournot Duopoly," Working Papers 377, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    • Handle: RePEc:bol:bodewp:377
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://amsacta.unibo.it/4932/1/377.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Polo, Michele & Tedeschi, Piero, 2000. "Delegation games and side-contracting," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 101-116, March.
    2. Michael L. Katz, 1991. "Game-Playing Agents: Unobservable Contracts as Precommitments," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 22(3), pages 307-328, Autumn.
    3. Dixon, Huw, 1985. "Strategic Investment in an Industry with a Competitive Product Market," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 483-499, June.
    4. Carlos Barcena-Ruiz, Juan & Paz Espinosa, Maria, 1999. "Should multiproduct firms provide divisional or corporate incentives?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 751-764, July.
    5. Juan Carlos Barcena‐Ruiz & Maria Paz Espinosa, 1996. "Long‐Term or Short‐Term Managerial Incentive Contracts," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(3), pages 343-359, September.
    6. Basu, Kaushik, 1995. "Stackelberg equilibrium in oligopoly: An explanation based on managerial incentives," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 459-464, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Juan Carlos Bárcena-Ruiz & F. Javier Casado-Izaga, 2005. "Spatial competition and the duration of managerial incentive contracts," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 29(2), pages 331-349, May.
    2. Michael Kopel & Clemens Löffler, 2008. "Commitment, first-mover-, and second-mover advantage," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 143-166, July.
    3. Barcena-Ruiz, Juan Carlos & Casado-Izaga, F. Javier, 2005. "Should shareholders delegate location decisions?," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 209-222, September.
    4. Bárcena Ruiz, Juan Carlos & Casado Izaga, Francisco Javier, 1999. "Should Owners of Firms Delegate Long-run Decisions?," BILTOKI 1134-8984, Universidad del País Vasco - Departamento de Economía Aplicada III (Econometría y Estadística).
    5. L. Lambertini & M. Trombetta, 1997. "Delegation Affect Firms' Ability to Collude," Working Papers 275, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    6. Luca Lambertini, 2000. "Strategic Delegation and the Shape of Market Competition," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 47(5), pages 550-570, November.
    7. Cong Pan & DongJoon Lee & Kangsik Choi, 2020. "Firms’ strategic delegation with heterogeneous consumers," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 199-221, December.
    8. Carlos Barcena-Ruiz, Juan & Paz Espinosa, Maria, 1999. "Should multiproduct firms provide divisional or corporate incentives?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 751-764, July.
    9. Miettinen, Topi & Stenbacka, Rune, 2018. "Strategic short-termism: Implications for the management and acquisition of customer relationships," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 200-222.
    10. Davide Dragone, 2007. "Should One Sell Domestic Firms to Foreign Ones? A Tale of Delegation, Acquisition and Collusion," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 97(3), pages 85-112, May-June.
    11. Michael L. Katz, 2006. "Observable Contracts as Commitments: Interdependent Contracts and Moral Hazard," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 685-706, September.
    12. Emanuele Gerratana & Levent Koçkesen, 2015. "Commitment without reputation: renegotiation-proof contracts under asymmetric information," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 19(3), pages 173-209, September.
    13. Abraham L. Wickelgren, 2005. "Managerial Incentives And The Price Effects Of Mergers," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 327-353, September.
    14. Luca Lambertini, 2000. "Extended Games Played by Managerial Firms," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 51(2), pages 274-283, June.
    15. Paolo Balduzzi, 2004. "Delegation Games with Full Commitment," Working Papers 70, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2004.
    16. Levent Koçkesen & Emanuele Gerratana, 2008. "Delegation with Incomplete and Renegotiable Contracts," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 0803., Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    17. Ramón Faulí-Oller & Antonia Díaz, 1999. "- Competition And Privatization," Working Papers. Serie AD 1999-13, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    18. Lambertini, Luca & Trombetta, Marco, 2002. "Delegation and firms' ability to collude," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 359-373, April.
    19. Gerratana Emanuele & Koçkesen Levent, 2012. "Strategic Effects of Renegotiation-Proof Contracts," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-49, July.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bol:bodewp:377. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sebolit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.