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The Circular City with Heterogeneous Firms

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Abstract

The paper extends the Salop model of localized competition by allowing firms to have heterogeneous costs. We provide a general but highly tractable analytical solution for the equilibrium prices, and we study the long-run properties of the model using two different entry games. We show that cost heterogeneity affects the efficiency of the market equilibrium by increasing welfare and inducing less excessive entry. Further, we illustrate the positive effects of the existence of a selection mechanism, which induces less efficient firms not to start production. The model also replicates some recent results on dense markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Alderighi & Claudio A. Piga, 2008. "The Circular City with Heterogeneous Firms," Discussion Paper Series 2008_03, Department of Economics, Loughborough University, revised Jul 2008.
    • Handle: RePEc:lbo:lbowps:2008_03
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    1. Qihong Liu & Konstantinos Serfes, 2005. "Imperfect price discrimination, market structure, and efficiency," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 38(4), pages 1191-1203, November.
    2. V. Bhaskar & Ted To, 2004. "Is Perfect Price Discrimination Really Efficient? An Analysis of Free Entry," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 35(4), pages 762-776, Winter.
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    7. Chad Syverson, 2007. "Prices, Spatial Competition And Heterogeneous Producers: An Empirical Test," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 197-222, June.
    8. Volker Nocke, 2006. "A Gap for Me: Entrepreneurs and Entry," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 4(5), pages 929-956, September.
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    10. Claudio A. Piga, 1998. "A Dynamic Model of Advertising and Product Differentiation," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 13(5), pages 509-522, October.
    11. Anthony Creane, 2007. "Note on uncertainty and socially excessive entry," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 3(4), pages 329-334, December.
    12. Joris Pinkse & Margaret E. Slade & Craig Brett, 2002. "Spatial Price Competition: A Semiparametric Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(3), pages 1111-1153, May.
    13. Rothschild, R, 1982. "Competitive Behaviour in Chain-Linked Markets," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1-2), pages 57-67, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jonathan Vogel, 2011. "Spatial Price Discrimination with Heterogeneous Firms," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 661-676, December.
    2. Matthew Beacham, 2012. "The effect of Stackelberg cost reductions on spatial competition with heterogeneous firms," Discussion Papers 12/14, Department of Economics, University of York.
    3. Alderighi, Marco & Piga, Claudio A., 2010. "On cost restrictions in spatial competition models with heterogeneous firms," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 40-42, July.
    4. Benjamin Montmartin & Marcos Herrera-Gomez, 2022. "Imitative Pricing: The Importance of Neighborhood Effects in Physicians' Consultation Prices," GREDEG Working Papers 2022-02, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    5. Munirul H. Nabirin & Pasquale M. Sgro, 2010. "Clean Technology, Willingness to Pay and Market Size," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 193-210.
    6. Kevin Wiseman, 2010. "Location, Productivity, and Trade," 2010 Meeting Papers 671, Society for Economic Dynamics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Localized competition; market effciency; cost heterogeneity; large markets.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis

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