具有不对称网络外部性和纵向差异化的产品竞争策略

在产品不完全覆盖市场中,研究具有不对称网络外部性的纵向差异化产品的Bertrand价格竞争或Cournot数量竞争策略.研究表明,两产品在Cournot数量竞争中的市场利润和社会福利都大于在Bertrand价格竞争中的市场利润和社会福利.在Bertrand价格竞争或Cournot数量竞争中,当低质量产品的网络外部性较大且满足一定条件时,低质量产品也可以获得较大的市场利润;当高质量产品具有较大网络外部性,或网络外部性虽然较小但满足一定条件条件,网络外部性相等或产品都不具有网络外部性时,高质量产品获得较大的市场利润.随着网络外部性的增强,Cournot-Nash均衡点并不稳定,在重复博弈以后,均衡点向Bertrand-Nash均衡点靠近.     

Persuasive advertising under Bertrand competition: A differential game

We investigate a linear state differential game of advertising, under Cournot and Bertrand competition. A unique saddlepoint equilibrium exists if the marginal cost of advertising is sufficiently low. Bertrand competition entails more intense advertising than Cournot competition, since increasing market size is more important to firms when competition is tough.     

产品差异化、竞争类型与合谋稳定性分析

在分析产品差异化的问题上引入合谋成本,修正了以往认为古诺竞争比伯川德竞争的合谋更容易维持的认识,得出在合谋成本的临界值之上,伯川德竞争比古诺竞争的合谋更容易维持的结论,这为经济参与者和决策制定者分析合谋问题提供一个更加全面的视角.     

Dynamic oligopoly pricing with reference-price effects

We analyze the strategic implications of consumers’ reference-price effects, either symmetric (for loss-neutral consumers) or asymmetric (for loss-averse consumers), in a differentiated oligopoly model where firms compete either in prices (à la Bertrand) or in quantities (à la Cournot) over an infinite time horizon. The dynamic game is specified in continuous time. The solution concept is Markov Perfect Equilibrium. We show how price dynamics in the presence of reference-price effects crucially depends on the nature of market competition. One of the main results of our analysis is that, with loss-averse consumers, there exists an interval of initial reference prices such that firms adopt the same constant-pricing strategy in both the Bertrand and the Cournot games, implying that the distinction between price and quantity competition has no impact on market conduct and performance.     

Dynamic Model of R&D,Spillovers, and Efficiency of Bertrand and Cournot Equilibria

Using an infinite-horizon two-player differential game, we derive and compare Bertrand and Cournot equilibria for a differentiated duopoly engaging in the process of R&D competition. The main findings of this study are as follows. First, Bertrand competition is more efficient if either R&D productivity is low or products are very different. Second, Cournot competition is more efficient provided that R&D productivity is high, products are close substitutes, and spillovers are not close to zero. This last result is different from what has been obtained in the literature. Hence, this shows that considering a dynamic model and more general investment costs does have an impact on the efficiency results.     

Delayed dynamics in heterogeneous competition with product differentiation

Heterogeneous duopolies with product differentiation and isoelastic price functions are examined, in which one firm is quantity setter and the other is price setter. The reaction functions and the Cournot–Bertrand (CB) equilibrium are first determined. It is shown that the best response dynamics with continuous time scales and without time delays, is always locally asymptotically stable. This stability can be, however, lost in the presence of time delays. Both fixed and continuously distributed time delays are examined, stability conditions derived and the stability regions determined and illustrated. The results are compared to Cournot–Cournot (CC) and Bertrand–Bertrand (BB) dynamics. It turns out that continuously distributed lags have a smaller destabilizing effect on the equilibria than fixed lags, and both homogeneous (CC and BB) competitions are more stable than the heterogeneous competitions.     

Nonlinear dynamics in a Cournot duopoly with relative profit delegation

This paper analyses the dynamics of a nonlinear Cournot duopoly with managerial delegation and homogeneous players. We assume that the owners of both firms hire a manager and delegate output decisions to him or her. Each manager receives a fixed salary plus a bonus based on relative (profit) performance. Managers of both firms may collude or compete. In cases of both collusion and a low degree of competition, we find that synchronised dynamics take place. However, when the degree of competition is high, the dynamics may undergo symmetry-breaking bifurcations, which can cause significant global phenomena. Specifically, there is on–off intermittency and blow-out bifurcations for several parameter values. In addition, several attractors may coexist. The global behaviour of the noninvertible map is investigated through studying a transverse Lyapunov exponent and the folding action of the critical curves of the map. These phenomena are impossible under profit maximisation.     

Oligopoly games under asymmetric costs and an application to energy production

Oligopolies in which firms have different costs of production have been relatively under-studied. In contrast to models with symmetric costs, some firms may be inactive in equilibrium. (With symmetric costs, the results trivialize to all firms active or all firms inactive.) We concentrate on the linear demand structure with constant marginal but asymmetric costs. In static one-period models, we compare the number of active firms, i.e. the number of firms producing a positive quantity in equilibrium, across four different models of oligopoly: Cournot and Bertrand with homogeneous or differentiated goods. When firms have different costs, we show that, for fixed good type, Cournot always results in more active firms than Bertrand. Moreover, with a fixed market type, differentiated goods result in more active firms than homogeneous goods. In dynamic models, asymmetric costs induce different entry times into the market. We illustrate with a model of energy production in which multiple producers from costly but inexhaustible alternative sources such as solar or wind compete in a Cournot market against an oil producer with exhaustible supply.     

On Cournot–Bertrand competition with differentiated products

In this paper, we present a game theoretic framework for Cournot–Bertrand competition based on a nonlinear price function. The competition is between two firms and is assumed to take place in terms of pricing decision and quantity produced. However, the proposed objective function has not been used in literature before, yet the throughput obtained in this paper generalizes some of the existing results in literature. The competitive interaction between firms is described and analyzed using best-reply reaction, proposed adaptive adjustment and bounded rationality approach. The condition of stability of Nash equilibrium (NE) is induced by these approaches. Interestingly, we prove that there exists exactly a unique NE. Furthermore, it is noticed that when firms adopt best-reply and the proposed adaptive adjustment, the firms’ strategic variables become asymptotically stable. On the contrary, when the bounded rationality is used both quantity and price behave chaotically due to bifurcation occurred.     

Spatial oligopolistic equilibria with arbitrage,shared resources,and price function conjectures

This paper considers equilibria among multiple firms that are competing non-cooperatively against each other to sell electric power and buy resources needed to produce that power. Examples of such resources include fuels, power plant sites, and emissions allowances. The electric power market is a spatial market on a network in which flows are constrained by Kirchhoffs current and voltage laws. Arbitragers in the power market erase spatial price differences that are non-cost based. Power producers can compete in power markets à la Cournot (game in quantities), or in a generalization of the Cournot game (termed the conjectured supply function game) in which they anticipate that rivals will respond to price changes. In input markets, producers either compete à la Bertrand (price-taking behavior) or they can conjecture that price will increase with consumption of the resource. The simultaneous competition in power and input markets presents opportunities for strategic price behavior that cannot be analyzed using models of power markets alone. Depending on whether the producers treat the arbitrager endogenously or exogenously, we derive two mixed nonlinear complementarity formulations of the oligopolistic problem. We establish the existence and uniqueness of solutions as well as connections among the solutions to the model formulations. A numerical example is provided for illustrative purposes.Support was provided by the National Science Foundation under grant ECS-0080577.This authors research was partially supported by the National Science Foundation under grants ECS-0080577 and CCR-0098013.The authors thank Chris Day, Fieke Riekers, and Adrian Wals for their collaboration. They are particularly indebted to Grant Roch for writing AMPL and MATLAB codes for solving the numerical example reported in the paper.     

Ex-post price stability with convex costs

Homogeneous goods markets with convex costs, do not generally possess Bertrand-Nash equilibria in pure strategies. In order to identify ex-post stable prices in such markets, the set of outcomes feasible in Bertrand competition are analysed as a non-transferable utility coalitional game. The market-clearing price is shown to always implement a strict-core outcome. Moreover, where at least two sellers compete, the strict-core converges to only admit market-clearing outcomes. The analysis has implications for a number of prominent models of oligopoly competition. When firms engage in capacity pre-commitment, the set of ex-post stable prices converges to the corresponding Cournot prices. This result holds for arbitrary capacity choices and a general class of rationing rules. Conversely, double-marginalisation is never ex-post stable.     

Supply chain performance assessment and supplier and component importance identification in a general competitive multitiered supply chain network model

In this paper, we develop a multitiered competitive supply chain network game theory model, which includes the supplier tier. The firms are differentiated by brands and can produce their own components, as reflected by their capacities, and/or obtain components from one or more suppliers, who also are capacitated. The firms compete in a Cournot–Nash fashion, whereas the suppliers compete a la Bertrand since firms are sensitive to prices. All decision-makers seek to maximize their profits with consumers reflecting their preferences through the demand price functions associated with the demand markets for the firms’ products. We construct supply chain network performance measures for the full supply chain and the individual firm levels that assess the efficiency of the supply chain or firm, respectively, and also allow for the identification and ranking of the importance of suppliers as well as the components of suppliers with respect to the full supply chain or individual firm. The framework is illustrated through a series of numerical supply chain network examples.     

多寡头市场下领先者、追随者和竞争者的市场绩效比较分析

根据"结构-行为-绩效"的SCP分析框架,分析了企业在多寡头产量竞争的Cournot市场结构、多寡头价格竞争的Bertrand市场结构、1个领先者和多个追随者的Stackberg市场结构下,分别采取自主创新、跟踪新产品开发和引进模仿等不同的产品开发战略的市场绩效.结果表明,在同质产品多寡头市场上的产量竞争中,企业采取领先者、竞争者和追随者3种行为的企业均衡产量和企业利润依次递减;多寡头Stackberg市场结构在总产量、消费者剩余和社会福利上表现更佳;多寡头Cournot市场结构在市场价格和行业总利润上更高.在异质产品多寡头市场上的Bertrand价格竞争中,互补品市场的均衡价格和均衡产量相对于替代品都提高;当替代程度较大时,寡头数目较少,同时每个寡头的均衡产量和均衡价格都上升.     

Submodularity and the evolution of Walrasian behavior

Vega-Redondo (1997) showed that imitation leads to the Walrasian outcome in Cournot Oligopoly. We generalize his result to aggregative quasi-submodular games. Examples are the Cournot Oligopoly, Bertrand games with differentiated complementary products, Common-Pool Resource games, Rent-Seeking games and generalized Nash-Demand games.I thank Jörg Oechssler, Rolf Tisljar, the editor, and an anonymous referee for helpful comments and suggestions. Financial support by the DFG is gratefully acknowledged.Submitted: September 2001 / Revised: January 2004     

Global facility network design in the presence of competition

We study the facility network design problem for a global firm that is a monopolist seller in its domestic market but faces local competition in its foreign market. The global firm produces in the face of demand and exchange rate uncertainty but can postpone localization and distribution of the output until after uncertainties are resolved. The competitor in the foreign market, however, enjoys the flexibility of postponing all production activities until after uncertainties are resolved. The two firms engage in an ex-post Cournot competition in the foreign market. We consider three potential network configurations for the global firm. Under a linear demand function, we provide the necessary and sufficient condition that one of the three networks is the global firm’s optimal choice, and explore how the presence of foreign competition affects the sensitivity of the global firm’s design to various cost parameters and market uncertainties.     

On the equivalence of quantity competition and supply function competition with sunk costs

This paper considers competition in supply functions in a homogeneous goods market in the absence of cost or demand uncertainty. In order to commit to a supply schedule, firms are required to build sufficient capacity to produce any quantity that may be prescribed by that schedule. When the cost of extra capacity (given the level of sales) is strictly positive, any Nash equilibrium outcome of supply function competition is also a Nash equilibrium outcome of the corresponding Cournot game, and vice-versa. Conversely, when the cost-savings from reducing output (given the capacity level) are sufficiently small, any outcome of iterated elimination of weakly dominated strategies in the supply function game is also an outcome of the same process in Cournot, and vice-versa.     

Strategic delegation under cost asymmetry revised

We revisit the Cournot duopoly game with strategic delegation and asymmetric costs of Delbono et al. (2016). In particular, the authors claim that a Prisoner Dilemma always arises. However, we show that, by setting properly the admissible parameter set, if the firms are sufficiently different, the efficient firm is better off when both firms delegate production. Therefore, in contrast with the traditional view, we claim that a Prisoner Dilemma is not an inevitable outcome in a strategic delegation game.     

Oligopoly models for market price of electricity under demand uncertainty and unit reliability

Several oligopoly models have been proposed for representing strategic behavior in electricity markets, which include Bertrand, Cournot, and Supply Function Equilibrium (SFE). For the most part, these models are deterministic, with the exception of the SFE originally developed by Klemperer and Meyer. However, their model does not include supply side uncertainties. In this paper, we consider both load and supply side uncertainties (resulting from generator availabilities). We obtain Nash equilibrium solutions for Cournot and SFE models, in which asymmetric firms (whose generating units have different costs and capacities) submit their bids so that each firm’s expected profit is maximized.     

INDIVIDUAL TRANSFERABLE QUOTAS AND PRODUCTION EXTERNALITIES IN A FISHERY

This paper determines the conditions under which an individual transferable quota (ITQ) system will cause fishermen to engage in cost-decreasing, rather than cost-increasing, competition. If there are production externalities (e.g., congestion or stock externalities) present, the market price of a quota will not be fully reflected in these externalities. Thus, fishermen will not fully internalize the externalities in their effort decisions. Even if there are no production externalities, an individual fisherman imposes costs on others under open access by removing a fish that was available to all fishermen. An ITQ system allows the individual who values that fish most to obtain the right to harvest the fish, so each fisherman must internalize the full social cost. Thus, an ITQ system is capable of solving the common property externality but not the production externalities in a fishery.     

A Cournot–Nash–Bertrand game theory model of a service-oriented Internet with price and quality competition among network transport providers

This paper develops a game theory model of a service-oriented Internet in which profit-maximizing service providers provide substitutable (but not identical) services and compete with the quantities of services in a Cournot–Nash manner, whereas the network transport providers, which transport the services to the users at the demand markets, and are also profit-maximizers, compete with prices in Bertrand fashion and on quality. The consumers respond to the composition of service and network provision through the demand price functions, which are both quantity and quality dependent. We derive the governing equilibrium conditions of the integrated game and show that it satisfies a variational inequality problem. We then describe the underlying dynamics, and provide some qualitative properties, including stability analysis. The proposed algorithmic scheme tracks, in discrete-time, the dynamic evolution of the service volumes, quality levels, and the prices until an approximation of a stationary point (within the desired convergence tolerance) is achieved. Numerical examples demonstrate the modeling and computational framework.