Multi-market Cournot equilibria with heterogeneous resource-constrained firms
File(s)Cournot-Asymmetric_Final.pdf (1017.27 KB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Caldentey, Rene
Haugh, Martin
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We study Cournot competition among firms in a multi-market framework where each of
the firms face different budget / capacity constraints. We assume independent linear inverse
demand functions for each market, and completely characterize the resulting unique equilibrium.
Specifically, we introduce the notions of augmented and cutoff budgets for firms and markets,
respectively. We show, for example, that firm i operates in market j if and only if firm i’s
augmented budget is greater than market j’s cutoff budget. We also study the properties of the
equilibrium as a function of the number of firms N while keeping the aggregate budget fixed.
In a numerical study, we show that increasing N increases the total output across all markets
although this monotonicity can fail to hold at the individual market level. Similarly, we show
that that while the firms’ cumulative payoff decreases in N, the consumer surplus and social
surplus increase in N.
the firms face different budget / capacity constraints. We assume independent linear inverse
demand functions for each market, and completely characterize the resulting unique equilibrium.
Specifically, we introduce the notions of augmented and cutoff budgets for firms and markets,
respectively. We show, for example, that firm i operates in market j if and only if firm i’s
augmented budget is greater than market j’s cutoff budget. We also study the properties of the
equilibrium as a function of the number of firms N while keeping the aggregate budget fixed.
In a numerical study, we show that increasing N increases the total output across all markets
although this monotonicity can fail to hold at the individual market level. Similarly, we show
that that while the firms’ cumulative payoff decreases in N, the consumer surplus and social
surplus increase in N.
Date Issued
2024-05
Date Acceptance
2024-01-16
Citation
Operations Research, 2024, 72 (3), pp.940-956
ISSN
0030-364X
Publisher
Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences
Start Page
940
End Page
956
Journal / Book Title
Operations Research
Volume
72
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2024, INFORMS This is the author’s accepted manuscript made available under a CC-BY licence in accordance with Imperial’s Research Publications Open Access policy (www.imperial.ac.uk/oa-policy)
License URL
Identifier
https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/full/10.1287/opre.2022.0664
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2024-02-22