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Capability accumulation and conglomeratization in the information age

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  • Chen, Jun
  • Elliott, Matthew
  • Koh, Andrew

Abstract

The past twenty years have witnessed the emergence of internet conglomerates fueled by acquisitions. We build a simple model of network formation to study this. Following the resource-based view of competitive advantage from the management literature we endow firms with capabilities which drive their competitiveness across markets. Firms can merge to combine their capabilities, spin-off new firms by partitioning their capabilities, or procure unassigned capabilities. We study stable industry structures (stable networks) in which none of these deviations are profitable. We find an upper and lower bound on the size of the largest firm, and show that as markets value more of the same capabilities abrupt increases in these bounds occur.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Jun & Elliott, Matthew & Koh, Andrew, 2023. "Capability accumulation and conglomeratization in the information age," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:210:y:2023:i:c:s0022053123000431
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2023.105647
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    Cited by:

    1. Tom'as Aguirre, 2024. "On Labs and Fabs: Mapping How Alliances, Acquisitions, and Antitrust are Shaping the Frontier AI Industry," Papers 2406.01722, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2024.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Network formation and analysis: theory; Market structure; Firm strategy; Market performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms

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