IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ind/igiwpp/2013-014.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Cournot-Bertrand profit differential: A Reversal result in network goods duopoly

Author

Listed:
  • Rupayan Pal

    (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research)

Abstract

We revisit the classic profit-ranking of Cournot and Bertrand equilibria and the issue of endogenous choice of a price or a quantity contract, but for a network goods duopoly. We show that, if network externalities are strong (weak), each firm earns higher (lower) profit under Bertrand competition than under Cournot competition. Therefore, unless network externalities are weak, the classic profit-ranking is reversed. When modes of product market competition are endogenously determined, Cournot equilibrium always constitutes the subgame perfect Nash equilibrium (SPNE). However, a prisoners's dilemma type of situation arises and the SPNE is Pareto inefficient, unless network externalities are weak.

Suggested Citation

  • Rupayan Pal, "undated". "The Cournot-Bertrand profit differential: A Reversal result in network goods duopoly," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2013-014, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    • Handle: RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2013-014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.igidr.ac.in/pdf/publication/WP-2013-014.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tasnadi, Attila, 2006. "Price vs. quantity in oligopoly games," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 541-554, May.
    2. Dastidar, Krishnendu Ghosh, 1997. "Comparing Cournot and Bertrand in a Homogeneous Product Market," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 205-212, July.
    3. Avinash Dixit, 1979. "A Model of Duopoly Suggesting a Theory of Entry Barriers," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 20-32, Spring.
    4. Okuguchi, Koji, 1987. "Equilibrium prices in the Bertrand and Cournot oligopolies," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 128-139, June.
    5. Piercarlo Zanchettin, 2006. "Differentiated Duopoly with Asymmetric Costs," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 999-1015, December.
    6. Luciano Fanti & Nicola Meccheri, 2011. "The Cournot-Bertrand profit differential in a differentiated duopoly with unions and labour decreasing returns," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 31(1), pages 233-244.
    7. Ghosh, Arghya & Mitra, Manipushpak, 2010. "Comparing Bertrand and Cournot in mixed markets," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 72-74, November.
    8. Leonard Cheng, 1985. "Comparing Bertrand and Cournot Equilibria: A Geometric Approach," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 16(1), pages 146-152, Spring.
    9. Economides, Nicholas, 1996. "Network externalities, complementarities, and invitations to enter," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 211-233, September.
    10. Symeonidis, George, 2003. "Comparing Cournot and Bertrand equilibria in a differentiated duopoly with product R&D," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 39-55, January.
    11. Miller, Nolan H & Pazgal, Amit I, 2001. "The Equivalence of Price and Quantity Competition with Delegation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(2), pages 284-301, Summer.
    12. Nirvikar Singh & Xavier Vives, 1984. "Price and Quantity Competition in a Differentiated Duopoly," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(4), pages 546-554, Winter.
    13. Katz, Michael L & Shapiro, Carl, 1985. "Network Externalities, Competition, and Compatibility," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(3), pages 424-440, June.
    14. Kangsik Choi, 2012. "Price And Quantity Competition In A Unionised Mixed Duopoly: The Cases Of Substitutes And Complements," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 1-22, March.
    15. Hackner, Jonas, 2000. "A Note on Price and Quantity Competition in Differentiated Oligopolies," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 233-239, August.
    16. Hoernig, Steffen, 2012. "Strategic delegation under price competition and network effects," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(2), pages 487-489.
    17. Scrimitore, Marcella, 2013. "Price or quantity? The strategic choice of subsidized firms in a mixed duopoly," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 118(2), pages 337-341.
    18. Matsumura, Toshihiro & Ogawa, Akira, 2012. "Price versus quantity in a mixed duopoly," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 116(2), pages 174-177.
    19. Vives, Xavier, 1985. "On the efficiency of Bertrand and Cournot equilibria with product differentation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 166-175, June.
    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. Luciano Fanti & Nicola Meccheri, 2015. "On the Cournot–Bertrand Profit Differential and the Structure of Unionisation in a Managerial Duopoly," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 266-287, December.
    2. Rupayan Pal, 2014. "Price and quantity competition in network goods duopoly: a reversal result," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(2), pages 1019-1027.
    3. Trishita Bhattacharjee & Rupayan Pal, 2013. "Price vs. Quantity in duopoly with strategic delegation: Role of network externalities," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2013-010, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    4. Manipushpak Mitra & Rupayan Pal & Arindam Paul & P. M. Sharada, 2020. "Equilibrium Coexistence of Public and Private Firms and the Plausibility of Price Competition," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 176(2), pages 217-242.
    5. Lee, DongJoon & Choi, Kangsik & Nariu, Tatsuhiko, 2016. "Endogenous Choice of Price or Quantity Contract with Upstream R&D Investment: Linear Pricing and Two-part Tariff Contract with Bargaining," MPRA Paper 72752, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Kangsik, Choi, 2012. "Cournot and Bertrand competition with asymmetric costs in a mixed duopoly revisited," MPRA Paper 37704, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 28 Mar 2012.
    7. Ryo Hashizume & Tatsuhiko Nariu, 2020. "Price and quantity competition with network externalities: Endogenous choice of strategic variables," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 88(6), pages 847-865, December.
    8. Ki‐Dong Lee & Sunghee Choi & Kangsik Choi, 2020. "Bertrand versus Cournot competition in a downstream mixed oligopoly with foreign ownership," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(2), pages 101-120, April.
    9. Montinaro, Marta & Scrimitore, Marcella, 2019. "Per unit and ad valorem royalties in a patent licensing game," MPRA Paper 96642, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Luciano Fanti & Marcella Scrimitore, 2017. "How to compete? Cournot vs. Bertrand in a vertical structure with an integrated input supplier," Discussion Papers 2017/221, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    11. Pal, Rupayan, 2015. "Cournot vs. Bertrand under relative performance delegation: Implications of positive and negative network externalities," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 94-101.
    12. Delbono, Flavio & Lambertini, Luca, 2016. "Ranking Bertrand, Cournot and supply function equilibria in oligopoly," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 73-78.
    13. Basak, Debasmita & Wang, Leonard F.S., 2019. "Cournot vs. Bertrand in mixed markets with R&D," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 265-271.
    14. Aymeric Lardon, 2017. "On the Coalitional Stability of Monopoly Power in Differentiated Bertrand and Cournot Oligopolies," GREDEG Working Papers 2017-10, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    15. Aymeric Lardon, 2019. "On the coalitional stability of monopoly power in differentiated Bertrand and Cournot oligopolies," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 87(4), pages 421-449, November.
    16. Yasuhiko Nakamura, 2017. "Choosing Price or Quantity? The Role of Delegation and Network Externalities in a Mixed Duopoly," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 174-200, June.
    17. Manasakis, Constantine & Vlassis, Minas, 2014. "Downstream mode of competition with upstream market power," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 84-93.
    18. Haraguchi, Junichi & Matsumura, Toshihiro, 2014. "Price versus quantity in a mixed duopoly with foreign penetration," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 338-353.
    19. Xing Gao & Weijun Zhong, 2016. "Economic incentives in security information sharing: the effects of market structures," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 361-377, December.
    20. M. Breton & A. Turki & G. Zaccour, 2004. "Dynamic Model of R&D, Spillovers, and Efficiency of Bertrand and Cournot Equilibria," Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 1-25, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Network externalities; Cournot; Bertrand; Profit ranking; Endogenous mode of competition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

    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:ind:igiwpp:2013-014. 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: Shamprasad M. Pujar (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/igidrin.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.