Mergers in asymmetric Stackelberg markets

It is well known that the profitability of horizontal mergers with quantity competition is scarce. However, in an asymmetric Stackelberg market we obtain that some mergers are profitable. Our main result is that mergers among followers become profitable when the followers are inefficient enough. In this case, leaders reduce their output when followers merge and this reduction renders the merger profitable. This merger increases price and welfare is reduced.      

Managerial Bonus Systems in a Differentiated Duopoly: A Comment

A differentiated Cournot duopoly is considered where firm owners delegate the output decision to a manager, who is rewarded on the basis of his performance. If this performance is measured in terms of (i) pure profits, (ii) a combination of profits and sales, (iii) a combination of profits and market share or (iv) relative profits, the latter option strictly dominates the others if the products are perfect substitutes. Recently it was claimed that this result does not hold for all levels of product substitutability. In this comment, we show however that this result is robust against the introduction of product differentiation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cournot outcomes under Bertrand–Edgeworth competition with demand uncertainty

We provide new results for two-stage games in which firms make capacity investments when demand is uncertain, then, when demand is realized, compete in prices. We consider games with demand rationing schemes ranging from efficient to proportional rationing. In all cases, there is a subgame perfect equilibrium outcome coinciding with the outcome of the Cournot game with demand uncertainty if and only if (i) the fluctuation in absolute market size is small relative to the cost of capacity, or (ii) uncertainty is such that with high probability the market demand is very large and with the remaining probability the market demand is extremely small. Otherwise, equilibria involve mixed strategies. Further, we show under efficient rationing that condition (i) is sufficient for the unique equilibrium outcome to be an equilibrium outcome of the Cournot game with demand uncertainty.     

完全信息动态条件下企业总成本领先战略探究

首先,从迈克尔.波特教授的著作中引入总成本领先战略;接着,从博弈论斯坦克尔伯格模型出发,来建立所要分析问题的一般化模型,并分析一般化的完全信息动态模型得到均衡解。在结论分析中,引入要讨论的总成本领先战略,通过对比分析先动的企业和跟随的企业在采取成本领先的时候其市场的份额和利润,得到讨论的结论;先动的企业采取成本领先可以获得行业竞争优势,跟随企业在采取足够低的成本领先的前提下,也可以获得更高的市场份额和利润空间,从而可以获得竞争优势。     

Optimal cash holdings under heterogeneous beliefs

This paper explores a one‐period model for a firm that finances its operations through debt provided by heterogeneous creditors. Creditors differ in their beliefs about the firm's investment outcomes. We show the existence of Stackelberg equilibria in which the firm holds cash reserves in order to provide incentives for pessimistic creditors to invest in the firm. We find interest rates and cash holdings to be complementary tools for increasing debt capacity. In markets with a high concentration of capital across a small interval of pessimistic creditors or by a few large creditors, cash holdings is the preferred tool to increase the debt capacity of the firm.     

Dynamic cooperative promotion in the presence of consumer reference effect with competing retailers

This paper studies the cooperative promotion problem in the presence of the promotion reference effect. We consider retailer price-reduction promotion activities that enhance their sales but may impair brand image for the manufacturer. Moreover, because frequently used promotion induces a promotion reference effect on customers, we investigate how the promotion reference effect influences cooperative control strategies. We do so by examining the context in a supply chain with one leading manufacturer and two competing retailers, where the manufacturer implements a cooperative promotion program for the retailers. We use differential game models vis-a-vis dynamic promotion control strategies and cooperative promotion strategies under the scenario of existence and non-existence of the reference effect. Findings show that the presence of a promotion reference effect increases profit for the manufacturer but generates reduced profit for the retailers. We also find that the manufacturer augments the level of national brand advertising when incorporating the reference effect, and retailers raise (lower) their degree of promotion when the negative effect is low (high).     

Money-back guarantee and pricing decision with retailer's store brand

This paper investigates the money-back guarantee (MBG) choice problem in the presence of store brand introduction in a two-echelon supply chain consisted of one manufacturer and one retailer. Game-theoretic models with different MBG policies regarding the national brand and the store brand are examined. We found that the MBG policy could be a strategic tool to help the retailer developing its store brand even when a fairer policy is chosen by the retailer and the store brand is considered by consumers as a low-end substitute for the national brand. The presence of MBG is beneficial to the retailer while unfavorable to the manufacturer, even though the retailer provides a fairer MBG policy, i.e., MBG for both two brands. Although the national brand has advantages over the store brand, MBG will increase the competition and cause customer shifting from the national brand to store brand and thus bring a profit loss for the manufacturer. Moreover, we have found that the manufacturer could provide coordinate contracts for the retailer to improve its performance with which a win-win outcome could be reached for both the manufacturer and the retailer.     

制造商公平关切行为对绿色供应链生态标签策略的影响研究

考虑制造商存在公平关切行为,构建基于制造商为主导的Stackelberg绿色供应链博弈模型,研究自贴与行业认证生态标签策略下,制造商不同公平关切程度对绿色供应链各成员最优均衡决策的影响。结果表明：当制造商公平中性时,自贴和行业认证生态标签策略下,制造商利润均大于零售商。当制造商存在公平关切时,相较于自贴策略,行业认证策略下伴随制造商公平关切程度的增加,单位产品绿色度、零售商单位批零差价及绿色推广努力水平均较高,且呈现递增趋势;制造商成本与批发价的中间盈利也略高,但呈现下降趋势。同时,行业认证策略下零售商最优效用更高,制造商最优效用相对略低;但绿色供应链系统总效用均伴随制造商公平关切程度的增加而持续上升。     

制造商与网络零售商之供应链回购契约协调研究——基于Stackelberg博弈分析

运用基于经典报童问题的回购契约协调由单一制造商和单一网络零售商构成二阶供应链。构建stackelberg博弈模型和供应链整合模型,并求解算例,据此讨论双方如何运用回购契约,通过调整变量和参数来协调供应链的利润分配并实现供应链的最佳绩效。研究表明,作为主导方的制造商若同时提升批发价和更高倍率的补贴价,自身利润和供应链的总利润将会增加,供应链绩效也会得以改善,但跟随者网络零售商的利润会有所下降。     

考虑买方议价能力的双寡头供应商技术创新决策

在大型零售商的买方议价能力不断增强的背景下,研究了竞争供应商的技术创新决策问题。构建了由异质双寡头供应商、大型零售商组成的纵向市场结构模型,并将大型零售商的议价能力引入模型,考察了大型零售商议价能力条件下供应商的最优技术创新决策,分析了零售商议价能力的变化对不同供应商的技术创新决策的影响。研究发现:大型零售商议价能力的增强促进了小型供应商的技术创新、抑制了大型供应商的技术创新;当零售商的议价能力大于某一临界值时,小型供应商的技术创新水平会高于大型供应商。最后通过具体算例验证了研究结论,分析了参数变化对研究结论的影响。