We study what topological assumptions should be added to the acyclicity of individual best response improvements in order to ensure the existence of a (pure strategy) Nash equilibrium as well as the possibility to reach a Nash equilibrium in the limit of a best response improvement path. JEL Classification Number: C 72.

We analyze Cournot competition under demand uncertainty. We show that under rather general assumptions, the game has no asymmetric equilibria but multiple symmetric equilibria. Multiplicity is caused by the requirement of nonnegative prices and remains an issue also for simple demand specifications, such as the linear case. We then show that uniqueness of equilibrium is guaranteed if uncertaint...

The objective of this work is to investigate market power issues in bid-based hydrothermal scheduling. Initially, market power was simulated with a single stage Cournot–Nash equilibrium model. In this static model the equilibrium was calculated analytically. It was shown that the total production of N strategic agents is smaller than the least-cost solution by a factor of (N/(N +1)). Market pow...

This paper analyses the impact of changes in product market competition on the marginal cost of public funds (MCPF) and public goods supply when distortionary commodity taxes are used to raise revenue. First, less competition (measured by a switch from Bertrand to Cournot conduct, or a decrease in the elasticity of demand) does not necessarily raise the MPCF. Second, even if it does, optimal pu...

We introduce a simple model of oligopolistic competition where firms first build capacity, and then, after observing the capacity decisions, choose a reservation price at which they are willing to supply their capacities. This model describes many markets more realistically than Kreps and Scheinkman’s (1983) model. We show that in this new model every pure strategy equilibrium yields the Courno...

We analyze strategic delegation in a Stackelberg model with an arbitrary number, n, of firms. We show that the n−1 last movers delegate their production decisions to managers whereas the first mover does not. Equilibrium incentive rates are increasing in the order with which managers select quantities. Letting ui denote the equilibrium payoff of the firm whose manager moves in the i-th place, w...

Recent literature shows that learning in oligopoly games might in the long run result in the Cournot or in the Walras equilibrium. Which outcome is achieved seems to depend on the underlying learning dynamics. This paper analyzes the forces behind the learning mechanisms determining the long run outcome. Apart from the fact that there is a difference between social and individual learning, the ...

In standardWalrasian macro-finance models, pecuniary externalities such as fire sales lead to overinvestment in illiquid assets or underprovision of liquidity. We investigate whether imperfect competition (Cournot) improves welfare through internalizing the externality and find that this is far from guaranteed. In a standard model of liquidity shocks, when liquidity is sufficiently scarce, Cour...

We examine the impact of abatement taxes on the pollution level in a duopoly framework with endogenous market structure. We demonstrate that an increase in abatement taxes could trigger a regime-switch from joint ventures to Cournot competition, causing the pollution level to increase. Moreover, abatement taxes can implement the first best outcome if and only if the industry is not too pollutin...

This paper examines airline competition through an empirical specification of a demand and pricing equation system. The system is estimated for the Spanish airline market using a simultaneous procedure. The suitability of the Cournot assumption is tested in a competitive scenario characterized by an asymmetric oligopoly with capacity constraints. In addition, the degree of density economies is ...