Series/Report no.:
29th European Regional Conference of the International Telecommunications Society (ITS): "Towards a Digital Future: Turning Technology into Markets?", Trento, Italy, 1st - 4th August, 2018
Abstract:
This paper investigates the impact of technical progress on the relationship between competition an investment. Using a model of oligopoly competition with di¤erentiated products where firms invest to reduce their marginal cost of production, I find that technical progress, which increases the impact of investment on cost reduction, decreases the level of competition that maximizes investment of the industry. This feature holds also for consumer surplus and Welfare. In the model, competition is measured either by the number of competitors or by the degree of substitutability between o¤ers. Result holds for both measures.Two parametric examples illustrate these features.