Standardization versus Preference for Variety in Linear Cournot Oligopoly

Frédéric Deroian (1) , Frédéric Gannon (2, 3)

1 GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille
2 EconomiX - EconomiX
3 CERENE - Centre d'Etude et de Recherche en économiE et gestioN LogistiquE

We consider a Cournot oligopoly setting in which consumers have an intrinsic preference for variety, while unit production costs of firms increase with the number of goods they produce. This environment exhibits a general under-provision of variety with respect to social welfare.

Mots clés: Standardization; Preference for Variety; Oligopoly

Domaines: Economies et finances

Frédéric Deroian, Frédéric Gannon. Standardization versus Preference for Variety in Linear Cournot Oligopoly. 2007. ⟨halshs-00366895⟩