Sunk Costs and Market Structure: Price Competition, Advertising, and the Evolution of Concentration

by John Sutton

Overview

Sunk Costs and Market Structure bridges the gap between the new generation of game theoretic models that has dominated the industrial organization literature over the past ten years and the traditional empirical agenda of the subject as embodied in the structure-conduct-performance paradigm developed by Joe S. Bain and his successors. The new theoretical literature has engendered pessimism in recent years because many results turn out to depend on detailed features of the market that are difficult to measure. This has led many observers to argue that the new literature offers little basis for the kind of cross-industry studies that have formed the empirical base of the subject since the 1950s. Using current game-theoretic methods, John Sutton reexamines the traditional agenda. He argues that despite the "delicate" nature of many results, there are theoretical predictions that turn out to be extremely robust to reasonable changes in model specification, and these results should be taken into account when looking for statistical regularities across a broad spectrum of different industries. Sutton draws on a wide range of historical sources and on an intensive program of company interviews to assemble a matrix of industry studies relating to twenty markets within the food and drink sector, in six countries - France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. He combines theory, econometric evidence, and a detailed account of the various patterns of evolution of structure found in these industries in a rigorous evaluation of the strengths and limitations of a game-theoretic approach in explaining the evolution of industrial structure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262693585
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	08/24/2007
Series:	The MIT Press
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	592
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John Sutton is Sir John Hicks Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Foreword
Part I The Framework
1 An Introductory Overview
2 The Analytical Framework I: EXogenous Sunk Costs
3 The Analytical Framework II: Endogenous Sunk Costs
4 From Theory to Measurement
5 Econometric Evidence
Part II Setup Costs and Structure
6 The Evolution of Homogeneous Goods Industries
7 The Limitations of the Theory I
Part III Advertising and Structure
8 The Evolution of AdvertisingIntensive Industries
9 How History Matters
10 Endogenous Advertising Outlays and Brand Proliferation
11 The Limitations of the Theory II
Part IV How Setup Costs and Advertising
Interact
12 Setup Costs and Structure in AdvertisingIntensive
Industries
13 A CompleX Case
Part V Summing Up
14 Drawing Some Threads Together
Afterword
Appendices
References
IndeX

What People are Saying About This

Richard E. Caves

This study represents a simple yet fundamental and deep test of modern game theory models, illustrating the process by which entry and exit bring the population of firms in a market to the equilibrium number in light of that market's mode of competition.

Jean Tirole

An excellent piece of empirical work by a leader in industrial organization. Econometric tests and industry studies are carefully guided by sound theory. A must reading for students in the field.

Willard F. Mueller

A clear, concise blending of theory and empirical analysis. The international comparisons of the industries examined shed new insights into the common and unique organizational characteristics of the industries studied.

Endorsement

This study represents a simple yet fundamental and deep test of modern game theory models, illustrating the process by which entry and exit bring the population of firms in a market to the equilibrium number in light of that market's mode of competition.

—Richard E. Caves

From the Publisher

Sutton eschews the 'possibility' results of the theoretical product differentiation literature, and instead focusses on robust comparative statics predictions. These predictions are then confronted with a thorough investigation of twenty food and drink product markets in six countries. The result is a unique and informative mixture of theory and evidence.

—Robert Porter, Professor of Economics, Northwestern University

A clear, concise blending of theory and empirical analysis. The international comparisons of the industries examined shed new insights into the common and unique organizational characteristics of the industries studied.

—Willard F. Mueller, Research Professor, The University of Wisconsin

An excellent piece of empirical work by a leader in industrial organization. Econometric tests and industry studies are carefully guided by sound theory. A must reading for students in the field.

—Jean Tirole, Scientific Director at the Institut d'Economie Industrielle, Researcher at CERAS (of the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées), and Visiting Professor at MIT

This study represents a simple yet fundamental and deep test of modern game theory models, illustrating the process by which entry and exit bring the population of firms in a market to the equilibrium number in light of that market's mode of competition.

—Richard E. Caves

Robert Porter

Sutton eschews the 'possibility' results of the theoretical product differentiation literature, and instead focusses on robust comparative statics predictions. These predictions are then confronted with a thorough investigation of twenty food and drink product markets in six countries. The result is a unique and informative mixture of theory and evidence.

Editorial Reviews

"An excellent piece of empirical work by a leader in industrial organization. Econometric tests and industry studies are carefully guided by sound theory. A must reading for students in the field."--Jean Tirole, Scientific Director at the Institut d'Economie Industrielle, Researcher at CERAS (of the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees), and Visiting Professor at MIT.

& quot; An excellent piece of empirical work by a leader in industrial organization. Econometric tests and industry studies are carefully guided by sound theory. A must reading for students in the field.& quot; -- Jean Tirole, Scientific Director at the Institut d'Economie Industrielle, Researcher at CERAS (of the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chauss& eacute; es), and Visiting Professor at MIT.

" An excellent piece of empirical work by a leader in industrial organization. Econometric tests and industry studies are carefully guided by sound theory. A must reading for students in the field." --Jean Tirole, Scientific Director at the Institut d'Economie Industrielle, Researcher at CERAS (of the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussé es), and Visiting Professor at MIT.

From the Publisher