An economic perspective on escalating commitment
从经济学角度解释为何管理者会持续投入失败策略，用数学证明其合理性，并讨论对先发优势和钢铁、汽车、半导体行业的启示。
This paper highlights the significance of escalating commitment to strategy formulation, briefly examines behavioral explanations of escalating commitment to a losing course of action, and finally proposes an economic theory of the escalating commitment phenomenon. An example of escalating commitment to an outdated technology is presented. It is shown mathematically that there are economic justifications for escalating commitment to a failing strategy. Strategic implications for the first move advantage and for the U.S. steel, auto and semiconductor industries are discussed.