Competition and Investment in Flexible Technologies
研究市场结构对灵活制造系统投资的影响，通过两阶段博弈模型发现，市场集中度越高，采用灵活技术的企业比例越大；市场越大或产品差异化越大，该比例也越高。美国和日本的行业数据支持了这些预测。
This paper examines the implications of market structure on investment in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). We analyze a two-stage game, in which firms choose between a flexible and a less flexible technology in the first stage, then choose production quantities in the second stage. In equilibrium, a large proportion of FMS firms is associated with more concentrated markets. Our model predicts that a larger market and/or a more differentiated product results in a higher proportion of FMS firms being sustained. These predictions are empirically supported using cross-section industry level data from both the US and Japan.