PRICE COMPETITION UNDER COST UNCERTAINTY: A LABORATORY ANALYSIS
通过实验室实验，研究了在竞争对手成本不确定的情况下，企业数量与价格-成本边际的关系，发现市场价格随企业数量增加而下降，但平均仍高于边际成本。
We study the relation between the number of firms and price‐cost margins under price competition with uncertainty about competitors' costs. We report an experiment in which two, three, and four identical firms repeatedly interact in this environment. In line with the theoretical prediction, market prices decrease with the number of firms, but on average stay above marginal costs. Pricing is more aggressive than in equilibrium. Absolute and relative surplus increases with the number of firms. Total surplus is close to the equilibrium level, because enhanced consumer surplus through lower prices is counteracted by occasional displacements of the most cost‐efficient firm.