NO: WP-2016-020
AUTHOR: Mili Naskar and Rupayan Pal
TITLE: Network Externalities and Process R&D: A Cournot-Bertrand Comparison
ABSTRACT : This paper examines the implication of the nature of competition in a market with network externalities on strategic investment in process R&D by firms. It shows that network externalities have a positive effect on process R&D, regardless of the nature of product market competition; but, that effect is larger under Bertrand competition than under Cournot competition. If network externalities are sufficiently strong, regardless of the degree of product differentiation, Bertrand firms have a stronger incentive for process R&D than Cournot firms. Otherwise, if network externalities are not sufficiently strong, the higher the degree of product differentiation, the greater is the possibility of Bertrand R&D to be higher than Cournot R&D.
Keywords : Process R&D, Network Externalities, Cournot, Bertrand, Product Differentiation
JEL Code : L13, D43, O31
Weblink: http://www.igidr.ac.in/pdf/publication/WP-2016-020.pdf
