Sunk Costs, Accommodation, and the Welfare Effects of Entry

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Industrial Economics
Year: 1998
Volume: 46
Issue: 3
Pages: 317-332

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Although economists usually support the unrestricted entry of firms into an industry, entry may lower social welfare if there are setup costs or if entrants have a cost disadvantage. We consider the welfare effects of entry within a standard Cournot model where some of an incumbent firm’s costs are sunk. We find that the range of parameter values over which entry can harm welfare declines monotonically in the fraction of cost that are sunk. Furthermore, the presence of even a small fraction of sunk costs often reverses an assessment that entry harms welfare.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:jindec:v:46:y:1998:i:3:p:317-332
Journal Field
Industrial Organization
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-26