11.9
The Cournot model is a market structure in which firms produce homogeneous goods and compete based on quantity rather than price.
Here, each firm assumes its rival’s output is fixed during decision-making. Each firm has identical production cost structures and chooses its output to maximize profits, where marginal revenue equals its marginal cost.
For instance, consider two firms: Firm A and Firm B.
Firm A selects its output level to maximize profit, assuming that Firm B’s output is fixed.
Similarly, Firm B determines its optimal output by assuming that Firm A’s output is fixed.
In the initial stages, each firm aims to capture half of the remaining market share after accounting for the rival’s output.
Over time, they converge to a stable outcome, and both firms occupy one-third of the total market share.
At this point, neither firm has an incentive to change its output, reaching what is known as the Nash equilibrium.
The equilibrium outputs can be represented using reaction curves, which illustrate the optimal responses of each firm given the competitor’s output
The intersection point of the two curves represents the Cournot equilibrium and reflects the firm’s profit-maximizing strategy.
企业通过产出的选择来间接地确定价格,而不是完全避免定价。每家企业都假设其竞争对手的产量是保持不变的,然后决定自己的产出。由于两家企业提供相同的产品,因此市场供给总量会影响价格。
利润最大化的基础是边际收益等于边际成本(MR = MC),而不是成本和收益的一般“平衡”。关键思想是,企业的最佳决策取决于…