Does Standardization Really Increase Production?

Katz and Shapiro’s result revisited
  • Hubert Stahn
Chapter

Abstract

In market structures with network externalities, it is often asserted that there is a natural tendency toward standardization. In this paper it is argued that incompatible products may survive in static models. Like Katz and Shapiro [1985], I develop a simple multi-product oligopoly in which the demand for one of these commodities increases with the number of agents consuming this good. Instead I introduce a variety of cost functions and discuss the limitations of their results of Katz and Shapiro and exhibit an example that reverses their conclusions.

Keywords

Cost Function Production Level Market Structure Network Externality Natural Tendency 
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References

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2000

Authors and Affiliations

  • Hubert Stahn
    • 1
  1. 1.BETAUniversity Louis PasteurFrance

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