Cournot Competition
Working Paper No. 06-W20
Andrew F. Daughety
ABSTRACT [article]
Cournot's 1838 model of strategic interaction between competing firms has become the primary workhorse for the analysis of imperfect competition, and shows up in a variety of fields, notably industrial organization and international trade. This entry begins with a tour of the basic Cournot model and its properties, touching on existence, uniqueness, stability, and efficiency; this discussion especially emphasizes considerations involved in using the Cournot model in multi-stage applications. A discussion of recent applications is provided as well as the URL for an extended bibliography of approximately 125 selected publications from 2001 through 2005.
Keywords and Phrases: Cournot models, Cournot equilibrium, oligopoly, multi-stage models of competition, best-response functions
JEL Classification Numbers: D43