Complementaries and commitment in a Cournot setting

Abstract

When oligopolistic firms compete by investing simultaneously in cost-reducing R&D and in demand-creating advertising expenditures, their strategic commitment in such assets may differ qualitatively from the behavior pursued when only one of them is used. In particular, if R&D (and advertising) investment is decided on and made public before selecting the output, then cases of undercommitment in cost reduction can arise despite the non-existence of technological spillovers; and others in which there is no room for a differentiated strategic use of R\&D. Furthermore, when advertising is included among the investment variables of firms, their R&D expenses may equal or even exceed the socially optimal level.