Endogenous Market Structures and Corporate Finance

Abstract

We characterize the optimal financial structure as a strategic de- vice to optimize the value of a firm competing in a market whose struc- ture is endogenous. Contrary to traditional results based on duopolies and depending on the form of competition, we show the general opti- mality of moderate debt financing whenever positive shocks increase the marginal profitability of strategies that reduce prices, indepen- dently from whether they are strategic susbtitutes or complements. We derive the general formulas for the optimal financial structure un- der Cournot and Bertrand competition with endogenous entry and cost uncertainty and extend the results in many directions.Financial structure, Debt, Modigliani-Miller theorem, Endogenous entry