Microeconomics, Competition and Strategic Behaviour

Strategy and Decision-Making in Markets
1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-3-8252-5908-2
Verlag: UTB

Buch, Englisch, 416 Seiten, Format (B × H): 196 mm x 266 mm, Gewicht: 1050 g

Reihe: UTB

Microeconomics is not applied math – frameworks in this book are regularly in use in daily managerial practice and strategic decision-making. Numerous case studies cover price discrimination, economies of scale, digital business models, game theory, dealing with uncertainty, entry barriers or sunk costs – all of which are crucial for understanding market dynamics and competitive behaviour.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Münter, Markus Thomas

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Mikroökonomie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface 5
Content 9
List of abbreviations 12
List of mathematical and economic variables 13
1 Microeconomics, competition and strategic behaviour 17
1.1 Microeconomics between empirical research, theory and experiments 18
1.2 Markets, demand and supply 25
1.3 Price elasticity and marginal revenues 38
1.4 Summary and key learnings 48
Recommendations for further reading 48
Questions for review 49
Literature 49
2 Customer behaviour, products and network effects 53
2.1 Customer behaviour and decisions on demand 54
2.2 Market delineation and product categories 66
2.3 Network effects and multisided markets 83
2.4 Summary and key learnings 94
Recommendations for further reading 94
Questions for review 95
Literature 95
3 Decisions under risk and behavioural economics 101
3.1 Decisions under risk and uncertainty 102
3.2 Bounded rationality and behavioural economics 116
3.3 Summary and key learnings 131
Recommendations for further reading 131
Questions for review 132
Literature 133
4 Firms, competition and innovation 139
4.1 Firms, objectives and strategies 140
4.2 Competitive advantage, market structure and firm-specific capabilities 151
4.3 Competition and innovation 165
4.4 Summary and key learnings 179
Recommendations for further reading 180
Questions for review 180
Literature 181
5 Firm size, technology and decisions on production 187
5.1 Production function and technology 189
5.2 Short run decisions: diminishing marginal product and productivity 194
5.3 Long run decisions: technical progress and returns to scale 201
5.4 Summary and key learnings 211
Recommendations for further reading 212
Questions for review 212
Literature 213
6 Costs, restructuring and M&A 215
6.1 Cost functions, decisions and competitiveness 216
6.2 Short run decisions: Fixed costs and marginal costs 220
6.3 Long run decisions: adjusting cost structures 225
6.4 Cost-based competitive advantage and M&A 235
6.5 Summary and key learnings 245
Recommendations for further reading 246
Questions for review 246
Literature 247
7 Perfect competition, monopoly and competition policy 249
7.1 Decisions of a firm under perfect competition 250
7.2 Producer and consumer surplus as a measure of economic welfare 258
7.3 Monopoly and dominant firms 263
7.4 Restraints of competition, competition policy and competition authorities 271
7.5 Summary and key learnings 287
Recommendations for further reading 287
Questions for review 288
Literature 288
8 Pricing strategies and price discrimination 293
8.1 Forms and requirements of price discrimination 294
8.2 Direct price discrimination and market segmentation 296
8.3 Indirect price discrimination and two-part tariffs 302
8.4 Bundling 310
8.5 Auctions 316
8.6 Summary and key learnings 321
Recommendations for further reading 322
Questions for review 322
Literature 323
9 Strategic decision-making and game theory 327
9.1 Nash equilibria in simultaneous games 330
9.2 Risk aversion and mixed strategies 342
9.3 Sequential decisions and commitment 348
9.4 Summary and key learnings 354
Recommendations for further reading 355
Questions for review 355
Literature 356
10 Strategic competition in oligopoly 359
10.1 Capacity decisions and strategies in Cournot competition 362
10.2 Sequential decisions and strategies under Stackelberg competition 374
10.3 Pricing decisions and strategies in Bertrand competition 378
10.4 Strategic competition with product differentiation 385
10.5 Relevance for competitive strategies 394
10.6 Summary and key learnings 397
Recommendations for further reading 398
Questions for review 398
Literature 400
Index 403

Über Autor(innen)

Münter, Markus Thomas
Markus Thomas Münter ist seit 2014 Professor für Volkswirtschaftslehre, insbesondere Mikroökonomie, an der htw saar. Schwerpunkte seiner Forschung sind das Zusammenspiel von disruptiven Innovationen, Wettbewerbsfähigkeit von Unternehmen und endogenen Marktstrukturen. An der htw saar lehrt Münter Mikroökonomie, Wettbewerbspolitik sowie Managerial and Behavioral Economics. Daneben unterstützt er Unternehmen, deren Fähigkeiten nachhaltig und dauerhaft zu verbessern – aktuell insbesondere in den Themen Innovationsstrategie, Digitalisierung und organisatorische Neuaufstellung.Münter hat am Lehrstuhl für theoretische Volkswirtschaftslehre der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg promoviert und an der London Business School gearbeitet. Vor seinem Einstieg an der htw saar hat er 15 Jahre als Unternehmensberater und in Management-Funktionen die strategische Neuausrichtung, Unternehmenszusammenschlüsse und Transformation internationaler Banken und Finanzdienstleister mitgestaltet, bis Anfang 2014 als Principal der Eurogroup Consulting in Frankfurt.