Competition and industrial coordination

Jackie Krafft (1) , Jacques-Laurent Ravix (1)

1 GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion

This chapter aims at studying the adjustment process implemented by competing firms. The process of competition between firms may lead to different positions. Competition may arrive at perfect coordination and the adjustment process exhibits a convergence to an equilibrium. Competition may also imply a more problematic position of imperfect coordination and the emergence of durable and cumulative disequilibria. In both situations, specific institutional arrangements such as mergers and acquisitions, cooperation and alliances have to be elaborated by firms to prevent the occurrence of these disequilibria and, to some extent, to organise the process of competition. In fact, the role of business institutions is different with respect to each type of coordination. Being considered as a simple response to market failures when coordination is perfect, they must be endowed with a more endogenous status when coordination is imperfect.

Domaines: Economies et finances

Jackie Krafft, Jacques-Laurent Ravix. Competition and industrial coordination. Jackie Krafft. The Process of Competition, Edward Elgar, pp.143-164, 2000. ⟨hal-00212287⟩