Production Capacity for Durable Goods

  • R. Preston McAfee
Part of the Operations Research/Computer Science Interfaces Series book series (ORCS, volume 16)

Abstract

A theory of manufacturing capacity choice for a durable good is provided. The remarkable conclusion is that efficient production may entail ten to fifty years before full market saturation is reached. The time to market saturation is increased as the good becomes less durable, and the size of the crash when saturation is reached falls as the durability decreases. The monopoly seller is efficient provided he doesn’t ever undercut himself, a feature of some equilibria of the “no gap” case, where demand intersects marginal costs.

Key words

Coase durable good market saturation production capacity market penetration 

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References

  1. Coase, Ronald, “Durability and Monopoly,” Journal of Law and Economics vl5 (1972): 143–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York  2002

Authors and Affiliations

  • R. Preston McAfee
    • 1
  1. 1.University of Texas and University of ChicagoUSA

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