Online PhD defence Jing Ren

Keywords: Oligopoly models, Heterogeneity, Coalition formation, Equilibrium

"Coalition Formation and Equilibrium in Oligopoly Models with Heterogeneous Firms"

This thesis investigates how firms compete and cooperate in markets where a small number of firms interact strategically. In practice, firms often differ from one another, for example in their production costs, and these differences can influence both their willingness to cooperate and the outcomes of market competition. The thesis studies when firms have incentives to form stable coalitions and how differences between firms affect the process of coalition formation. It also examines when a market equilibrium exists and whether such an equilibrium remains stable when firms adjust their decisions over time. By combining models of cooperation and competition, the thesis provides a better understanding of how differences between firms shape their strategic decisions and market outcomes. The findings contribute to the study of markets in which firms are heterogeneous and their decisions are closely interconnected.

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