Ownership and Control in a Competitive Industry

Karle, Heiko; Klein, Tobias J. and Stahl, Konrad O. (February 2011): Ownership and Control in a Competitive Industry. SFB/TR 15 Discussion Paper No. 350

Abstract

We study a differentiated product market in which an investor initially owns a controlling stake in one of two competing firms and may acquire a non-controlling or a controlling stake in a competitor, either directly using her own assets, or indirectly via the controlled firm. While industry profits are maximized within a symmetric two product monopoly, the investor attains this only in exceptional cases. Instead, she sometimes acquires a noncontrolling stake. Or she invests asymmetrically rather than pursuing a full takeover if she acquires a controlling one. Generally, she invests indirectly if she only wants to affect the product market outcome, and directly if acquiring shares is profitable per se.

• Item Type: Paper
• Keywords: Differentiated products, separation of ownership and control, private benefits of control
• Faculties: Special Research Fields > Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems; Special Research Fields > Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems > C6 - Kommunikations- und Transporttechnologien, Industrie- und Regionalstruktur
• Subjects: 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
• JEL Classification: L13, L41
• Language: English