Competition through endogenized tournaments: An interpretation of ''face-to-face'' competition

This paper presents an alternative solution, called ''face-to-face'' competition, to the hold-up problem of relation-specific investments in the world of incomplete contracts. By inherent multiplicity of equilibria and incentive-compatible equilibrium selection, a tournament among multiple agents is endogenously created in the structure of face-to-face competition to strengthen their investment incentive. This approach also explains, by the reason other than bargaining power and insurance, why typical auto-assemblers in Japan do not vertically integrate a single parts supplier but transact with two potentially competitive suppliers in their developments of new models. J. Japan. Int. Econ., September 1996, 10(3), pp. 199-232. Faculty of Economics, Seikei University; Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo; and Faculty of Economics, Hosei University. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.