Location Choice under Spillovers

Article Information
Journal: Business and Economics Research Journal
Title of Article: Location Choice under Spillovers
Author(s): Özgün Ekici, Bugra Caskurlu
Volume: 13
Number: 1
Year: 2022
Page: 1-9
ISSN: 2619-9491
DOI Number: 10.20409/berj.2022.358
Abstract
This paper introduces the location choice under spillovers game: A number of firms choose from among a number of alternative locations. A firm’s payoff at some location is the sum of two factors: Its location-specific idiosyncratic payoff; and the positive spillover it receives, which is a function of the number of firms choosing the same location. The spillover function is location-specific and monotonically increasing. This game form can be viewed as an extension of the classic “battle of sexes” game. It can also be used to model real-life game-theoretic situations with network effects, such as when app users choose from alternative social media or instant messaging apps. In our main result, we show that the location choice under spillovers game is a potential game, and hence, it always admits a Nash equilibrium in pure strategies. We also show that: A Nash equilibrium outcome need not be Pareto efficient. An outcome that is Pareto efficient need not be a Nash equilibrium. And a Nash equilibrium is not necessarily a strong equilibrium.

Keywords: Pure strategy Nash equilibrium, Existence, Potential Games, Location Choice, Spillovers, Network Externalities

JEL Classification: C72, D62

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