Salvage Market Shifts Tech Choices & Investments in Uncertain Demand
The article explores how salvage markets impact firms' technology and capacity decisions when facing uncertain demand. Firms choose between flexible and inflexible production processes, then decide on capacity investments. They compete in a market game, with one firm able to sell unsold components in a salvage market. The study finds that with symmetric parameters, both firms choose inflexible technology, while asymmetric parameters can lead to different outcomes. There is a cost threshold that can shift the game's equilibrium, and in some cases, there may be no equilibrium. These findings have important implications for firm decision-making in uncertain market conditions.