Consumers benefit most when many firms produce highly substitutable goods.
The article explores how a small number of companies compete by setting prices in a dynamic market. They first look at a simpler version of the game to understand strategies. In the dynamic game, firms with different sizes and costs compete as market demand changes. The study uses math to model the game and finds that consumers benefit most when many similar-sized firms sell similar goods. However, having highly substitutable goods doesn't always mean lower prices, especially if firms are very different in size.