Optimal trade policies determined by firms' competition strategies, impacting global economies.
The article discusses how government subsidies for domestic industries can be influenced by how firms compete. If firms compete by setting prices or quantities, the optimal policy changes. However, if firms' owners have control over their managers, the optimal policy remains the same regardless of how firms compete. In a model where managers' pay is based on their firm's profit and the rival firm's profit, subsidies are best for substitute goods and taxes are best for complementary goods.