Uncertainty Drives Firms to Limit Competition, Hurting Consumers
The article discusses how firms in uncertain markets balance efficiency and flexibility, making precommitments to deter potential competition. The level of market contestability is determined by these precommitments, which increase with the efficiency of production and market uncertainty. As firms make more precommitments, the likelihood of new competitors entering the market decreases. Ultimately, markets become more contestable as production efficiency rises and uncertainty grows.