Browsing by Author "Davidsson, Jakob"

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Entry and Competition with Product Differentiation: The Case of Swedish Concentrated Markets
(2020-07-10) Widell, Emil; Davidsson, Jakob; University of Gothenburg/Graduate School; Göteborgs universitet/Graduate School
Empirical investigations into competitive behaviour on different markets is important since it does not exist one single theoretical model of competition. This thesis empirically investigates the competitiveness in a number of Swedish concentrated markets by leveraging the relationship between market entry and market size using the adjusted entry threshold framework developed by Schaumans and Verboven (2015). Compared to the standard entry threshold framework developed by Bresnahan and Reiss (1991), the adjusted entry threshold framework takes product differentiation into account and thus captures both market expansion and business stealing following entry of a new firm. The estimated entry thresholds allow us to make inferences on the degree and structure of competition. The three sectors we analyse are real estate agents, restaurants, and plumbers. We find that entry has a positive effect on competition and when taking market expansion into account we find that the magnitude of this effect increases. The largest effect for all sectors occurs when a market goes from monopoly to duopoly. These results are in line with previous studies.
Local Employment Effects of Falling Copper prices: A Case study in the Copperbelt province of Zambia.
(2017-11-23) Davidsson, Jakob; Eriksson, John; University of Gothenburg/Department of Economics; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för nationalekonomi med statistik
Zambia is heavily dependent on copper, and a typical example of a country subject to the natural resource curse. From 2011 until 2016, the copper price fell from around $9,900 to $5,660 per metric tonne (mt). In this thesis, we examine the relationship between the falling copper price and employment opportunities in the Copperbelt region of Zambia, both in the large mines and further down the supply chain, among the Zambian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) active in the Copperbelt. We use regression analysis on panel-type employment data and questionnaire data, self-collected during a field study in April and May of 2017. We also use graphical visualisation of employment data and anecdotal evidence from interviews for contextual understanding and framing of our regression result interpretation. We find that the falling copper price reduces employment in the mines, and that the effect seems to be stronger for contract-style employees than permanently employed labourers. SMEs who have a larger share of mining clients are more likely to have reduced profits since the start of the copper price fall, but all SMEs across the Copperbelt have generally felt a downturn in their business. There seems to be a critical price point of around $4,000 to $5,000 per mt of copper when the employment starts to drop rapidly.