Markov-perfect industrial dynamics with technological path dependence

A game-theoretic intertemporal model of industrial competition is proposed where firms choose their optimal technological strategies as part of some (Markov Perfect) equilibrium with potential entry and exit. The main novel feature of the approach is that technological change is modelled along a directed graph of technologies, which permits a rigorous consideration of key issues such as technological gaps, switching costs and gradual innovation. The paper provides some sufficient conditions for existence and ergodicity of the equilibrium, partially studies the induced population dynamics, and explores a number of other issues by means of numerical simulations.