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Contribution Details

Type Journal Article
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title On the strategic value of risk management
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Thomas-Olivier Léautier
  • Jean-Charles Rochet
Item Subtype Original Work
Refereed Yes
Status Published in final form
Language
  • English
Journal Title International Journal of Industrial Organization
Publisher Elsevier
Geographical Reach international
ISSN 0167-7187
Volume 37
Page Range 153 - 169
Date 2014
Abstract Text This article examines how firms facing volatile input prices and holding some degree of market power in their product market link their risk management and their production or pricing strategies. This issue is relevant in many industries ranging from manufacturing to energy retailing, where firms rendered "risk averse" by financial frictions decide on and commit to their hedging strategies before their product market strategies. We find that commitment to hedging modifies the pricing and production strategies of firms. This strategic effect is channelled through the risk-adjusted expected cost, i.e., the expected marginal cost under the probability measure induced by shareholders’ "risk aversion". It has opposite effects depending on the nature of product market competition: commitment to hedging toughens quantity competition while it softens price competition. Finally, not commiting to the hedging position can never be an equilibrium outcome: committing is always a best response to non committing. In the Hotelling model, committing is a dominant strategy for all firms.
Official URL http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167718714000654
Digital Object Identifier 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2014.07.006
Other Identification Number merlin-id:10079
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