Essays in industrial organisation

Mahfuze, Ashraful Haque (2022) Essays in industrial organisation. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis is a collection of three related chapters in the field of theoretical Industrial Organisation. The overarching issue connecting all three is the impact of social interactions among consumers on firms’ strategies to provide quality or effort.

In the first chapter, Product Quality and Social Influence, I study how opposing forces in consumer’s influence have an effect on the bi-dimensional quality choices of a monopolist. The opposing forces are captured by assuming a co-existence of conformists and anti-conformists in the market, while the multiple dimensions of quality are defined according to whether they induce marginal or fixed costs of production.

In the second chapter, Optimal Design of Ratings History, social interactions are studied through the lens of consumer ratings. First, in a dynamic framework, I investigate how product ratings with variable history have an impact on the quality choices of a firm. Second, to maximise the steady-state welfare, I study whether a platform can intervene when there are changes in the management of a business. As the title suggests, these interventions are captured by manipulating the length of history of consumer reviews.

In the third chapter, Impact of Consumer Ratings on Quality Choice, I extend the initial analysis in the second chapter to a duopolistic framework. I study the impact of the average rating and the number of reviews posted on the quality choices of a firm. The ratings of both firms are considered in the analysis.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School
• Supervisor's Name: Moulin, Professor Herve and Bogomolnaia, Professor Anna
• Date of Award: 2022
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2022-82914
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 31 May 2022 11:46
• Last Modified: 31 May 2022 11:48
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.82914
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/82914