Essays on empirical industrial organization: Entry and innovation

The dissertation contains three essays on empirical industrial organization devoted to studying firms' strategic interaction in different settings. The first essay develops an entry model to address an important matter in the area of urban economics: the development of cities. In particular, it focuses on the food and beverage service industry in the Netherlands and investigates to what extent the presence of urban amenities produces positive spillovers on other amenities in the market. For the case of take-out places and bars, the findings show evidence of unidirectional spillover effects upon entry. The two policy experiments conducted show that taking into account this asymmetry is relevant for both new entrant firms and policy makers. The second essay analyzes the competitive dynamics of firms in the presence of first- mover advantages. Using data of the U.S. digital mobile markets, the study quantifies the advantage early movers have relative to later entrants. In particular, it measures the impact of competitors' entry on the profits of incumbents and entrants. The findings show an asymmetric competitive effect in favor of incumbents. Finally, the third essay focuses on innovation and firms’ patent portfolio choices. Patent portfolios have become an important tool for firms to compete and secure their position in the market. The essay focuses on the U.S. semiconductor industry and shows how firms of different sizes choose their technologies in relation to other firms. The main findings suggest that small- and medium-size firms replicate large firms' choices while ignoring the giants in the market. While giants' portfolios are positively related to their previous investments, they are overall independent of other types' choices