The evolving patterns of competition after deregulation: the relevance of institutional and operational factors as determinants of rivalry

  1. Gómez, J. 1
  2. Orcos, R. 2
  3. Palomas, S. 2
  1. 1 Universidad de La Rioja
    info

    Universidad de La Rioja

    Logroño, España

    ROR https://ror.org/0553yr311

  2. 2 Universidad de Zaragoza
    info

    Universidad de Zaragoza

    Zaragoza, España

    ROR https://ror.org/012a91z28

Revista:
Journal of Evolutionary Economics

ISSN: 0936-9937

Año de publicación: 2014

Volumen: 24

Número: 4

Páginas: 905-933

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.1007/S00191-014-0355-7 SCOPUS: 2-s2.0-84939872907 WoS: WOS:000342433800008 GOOGLE SCHOLAR

Otras publicaciones en: Journal of Evolutionary Economics

Repositorio institucional: lockAcceso abierto Editor

Resumen

In this research, we apply an ecological model of competition to analyze the effect of deregulation on within industry competitive patterns. Particularly, we identify organizational forms within the population according to two different perspectives: an operational one and an institutional one. We argue that deregulation influences the relative importance of each of these dimensions at determining the set of firms that can be considered direct competitors, and the intensity with which they compete. Our findings show that the use of these two perspectives is of utmost importance to understand the evolution of competition in contexts where deregulation takes place. As our arguments predict, we show that, during the regulated period, competition was based on institutional definitions of organizational forms. However, after deregulation, competition progressively focused on operational definitions of organizational form. Our findings confirm the relevance of deregulation at shaping competitive interdependences within an industry. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.