Abstract

The paper analyzes the e?ects of more intense competition on ?rms’ incentives to invest in process innovations. We carry out experiments based on two-stage games, where R&D investment choices are followed by product market competition. As predicted by theory, an increase in the number of ?rms from two to four reduces investments. However, a positive e?ect is observed for a switch from Cournot to Bertrand, even though theory predicts a negative e?ect in the four-player case.