Fighting City Hall: Entry Deterrence and New Technology Deployment in Local Cable TV Markets

50 Pages Posted: 27 Oct 2008 Last revised: 5 Jun 2013

See all articles by Robert Seamans

Robert Seamans

New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business

Date Written: July 31, 2011

Abstract

This article investigates how private firms respond to potential entry from public firms. The article uses a dataset of over 3000 US cable TV systems to present evidence consistent with entry deterrence. Incumbent cable TV firms upgrade faster when located in markets with a potential municipal entrant. However, the same systems are then slower to offer new products enabled by the upgrade, suggesting upgrades in these markets occur for strategic reasons. Incumbent cable systems also upgrade faster in response to municipal entry threats than to private entry threats. Understanding how private firms respond to potential entry from public firms is especially important in light of recent US government entry into several industries.

Keywords: Entry; Entry Deterrence, Technology, Public-Private Interaction

JEL Classification: L13, L21, L32, O33

Suggested Citation

Seamans, Robert, Fighting City Hall: Entry Deterrence and New Technology Deployment in Local Cable TV Markets (July 31, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1289454 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1289454

Robert Seamans (Contact Author)

New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business ( email )

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