Lifetime Employment and Endogenous Timing in a Mixed Duopoly with Profit-Maximising and Joint-Stock Firms

This paper investigates endogenous timing in a mixed duopoly consisting of a profit-maximising firm and a joint-stock firm. There are two stages and the firms simultaneously and independently announce in which stage they will offer lifetime employment as a strategic commitment. If both firms decide to offer lifetime employment in the same stage, a simultaneous commitment game occurs, whereas if both firms choose different stages, a sequential commitment game arises. At the end of the game, each firm simultaneously and independently chooses its actual output. The paper presents the equilibrium of the endogenous-timing mixed duopoly model.