We propose a model in which subcontracting can be explicitly considered as a production planning strategy. Possible market and nonmarket subcontracting mechanisms and their costs are discussed. We show that a class of feasible subcontracting mechanisms in which firms coordinate their production...

This is a study of the economic behavior of vendors of service in competition. A simple model with two competing exponential servers and Poisson arrivals is considered. Each server is free to choose his own service rate at a cost (per time unit) that is strictly convex and increasing. There is a...