In this paper we develop a model of a vertically differentiated industry where the production of higher quality goods needs a higher fraction of specialized labour. In the first stage, firms choose the quality of their products, in the second, both good prices and skilled workers’ wages are...

In a vertically differentiated oligopoly where the high quality variant of the good requires the use of the high quality labour (available in¯fixed supply) ¯firms may either all supply the same quality or di®erentiate their product. Only di®erentiated outcomes can be optimal, but the number...

When the production of high quality goods needs the employment of qualified labour, firms’ decisions concerning quality are affected by the extent to which skills are abundant. By means of a comparison between monopoly and perfect competition, we show how market power in such a context may...