The effect of recycling over a mining oligopoly: competition for market shares, collusion for market power within a Cournot-Stackelberg model

In this paper we show that the mining oligopoly face a trade-off between market share and market power. Its dominant position can still holds with a higher number of firms, but at a cost of a lower market power. Unexpectedly, we also found conditions under which the latter can be greater independently of strategic considerations. Assuming a better recycling efficiency and availability of scrap in the long run, the firms might undertake a vertical or horizontal integration to keep providing inputs to the downstream industry. Regarding recyclers, a technology threshold is required to enter the market. In terms of competition, we show that a very high level of technology and availability of scrap have to be simultaneously reached to hope for dominating the material supply