An oligopolistic reaction is a concept from economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 introduced by Frederick T. Knickerbocker (Oligopolistic Reaction and Multinational Enterprise, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

Harvard University Press

Harvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...

, 1973) to explain why firms follow rivals into foreign markets. Under conditions of growth in an economy, US

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 firms match the investments of competitors into that economy. Also called follow-the-leader behavior. Used to understand the global flows of foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment

Foreign direct investment or foreign investment refers to the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor.. It is the sum of equity capital,other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in...

s (FDI) and thereby the structure of the world economy

World economy

The world economy, or global economy, generally refers to the economy, which is based on economies of all of the world's countries, national economies. Also global economy can be seen as the economy of global society and national economies – as economies of local societies, making the global one....

.