Search results for "competition."

Upward and Downward Limit Pricing: The Role of Post-Entry Competition

2005

Under asymmetric information, entry-deterring strategies by an incumbent monopolist can consist of deviations from its static monopoly price through downward deviations termed downward limit pricing, or upward deviations termed upward limit pricing. Our analysis shows that the mode of post-entry competition influences the range of situations in which an incumbent adopts a strategy of downward limit pricing instead of an upward one: this range is greater under price than under output competition; it is decreasing in the degree of product differentiation; and with homogeneous product only downward limit pricing emerges under price competition, while upward limit pricing can still take place w…

2002

This paper analyses the effects of partially revocable endogenous commitments of a seller in a negotiation with a deadline. In particular, we examine when commitment is a source of strength, a source of inefficiency and when it does not affect the bargaining outcome at all. We show that when commitment possesses a minimum amount of irrevocability this crucially determines the bargaining outcome. In the bilateral bargaining case, commitment becomes a source of inefficiency since it causes a deadline effect. In the choice of partner framework, however, the deadline effect disappears and there is an immediate agreement and, moreover, commitment becomes a source of strength since it increases t…

The Relative Efficacy of Price Announcements and Express Communication for Collusion: Experimental Findings

2014

Collusion is when firms coordinate on suppressing competition, and coordination typically requires that firms communicate in some manner. This study conducts experiments to determine what modes of communication are able to produce and sustain collusion and how the efficacy of communication depends on firm heterogeneity and the number of firms. We consider two different communication treatments: non-binding price announcements and unrestricted written communication. Our main findings are that price announcements allow subjects to coordinate on a high price but only under duopoly and when firms are symmetric. While price announcements do result in higher prices when subjects are asymmetric, t…

Anatomy of Cartel Contracts

2013

We study cartel contracts using data on 18 contract clauses of 109 legal Finnish manufacturing cartels. One third of the clauses relate to raising profits; the others deal with instability through incentive compatibility, cartel organization, or external threats. Cartels use three main approaches to raise profits: Price, market allocation, and specialization. These appear to be substitutes. Choosing one has implications on how cartels deal with instability. Simplifying, we find that large cartels agree on prices, cartels in homogenous goods industries allocate markets, and small cartels avoid competition through specialization.

A model of internal and external competition in a High Speed Rail line

2015

This paper is a contribution to evaluate structural and behavioral changes in railway passenger markets. The novel elements of our analysis are the following: (i) the consideration of inter-modal and intra-modal competition, (ii) the presence of public and private operators, and (iii) endogenous service frequency. After calibrating the model using actual data from two Spanish High Speed Rail lines, simulation exercises allow us to conclude the following. Privatization, whether entry occurs or not, would prompt an increase in prices and a reduction in the number of train services, eventually leading to welfare decreases, as compared with a regime where the incumbent rail operator remained pu…

The Past and Future of Innovations in Microfinance

2012

The microfinance industry carries every sign of an innovation in its take-off phase. The various aspects of the microfinance innovation were developed in the 1980’s, twenty years later the industry experiences a phenomenal growth rate, and it has diffused to most developing countries in the world. This review paper looks at microfinance as an entrepreneurial activity in its own right, contributing to the development of small and medium-sized firms in developing countries. We trace the innovations in microfinance, for instance group lending, loans to women, and their financing, and we ask whether the business model implied is sustainable once diffusion has gone far, competition enters, and c…

Figuration/Figure/Form

2020

It is still Weizsäcker to show that rather than a clear contrast (usually already referring to the names of Plato and Aristotle and to the competition between the concepts of eidos and morphé) it is a necessary correlation and a way through which the fundamental problem of unity of knowledge is placed.

Left-Authoritarians and Voter Turnout in West European Countries

2017

Parties with a left profile on economic issues and an authoritarian profile on socio-cultural issues have been largely absent from the supply side of the typical post-World-War-II policy space of West European democracies. As a result, citizens with economically left and socio-culturally authoritarian policy positions have faced difficulties in identifying parties that match their preference bundle. Building on previous inquiries into the party preferences of left-authoritarians, this study hypothesizes that the cross-pressures left-authoritarians typically encounter when looking for a party that matches their preferences translate into an overall lower likelihood to turn out to vote in nat…

Struggling for the New Role for Business Controller

2008

The recent discussion on changes in the controller's role has mainly focused on the national and organizational level culture aspects of that professional role. While earlier studies have demonstrated how the role changes have been stimulated by corporate culture, IT systems, new accounting technologies and interprofessional competition, we contend that such changes cannot be achieved without active individuals in organizations. Our study is informed by the concept of institutional entrepreneurship, concentrating on changes in institutions, such as professional roles, which are achieved by an active agency. Thus we concentrate on the individual level by tracing how the role of a single cont…

Dimensiones y espacios electorales en las elecciones autonómicas vascas de 2012 y 2016

2018

En este artículo se analiza la incidencia de los principales cleavages –ideológico e identitario- presentes en la competición electoral vasca para las elecciones de 2012 y 2016, e intenta constituirse como una vía intermedia entre aquellos desarrollos teóricos que señalan la preeminencia de alguna de estas dimensiones de forma generalizada para todas las formaciones. Para ello abordamos los comicios a través de la teoría espacial del voto, mediante la utilización de modelos de regresión logística binaria. Esto nos ha permitido conocer el desigual peso otorgado por cada uno de los electorados de las diferentes formaciones políticos a estas fracturas centrales. Asimismo, para las elecciones d…