Competition and Service Quality in the U.S. Airline Industry

The U.S. government, media, and flying public have expressedgreat concern in recent years over both airline market concentration and flightdelays. This study explores potential connections between the two by examining whetherthe lack of competition on a particular route results in worse on-time performance.Analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics in 2000 indicatesthat both the prevalence and duration of flight delays are significantly greater onroutes where only one airline provides direct service. Additional competition iscorrelated with better on-time performance. Weather, congestion, and schedulingdecisions also contribute significantly to explaining flight delays.     

On the Absence of Directional Price Discrimination in the U.S. Airline Industry*

Certain forms of price discrimination in oligopoly markets can lead to more aggressive competition and lower profits, yet few empirical studies examine how extensively such strategies are used. I consider one such strategy, testing whether airlines charge different prices on the same flights to passengers that originate from different endpoints. Using fare quote data I formulate a new approach to measure discrimination while controlling for cost heterogeneity and find that carriers within the U.S. domestic market do not engage in directional price discrimination despite frequently using other similar pricing strategies that are unlikely to enhance competition.     

Economics, Competition, and Costs in the Resructuring of U.S. Electricity Markets

Many of the problems facing U.S. electricity markets stem from blatant disregard for the advice and warnings of economists who specialize in these markets. The short list of disregarded economic advice includes existing market power of some generators; transmission discrimination, lack of efficient pricing of transmission congestion; inefficient retail prices; anemic incentives to minimize costs; and lack of consumer choice and experience, occasionally coupled with high switching costs. As uncomfortable as the current state of electric power restructuring may be, going back to full regulation likely would be worse. There is reason to hope that less direct paths to increased competition will resolve some of the worst policy patches and half-reforms. These less direct paths to increased competition include expansion of the size of geographic markets, geographic expansion of transmission unbundling, reductions in obstacles to long-term supply contracting, growth of demand response programs, improvements in generator efficiency and availability, and expansion of real-time pricing and customized energy services for commercial and industrial customers. In aggregate, these constitute a promising “quiet phase” of electric power reform.     

Regulation and the Development of Competition in the U.K. Gas Supply Industry

When the U.K. gas supply industry was privatised, it retained its monopoly vertically integrated structure. We discuss the forces which led to the deregulation of the U.K. gas supply industry. Important factors in the process include a number of critical reports by the regulatory authorities, the growth of alternative gas supplies including the development of the spot-market, and the success of independents in gaining market share in markets opened up to competition. We also present surveys of gas users and independent gas suppliers and find that price advantage has been the critical factor in the increase in market share gained by the independent gas suppliers.     

PRICE COMPETITION IN U.S. BREWING*

This study utilizes a brand‐level dataset that captures a unique natural experiment, a 100% increase in the excise tax, to evaluate different pricing models in the U.S. beer industry. To assess the plausibility of different models, the increase in marginal cost resulting from the tax increase is exploited: observed prices in the post‐increase period are compared to the prices that should be observed under various pricing models. Three types of models are analyzed: Bertrand‐Nash, leadership, and collusion. Results indicate that extreme cases of collusion can be confidently ruled out while several models may explain the observed prices equally well.     

Competition and Strategic Budget Choices in the Motion Picture Industry*

In this article, we study the effect of differentiation on firms' optimal investments in advertising and product quality in the specific context of the motion picture industry. To guide our empirical analysis, we develop a stylized model uncovering that competition in advertising is the highest for intermediate levels of horizontal differentiation, while product quality increases monotonically in differentiation. We corroborate our theoretical predictions with a large dataset on the movie industry confirming both the inverted U-shaped relationship between advertising and differentiation, and the monotonically increasing relationship between product quality and differentiation.     

Dynamic Adjustment in the U.S. Higher Education Industry, 1955–1997

We analyze how the number of higher education institutions responds to demand growth by applying a dynamic model to U.S. data over the period 1955–1997. We derive our dynamic, partial adjustment model from first principles under various assumptions about firm behavior, ranging from profit-maximization by Cournot firms to output-maximization by non-profit firms. Empirical estimates from this dynamic model suggest that the higher education industry does indeed respond to demand growth, but only moderately in the short run and little more in the long run. Certain segments within the overall industry exhibit much stronger responsiveness in the short and long run, in particular, public and 2-year schools.     

Technological Competition and the Structure of the Computer Industry

We examine thirty years of computer industry market structure. Our analysis explains the persistence of dominant computer firms, their recent decline, and the changing success of competitive entry. It emphasizes the importance of technological competition between computer 'platforms', not firms. This aspect of competition has changed little over time. Two things did change. Young platforms serving newly founded segments eventually challenged established platforms across segment boundaries through a process of indirect entry. Vertically disintegrated platforms have led to divided technical leadership in important segments. The result is an industry with far more technological competition.     

美国纺织工业的兼并浪潮

1998年是美国纺织工业企业兼并重组活动创纪录的一年,并且兼并的步伐似乎不会停止。面对强大的竞争压力,越来越多的公司选择合并或购并其它公司以努力改善其命运。本文透过1998年企业兼并活动,探讨推动     

The Cyclic Behavior of the U.S. Lodging Industry

A recently constructed data series suggests that the hotel industry has experienced two rather large building booms from 1969 to 1994. By contrast, hotel demand seems to move closely with the United States economy, at a much higher cyclic frequency. Occupancy and room rental rates follow the slower movements in supply. A structural model is estimated over this series which displays long lags between occupancy and room rental rate changes, as well as between room rental rates and new supply. These lags create a system of difference equations that is close to being dynamically unstable. Forecasting forward with smooth economic growth, yields a new and even larger future building boom.     

Diffusion and Performance of Modular Production in the U.S. Apparel Industry

This article examines the determinants of the diffusion of team production systems (modular assembly) and the impact of these systems on firm performance relative to traditional assembly systems in the apparel industry. The article draws on an extensive survey providing detailed information on a wide range of manufacturing practices and retail relationships in the U.S. apparel industry. We find that recent diffusion of modular practices is driven primarily by the product market. We also show that modular systems affect business-unit performance (particularly operating profits) where they are combined with complementary investments in information systems linking apparel suppliers with retail customers.     

The Job Quality of U.S. Immigrants

This paper compares authorized and unauthorized immigrants in terms of twelve job‐quality indicators. Along all indicators examined, unauthorized immigrants score lower than the authorized. The lower job quality of the unauthorized prevails even when compared to authorized immigrants with similar educational levels and duration of stay.     

Linking Product Development Outcomes to Market Valuation of the Firm: The Case of the U.S. Pharmaceutical Industry*

The purpose of this research was to examine empirically the effects of new product development outcomes on overall firm performance. To do so, first product development and finance literature were connected to develop three testable hypotheses. Next, an event study was conducted in order to explore whether the changes in the stock market valuation of firms are influenced by the outcomes of efforts to develop new products. The pharmaceutical industry was chosen as the empirical context for the present study's analysis largely because the gate‐keeping role played by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provides a specific event date on which to focus the event study methodology. As such, this study's events were dates of public announcements of the FDA decisions to approve or to reject the New Drug Applications submitted by the sponsoring firms. Consistent with the efficient market hypothesis, this study's results show that market valuations are responsive strongly and cleanly to the success or failure of new product development efforts. Hence, one of this study's key results suggests that financial markets may be attuned sharply to product development outcomes in publicly traded firms. This study also finds that financial market losses from product development failures were much larger in magnitude than financial market gains from product development successes—indicating an asymmetry in the response of financial markets to the success and failure of new product development efforts. Hence, another implication of this study's results is that managers should factor in a substantial risk premium when considering substantial new development projects. The present study's results also imply that managers should refrain from hyping new products and perhaps even should restrain the enthusiasm that the financial community may build before the product fully is developed. The effect on firm value is severe when expectations about an anticipated new product are not fulfilled. Managers in effect should take care to build reasonable and realistic expectations about potential new products.     

美国开放式基金产业发展现状及其对我国的启示

通过分析美国基金产业现状发现,美国开放式基金产业是美国普通居民首要的投资渠道。作为金融市场最重要的投资者,开放式基金对塑造现代美国金融结构和竞争环境发挥了重要作用。美国的基金产业发展得益于良好的法律法规和监管机制等基础制度建设,以及较低的准入门槛和金融市场的有序竞争。     

Competition & Innovation: Evidence from U.S. Patent and Productivity Data

Is there any evidence that innovation and technological progress are constrained by competition and fostered by monopoly power? Our results, based on a constructed dataset of U.S. manufacturing industries observed over more than two decades, suggest that this is not the case. On the contrary, using both patent statistics and productivity growth as alternative measures of innovation and technological change, we observe faster technological advances in more competitive markets. These results are robust to changes in the econometric techniques used to model nonlinearity in the competition‐innovation relationship and to alternative methods of computing market power.