A price leadership model for merger analysis

We provide a methodology to simulate the coordinated effects of a proposed merger using data commonly available to antitrust authorities. The model follows the price leadership structure in Miller, Sheu, and Weinberg (2021) in an environment with logit or nested logit demand. The model calibration leverages profit margin data to separately identify the extent of coordinated pricing from marginal costs. Using this framework, we demonstrate how mergers can shift incentive compatibility constraints and thereby lead to adverse competitive effects. The incentive compatibility constraints also affect the extent to which cost efficiencies and divestitures mitigate competitive harms.     

欧盟玩具等58％的冒牌货来自中国

欧盟委员会5月18日披露的一项报告称，欧洲各个经济部门均受到冒牌货或盗版的危害。2007年欧盟海关截获的冒牌货中，中国是最大的货物来源国。欧盟海关去年截获的冒牌货数量统计表明，对刮胡刀片，保湿霜，药品，玩具，食品等这些日常用品的仿冒显现出激增的趋势。而针对服装、手表、珠宝等奢侈品的仿冒却没有太大变化。2007年被截获的冒牌货中，约有58％的货品产自中国，中国已成为了主要的冒牌品产地。此外，由于某些造假者善于掩盖，另有15％以上的被截获的冒牌货产地不明。     

A customer-driven model of job design: towards a general theory

The considerable debate about the level of discretion that should be accorded workers in performing production tasks has often lacked effective conceptual support. The authors develop a job discretion model based on customer preferences. The model is empirically tested and used to resolve the discretion question and clarify relevant job design and human resource issues.     

第二价格密封拍卖理论框架下政府投资项目招投标模式改进研究

在政府投资项目招投标过程中,招标人所面临的最大问题便是与投标人间的信息不对称.招标人发布招标信息,但却难以了解投标人的相关信息,而且由于投标人会利用招标人的信息缺陷寻求更多的利润,有意的陈蔽其真实心理价格几乎成为一种必然选择,在这种情况下,业主怎样突破困境寻找到对自身最有利的报价呢?可以将政府投资项目的招投标过程看作是第二价格密封拍卖的逆向形式,在这种情况下,本着趋利避损的动机,投标人拄往会按照其真实心理价格来报价,使得业主可以较好地克服其信息缺陷,在招标过程中占据主动,从而选择到最适合的承包商,更有效地优化资源配置.     

A general model to compute activity-based waste disposal costs for health care products

ABSTRACT

Hospitals are large producers of solid waste, of which some is benign, some is extremely hazardous, and much is in between. The cost of segregating and disposing of products in these waste streams is high, and studies have shown there is considerable potential to reduce these costs while simultaneously decreasing environmental impact. In this article we develop an activity-based costing method that assigns waste disposal costs proportionally to each product. By providing disposal cost information at this level of aggregation it is possible to directly influence purchasing decisions, identify priority products for focused interventions, and determine the ratio of a product's purchasing cost to disposal cost. The method is tested on products with different purchasing costs, disposal costs, physical characteristics, and disposal processes.     

洛阳模型迷收藏干余列火车模型

河南省洛阳市某市民后收藏了火车模型500余台、车厢1000多节,基本涵盖了新中国成立后我国自主生产的各类蒸汽、内燃、电力机车等模型,真切地展现了我国火车机车的变革历程。火车模型并不是单纯意义上的玩具,而是根据我国各年代火车实体,按照一定的比例缩小仿制而成：外壳大多由高级工程塑料制成,内置精巧电机：如果利用轨道和接触网取电,通过机车内部安装的马达驱动机车模型,可以像真火车一样前进、后退,有些还可以发出声音或冒烟。     

国际油价波动的周期模型及其政策含义

第二次世界大战以来,世界石油市场经历了三次大的油价波动周期,目前国际油价处于高油价周期当中。用多重均衡模型对油价波动的周期进行解释,油价波动的原因来自于供给曲线的特殊性和多重均衡的存在。多重均衡模型的最大用处在于可以对油价均衡拐点提前作出判断。高油价均衡向低油价均衡转化需要具备两个条件：1）需求受到明显抑制,增长幅度下降;2）产量增长幅度开始超过需求增长幅度。低油价周期向高油价周期转化的拐点条件则相反。遏制国际油价暴涨要么增加供给（及其幅度）,要么减少需求（及其幅度）。本轮高油价周期向低油价周期转换的拐点可能发生在：1）世界经济总体放缓;2）全球应对气候变化已经从一种政治思潮落实到各国行动上。未来的油价走势充满不确定性,但做出判断好过不做任何判断。     

Using a mathematical programming model to examine the marginal price of capacitated resources

Accurate information on dual prices of capacitated resources is of interest in a number of applications, such as cost allocation and pricing. To gain insight we focus on the dual prices of capacity and demand in a single-stage single-product production-inventory system, and discuss their interpretation. In particular, we examine the behavior of two different production planning models: a conventional linear programming model and a nonlinear model that captures queuing behavior at resources in an aggregate manner using nonlinear clearing functions. The classical linear programming formulation consistently underestimates the dual price of capacity due to its failure to capture the effects of queuing. The clearing function formulation, in contrast, produces positive dual prices even when utilization is below one and exhibits more realistic behavior, such as holding finished inventory at utilization levels below one.     

The mediating role of organizational complexity between enterprise resource planning and business model innovation

Almost any firm faces a change during its life that requires a redefinition of the business model to be more innovative, namely business model innovation (BMI) that designs an architecture to create, capture and deliver value to customers in the marketplace and society. These changes are a great opportunity to improve revenue and costs, but the associated organizational complexity also has drawbacks, due to the set of interrelationships and linkages within the firm. This situation could be even more relevant for firms that implement Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), due to the complexity of the software and also the difficult implementation process in the organization. In order to fill this gap, this study analyses 104 firms that have implemented ERP and deal simultaneously with BMI. The research objective is therefore to test the role of organizational complexity between ERP and BMI. Specifically, the aim is to test the mediating role of organizational complexity between ERP and BMI. Our findings reveal that organizational complexity mediates between ERP and BMI. Important implications for researchers and managers are provided to optimize ERP implementation so as to obtain a higher return on the costs and revenue associated with BMI.     

Approaches to teleconferencing justification: Towards a general model

For organizations considering teleconferencing, five major justification perspectives are identified: the intuitive leaf; cost efficiency; timeless of decisions, improved work coordination; and reaching out. The perspectives are combined to form a model that charts their likely impacts on productivity. Proper planning through teleconferencing feasibility studies is advocated. That, and learning from others' experience, can help prospective users avert many pitfalls, avoid repeating past failures, and develop a teleconferencing system that will fulfill the promises of the justifications.     

A practical approach to quality-adjusted price cap regulation

Price cap regulation is often combined with service quality regulation since price caps may create incentives for quality degradation. A service quality adjustment factor (the Q-Factor) in the price cap formula ensures that allowed prices fall as quality declines. This paper discusses some considerations in determining the appropriate form of the Q-Factor. The paper examines the difficulties involved in exploiting the price/quality tradeoff. In addition, the paper presents a quality-corrected price cap procedure—possessing desirable properties—that can be implemented with reasonable informational requirements.     

A note on price cap regulation and competition

This paper examines the properties of a price-cap regulatory regime similar in design to a plan recently proposed by AGT Ltd. in hearings on Alternative Forms of Regulation before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. The price-cap plan incorporates a number of novel features which include (i) quantity weights that evolve through time rather than remaining fixed; (ii) adjustments for productivity that incorporate yardstick competition; and (iii) allowing the weights to reflect the firm's market power or absence thereof in the presence of competition. Hence, should competitive circumstances permit, the regulatory regime allows for its own sunset.     

Asymmetric price adjustments: A supply side approach

Using a model of dynamic price competition, we provide an explanation from the supply side for the well-established observation that output prices react faster in response to input cost increases than to decreases. When costs decline, the opportunity of profitable storing in anticipation of higher future costs allows competitive firms to coordinate on prices above current marginal costs. The initial price response is only partial and profitable storing relaxes competition. Conversely, when costs rise, storing is not beneficial in anticipation of lower future costs and firms immediately adjust their prices to current marginal costs, which entails the standard Bertrand outcome. Our results shed new light on the empirical evidence about asymmetric pricing and can stimulate further empirical investigation on this puzzle.     

灰色模型在股票价格预测中的应用——以中国石化为例

通过对原始数据进行筛选,将GM(1,1)模型用于股票预测,对交易日收盘价格进行预测,并以中国石化(600028)2012-01-04至2012-12-31的交易数据为例进行了分析。分析结果表明,灰色预测模型的平均预测准确度为98.63%。考虑到股票交易规则,42%的预测数据为有效预测,有效预测的平均预测准确度为99.31%。     

Industrial brand value and relationship performance in business markets — A general structural equation model

This paper develops a general model of industrial brand value and relationship performance in business-to-business markets from the perspectives of consumer and industrial marketing literature. The structural equation model integrates the analysis of industrial brand value and relationship performance. The model describes the extent to which supplier-buyer transaction performance is influenced by the eight important factors: supplier competence, purchasing value, customer satisfaction, switching cost, brand trust and loyalty, relationship quality, commitment, and transactional performance.The general model is applied to organizational buyer groups of comprehensive industrial markets (Electronics, Chemicals, Equipment, etc). The analysis finds that supplier competence directly affects purchasing value and customer satisfaction, and via purchasing value and customer satisfaction, it indirectly affects commitment, switching cost, brand trust and loyalty. The managerial implications of the study results are also discussed.     

The impact of price adjustment costs on price dispersion in e-commerce

We analyze price dispersion using panel data from a large price comparison site. We use past pricing behavior to instrument for potential endogeneity of firms to select into certain product markets. Our main result is that greater price adjustment costs result in greater price dispersion even in e-commerce markets where price adjustment cost are thought to be negligible. Although the impact of price adjustment costs on price dispersion became weaker over time, the causal effect of price adjustment costs on price dispersion is still present at the end of our observation period. Our results are robust to many alternative empirical specifications. We also control for a range of alternative explanations of price dispersion, such as search cost, service differentiation, obfuscation, vertical restraints, and market structure.     

Regulation of price increases

U.S. federal and state governments rarely regulate healthcare price levels, but do regulate price changes for pharmaceuticals, hospitals, and health insurance. Previous research showed that limiting price increases can raise launch prices and reduce both profit and social welfare, assuming consumers are myopic. We show that with forward-looking consumers, limiting price increases can have the opposite effect, that is, launch prices fall while profit and social welfare rise. Ironically, inflation regulation can cause inflation to rise, but only because firms are reducing launch prices to make the regulation bind and credibly commit to future prices.