Stability Analysis in a Bertrand Duopoly with Different Product Quality and Heterogeneous Expectations

We study the local stability properties of a nonlinear Bertrand duopoly with vertical differentiation and heterogeneous players under the hypotheses of both covered and uncovered markets. In the former case, the unique pure strategy Nash equilibrium can undergo a flip bifurcation when the extent of consumer’s heterogeneity increases. In the latter, the quality differential determines the stability of prices over time. Numerical evidence is provided to show the occurrence of endogenous fluctuations.     

Technical Change and the Equilibrium Profit Rate in a Market with Sequential Bargaining

The Marxian theory of the tendentially falling rate of profit is shown to be consistent with a competitive equilibrium scenario for labor markets in which wages are determined by sequential bargaining within a stationary matching process. The central result establishes that if trade is possible, there exists a set of individually rational capital-using, labor-saving technical innovations which lower the equilibrium rate of profit if adopted universally. The model yields as an important special case wage conditions under which the universal adoption of any such innovation reduces the equilibrium rate of profit.     

通胀和通缩时期中国货币数量与价格的动态关系

应用增加时滞的向量自回归模型滚动估计(surplus lag VAR rolling estimation)检验方法对在通货膨胀和通货紧缩时期中国各层次货币数量对价格水平的因果关系做了检测。检测结果显示,自1998年进入通货紧缩时期后货币政策的作用有减弱趋势;而在早期通货膨胀期间,货币供给有显著的内生迹象。除了M_0在1990年4月到1995年3月以外,没有迹象表明M_0、M_1、M_2是价格水平的格兰杰原因.这说明货币供给量不是实现货币政策目标的有效工具。     

Policy Instruments,Patents, and International Technology Diffusion in a North-South Duopoly

This article analyzes the relationship between policy instruments and technology diffusion in a North-South duopoly within an inter-temporal model. The North benefits from a monopoly period with a new technology. At the end, there is then technology diffusion from the North to the South. The Northern firm files a patent in order to slow down the diffusion. This article studies the impact of several policy instruments. The results show that the Northern government’s policy instruments slow down technology diffusion, except for an import quota. The Southern government’s policy instruments accelerate the new technology diffusion.     

Income Distribution and Monopoly: Price and Quantity Patterns with Intra‐ and Inter‐class Income Dispersion

We analyze the direction of the co‐movements of price and output in a monopolistic market when an expansive shock occurs. Price and quantity patterns are shown to depend on the consumers' income distribution. In particular, a low degree of income dispersion is associated with price and quantity reacting in opposite directions to demand shocks.     

The Effect of Stake Size in Experimental Bargaining and Distribution Games: A Survey

We review the literature on bargaining and distribution experiments to investigate whether changes in stake size have significant effects on behaviour in laboratory/field settings. We conclude that experiments in this field do not lead to clear/common results. The joint presence of opposing factors (e.g., increasing relative risk aversion and increasing cost of fairness) might be one reason contributing to this. Moreover, we argue that variables such as subjects’ financial conditions, cognitive abilities, risk attitudes, loss-aversion, justice orientations, and relevant personality characteristics should be controlled in laboratory experiments to understand the effect of stake size on behaviour, more clearly. Finally, quasi-experiments using data from (very) high-stake games/events and meta-analysis studies should complement (individual) controlled experiments.     

《价格法》实施五年的效应、存在的缺陷及其修改建议

1998年5月1日起正式实施的<中华人民共和国价格法>(以下简称<价格法>)是我国价格法制建设的一个重要的里程碑,随着社会主义市场经济的发展,特别是我国入世后面临的新局面和新要求,<价格法>也面临着与时俱进的新课题.     

Wanted: a Bigger Stick. On Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts with Online Service Providers

The Unfair Contract Terms Directive offers consumers protection from pre-formulated imbalanced contract terms. While the standard terms and conditions of online service providers have previously been accused of harming clients of such online services, a comprehensive analysis of the potential unfair character of such terms and conditions in line with the interpretation of the Directive supplied by the CJEU has not yet been provided. This paper aims to fill in this gap in the academic literature. It identifies several types of contractual terms used by international online service providers in their consumer contracts, which are unlikely to pass the Directive’s unfairness test.     

Managerial and Peer Influence on Ethical Behavioral Intentions in a Personal Selling Context

This article evaluates the relationship between the ethical behavioral intentions of 374 future salespeople and the ethical climate of the firm. The ethical philosophy (high or low) of top management, immediate sales managers, and the peers of potential sales people were examined to see if they influenced: (1) comfort levels with the philosophy of the firm and (2) likelihood of engaging in unethical sales behavior. Ethical behavior measures included 14 situations such as deceptive sales tactics, deceptive pricing, and unethical behavior toward the employer.     

Cultural and Ethical Effects on Managerial Decisions: Examined in a Throughput Model

Financial and cost accounting information is processed by decision-makers guided by their particular need to support decisions. Recent technological advances impacting on information as well as organizations such as the European Community mandating financial reporting requirements for many countries is rapidly changing the landscape for decision making using accounting information. Hence, the importance of individuals' decision making is more important than it was previously. These decisions are also influenced by individuals' ethical beliefs. The Throughput Modeling approach to cultural and ethical concerns provides a way of dealing with accounting information processed through various pathways by decision-makers. This modeling approach captures different philosophical perspectives from which to understand what is involved in "thinking scientifically." In the Throughput Modeling approach, pathways highlight the importance of how different philosophical perspectives may be used by individuals in arriving at a decision. This paper highlights key concepts involved in rethinking the basis of moral decision making in terms of an underlying process, rather than focusing on the application of principles or the development of a virtuous character. Examples are provided from both English and Spanish settings to help emphasize the importance of modeling ethical decision making globally.     

Managerial Incentives and Investment Policy in Family Firms: Evidence from a Structural Analysis

This paper provides evidence that CEO incentive pay mediates the effect of family preferences on corporate investment policy. Our study focuses on the option portfolio volatility sensitivity vega, which motivates the risk‐taking behavior of undiversified managers. After controlling for factors that affect incentive pay and investment policy simultaneously, we find that one‐third of underinvestment in riskier R&D projects in active family firms can be attributed to a significantly lower vega. Passive family firms allocate more capital to R&D as opposed to active family firms, and are more active in M&A deal making. In contrast to many prior studies, pay incentives and families are not associated with capital expenditures. Overall, our empirical results suggest that CEO pay incentives induce investment policy contingent on firm risk. Family CEO incentive pay manifests the family preference for lower risk, especially in firms with higher firm risk. Nonetheless, after replacing family CEOs with outside professionals, investments in both R&D and M&A increase, which is consistent with the family preference for extended investment horizons. Interestingly, such a preference seems not to be manifested in incentive pay.     

Price and quality decisions in a vertically-differentiated supply chain with an “Online-to-Store” channel

Because of the prevalence of “Online-to-Store (OS)” channel, customers can purchase differentiated products online and pick up in-store. We develop a Stackelberg game-theoretic model to study the impact of an OS channel on quality levels, demands, prices, and profits of a manufacturer and a retailer in a supply chain. We assume that the retailer acts as a Stackelberg leader, and the manufacturer acts as a Stackelberg follower. The manufacturer produces and sells two products with vertically-differentiated quality levels to the retailer who in turn sells the products to customers through a Store channel, an Online channel, or an OS channel. The retailer incurs a handing cost if the OS channel is available, and consumers bear a shipping cost and a transaction cost when the products are purchased from the Online and Store channels, respectively. We find that the manufacturer should reduce both products’ quality levels and wholesale prices, whereas the retailer can increase the selling prices for a relatively small shipping cost and a not too small handling cost. When the products are available both online and in-store, however, the quality levels, wholesale prices and selling prices might increase for a small shipping cost and a not too small handling cost. Compared to the case in which both products are available online only with the OS channel, adding the Store channel is always beneficial for both parties. The intuition behind these results hinges on the trade-off between the handling cost and the increased market demand for the retailer. Moreover, the quality levels, the wholesale prices of both products, and the selling price of the low-quality product would decrease, while the selling price of the high-quality product increases for a sufficiently low transaction cost and a not too small shipping cost.     

The Link Between Ethical Climates and Managerial Success: A Study in a Polish Context

This study examines perceptions of ethical climate and ethical practices in a sample of Polish organizations and the relationship between ethical climate and behaviors believed to be associated with successful managers. A survey of Polish managerial employees (N = 200) indicated that “efficiency” was the most reported, and “professionalism” was the least reported ethical climate type. A majority of the respondents (61.5 %) perceived successful managers as being ethical, and in particular, those that believed that their organization had a “professionalism” and “independence” climate perceived a strong positive link between success and ethical behavior. Implications of these findings are then discussed.     

Price fairness perceptions and customer loyalty in a retail context

Loyalty and fairness are major research topics in the marketing literature. However, research examining how customer loyalty and fairness perceptions affect each other is lacking. This study examines these two topics in the context of a retailer increasing its prices, develops hypotheses, and tests these hypotheses using an experimental design approach. Results indicate that loyalty has a positive effect on fairness perceptions when price increases are low, though no such effect is found when price increases are high. Also, justifiable reasons for price increases lead to increased fairness perceptions when price increases are low, but any reason offered when price increases are high increases fairness perceptions. Whether distributive or procedural fairness influences post customer loyalty in the presence of price increases is dependent on both the level of the price increase and the reason offered for the price increase. This research provides implications for retailers and directions for future research.     

The Bindingness of Social and Psychological Contracts: Toward a Theory of Social Responsibility in Downsizing

Downsizing has become a significant public issue that has not yet been significantly studied by business ethicists. It is proposed that reasonable social and psychological contracts bound the moral free space of managers contemplating downsizing; the degree of constraint is also dependent on the organization's resource munificence. A framework for considering the extent of managerial moral free space and implications thereof for managerial practice are offered.