Agency and brokerage of real assets in competitive equilibrium

Brokerage contracts for many categories of real assets are characterizedby a common, constant commission rate payable upon sale, exclusiveagency, and contractual asking prices. For a large market insteady state, these conventional contracts produce in equilibriumno agency problem between a broker and his clients. Each brokerspends the same time or effort selling each client's asset asthe broker would spend on his own assets. As in standard agencyproblems, extra effort by a broker generates first-order stochasticallydominant distributions of bids by potential buyers. Unlike standardagency problems, each broker can allocate his time or effortbetween selling the assets of his multiple clients and searchingfor new clients in competition with other brokers. Because brokers'time spent searching for new sellers is dissipative, entry bybrokers is excessive in equilibrium.     

Resale price maintenance: A managerial perspective

Managers can improve firm profits by selecting the appropriate pricing strategy. In this article, we show how managers can use one particular controversial pricing strategy—resale price maintenance (RPM)—to enhance firm profits. We first discuss the antitrust treatment of RPM, both in the United States and internationally. Then we examine the economic effects of implementing RPM in several key contexts: product promotion, quality certification, prestige goods, and online retail. We also discuss the effects of RPM on entry of new firms.     

Students,ethics and surveys

In a recent article in this Journal Grant and Broom reported on a survey which they conducted concerning student attitudes toward ethics. They suggest that while their findings are only preliminary, such surveys can help instructors and schools to determine what type of ethical training a person from a particular demographic background might need. Likewise they may very well help a student's future employer determine the ethics he or she has based on the type of institution he or she attended. However, it is my contention that there are a number of problems inherent in the process and the interpretation which Grant and Broom suggest. I discuss these problems herein. J. Whitman Hoff is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Bentley College. She has been awarded a number of grants including participation in two NEH Summer Seminars For College Teachers. She has published in the areas of business ethics, aesthetics and sports history. In addition to business ethics, she is currently doing research in the area of children's rights and is working on a book, Philosophical Issues in the Stepfamily.     

Scenario development in China's electricity sector

The continuing growth of China's electricity sector will affect global environmental and economic sustainability due to its impacts on greenhouse gas emissions and global resource depletion. In 2005, the generation of electricity in China resulted in the emissions of 2290 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (approximately 53% of the nation's total) and required 779 million metric tonnes of coal (approximately 50% of China's total coal consumption). These figures are expected to increase with China's economic growth. In order to gauge the range in which fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions could grow a scenario-based conceptual model has been developed by the authors (published in (vol.) of this journal). The application and analysis of this shows that under a business as usual (BAU) scenario, electricity generation could contribute upwards of 56% of China's energy related greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Meanwhile, consumption of coal will also increase, growing to nearly 60% of total national demand by 2020. However, variations in a number of key drivers could produce significant deviation from the BAU scenario. With accelerated economic output, even with greater technological advances and greater potential to bring natural gas on stream, carbon dioxide emissions would rise 10% above the BAU. Alternatively, in a scenario where China's economy grows at a tempered pace, less investment would be available for advanced technologies, developing natural gas infrastructure, or nuclear energy. In this scenario, reduced economic growth and electricity demand would thereby be countered by reduced efficiency and a higher contribution of coal.