The Relative Importance of Actual and Potential Competition: Empirical Evidence From the Pharmaceuticals Market

We study actual and potential competition and other factors that determine price paths of brand-name drugs in the Swedish pharmaceuticals market. The results indicate that the price of the incumbent product is lowered by potential competition, entry of (additional) generics, and the introduction of a so-called reference-price system. We also identify a 'ratchet' effect, through which price regulation makes entry-deterring limit-pricing credible.     

Economic discrimination in a two-good model

Conclusions The main conclusion of this study is that in the general case we cannot make any predictions regarding the effects of discrimination on the welfare of whites or blacks. To reach definite results special assumptions have to be made, and even then much depends on in terms of which good the effects are measured.Joseph E. Stiglitz has criticized the trade approach to discrimination on the grounds that once the step is taken from the simple Beckerian one-good model to the full-fledged two-by-two-by-two framework used in international trade theory this approach can no longer explainwage differences, since the factor equalization theorem will apply, at least as long as the two groups are not totally specialized in production⁸. This criticism can be extended in the light of the results of the present work. We have in the foregoing seen how even in a model that assumes total specialization in production we cannot reach any clear-cut conclusions regarding under which circumstances it pays for the majority group to discriminate against the minority. Maximization of majority welfare by means of economic discrimination simply requires too much information, at least when the trade approach is used. Other theories are likely to yield better explanations regarding the causes of discrimination, and future research is likely to become more fruitful if attention is concentrated more on alternative approaches.The research was financially supported by the Swedish Council for Social Science Research (Statens råd för samhällsforskning). Thanks are due to an anonymous referee for thorough and helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

Kunden- oder Markenorientierung – Zwei Seiten einer Medaille oder alternative Routen?

Kundenorientierung bildet seit langem den Kern eines modernen Marketingverst?ndnisses. Allerdings ist fraglich, ob es nicht Alternativen zu einer Kundenorientierung gibt. Dieser Artikel pr?sentiert mit der Markenorientierung eine solche alternative strategische Orientierung und diskutiert die Unterschiede zwischen Kunden- und Markenorientierung auf einer theoretischen, kulturellen, verhaltens- und controllingorientierten Ebene.     

The business model dilemma of technology shifts

Technology shifts are lethal to many manufacturing companies. Previous research indicates that this is not purely a problem of technological innovation, but is also closely related to the inertia of business models and business model innovation. This paper inquires into the dynamics of this intersection between technology and business models. Anchored in a case study in the automotive industry, it reveals how a potential technology shift constitutes a business model dilemma for firms leading in the existing technology. The paper illustrates why technology shifts are so difficult to master and contributes to theory by suggesting that managing technology shifts does not require either technology or service innovation in order to create a viable business model, but instead a compound of both. Furthermore, the paper applies a business model perspective to illustrate the explanatory power of analyzing the challenges of technology shifts faced by incumbent firms.     

Workplace bullying as an antecedent to job insecurity and intention to leave: a 6‐month prospective study

Workplace bullying is a severe problem in contemporary working life, affecting up to 15 per cent of employees. Among the detrimental outcomes of bullying, it is even postulated as a major risk factor for exclusion from work. In support of this claim, the current study demonstrates that exposure to bullying behaviour predicts an increase in both levels of job insecurity and intention to leave over a 6‐month time lag, among a random sample of North Sea workers (n = 734). The findings suggest that bullied employees are insecure about the permanence and content of their job, and they may be at risk of turnover and exclusion from working life. It is recommended that these outcomes are taken into consideration when incidences of workplace bullying are addressed.     

A Contingency‐Based Approach to the Use of Product Platforms and Modules in New Product Development

To face the challenges of increasing demand for variety, more specific customer demands and shortening product life cycles, firms increasingly adopt mass customization techniques. Two important such techniques are product modularization and product platform development, which allow firms to reach high levels of product variety, and at the same time, keep complexity and its related costs at a limited level. Often modularization and product platform development are treated as variants of the same basic idea. However, even if the concepts are closely related, they also have some fundamental differences, which influence their usefulness and applicability in different settings. One potential shortcoming of existing literature on modularization and product platforms is the present lack of research on their limitations and potential negative effects. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify and explore contingencies influencing the applicability of modularization and product platforms, respectively, taking their different economic effects as a starting point. Moreover, the paper addresses how different organizing solutions are interrelated with the use of modularization and product platform approaches. The empirical observations originate from studies of three Swedish manufacturing firms. The study reveals that important contingencies affecting the applicability of modularization and product platforms are demand side characteristics and the speed of environmental change. Furthermore, it is seen that firms need to organize themselves differently with respect to how they combine modularization and platforms, for example, in terms of degree of centralization, formalization, and allocation of decision‐making authority, and that this poses challenges to the combined use of the two approaches.     

Sickness Absence and Local Benefit Cultures

In many countries, sickness absence financed by generous insurance benefits is an important concern in the policy debate. There are strong variations in absence behavior among local geographical areas. Such variations are difficult to explain in terms of observable socioeconomic factors. In this paper, we investigate whether such variations are related to group effects in the form of social interaction among individuals within neighborhoods. Well‐known methodological problems arise when trying to answer this question. A special feature of our efforts to deal with these problems is that we adopt several alternative approaches to identify group effects. Our study is based on a rich set of Swedish panel data, and we find indications of group effects in each of our approaches.     

The effects of tax reform on labor supply, tax revenue and welfare when tax avoidance matters

We examine how tax avoidance in the form of trade in well-functioning asset markets affects the study of labor supply. We discuss the implications for tax policy analysis, and we show that a failure to account for avoidance responses may lead to huge errors when analyzing how tax reform affects labor supply, tax revenue and the welfare cost of taxation. Our model may explain a number of otherwise hard to understand dimensions of taxpayer response.