Mixed Equilibrium in a Downsian Model with a Favored Candidate

This paper examines competition in the standard one-dimensional Downsian model of two-candidate elections, but where one candidate (A) enjoys an advantage over the other candidate (D). Voters' preferences are Euclidean, but any voter will vote for candidate A over candidate D unless D is closer to her ideal point by some fixed distance δ. The location of the median voter's ideal point is uncertain, and its distribution is commonly known by both candidates. The candidates simultaneously choose locations to maximize the probability of victory. Pure strategy equilibria often fail to exist in this model, except under special conditions about δ and the distribution of the median ideal point. We solve for the essentially unique symmetric mixed equilibrium with no-gaps, show that candidate A adopts more moderate policies than candidate D, and obtain some comparative statics results about the probability of victory and the expected distance between the two candidates' policies. We find that both players' equilibrium strategies converge to the expected median voter as A's advantage shrinks to 0. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C72, D72.     

Ambiguous Social Welfare Effects of Price Regulation Under Imperfect Competition

Conventional wisdom is that a binding price ceiling increases output and so increases social welfare if imposed on an imperfectly competitive market. However, this paper shows that a price ceiling can be harmful to social welfare even though it increases industry output and consumer surplus. This model can be applied to the pharmaceutical industry under price control in many countries, e.g., U.K., Canada, Germany and Japan.     

中国保险市场结构与政府监管的动态均衡研究

中国保险市场发展30年间,保险市场结构经历了从完全垄断到寡头垄断再向垄断竞争的变迁,政府监管政策也随之不断调整。在这三个阶段中,保险市场结构与政府监管政策在相互匹配上总是一个均衡-非均衡-均衡不断循环的过程,其错配的根源主要有政府监管政策供给存在偏好以及中国保监会定位模糊等。因此,要在新形势下两者实现新的均衡,需在监管目标、主体和内容方面进行适当调整。     

浅谈国有企业的人才管理

随着经济全球化和知识经济的到来,智力资本成为企业竞争的第一要素,人才的流动是所有行业尤其是国有企业必须正视的问题。文章从国有企业人才流失的现状入手,剖析了人才流失的原因。并就此提出了建立和健全好的用人、留人机制的措施,从而为企业的长远发展打下坚实的人才基础。     

汽车营销的渠道权力结构分析

渠道权力是每一个渠道成员自然而然所拥有的,营销渠道的现状可以说是渠道成员权力运用后的结果。本文从渠道权力及其来源的科学解释入手,针对汽车行业的特点,分析汽车制造商和分销商的三种渠道权力关系,并进一步分析渠道权利的运用方式。     

汇率波动与FDI区位分布——基于辖区间财政竞争视角的研究

为了获取相对的竞争优势,辖区政府会通过策略性财政政策影响砌的区位分布.文章利用中国省级面板数据,实证分析人民币汇率波动通过改变辖区政府的财政竞争策略,从而影响FI)I区位分布的实际效应.研究表明,人民币汇率升值会弱化FDI流入量与辖区政府财政支出竞争程度两者的正向关系,此时依靠财政支出结构偏向基本建设的竞争策略将收效甚微.     

Price versus quantity in a mixed duopoly with foreign penetration

We characterize the endogenous competition structure (in prices or quantities) in a differentiated duopoly between a public firm that maximizes domestic welfare and a private firm that can be owned by domestic or foreign investors. The market for which they compete can be domestic or integrated: in the first case Bertrand competition emerges endogenously and in the second case Cournot competition can emerge if the fraction of domestic consumers in the integrated market is low enough. We also determine the optimal degree of foreign penetration showing the optimality of a partial foreign ownership. Finally, we extend the model to increasing marginal cost confirming the robustness of the results.     

Firm entry deregulation,competition and returns to education and skill

This paper studies the effect of firm entry deregulation on the returns to skill and education. We exploit a comprehensive episode of entry deregulation, unique in the industrialized world, as a quasi-natural experiment. Using matched employer–employee data for the universe of workers and firms in Portugal, we show that increased product market competition, which resulted from deregulation, increased the returns to a university degree and the returns to skill. We verify that our results are not driven by changes in employment composition, and are unlikely to be driven by skill-biased technical change, or by workers who change skill levels after the deregulation.     

Competition and open source with perfect software compatibility

In this paper we study duopolistic competition between closed and open source software. Inspired by recent contributions on open source, we propose a two-stage game with perfect information and product differentiation, in which producers first set software quality and then determine prices (the price is zero for open source programs). We assume perfect software compatibility and model lock-in effects, a network externality component of software quality, and accumulation of experience in software use and implementation. In comparison to the monopolistic benchmark case, we argue that, in a duopoly created by the emergence of an open source program, the proprietary software producer will reduce its selling price if: (i) its network of users is larger than the open source network and its consumers are largely familiar with its program, (ii) it has a small network of unskilled consumers. On the other hand, the price of proprietary software will increase if its users form a large, but poorly-skilled network. Furthermore, we show that, in all of the above cases, the hedonic quality of proprietary software increases. Finally, by modeling experience accumulation processes through difference equations, we show that the ratio between the closed and open source programs’ opportunity costs for software learning and deployment plays a crucial role in shaping market outcomes. If open source software remains too complex and technical for unskilled or time-pressed users, a shared market solution, in which both programs are adopted, is likely to emerge. However, if opportunity costs in learning and understanding open source programs are particularly low, or at least equal to the opportunity costs of a closed-source program, then open source dominance emerges (i.e. markets tip to open source).     

The effects of exchange rate pass-through and cost channel on price level: The case of fragile five countries

ABSTRACT

In this study, we investigated whether the exchange rate and the interest rate had an effect on the inflation rate in the fragile five countries between the years of 1996Q4 and 2015Q4. In this context, a model was created to estimate the effect of interest rate and exchange rate on the inflation rate. The methods used in the study take into account cross-section dependence and heterogeneity. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that there was an exchange-rate and interest-rate pass-through effect in the fragile five countries. Moreover, it was found out that the cost channel and price puzzle were effective in Indonesia and South Africa but were not effective in Turkey, Brasil and India.