Industry equilibrium under price distribution and cost shifts

Using a reference utility entry and exit criterion, we consider an equilibrium model of production where market price is random but endogenous with respect to industry output. General conditions are identified for industry output to increase under shifts in costs and in the distribution of demand. Comparative statics of firm level production and firm numbers are also studied. Results confirm the intuition that improvements in cost and demand conditions increase industry production. However, firm level responses are not as intuitive, and depend upon the relationship between the source of disturbance and the compensation through the altered distribution of output price.     

Antecedents of entry mode choice when diversifying

Corporate diversification is one of the broadest investigation topics in strategic management, but there are important gaps in the literature regarding entry mode choice. Few studies have examined the extent to which pre-entry conditions influence the choice of entry mode into new businesses. Past research has focused exclusively on internal development and acquisition as ways of entering new businesses, without considering the existence of hybrid forms, such as strategic alliances, that have experienced extensive growth during the last decade. Here we present an in-depth analysis of entry mode choice that uses an integrative perspective of corporate diversification and considers strategic alliances as an alternative to traditional approaches. A survey of 272 domestic diversifying entries by 155 Spanish firms allows us to characterize the use of cooperative agreements in diversification and to stress the role of inter-firm cooperation in acquiring the knowledge and capability required to grow into new businesses.     

Uncertainty and entry deterrence

Summary. We study a model where capacity installation by an incumbent firm serves to deter others from entering the industry. We argue that uncertainty about demand or costs forces the incumbent to choose a higher capacity level than it would under certainty. This higher level diminishes the attractiveness of deterrence (Proposition 1) and, therefore, the range of parameter values for which deterrence occurs (Proposition 2). Received: July 10, 1997; revised version: November 21, 1997     

人寿保险行业市场结构及影响因素研究

准入退出壁垒、市场集中度、规模经济和范围经济以及产品差异化等是影响人寿保险业市场结构的主要因素。中国保险市场准入、退出的行政性政策壁垒较高,市场集中度较高,属于寡占 III 型市场结构;寿险业保费规模、保险密度、保险深度、保险资产总额占 GDP 的比重、保险资产总额占整个金融资产的比重较低;寿险产品同质化现象较严重。鉴此,应降低市场进入壁垒,建立市场退出机制,达到优化市场结构,提高资源配置效率目的。     

The Competitive Effects of Advertising in the US Automobile Industry, 1970‐94

Is advertising anticompetitive? One school of thought in industrial economics holds that advertising increases profits and reduces consumer welfare by creating spurious product differentiation and barriers to entry. Another school focuses on the informative character of advertising, claiming that advertising makes markets more competitive and reduces profits by supplying consumers with information about price and quality. We distinguish these views by examining the effect of advertising on competition in the US automobile industry. Our data include advertising, sales, profit, and market-share figures for General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler over a 25-year period from 1970 to 1994.We ask if advertising increases or decreases profitability, controlling for market structure and other factors affecting demand.Wefind that these firms cannot increase their profits above normal levels by increasing their advertising expenditures. This evidence supports the view that advertising serves primarily to transmit information, not to create entry barriers.     

Corporate Demography and Empirical Industrial Organization: A Critical Appraisal

The emerging field of corporate demography views corporations and industries in a similar way to human or animal individuals and groups. In spite of a surprisingly large overlap of subject matter with economics, corporate demography is not well-known by, nor easily accessible to economists. An extremely useful recent book, The Demography of Corporations and Industries, by Glenn R. Carroll and Michael T. Hannan (2000) should change that. This review essay critically examines corporate demography from an economic viewpoint. The very different view of competition in corporate demography gets particular attention.     

应用DNA条形码技术快速鉴定入境船舶上截获的昆虫蛹

[目的]利用DNA条形码技术快速准确鉴定从入境船舶上截获的未知双翅目昆虫蛹。[方法]将截获的5只蛹,1只蛹直接冷冻,4只孵化出成蝇;对蛹、蛹壳及孵化出的成蝇进行拍照留档。分别从蛹、蛹壳和孵化成蝇中提取基因组DNA;采用动物DNA条形码通用引物（LCO1490和HCO2198）扩增目的片段,并进行纯化、克隆测序和序列分析,与NCBI及BOLD中的序列进行比对,构建NJ树;对孵化成蝇进行形态鉴定。[结果]所检测的蛹、蛹壳以及孵化成蝇的DNA条形码序列与NCBI和BOLD中大头金蝇（Chrysomyia megacephala）的序列相似度达100%;孵化成蝇与大头金蝇的形态特征相符。[结论]根据测定结果,判定截获的未知双翅目昆虫蛹为大头金蝇的蛹;证明DNA条形码技术是一种鉴定未知昆虫蛹的有效手段。对于口岸截获的外来未知昆虫蛹、成虫残肢甚至蛹壳均可直接采用DNA条形码技术进行种类鉴定,大大缩短鉴定周期。     

入世后宁波利用外资的特征、绩效及发展对策

入世以来宁波在外资利用方面呈现出了总量增加、投资来源地多样化、投资行业渐趋合理等特点,同时也暴露出了大项目数量少、产业集聚效应不强、辐射力差、总体质量偏低、结构不合理等弱点。为此,本论文提出了相应的对策与建议。