This paper explores comparative cost structures when large firms split operations between separate production facilities in a way that puts pressure on wage rates and worker effort levels: one example of a divide and rule strategy. It differentiates horizontal structures of this kind based on...

This paper discusses how information and communication technology (ICT) affects the quality and reach of consumer services. These services need to be provided locally, but consist of several components, some of which can be digitised and transmitted over long distances. A general equilibrium...

The distribution of consumer incomes is a key factor in determining the structure of a vertically differentiated industry when consumer's willingness to pay depends on his income. This paper computes the Shaked and Sutton (1982) model for a general specification of consumers' income distribution...

We prove that, for general demand and cost conditions and market structures, the fraction of first-best surplus that a monopolist is unable to extract in a market provides a tight upper bound on the relative distortions arising from firms' equilibrium decisions at all margins (entry and...

When world trade is not free and costless, a less developed country can profitably industrialize only if its domestic markets are large enough. In such a country, for increasing returns technologies to break even, sales must be high enough to cover the set-up costs, This paper studies some...

We prove that, for general demand and cost conditions and market structures, the fraction of first-best surplus that a monopolist is unable to extract in a market provides a tight upper bound on the relative distortions arising from firms' equilibrium decisions at all margins (entry and...

When world trade is not free and costless, a less developed country can profitably industrialize only if its domestic markets are large enough. In such a country, for increasing returns technologies to break even, sales must be high enough to cover the set-up costs, This paper studies some...

As a consequence of a technological change, the productivity of a factor may increase even when its supply increases. In this paper we analyze the determinants of this technological bias. We present a general equilibrium model, where a good is produced in the final sector using both a factor and...