This paper is concerned with the general question of the provision of information by financial intermediaries to their customers. Specifically, it analyzes the different ways the market can be organized and its effects on pricing and the level of information investors obtain. We find that market...

New technology is usually expensive and it takes time for manufacturers to make the technology more accessible. In the stereo industry, the first Super Audio Compact Disk (SACD) player made by Sony, SCD-1, sold for $5,000 in 1999; in 2002 the cheapest of Sony's new SACD players, SCD-CE775, had a...

In 1997, the FDA relaxed regulations on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising for pharmaceutical products. This has led to a substantial increase in such expenditures which in turn raises some important public policy questions. For example, has this increase in DTC advertising affected the...