This paper argues that mainstream economic the- ory, far from providing an indisputable plea in favor of shareholder value-maximization, o ers striking arguments showing quite the opposite: pro t maximization cannot be a legitimate prioritar- ian goal for private rms. This opens the door for a...

This paper argues that mainstream economic theory, far from providing an indisputable plea in favor of shareholder value-maximization, offers striking arguments showing quite the opposite : profit-maximization cannot be a legitimate goal for private firms. This opens the door for a widening of a...

We consider an auction setting, in a symmetric information framework, in which bidders, even if they fail to obtain the good, care about the price paid by the winner. We prove that the outcome of the first- price auction is not aff ected by identity independent price externalities while the...

Competition among producers within an integrated electricity system is impeded by any limited transmission capacity there may be at its borders. Two alternative market mechanisms have recently been designed to organize the allocation of scarce transmission capacity at cross-border level: (i) the...

Hypothetical bias is a long-standing issue in stated preference and contingent valuation studies – people generally overstate their preferences when they do not experience the real monetary consequences of their decision. This view, however, has been challenged by recent evidence based on the...