The search literature assumes that consumers know which firms sell products they are looking for, but are unaware of the particular variety and the prices at which each firm sells. In this paper, we consider the situation where consumers are uncertain whether a firm carries the product at all by...

There is increasing empirical and experimental evidence thatproviding financial incentives to agents to performcertain socially desirable actions may permanently reduce other typesof motivations to undertake these actions.We study the impact of financial incentives on the desire for...

This paper argues that the notion of focal points is important in understanding bargaining processes. Recent literature confines a discussion of the usefulness of the notion to coordination problems and when bargaining experiments result in outcomes that are inconsistent with a straightforward...

We analyze a market where firms compete in a conventional and an electronicretail channel. Consumers easily compare prices online, but some incur purchaseuncertainties on the online channel. We investigate the market shares of the two retailchannels and the prices that are charged. We find that...

This discussion paper led to a publication in the <I>Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics</I> (2010). Vol. 166, issue 2, pages 286-298. <P> A simultaneous pooled auction with multiple bids and preference lists is a way to auction multiple objects, in which bidders simultaneously express a...</p></i>

This paper develops an economic argument relating auctions to high marketprices. At the core of the argument is the claim that market competition andbidding in an auction should be analyzed as part of one game, where the pricingstrategies in the market subgame depend on the bidding strategies...

This paper presents an empirical examination of oligopoly pricingand consumer search. The theoretical model allows for sequential andnon-sequential search and using the theoretical restrictions firm andconsumer behavior impose on the data we study the empirical validity of themodels. Two...

This discussion paper led to a publication in the <I>Regional Science and Urban Economics</I> (2005). Vol. 35(6), pages 700-714.<P> This paper develops a model for multi-store competition between firms. Using thefact that different firms have different outlets and produce horizontally differentiated...</p></i>

This paper gives an overview of the literature on focal points. It starts with reviewing Schelling’s seminalbook The Strategy of Conflict.I then discuss the problems that have to be faced when incorporating thenotion of focal points in theory of games. Two recent approaches are discussed that...

This discussion paper led to a publication in <A href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2009.02334.x/abstract">'The Economic Journal'</A>, 120(549) 1319-44.<P>This paper considers a government auctioning off multiple licenses to firms who compete in a market after the auction. Firms have different costs, and cost efficiency is private information at the auction...</p></a>