We demonstrate that the Varian (1980) model of sales has a unique Nash equilibrium when firms incur costly advertising to compete for informed consumers. The equilibrium is symmetric. In particular, with costly advertising, the asymmetric equilibria highlighted by Baye et al. (1992) do not arise.

This paper examines the seaports responsible for handling the majority of trade around the Bay of Bengal and identifies the projects that will enable trade and contribute to improving maritime infrastructure. It reviews the nature, potential evolution, and primary types of maritime trade around...

This study examines the relationship between firm characteristics and borrowing from commercial banks by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and five Southeast Asian economies (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam). Analysis...

Combining Balassa–Samuelson effects with strategic complementarities between prices of tradables and non-tradables yields a novel determinant of tradables’ prices. A larger productivity difference between tradables and non-tradables raises the non-tradables’ price. With strategic...

Price dispersion of US imports are investigated across US districts of entry. Markups explain about 31% of price dispersion, while marginal costs of production explain about 69%; effects of trade costs, for which we have actual data, are almost none.

Pacific economies are confronted with several structural constraints that limit their economic growth, most importantly their small size and remoteness from major world markets. In this paper we study the importance of transport connectivity for Pacific economies when participating in the world...

This paper examines the determinants and trade effects of the South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) using empirical methods. An empirical specification of the gravity model is developed to analyze the determinants of trade flows for the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA)...

This paper aims to provide a non-technical explanation of the concept of trade in value added, with particular reference to East Asia. The trade in value added approach allows us to redefine the relationship between countries of origin and destination in international trade, and thereby...

This paper focuses on the pricing behavior of Japanese and United States firms selling their identical products in New York City, Chicago, Osaka, and Tokyo. The authors utilize some simple models of international price dispersion and market segmentation that generate predictions about testable...

This paper investigates and analyzes the present status, potential, and prospects of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free trade agreements (FTAs). The move towards the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015 and the attempts to broaden FTAs in East Asia present major challenges to ASEAN....