Kaum eine ordnungspolitische oder regulatorische Frage hat in der deutschen Telekommunikationsbranche wohl in den letzten Jahren für so viel Aufruhr gesorgt, wie die Einführung des neuen §9a in das Telekommunikationsgesetz (TKG). Die neue Vorschrift sieht vor, dass die Bundesnetzagentur...

This paper examines how different unionisation structures affect firms' innovation incentives and industry employment. We distinguish three modes of unionisation with increasing degree of centralisation: (1) 'Decentralisation' where wages are determined independently at the firm-level, (2)...

Platform markets are characterized by the existence of indirect network effects that connect two or more market sides through a platform that internalizes these feedback effects. Conventional instruments of market definitions which consider price levels cannot easily applied in case of two-sided...

There is a wide range of magazines, newspapers, TV shows, and websites providing information on products based on product reviews or expert opinions. A natural question is, whether these reviews and expert opinions have effects on product sales. There is a small but growing literature in...

This paper investigates the existence of a possible media bias by analyzing the impact of automobile manufacturer's advertisements on automobile reviews in a leading German car magazine. By accounting for both endogeneity and sample selection using a two-step procedure, we find a positive impact...

We analyze market dynamics under Bertrand duopoly competition in industries with network effects and consumer switching costs. Consumers form installed bases, repeatedly buy the products, and differ with respect to their switching costs. Depending on the ratio of switching costs to network...

This paper analyses the interdependency between the market for music recordings and concert tickets, assuming that there are positive indirect network effects both from the record market to ticket sales for live performances and vice versa. Using a model with two interrelated Salop circles we...

This paper examines mobile termination fees and their regulation when networks are asymmetric in size. It is demonstrated that with consumer ignorance about the exact termination rates (a) a mobile network's termination rate is the higher the smaller the network's size (as measured through its...

This paper analyzes how competition works in mobile telecommuncations markets and, bases on this analysis, we discuss whether regulatory intervention in mobile telephone markets is justified from an economic perspective. Starting point of our analysis is the observation that an evaluation of...