We examine firms' preferences for product differentiation when a firm has a demand-side and/or a cost-side advantage over its competitor. We show that if the magnitude of these advantages is small, then both firms prefer more differentiated products. However, if the magnitude of demand-side...

We examine firms' preferences for product differentiation when a firm has a demand-side and/or a cost-side advantage over its competitor. We show that if the magnitude of these advantages is small, then both firms prefer more differentiated products. However, if the magnitude of demand-side...

We study multiunit uniform price auctions where the seller is allowed to decrease the quantity supplied in order to maximize his profit. We show that he never chooses to do so in equilibrium. However, the existence of this option eliminates such equilibria where objects for sale are sold for too...

This paper aims at investigating the presence of extra profits for the factoring companies operating with health sector credits. Using a panel data sample representative of Italian factoring companies, the analysis also examines, along with other factors, the determinants of corporate financial...

In this paper, we give a new insight on the relationship between the patients' co-payment for buying pharmaceuticals and the price of a patented pharmaceutical. We consider that the price of a pharmaceutical is the outcome of a negotiation between a health authority and a pharmaceutical monopoly...

In this note we consider a simple bilateral oligopoly model of an exchange economy. We characterize the Cournot-Nash equilibrium and we explore the effectiveness of market power. We provide some measures of relative market power. We show it depends on the relative size of the market and on the...

As spread between the WTI and Brent crude oil price is widening after early 2011, it could be that the price relationship between these crude oil is changing. To see if such change affected the price linkages among the international crude oil markets, this study investigates if the world's major...