Laboratory and field studies of time preference find that discount rates are much greater in the short-run than in the long-run. Hyperbolic discount functions capture this property. This paper solves the decision problem of a hyperbolic consumer who faces stochastic income and a borrowing...

This paper develops a model of pricing to deter entry by a sole supplier of a network good. The authors show that the installed user base of a network good can serve a preemptive function similar to that of an investment in capacity if the entrant's good is incompatible with the incumbent's good...

Firms sometimes try to "poach" the current customers of their competitors by offering them special inducements to switch. The authors analyze duopoly poaching under both short-term and long-term contracts in two polar cases: either each consumer's brand preferences are constant from one period...

This paper explores a monopolist's incentives to provides upgraded versions of its software. In particular, the authors examine how market power, commitment problems and price discrimination may lead a monopolistice supplier of a network good to introduce upgrades when social welfare would be...