We analyze the effect of mergers on various aspects of airline performance during the period 1970-84, using a panel data set constructed by Caves et al. Estimates derived from a simple "matched pairs" statistical model indicate that these mergers were associated with reductions in unit cost. The...

Typically measures of multifactor productivity growth have been based on a production and optimization framework that assumes all inputs are instantaneously adjustable, thus ignoring the important impacts of short run fixity of certain inputs. This paper focuses on the distinction between short...

This study builds on recent research giving the notion of capacity utilization clearer economic foundations. In this research optimal output Y* is defined as the minimum point on the firm's short-run average total cost curve, and capacity utilization is then computed as CU=Y/Y*, where Y is...

We study the efficiency of oligopoly equilibria in a model where firms compete over capacities and prices. The motivating example is a communication network where service providers invest in capacities and then compete in prices. Our model economy corresponds to a two-stage game. First, firms...

Our test of price-taking behavior looks at the choice of capacity rather than the choice of output. It is motivated by a complete spot markets model in which goods are distinguished by the selling probabilities in addition to other characteristics. When output is explained by total man-hours and...

Studies of the firm's demand for factor inputs often assume a constant rate of utilization of the inputs and ignore the fact that the firm can simultaneously choose the level and the rate of utilization of its inputs. In particular, the literature on dynamic factor demand models has, until...

In this paper we develop measures of economic capacity output and economic capacity utilization for firms producing multiple outputs and having one or .ore quasi-fixed inputs. Although we produce an impossibility theorem showing that based only on the assumption of cost minimization, the concept...

A stochastic two-country neoclassical rational expectations model with sticky prices -- optimally set by monopolistically competitive firms -- and possible excess capacity is developed to examine international spillover effects on output of monetary disturbances. The Mundell-Fleming model...

We study dynamic price competition between sellers offering differentiated products with limited capacity and a common sales deadline. In every period, firms simultaneously set prices, and a randomly arriving buyer decides whether to purchase a product or leave the market. Given remaining...