We develop a general equilibrium model of multiproduct fi…rms with quality differentiated goods. Households are characterized by an heterogeneous taste for the differentiated good and their income level. The use of non-homothetic preferences and vertical product differentiation (product...

This paper is concerned with the determinants of car prices in four European countries: Belgium, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, over the period 1970-1985. The main focus of the study lies in explaining the levels of, and the changes in, the large price differentials observed across the...

The paper specifies and estimates a production function for the airline industry, identifying firms' network characteristics and efficiency as the main determinants of their productivity. The application of this analysis to the European market shows that productivity differences among flag...

This paper gives a general framework for analysing a trade divergence that runs across both the New International trade theory and the traditional analysis of export policy. The source of the trade divergence, the motive for intervention and the analytical framework is shown to be the same in...

This paper presents a model of competition between operators on urban local bus routes in which passengers always board the first bus to arrive, and it is costly to revise timetables. The model predicts that timetables are unstable, the operator whose bus was boarded by fewest passengers is the...

This paper examines the impact of firms' conduct on market structure. It studies the evolution of concentration in UK manufacturing following the abolition of cartels using a theoretical framework based on Sutton's theory of market structure and a panel data set for four-digit industries over...

This paper investigates the characteristics of litigated patents by combining for the first time information about patent case filings from the U.S. district courts and detailed data from the U.S. Patents and Trademark Office. A series of indicators is constructed for the factors which the...

This paper addresses the questions of the effects of diversification strategies on firms' profitability. Empirical analyses do not seem to confirm the hypothesis that diversification is the optimal response to the presence of synergies and hence generates higher profits. It is shown that this...

This paper examines the impact of price competition on advertising/R&D expenditure and market structure. General theoretical results are derived which restrict the space of possible outcomes regarding the behaviour of concentration and advertising/R&D expenditure following an intensification of...

Countertrade - or reciprocal buying - is defined as a transaction involving (at least) a two-way transfer of goods, rather than a singular transfer of goods for money. The main objective of this paper is to explain the extensive use of countertrade both between countries and between firms within...