Most conceptualisations of the bottom billion assume that “the poor” are a minority group in a state of continuous dependency, identifiable by region and demographic. Using a flow analysis (inflow and outflow) of poverty, rather than a stock analysis, we explain why poverty is more...

We use rich brand level retail data to demonstrate that the firm size distribution in Carbonated Soft Drinks is mainly an outcome of the degree to which firms own a portfolio of brands across segments of the market, and not from performance within segments. In addition, while the number of firms...

We use three different quality based rankings of the publishing record of Irish based economists in academic journals during the period 1990-2000 and 1995-2000. While individual rankings are sensitive to the range of journals sampled, the nature of the weights used in the ranking of the journals...

The turnaround in economic policy from the late 1950s was remarkable. Protectionism was abandoned and exporting incentivised. As Barry and Daly (2011) admit, Conventional wisdom accords the bulk of the credit for the turnaround in policy to Seán Lemass, Minister for Industry and Commerce in...

Price coordination can be very harmful for consumers. Yet, even if a cartel is proved to exist, and successful in enforcement, how do we estimate damages or price overcharges to consumers? We build a structural model of the Irish automobile market that avails of a crosssection of new cars and...

A ban on pricing below cost was implemented under the 1987 Groceries Order based on the premise that loss leading used in multi-product retail pricing distorts competition and exploits consumers in the short run, while driving a more concentrated structure and reducing welfare in the long run....

In this article we examine the origins of Whitaker’s export oriented industrial policy and the political management of its implementation. Whitaker appointed academic economic advisors, including Louden Ryan, to a Capital Investment Advisory Committee in 1956. The advice from this committee...