The increasing concentration of retailing in many countries (particularly in Europe) is a cause for concern for competition authorities. In a formal model, we argue that retailer market power influences upstream firms' incentives to introduce new products. On the basis of a survey of German food...

Whereas a large number of empirical studies have been devoted to analysing consumer demand for specific products, much less attention has been paid to the household?s demand for product variety (the number of different products consumed in a specific time period). This paper analyses consumer...

The present study examines family and farm characteristics affecting the choice and the timing of intergenerational farm transfers. Using survey data which are linked to accounting data for 272 farms in Northern Germany, we use a probit approach to examine whether specific farm and family...

This paper considers the determinants of two dimensions of flexibility, the flexibility in adjusting aggregate output over time ("tactical flexibility") as well as the ability to switch quickly between products ("operational flexibility"). Econometric analysis of a sample of 40,000 farms in...

We investigate the impact of decentralised decision making on product quality. Comparing a cooperative (decentralized decision making) and a firm (centralized decision making) suggests that members of the cooperative have an incentive to produce too much and to free-ride on quality. Free-riding...

Price promotions are important marketing activities for (food) retailers; brand loyalty is a major requisite to foster brands' assets. Several theoretical papers have analyzed the relationship between price promotions and brand loyalty resulting in mixed or perhaps contradictory outcomes; only a...