This paper examines the effects of uncertainty and flexible labour contracts on the Research and Development (R&D) expenditure. Using a panel of Italian manufacturing firms, we find a hump-shaped relationship between workforce flexibility and R&D outlays. Moreover, as predicted by the real...

This study examines the relationship between firms’ market power, captured by product markups and labor markdowns, and the labor share within European firms. Using firm-level data from the CompNet database, we develop a microeconomic framework linking the labor share to firms’ market power....

In a dynamic storable good market where demand changes over time, we investigate the producer's strategic incentives to hold inventories in response to the possibility of buyer stockpiling. The literature on storable goods has demonstrated that buyer stockpiling in anticipation of higher future...

This paper considers the optimal pricing and diffusion of a durable good that exhibits positive network externalities, when consumers are heterogeneous with respect to their expectations about future network sizes. We consider the existence of naive consumers, as well as of sophisticated...

In a linear bilateral monopoly with the up-stream manufacturer and the down-stream retailer “consumers’ friendly” socially concerned (i.e. caring about a share of consumer surplus), Brand and Grothe (2015, in this Journal) shows that, although (as expected) both firms’ owners do not have...

This paper studies the optimal pricing and diffusion of durable goods that exhibit positive network externalities, when consumers are heterogeneous in their expectations about future network sizes. We consider the existence of naive consumers, as well as of sophisticated consumers having...

In a storable good market, we investigate a firm’s pricing policy and the welfare effects associated with the firm’s ability to commit to future prices in the presence of time-varying production costs. We show that, if costs are expected to increase, the firm’s lack of commitment leads to...

Canada is consistently ranked among the best places to live. However, its potential for sustainable prosperity could depend on how well its business sector navigates a rapidly changing world. Canadian companies innovate and export less than their American peers and generate lower returns from...

This study investigates the factors influencing the adoption of blockchain technology in logistics in Vietnam, focusing on customer perspectives. Utilizing the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the research examines key determinants such as attitude, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness,...

Innovation in the services sectors has been a rather neglected research area under the commonly held view that manufacturing firms are the main drivers of innovation in developed economies. The rise of the service economy has redirected the research agenda towards the potential of services firms...