Improving retailers' incentives for service is a prominent efficiency defense for resale price maintenance (RPM). We investigate the incentives of symmetric manufacturers to use RPM when selling products through common retailers who provide services such as pre-sale advice. We show that the...

We investigate the incentives of manufacturers to use resale price maintenance (RPM) when selling products through common retailers. In our model retailers provide product specific pre-sales services. If the competitive retail margins are low, each manufacturer fixes a minimum price to induce...

Die Monopolkommission fordert in ihrem XIII. Hauptgutachten die Abschaffung der Buchpreisbindung. Im Gegenzug hat sich die Bundesregierung für deren Erhalt ausgesprochen. Ist die Buchpreisbindung notwendig, um Qualität und Vielfalt auf dem Buchmarkt zu sichern? Wie ist sie aus ökonomischer...

The staff scheduling problem in the retail business is considered for which a new mathematical model and new solution methods are introduced. The problem is formalized as a set covering type problem. Columns represent feasible weekly working time patterns of one sales clerk. Rows correspond to...

Recent attention has focused on the UK's productivity gap in the retail sector. Figure 1 shows an estimate of labour productivity in retail across countries, using output per hour worked. The UK lies well behind the US, France and Germany. Reynolds at al (2005) contribute to this debate by...