Analyzing a sequential bargaining framework with one retailer and two suppliers of substitutable goods, we show that slotting fees may emerge as a result of a rent-shifting mechanism when consumer shopping costs are taken into account. If consumers economize on their shopping costs by bundling...

In this paper we consider the impact of vertical integration on a retailer's choices of product variety and specific, brand-supporting investment. In an incomplete contract environment, vertical merger encourages investment in integrated supply, and foreclosure of non-integrated manufacturers....

We analyze the listing decisions of a retailer who may ask her suppliers to make upfront payments in order to be listed. We consider a sequential game with upfront payments being negotiated before short-term delivery contracts. We show that the retailer is more likely to use upfront payments the...

This paper analyzes a duopoly model with stochastic demand in which firms first choose their strategy variable and compete afterwards. Contrary to the existing literature, we show that firms do not always choose a quantity which is the variable that induces a smaller degree of competition. The...

The most recent optimization algorithm for (s, S) order policies with continuous demand was developed byFedergruen and Zipkin (1985). This was also the first efficient algorithm, which uses policy iteration instead ofdiscretization. Zheng and Federgruen (1991) developed an even more efficient...

This paper extends a fundamental result about single-item inventory systems. This approachallows more general performance measures, demand processes and order policies, and leads toeasier analysis and implementation, than prior research. We obtain closed form expressions forthe Laplace...