We explore the extent to which R&D and advertising expenditures generate a comparative advantage that allows firms to earn supranormal profits. After controlling for unobserved firm-specific factors and the feedback between discretionary expenditures and profitability, our results suggest...

Much public attention and considerable controversy surround pharmaceutical marketing practices and their impact on physicians. However, views on the matter have largely been shaped by anecdotal evidence or results from analyses with insufficient controls. Making use of a dynamic fixed-effects...

This paper estimates statistical cost. and revenue curves for a cross-section of banks in the years 1962-75. The primary data cover reported accounting or book rates of return. Approximations are also made to estimate economic or total returns. These approximations take into account changes in...

Among numerous possible reference prices, expected future price is important. A consumer's expectation of the future price of a brand plays a crucial role in the decision to buy now or later. Failure to characterize reference price as a forward-looking concept, a common practice in the reference...

Understanding the behavior of markets requires understanding not just the level of return but also its dynamics. The speed at which abnormal returns dissipate is one useful indicator of the competitive process. We model for US and Japanese firms the process of competition as reflected in the...

Farris, Parry and Ailawadi (1992; hereafter denoted FPA) demonstrate that bias can arise in a regression involving a composite dependent variable where a subset of components of the dependent variable are used as explanatory factors. They correctly observe that the Jacobson and Aaker (1985; hereafter...