This paper presents a theoretical model of competition between information intermediaries applied to credit rating industry. Sellers rely on intermediaries to credibly communicate their quality to buyers. Intermediaries are strategic and compete in fees as well as their certification standards...

We analyze a duopolistic model of quality disclosure in which product differentiation can be either horizontal or vertical under two vertically differentiated product attributes. Disclosure is fully revealing in the absence of disclosure cost. When disclosure is costly, firms partially disclose,...

We consider a brand manufacturer who can offer, next to its high-quality product, also a decoy good and faces competition by a competitive fringe that produces low quality. We show that the brand manufacturer optimally provides a decoy good to boost the demand for its main product if consumers'...

We analyse the relationship between the quality of a GP practice in England and the degree of competition that it faces (as indicated by the number of nearby rival GP practices). We find that those GP practices that are located close to other rival GP practices provide a higher quality of care...

Third party certification bodies audit companies to determine compliance with standards. We introduce a model of oligopoly competition between certification bodies, showing that a higher degree of certification body competition results in higher grades. We empirically test this hypothesis using...

We consider a brand manufacturer who can offer, next to its high-quality product, also a decoy good and faces competition by a competitive fringe that produces low quality. We show that the brand manufacturer optimally provides a decoy good to boost the demand for its main product if consumers'...

We model competing ecolabels sponsored by an industry trade association and an environmental group. For either sponsor in autarky, multi-tier labels are more attractive when there are many producers with high cost of quality, and the cost gap between low-cost and high-cost firms is large. When...

We model how risk-neutral firms’ ability to obtain substantial private returns on marginal new technologies causes them to "reach for mediocrity" by investing in socially suboptimal projects, even in the presence of competition and new entrants. Focusing primarily on pharmaceutical innovation,...

If there’s one thing Canadians agree on, it’s that Canada’s wireless industry can and should be more competitive. The federal government is on side with the policy objective of having four carriers in every region and has responded with policies that provide commercial advantages to...

Data have changed the characteristics of the global value chain in the context of digital economy. Standards and innovation are the key facilitators of digital economy. Considering the collaborative development of innovation and standardization, this paper constructs a theoretical model of the...