If an intermediary offers sellers a platform to reach consumers, he may face the following hold-up problem: sellers suspect the intermediary will enter their respective product market as a merchant after they have sunk fixed costs of entry. Therefore, fearing that their investments cannot be...

This paper analyses information from survey data collected in the framework of the Eurosystem's Wage Dynamics Network (WDN) on patterns of firm-level adjustment to shocks. We document that the relative intensity and the character of price vs. cost and wage vs. employment adjustments in response...

Die Einführung des Euro bietet auch für den Händel neue Perspektiven. Werden durch den Wegfall der Wechselkursrisiken und die höhere Preistransparenz die grenzüberschreitende Nachfrage und das Angebot zunehmen? Werden sich die Preise auf dem jeweils niedrigsten nationalen Ausgangsniveau...

This paper analyses price structures in the liberalized German market for long-distance telecommunications services. Theoretically deduced patterns are backed-up by empirical observations. The market is exceptionally competitive; entry is taking place on a large scale and prices are falling...

In this paper, we examine how the effect of movements in the real exchange rate on manufacturing plants depends on the plant's placement within the productivity distribution. Appreciations of the local currency expose domestic plants to more competition from abroad as export opportunities shrink...

We analyze the strategic behavior of firms when demand is determined by a rule of thumb behavior of consumers. We assume consumer dynamics where individual consumers follow simple behavioral decision rules governed by imitation and habit as suggested in consumer research. On this basis, we...