Manufacturer competition for retail distribution is shown to often include partially exclusive contracts when competitive retailers have the ability to shift sales by loyal customers to a chosen manufacturer. Since each manufacturer knows its sales will increase substantially at the expense of...

Standard monopolized the petroleum industry during the 1870s by cartelizing the stage of production where entry was difficult – petroleum transportation. Standard enforced the transportation cartel by shifting its refinery shipments among railroads to stabilize individual railroad market...

An incentive problem exists in franchise relationships because of the failure of franchisees to take account of franchisor profit. Franchise contracts ameliorate this malincentive not by specifying a proxy for desired franchisee performance, but by creating a premium stream that facilitates a...

Court enforcement and private enforcement are not alternative contract enforcement mechanisms, but are used jointly by transactors to define the self-enforcing range of a contractual relationship. Within this framework contract terms economize on the limited amounts of private enforcement...

Consumers pay a higher price for brand-name products than for products that do not carry an established brand name. Because this involves paying extra for what some consider an identical product that merely has been advertised and promoted, brand names may appear to be economically wasteful....

The presence of a hub-and-spoke conspiracy legally depends on whether a horizontal agreement exists among the spokes, commonly stated in terms of whether there is evidence of a “rim” that connects the spokes. This article shows that the circumstantial evidence a court may use to infer such...

This article examines the conditions when predatory pricing or exclusive dealing antitrust principles should be the controlling legal standard for the evaluation of single product loyalty discount contracts. Following Meritor, it clarifies what it means for price to be “the predominant...

The Eastman Kodak company tied the sale of some of its photocopying and micrographic equipment to the sale of replacement parts and service. In the Kodak decision, a divided Supreme Court concluded that Kodak's absence of market power in the original equipment market did not necessarily preclude...

Goldberg unconvincingly claims that the General Motors (GM)ndash;Fisher Body contract was in fact legally unenforceable. But even if Goldberg's contract law conclusion were correct, it is economically irrelevant. It is clear from the actions of Fisher and GM and from the testimonial and other...