A discussion of wage behavior over the business cycle and of the effect of deferred wage increases, cost-of-living adjustments, and current settlements on labor union rates, using the auto industry as an example.

Utilizing the Consumer Expenditure Survey and state-level variation in taxes, this study finds that prices for most models of new cars shift by more than the amount of a sales tax. The evidence of an overshifting of prices offers support for the recent models of tax incidence in imperfectly...

Up to six months ahead of actual production, U.S. automakers announce plans for their monthly domestic production of cars. A leading industry trade journal publishes the initial plan and then a series of revisions leading up to the month in question. We analyze a panel data set spanning the...

Recent papers by Kim and Nelson (1999) and McConnell and Perez-Quiros (2000) uncover a dramatic decline in the volatility of U.S. GDP growth beginning in 1984. Determining whether the source is good luck, good policy or better inventory management has since developed into an active area of...

We address the construction of price indexes for consumer vehicles using data collected from a national sample of dealerships. The dataset contains highly disaggregate data on actual sales prices and quantities, along with information on customer cash rebates, financing terms, and much more....

The introduction of a new manufacturing system provides a unique opportunity to analyze its effects on the governance structure of vertical relationships. This paper focuses on the possible effects of lean manufacturing on the decision to vertically integrate. Transaction cost theory provides...

Shopping for a new car over the Internet.

An analysis of the Japanese advantage in auto production, with discussion of industry structure, managerial practices, production costs, and the problems involved in comparing costs with those of U.S. producers.