The authors determines a two product company, that sells their products with different quality under an umbrella brand.

Two firms produce a good with a horizontal and a vertical characteristic called quality. The difference in the unobservable quality levels determines how the firms share the market. We consider two scenarios: in the first one, firms disclose quality; in the second one, they send costly signals...

Google's new “Interest Based Advertising” (IBA) program represents the company's first foray into what is generally called “Online Behavioral Advertising”: In order to deliver more relevant advertising, Google will begin tailoring ads delivered through AdSense on the Google Content...

This paper analyzes persuasive advertising and pricing in oligopoly if firms sell differentiated products and consumers have heterogeneous social attitudes towards the consumption by others. Deriving product demand from primitives, we show that the demand-enhancing effect of persuasive...

Evidence is mounting that the United States is losing its edge as a world leader when it comes to educating its citizens. It now ranks 13th in college graduation rates. In a recent 24-country Survey of Adult Skills, the U.S. ranked 16th in literary proficiency and 21st in numeracy proficiency....

Business is a very popular major today. Numerous articles have been written attacking the business major claiming that it is not rigorous enough and does not teach what it purports to do, especially in areas such as ethics. This paper discusses some of the issues with business as a major and...

In the corporate world, with its global, competitive environment, many firms have become learning organizations in order to survive and thrive. Similarly, 21st century universities that succeed will be lean, flexible, and nimble; Peter Drucker once asserted that in the not-so-distant future...

The authors investigate the question of the optimal number of points to use on a rating scale using validity as the major criterion for comparison. In the reported study, perhaps surprisingly, the results suggest that the 11-point rating scale may be the best performer

There is widespread evidence that some firms use false advertising to overstate the value of their products. We consider a model in which a policymaker is able to punish such false claims. We characterize an equilibrium where false advertising actively influences rational buyers, and analyze the...

This paper empirically studies how social learning among consumers shapes firms' optimal strategies of using advertising to signal product quality. I present an equilibrium model that describes both consumers' and firms' learning and decision-making under quality uncertainty. My model allows me...