This paper examines the factors affecting prices in the North America banana market. There are substantial price differences between brand-name and 'generic' companies, and among branded companies. Key questions are what causes these price differences, how are they related to the brand names of...

Two fundamentally different subcontracting systems arise as distinct solutions to the quality control problem facing an input buyer. The 'American' system involves competitive bidding on each contract, large orders, and inspections. The 'Japanese' system involves repeat purchases from a supplier...

Agency theory identifies managerial shirking as the cause for takeovers, while other explanations focus on low-ability managers. This paper formalizes Michael C. Jensen's free cash flow variant of agency theory by constructing a simple two-period game that captures the distinctive empirical...