Die letzten beiden Gesundheitsreformen (GKV-WSG, GKVOrg-WG) hatten das Ziel, den Wettbewerb im Gesundheitswesen zu stärken. Als zentraler Bestandteil ist ein neues Selektivvertragssystem eingeführt worden, welches das Kollektivsystem zumindest teilweise ablöst. Im Beitrag wird zunächst...

This paper examines how the deepening of market integration – a characteristic feature of the so-called globalization – affects the assessment of the competitive effects of (horizontal) mergers. We distinguish between supply-side and demand-side market integration and we argue that the...

This paper examines how delivery tariffs and private quality standards are determined in vertical relations that are subject to asymmetric information. We consider an infinitely repeated game where an upstream firm sells a product to a downstream firm. In each period, the firms negotiate a...

Preisgarantien im Einzelhandel scheinen auf den ersten Blick Ergebnis eines intensiven Wettbewerbs zu sein. Theoretische Analysen und empirische Studien zeigen jedoch, dass dies in der Regel nicht der Fall ist. Preisgarantien und hier vor allem Garantien, bei denen mehr als die Differenz zu...

The current discussion about deregulating the taxi market raises the fundamental question as to whether unregulated competition in this market can lead to efficient results or whether there are sound economic reasons for government intervention. In weighing up different theoretical arguments and...

We analyze a stylized model of the world grain market characterized by a small oligopoly of traders with market power on both the supply and demand side. Crops are stochastic and exporting countries can impose export tariffs to protect domestic food prices. We show that export tariffs are...

We analyze a model with two software firms, quality improving coding expenditures and potential competition. The firms can publish parts of their software as open source. Publishing software implies positive spillovers and thus reduces the firms' coding costs. On the other hand there exist two...

We discuss economic rationales behind peering decisions in the Internet. In We discuss economic rationales behind peering decisions in the Internet. In the first part of the paper we analyze the decision about a bilateral peering agreement between two commercial Internet service providers (ISPs)...