Many high technology goods are based on standards that require several essential patents owned by different IP holders. This gives rise to a complements and a double mark-up problem. We compare the welfare effects of two different business strategies dealing with these problems. Vertical...

We investigate how costly acquisition and exchange of customer-specific information affects industry profit and consumer welfare. Consumers differ in their preferences for competing brands and in their switching costs between brands. Brand-producing firms use their acquired knowledge of...

Cloud-Computing umschreibt einen fundamentalen Wandel im Bereich der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT). Zunehmend werden Softwareanwendungen, aber auch Hardwarefunktionen wie Speicherplatz und Rechenkapazität nicht mehr zur dauerhaften Nutzung an einem lokalen Computer...

We investigate the empirical relationship between product market competition and prices in the retail grocery sector in the euro area. The study uses micro-data from ACNielsen on chain stores' census characteristics and price levels for a broad variety of products. We construct...

This note is concerned with the effects of joint ownership of complements when they are vertically differentiated. We provide strong arguments for the positive nature of network integration among firms, while showing at the same time that, in some circumstances, anti-competitive consequences can...

Since the early 2000s, there has been rapid growth in the number and spread of supermarkets in southern Africa. This paper is a synthesis of key findings of studies undertaken in Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe on the expansion of supermarkets and the impact this has had on...

Der vorliegende Beitrag erörtert die wichtigsten Herausforderungen, die sich durch die Digitalisierung stellen. Analysiert werden die Fragen, inwiefern die die Digitalisierung zu einer Monopolisierung von Märkten führt, wie das Kartellrecht nach der 9. GWBNovelle diese Befürchtungen...

In Deutschland wurde der Ausbau der digitalen Infrastruktur in den vergangenen Jahren mit öffentlichen Geldern in beträchlichem Umfang gefördert, um die 'digitale Lücke' zwischen Ballungsgebieten und ländlichen Räumen zu schließen. Da weitere Förderungen in Milliardenhöhe bevorstehen,...

This article presents results of a laboratory experiment testing whether the effectiveness of a moderate leniency program depends on market size. Against theory, the results indicate that a moderate leniency program is not preferable to a policy which only includes fines for detected cartels,...