We analyze vertical relationships between a manufacturer and competing retailers when consumers have reference-dependent preferences. Consumers adopt the manufacturer’s suggested retail price as their reference price and perceive losses when purchasing above the suggested price and gains when...

Firms' incentives to form RJVs are analyzed in an incomplete information framework when technological know-how is private information. Firms first decide on cooperation and then compete for a patent in a second price auction. Provided that firms have to indicate their willingness to cooperate by...

We explore the dynamic evolution of property rights regimes in R&D alliances using the incomplete contract approach pioneered by Grossman, Hart and Moore. In contrast to the standard analysis, the productive asset is an excludable public good such as a patent. Moreover, both firms can decide...

We analyze the effect of liquidated damage rules in exclusive contracts that are negotiated in a sequential bargaining process with endogenous outside options. Assumptions on the distribution of bargaining power influence damage payments and determine which contractual party benefits from...

Humans do not have infinite attention. Contrary to what traditional economic models would predict, only a subset of all available alternatives is considered for most decisions one makes in a lifetime. On top of this, only a limited number of attributes of these alternatives are taken into...

Central banks have become increasingly communicative. An important reason is that democratic societies expect more transparency from public institutions. Central bankers, based on empirical research, also believe that sharing information has economic benefits. Communication is seen as a way to...

The explosion in online social networks motivates an enquiry into their structure and their welfare effects. A central feature of these networks is information sharing: online social networks lower the cost of getting information from others. These lower costs affect the attractiveness of...