Abstract Commercial ceilings not only restrict broadcasters in their decisions about commercial broadcasting time, but also affect their differentiation of program content. This study examines the welfare effects of commercial ceilings in a two-sided free-to-air TV market, taking into account...

Abstract This paper analyzes the implications of network externalities on strategic managerial delegation contracts in a Cournot duopoly. It shows that, in the presence of strong network externalities, firms obtain higher profits in the equilibrium under strategic managerial delegation compared...

Abstract We study a model of observational learning in a set of agents who are connected through a social network. The agents face identical decision problems under uncertainty and update their choices myopically, imitating the choice of their most successful neighbor. We show that in finite...

Abstract In this paper, we analyze the impact of cooperation on R&D investments in a two-sided market, where platforms compete in quantities. We show that if indirect externalities are of a moderate magnitude, the threshold degree of spillovers above which cooperation spurs R&D investments and...

Abstract We consider a monopoly that sets a price and differentiated referral fees to spread product information along a simple consumer communication network (a chain). The profit-maximizing solution involves standard monopoly pricing and referral fees that provide consumers with strictly...

Abstract In this paper we analyze how firms’ R&D investment decisions, firms’ profits and social welfare are affected by absorptive capacity; that is, the ability of a firm to learn from other collaborating firms. The model developed is a strategic regular network where firms have the...

Abstract This paper first investigates empirically the relationship between risk aversion and social network structure in a large group of undergraduate students. We find that risk aversion is strongly correlated to local network clustering, that is, the probability that one has a social tie to...

Abstract We empirically estimate the effects of regulated access prices and firms’ multinational status on firm performance by using firm, corporate group, and country level information for the European broadband market between 2002 and 2010. Three measures of firm performance are used,...

Abstract The postal sector has undergone dramatic changes over the recent years under the double effect of ongoing liberalization and increased competition with alternative communication channels (e-substitution). As a result, the mail volume handled by the historical operator has declined...

Abstract This survey of the theoretical and empirical literature on alternative policies to promote new fiber-based communications infrastructures addresses (i) various kinds of ex ante sector-specific regulations, (ii) deregulatory approaches based on effective competition law implementation...