Cost synergies are an explicitly recognized justification for a two-firm merger, and empirical techniques are now widely used to assess the impact of cost-reducing mergers on prices and welfare in the post-merger market. We show that if the merger occurs in a vertically product differentiated...

When advertising is a value-enhancing complement to consumption [Becker and Murphy (1993)], customization can permit firms to discriminate in advertising strategies, rather than in pricing. We investigate customized complementary advertising in a spatial model of horizontal differentiation. We...

We examine the impact of targeted advertising on competition and welfare when advertising directly affects the consumer’s utility, as in Becker and Murphy (1993). We show that as targeted advertising becomes less costly, market concentration and prices increase. Yet consumer welfare also...

We examine charitable spending by faith-based organizations on community services. We find that government spending on such activities has a depressing or "crowding out" effect as initially found in Hungerman (2005). However, we also find that competition from other faith-based organizations...

We show that the static duopoly model in which firms choose between exporting and foreign direct investment is often a prisoners' dilemma game in which a switch from exporting to foreign direct investment reduces profits. By contrast, we show that when the game is repeated there is a range of...

We show that the static duopoly model in which firms choose between exporting and foreign direct investment is often a prisoners' dilemma game in which a switch from exporting to foreign direct investment reduces profits. By contrast, we show that when the game is repeated there is a range of...

This paper shows that the adoption of flexible manufacturing techniques by firms leads to a tougher price regime. This need not benefit consumers since the tougher regime deters entry and facilitates segmented market structures. The ability of flexible manufacturing to deter entry is moderated...

This paper develops a North-South trade model in which the South produces food and the North produces both food and a high-tech good. Food production is undertaken by unskilled workers while the high-tech product is made only by horizontally differentiated skilled workers. Due to the possibility...