This paper investigates the scope of indirect network effects in the home video game industry. We argue that the increasing prevalence of non-exclusive software gives rise to indirect network effects that exist between users of competing and incompatible hardware platforms. This is because...

In the context of a seller with private information about product quality, I show that revelation of information on product quality is sometimes, but not always, socially valuable. When it is socially valuable, there is generally a tradeoff between the acquisition and revelation of finer, but...

Recent empirical work on construction and procurement contracting finds that repeated interaction leads toward use of lower powered explicit contracts (e.g., cost-plus contracts instead of fixed-price [FP] contracts). I present a theoretical model of construction and procurement contracting that...

Price discrimination by imperfectly competitive firms may intensify competition, leading to lower prices for all consumers; the tradeoff of consumer groups' welfare that is characteristic of monopolistic discrimination need not arise. This escalation of competition may make firms worse off, and...

We develop a model of imperfectly competitive insurers that compete with HMOs for consumers who have private information about their health status. We illustrate two conflicting effects of increasing HMO activity on conventional insurance premiums. We term these effects market discipline -- HMO...

One significant obstacle to meeting aggressive federal and state alternative fuel consumption targets is the relative scarcity of retail fueling stations that carry alternative fuels. Policies that encourage or mandate use of alternative fuel vehicles in government fleets, thereby increasing...