We develop a theory of exclusive dealing that rehabilitates pre-Chicago-school analyses. Our theory rests on two realistic assumptions: that firms are imperfectly informed about demand, and that a dominant firm has a competitive advantage over its rivals. Under those assumptions, exclusive...

We study optimal patent design, contrasting the case that two or more innovations are needed to operate a new technology with the traditional case that a single innovation is directly commercialisable. The major finding is that with complementary innovations the patentability requirements should...

type="main" <p>We analyze the optimal division of profit with complementary innovations. Even if each innovation can be achieved independently of the others, we identify circumstances in which the research should be conducted sequentially, targeting one innovation after another in a prespecified...</p>

We analyze a model of competition in non-linear pricing under complete information. Among the equilibria of the game, we focus on the truthful equilibrium and the equilibrium that is Pareto dominant for the firms. These coincide when there are only two firms, but differ with three or more firms....

We propose a dynamic model of a patent portfolio race in an industry in which innovation is incremental. Two firms compete in prices and in research. We study the Markov perfect (closed-loop) equilibrium of the resulting differential game, identifying a steady state in which firms compete neck...

To stay on top of global competition, firms and governments often need to acquire innovative goods and services, including ideas and research, from their strategic suppliers. A careful design of procurement policy is crucial to make potential suppliers generate and sell the most suitable...

We analyze an abstract model of trading where N principals submit quantity-payment schedules that describe the contracts they offer to an agent, and the agent then chooses how much to trade with every principal. This represents a special class of common agency games with complete information. We...