We ask how bargainers' incentives to communicate about more efficient widget designs depend on whether they negotiate price prior to, or after, fixing the traded design. We find three effects: (1) Since communication reveals information about preferences, bargainers with little power prefer to...

Gaining market share can be a means of obtaining profits. While one cannot develop precise prescriptions for gaining market share in complex and dynamic environments, a stylized model can provide a reference point for evaluating what to do in more complex situations.

In the context of competitive markets with asymmetric information, the authors develop a model of firms' branding decisions. In equilibrium, both branded and unbranded products exist, and the authors characterize price-quality relationships between them. In contrast to other advertising models,...

This article gives a formal rationale for image advertising and branding of homogeneous products that are consumed in public. The idea is that consumers can use brand choice to coordinate behavior and send meaningful social signals. The article distinguishes between variety signals and quality...

The author compares the alternative game forms for situations where a buyer needs a sequence of human asset services. The hierarchy is defined as a game form in which the parties engage in once-and-for-all wage negotiation, the boss describes desired services sequentially, and either party may...