We analyse the effects of trade liberalization on firms' decisions and profits, and on consumers' welfare, in a product differentiation model with countries of different size. Firms decide product specifications at the beginning of the game, in which autarky is followed by trade liberalization...

We examine price competition under product-specific network effects, in a duopoly where the products are differentiated horizontally and vertically. When consumers' expectations are not affected by prices, firms may share the market equally, or one firm (possibly the low-quality one) may capture...

This paper studies how the existence of a potential entrant influences an incumbent’s choice of quality in a model of vertical product differentiation and entry. Both firms face fixed set-up costs and quality-dependent costs of production, and compete on quality and price. With identical...

We introduce a framework that has known models of oligopolistic competition with differentiated products (the circle and the constant elasticity of substitution (CES)) as limit cases. This integrative approach incorporates both localized and global competition, as well as price-sensitive...

We examine a linear city duopoly where firms choose their locations to maximize expected profits, uncertain about how consumers will assess the relative quality of their products. Equilibrium locations depend on the ratio of the expected quality superiority to the strength of horizontal...

We study opaque selling in the hotel industry using data from Hotwire.com. An opaque room discloses only the star level and general location of the hotel at the time of booking. The exact identity of the hotel is disclosed after the booking is completed. Opaque rooms sell at a discount of 40...

We characterize the product line choice and pricing of a monopolist as the upper envelope of net marginal revenue curves to the individual product demand functions. The equilibrium product varieties to include in a product line are those yielding the highest upper envelope. In a central case...

Armchair evidence shows that many industries are made of a few big commercial or manufacturing firms, which are able to affect the market outcome, and of a myriad of small family-run businesses with very few employees, each of which has a negligible impact on the market. Examples can be found in...

This Paper develops a model of endogenous product selection by firms. The theory is motivated by new evidence we present on the importance of product switching by US manufacturers. Two-thirds of continuing firms change their product mix every five years, and product switches involve more than...

We consider a market in which a public firm competes against private firms, and ask what happens when the public firm is privatized. In the short run, privatization is harmful because all prices rise; the disciplinary role of the public firm is lost. In the long run, privatization leads to...