Retail chains are observed in many industries. The question addressed here is whether retail chains can exploit buyer power by excluding some brands. In a theoretical model with two differentiated producers and a single retailer, the authors show that a retailer will require exclusivity (exclude...

We study the performance of jointly owned production units where upstream firms sell inputs to a downstream final market producer. It is found that, compared to integrated firms, co-ownership leads to overinvoicing of input prices (transfer prices), resulting in lower aggregate profits. Tax and...

When a government cannot commit to future policies, investors face the risk of opportunistic behavior in addition to uncertain market conditions. We show that although reducing market uncertainty is sometimes essential for investment, it may aggravate problems of opportunism. The better informed...