We develop an incomplete contract model to analyse the enlargement strategy of a club. An applicant is characterized by his wealth and the degree of conformity with the club standard. The club gains only from a fully reformed new member, but reform is costly. The club chooses between early...

We provide a theoretical framework to study blockholder activism by funds who com- pete for investor ?ow. In our model, activists are intrinsically able to raise the value of target ?rms through monitoring. Competition for investor ?ow induces them to enhance the returns generated by monitoring...

We present a model of succession in a firm controlled and managed by its founder. The founder decides between hiring a professional manager or leaving management to his heir, as well as on how much, if any, of the shares to float on the stock exchange. We assume that a professional is a better...

This paper analyses the interaction between legal shareholder protection, managerial incentives, and outside ownership concentration. Legal protection affects both the expropriation of shareholders and the blockholders incentives to monitor. Because of this latter effect and its repercussion on...

In many bilateral transactions, the seller fears being underpaid because its outside option is better known to the buyer. We rationalize a variety of observed contracts as solutions to such smart buyer problems. The key to these solutions is to grant the seller upside participation. In contrast,...

We propose that an active takeover market provides incentives by o¤ering acqui- sition opportunities to successful managers. This allows ?rms to reduce performance- based compensation and can rationalize loss-making acquisitions. At the same time, takeovers remain a substitute for board...

This paper develops a self-selection explanation for the use of commodity bundling in the case of savings-type casualty insurance in Japan. The institutional characteristics of the savings-cum-insurance bundle are explained in detail. Two alternative models to explain its success are presented....

Department: Economics.

This Paper characterises the unique Markov equilibrium in the sequential move, finite horizon pricing duopoly with discounting. Simple, short cycles repeat until the last two periods. For discount factors above 0.75488, there are three-period reaction function cycles and below 0.75488,...

This paper considers domestic product standards that do not raise the willingness to pay by consumers but increase the costs for foreign suppliers of serving the market. It is shown in a Cournot triopoly model that such standards can be used as strategic tool to raise domestic welfare by...