In this paper, we analyze the managerial behavior of firms by estimating a nested objective function consistent with the framework of Fershtman and Judd (1987). Using data for Japanese regional banks for FY 1980-FY 2009, we focus on oligopolistic behavior in the domestic loan market and examine...

We examine the relationship between the objective of a monopolist and limited liability. We establish that the owners of a monopolistic firm are better off to choose profit maximization rather than sales maximization under both unlimited and limited liability. This is consistent with the fact...

We examine an effect of limited liability on strategic delegation in a Cournot duopoly with demand uncertainty. We establish that owners of each firm always delegate their tasks, decisions, and responsibility to a manager under limited liability, while they do not always do so under unlimited...

We address the following question: Why do most large firms select limited liability as their business organizational form in the real world? We construct a two-stage game. In the first stage, each of the oligopolistic firms chooses its business organizational form, while in the second stage,...

We consider cannibalization in a duopoly model in which …rms with di¤erent costs supply two vertically di¤erentiated products in the same market. We …nd that an increase in the di¤erence in quality between the two goods or a decrease in the marginal cost of the high-quality goods leads to...

This paper examines how pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pension reform from a defined-benefit scheme to a defined-contribution scheme affects economic growth in an overlapping generations model with endogenous growth. We show that in economies in which the old-age dependency ratio is relatively high and...

We develop a model in which a `genuine' producer supplying genuine products competes with many `non-genuine' producers supplying the compatible third-party or generic products. We examine whether non-genuine products should be expelled from markets. In particular, we focus on the genuine...

We provide a simple model of endogenous product compatibility choice under Cournot competition with a network externality. Using the model, we consider how the degree of a network externality and product substitutability affects the choice regarding product compatibility. In particular, if the...

This paper constructs a simple Malthusian model to explain per capita income differences in the Malthusian era by focusing on regional variations in the expansion of the commercial sector. This paper shows that a larger productivity improvement in the skilled intensive commercial sector relative...

This paper first presents the optimal conditions for strategic R&D investment policy in the cases of noncooperative and cooperative R&D investment policies with international rivalry. Then we deal with a model of strategic product (i.e., quality-improving) R&D investment competition. In...