Many firms across the world are discovering and benefiting from the ability to identify, recover and reuse industrial by-products from other firms in traditionally unrelated industries. We examine how the formation of a by-product synergy between two firms, in different industries, and its...

In this paper, we examine how firms can leverage reference-group effects (RGEs) in sequential introduction of upgraded products. RGEs arise when consumers engage in social comparisons: leaders desire to distinguish themselves from followers and followers desire to mimic leaders. We find that...

In recent years, criticism of online marketplaces has been incessant because of the widespread presence of counterfeit goods. This study develops an analytical framework to investigate the interactions among an online marketplace, an authentic brand seller, and a counterfeiter of the brand. Both...

Many product markets today are characterized by the existence of a retailer (e.g., Home Depot, Toys R Us) that serves as gatekeeper of new product introductions. Recently, virtually all such retailers have established online stores to expand their shelf spaces as well as their customer bases. In...

Research has shown that firms with overconfident chief executive officers (CEOs) tend to overinvest and are exposed to high risks due to unrealistically optimistic estimates of their firms’ future performance. This study finds evidence that overconfident CEOs also affect suppliers’ risk...