This paper studies vertical integration in serial supply chains with a wholesale price contract. We consider a business environment where the contracting leader may be endogenously changed before and after forming the integration. A cooperative game is formulated to normatively analyze the...

We analyze dynamic monopoly pricing under consumption externalities, focusing on pricing under negative externalities. We also attempt to generalize models in the previous literature, which encompass both negative and positive externalities, by incorporating a consumer’s discount factor for...

We study a competition of product customization between two branded firms by a game-theoretic approach. Firms produce products with two attributes: one attribute indicates a characteristic with regard to “function” or “design” of a product and the other indicates “taste” or...

This paper studies an effect of a horizontal merger where a product consolidation by the merged firm may alter the substitutability in the industry. We show that as the number of firms in the industry increases, this type of merger becomes profitable for merging firms, while unprofitable for...

This paper studies product design competition between potentially symmetric firms. We specifically employ the multiple-attributes approach as the method of product design. While various product-specific attributes contribute to firms' differentiation, they may cause confusion resulting in...

This paper studies the product line decisions of firms under two consumer segments differing in their quality-sensitivity. We focus on a negative impact of the product variety on the consumers' motivation to purchase, while each product is horizontally differentiated. In the presence of this...