To examine the potential gains from a second production source, we examine how source switching is optimally structured. The model focuses on a purchaser who manages the acquisition process, an incumbent supplier, and a potential entrant or second supplier. Because the costs of the incumbent and...

We consider a regulatory problem in which there is a hierarchy of control. Consumers (or Congress) direct the activities of a regulator, who, in turn, oversees the activities of a monopolistic firm. Both the regulator and the firm are self-interested actors. The regulator must be motivated to...

We consider a double moral hazard problem in which the efforts of two parties, e.g., a principal who initially owns an enterprise and a risk-averse agent in the enterprise, are not verifiable. The realized value of the enterprise's random profit stream is also unverifiable. There is also no...

Laffont and Tirole's [Laffont, J., Tirole, J., 1986. Using cost observation to regulate firms. Journal of Political Economy 94, 614-641.] classic model of procurement under asymmetric information predicts that optimal contracts will always entail some cost sharing and that payments will be a...

This chapter reviews recent theoretical work on the design of regulatory policy, focusing on the complications that arise when regulated suppliers have better information about the regulated industry than do regulators. The discussion begins by characterizing the optimal regulation of a monopoly...

We examine the optimal design of regulated input prices, accounting explicitly for their impact on incentives for process innovation. Optimal input prices are shown to vary both with the prevailing vertical industry structure and with the nature of downstream competition. The optimal input...

Regulated firms can be tempted to adopt cost-saving technologies, operating procedures, or capital structures without fully assessing the associated risks. We demonstrate how a regulator can costlessly preclude such behavior if she can impose substantial penalties on the firm in the event of...

In the United States a growing fraction of Medicaid participants are enrolled in Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs). The HMOs contract with physicians to provide health care services to the enrollees. Generally the physicians are compensated either via fee for service (FFS) or capitated...