We examine the buyer's problem of inducing the supplier's quality effort using two arrangements: the appraisal regime and the certification regime. In the appraisal regime, the buyer inspects the units supplied and either charges a penalty for defective units identified during inspection or pays...

We consider situations where the a priori guidance provided by theoretical considerations indicates only that the function linking the endogenous and exogenous variables is monotone and concave (or convex). We present methods to evaluate the adequacy of a parametric functional form to represent...

In this paper, we address the question of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) evaluation of efficiency when aggregate cost or revenue data must be used. We show that the DEA technical inefficiency measure using total revenues as the single output variable or total costs as the single input variable...

Organizations undertake capital investments in technology to generate revenues or decrease costs, and thereby enhance profitability. However, Red Queen--type responses by competing organizations in the form of rapid imitation and escalating of technology investments erode the ability of the...