Household debt relative to disposable income increased from 60% in 1980 to 104% at the end of 2003. ‘Buying on credit’ has become so popular that an increasing number of firms generate more profit from financing than from selling their products. In this paper, we show that rising income...

The method Schroeder is accepted amongst real estate professionals in Switzerland as a near standard for condition monitoring, budgeting of maintenance and refurbishment, and strategic decision support in point of building portfolios. It is based on the devaluation curves of 12 or more building...

The paper revives a theoretical definition of party coherence as being composed of two basic elements, cohesion and factionalism, to propose and apply a novel empirical measure based on spin physics. The simultaneous analysis of both components using a single measurement concept is applied to...

Previous research suggests firms can build a market share advantage by preempting later entrants with a broad product line and expanding rapidly into related markets. Whether such a strategy leads to a pioneering profit advantage relative to followers also depends on its cost effects. In this...

This paper extends the theoretical literature on firms' optimal information strategies to the situation when a firm's management attention capacity to process available data is scarce. In this case, a firm's optimal market intelligence strategy must trade off learning a little about a broad...

We examine the optimal acquisition of information about a common uncertain cost factor by two competing firms seeking to price a new product. We show that existing findings regarding the acquisition of demand information or the acquisition of either cost or demand information related to quantity...

Existing literature discusses a number of possible pioneering cost advantages and disadvantages. In this paper, we empirically test three different sources of long-term pioneering cost advantage—, and —and three different sources of pioneering cost disadvantage—, , and . We disentangle...

There is strong theoretical and empirical evidence supporting the idea that “first-to-market” leads to an enduring market share advantage. In sharp contrast to these findings, we find that at the business unit level being first-to-market leads, on average, to a long-term. This result holds...

According to results from the recent WIFO investment survey, which samples some 800 firms of the manufacturing sector, the construction sector and the energy sector as well as public transport enterprises and public utilities, capital formation will be weak in 2002. Companies plan to invest €...

According to the results of the spring 2005 investment survey, investment in manufacturing as expressed in current prices increased by 8.2 percent in 2004. For 2005, investment is expected to stay at the same level as in 2004. A growth of investment for 2004 was reported by all industries except...