The "spokes model" takes the name from its graphical visualisation that resembles the spokes of a bike's wheel. It describes a market as a collection of spokes, joining at a common centre, where consumers are located. Firms may be situated at the extreme of these spokes, at the interior of the...

Horizontal mergers are usually under the scrutiny of antitrust authorities due to their potential undesirable effects on prices and consumer surplus. Ex-post evidence, however, suggests that not always these effects take place and even relevant mergers may end up having negligible price effects....

The choice of specialization affects firms' brand perception by consumers and it is of crucial importance for their profitability in competitive markets. We model how firms choose specialization through a spatial non-localized competition framework that naturally allows for markets where not all...

We rationalize several facts emerging from the recent empirical research on cooperatives owned by workers (workers' firms, WF) as: the concern of WFs for employment; the interplay between membership and workplace safeguard within WFs; the different reaction to shocks between WFs and...