This paper shows in two ways that the degree to which free-riding diminishes the performance of deterministic partnerships may be less than has been generally thought. First, a necessary and sufficient condition is provided for a partnership to sustain full efficiency. It implies that many...

This paper develops a unifying framework to understand competition issues in network industries. It focuses on the telecom(munication) industry and takes two specific effects of this industry into account. First, the telecom industry is in continuous evolution and alliances affect not only the...

When today’s actions can affect tomorrow's value of an asset and when the principal does not have access to hard information, either about productive activity or monitoring activity, two incentive problems must be simultaneously solved: first, the ‘ex-ante’ moral hazard problem of inducing...

We analyse the impact of increased outside opportunities brought to consumers by access to a global market on local market performance under monopoly versus oligopoly. If consumers have to choose once where to shop we show that under all forms of organizing the local market, increased...

We base a contracting theory for a start-up firm on an agency model with observable but nonverifiable effort, and renegotiable contracts. Two essential restrictions on simple contracts are imposed: the entrepreneur must be given limited liability, and the investor's earnings must not decrease in...

The new technologies of digitalization and the Internet threaten the market positions of artists and intermediaries. Artists because the technology of production of works may be readily accessible and craftsmanship may no longer be a defining characteristic of art. Intermediaries because their...