This foreword and the subsequent four invited articles were commissioned by Eric T. Bradlow while Editor-in-Chief of <i>Marketing Science</i>. The foreword was written in four parts; each part covers a different aspect of the Workshop on Quantitative Marketing and Structural Econometrics. The workshop...

Each year in the postsecondary education industry, schools offer admission to nearly 3 million new students and scholarships totaling nearly $100 billion. This is a large, understudied targeted marketing and price discrimination problem. This problem falls into a broader class of configuration...

This paper provides an approach for assessing generalizable effects of strategic actions on firm performance. We identify five key issues that need to be addressed before one can have confidence in the obtained strategic generalization. In addition, we suggest a methodology for attacking each of...

This paper investigates the effect of product substitutability on Nash equilibrium distribution structures in a duopoly where each manufacturer distributes its goods through a single exclusive retailer, which may be either a franchised outlet or a factory store. Static linear demand and cost...

This paper investigates the effect of product substitutability on Nash equilibrium distribution structures in a duopoly where each manufacturer distributes its goods through a single exclusive retailer, which may be either a franchised outlet or a factory store. Static linear demand and cost...

In this paper we develop a model relating market share to average costs. We start with a theoretical model of the factors that affect the firm's average cost curve, partitioning these factors into (a) measurable firm and competitive environment characteristics, and (b) unobserved factors that...

One of the major responsibilities of the Editor and the Area Editor is to decide on the appropriateness of a submitted paper. As stated in prior editorials (Staelin 1996, 1997), four major criteria are used in making this determination: (1) Will the paper be of interest to our readers? (2) Is it...

A theory of salesforce compensation plans is presented where the sales of a product depend not only on the salesperson's effort but also on the uncertainty in the selling environment. The firm chooses a compensation plan to maximize its profit taking into account the salesperson's likely effort...

A commonly held belief has grocery and mass merchandise retailers gaining power relative to the upstream consumer package goods manufacturers. One of the major justifications for this belief is that manufacturers are now giving retailers more side payments such as trade allowances, slotting...

In this paper, we present a theory of salesforce compensation plans to provide insights into why it may be advantageous for a profit maximizing firm to offer members of its salesforce the opportunity to choose from a menu of compensation plans. Although such contractual arrangements are not...