Supplier surfing: competition and consumer behavior in
subscription markets.
I explore the practice of offering subscribers enticements to
switch suppliers. This type of competition is natural in subscription
markets for homogeneous goods and services. Efficiency is . . .
Risk taking and optimal contracts for money managers.
We study delegated portfolio management when the agent controls the
riskiness of the portfolio. Under general conditions, we show that the
optimal contract is simply a bonus contract: the agent is . . .
On nonexclusive membership in competing joint ventures.
We evaluate the competitive and governance effects of
"duality." Duality refers to the joint membership (e.g., by
banks) in competing associations or joint ventures (e.g., Visa and
MasterCard). We . . .
Bid costs and endogenous bid caps.
We study contests where several privately informed agents bid for a
prize. All bidders bear a cost of bidding that is an increasing function
of their bids, and, moreover, bids may be capped. We . . .
Too cool for school? Signalling and countersignalling.
In signalling environments ranging from consumption to education,
high-quality senders often shun the standard signals that should
separate them from lower-quality senders. We find that allowing . . .
An analysis of stock recommendations.
We study the information content of stock reports when investors
are uncertain about a financial analyst's incentives. Incentives
may be aligned, in which case the analyst wishes to credibly . . .
The use of "most-favored-nation" clauses in settlement
of litigation.
Many settlement contracts in litigation involving multiple
plaintiffs (or multiple defendants) include
"most-favored-nation" (MFN) clauses. If an early settlement
includes an MFN and the defendant . . .
Bargaining, mergers, and technology choice in bilaterally
oligopolistic industries.
We analyze up- and downstream market structure and the choice of
technology in a bilaterally oligopolistic industry. The distribution of
industry profits between up- and downstream firms is . . .
Noncapital investment costs and the adoption of CAD and CNC in
U.S. metalworking industries.
Many studies have shown that firm size is the strongest and most
consistent predictor of the adoption of technological innovations, but
the causes for this relationship are debated. I investigate . . .
Informational externalities in settlement bargaining:
confidentiality and correlated culpability.
We explore informational externalities that arise when multiple
plaintiffs are harmed by the behavior or product of a single defendant.
An early plaintiff is likely to raise the awareness of a . . .
The effect of time-to-build on strategic investment under
uncertainty.
We show that time-to-build, which creates a lag between the
decision to invest and production, is an important element of industry
structure. We study a multiperiod investment game where there is . . .
A theory of joint asset ownership.
I offer a theory of joint ownership by extending the standard
property right theory of the firm to situations where parties can
endogenously choose the degree of specificity of their . . .
Contracting, gatekeepers, and unverifiable performance.
A group of diverse principals who represent an institution contract
with an agent for the production of a two-dimensional commodity. One
dimension of the agent's production is verifiable, while the . . .
Intrinsic motivation and optimal incentive contracts.
I study the role of intrinsic motivation on optimal incentive
contracts. Agents engage in efforts to generate projects with both
financial return and intrinsic value to the agent. In a . . .
When does start-up innovation spur the gale of creative
destruction?
This article studies the determinants of commercialization strategy
for start-up innovators. We examine whether the returns on innovation
are earned through product market competition or through . . .
An experimental comparison of reliance levels under alternative
breach remedies.
Breach remedies serve an important role in protecting
relationship-specific investments. Theory predicts that some common
remedies protect too well and induce overinvestment, either though
complete . . .
Forced out of the closet: the impact of the American Inventors
Protection Act on the timing of patent disclosure.
Beginning in November 2000, patent applications filed in the United
States are disclosed after 18 months, rather than when the patent is
granted. Using U.S. patent data from 1976 to 1996, we find . . .
An R&D race with knowledge accumulation.
I develop a model of an R&D race with knowledge accumulation.
My model does not inherit the memorylessness property of the exponential
distribution that troubles existing models of R&D races. . . .
Standard auctions with identity-dependent externalities.
I analyze equilibrium bidding behavior in the open ascending-bid
auction with identity-dependent externalities. With reciprocal
externalities, the allocation is determined by bidders' . . .
Incentive regulatory policies: the case of public transit systems
in France.
We assess the empirical relevance of the new theory of regulation,
using a principal-agent framework to study the regulatory schemes used
in the French urban transport industry. Taking the current . . .
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