Sutton (1998) has recently proposed a theoretical lower bound to firm size inequality when a market is made of several independent submarkets. His results are valid asymptotically, as the number of submarkets becomes arbitrarily large. We show that, in small samples, his results can be interpreted as a positive relationship between an index of firm size inequality and the number of submarkets. ...

We derive a measure of firm speed of price adjustment that is directly inversely related to market power and compare this to the measure derived by Martin (1993). However, both measures are incorrect when firms have non-zero price conjectural variations and treat competing price levels as exogenous. This is because Taylor series expansions of the demand function implicitly assume that firms inf...

This paper studies a model of product variety with flexible manufacturers when, contrary to prior work, atomistic entry occurs prior to horizontal integration. In this model, more lax antitrust laws that allow for fewer and more concentrated merged firms lead to a greater extent of excess entry. Optimal policy permits no horizontal mergers when demand is perfectly inelastic, but may permit some...

We propose a model of banks’ exposure to movements in interest rates and their role the transmission monetary shocks. Since bank deposits provide liquidity, higher allow banks earn larger spreads on deposits. Therefore, if risk aversion is than one, optimal dynamic hedging strategy take losses when rise. This can be achieved by traditional maturity-mismatched balance sheet amplifies effects sho...

Using data from a unique pricing experiment, we test Vickrey’s conjecture that responsive pricing can be used to smooth demand shocks. Our evidence shows that increasing the responsiveness of price to demand conditions reduces the magnitude of deviations in capacity utilization rates from a pre-determined target level. We discuss implications for the use of demand-side incentives to deal with c...

We report an experiment designed to study whether inefficient firms are systematically driven from overcrowded markets. Our data set includes a series of 3,800 wars of attrition of a type modeled by Fudenberg and Tirole in 1986. We find that exit tends to be efficient and exit times conform surprisingly well to point predictions of the model. Moreover, subjects respond similarly to implementati...

This paper uses Granger non–causality tests to analyze if channel competition exists between the companion websites of 93 German newspapers observed between I/1998 and II/2005. It provides econometric evidence for significant negative effects of companion website traffic on the print circulation of national newspapers and for significantly positive effects on local newspapers, at least for the ...

Abstract This paper examines racial disparities in mortgage processing time prior to the global financial crisis. We find that Black borrowers are underrepresented and experience a longer than white among mortgages securitized by government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). At same time, borrower overrepresented face similar privately (PLS) mortgages. Additionally, strongly associated with faster s...

This study uses a boundary design and propensity score methods to the effects of 1930s-era Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) “redlining” maps on long-run trajectories urban neighborhoods. The led reduced home ownership rates, house values, rents increased racial segregation in later decades. A comparison either side city-level population cutoff that determined whether were drawn finds broadly...