There are few industries in modern market economies that do not manufacture differentiated products. This book provides a systematic explanation and analysis of the widespread prevalence of this important category of products. The authors concentrate on models in which product selection is endogenous. In the first four chapters they consider models that try to predict the level of product differentiation that would emerge in situations of market equilibrium. These market equilibria with differentiated products are characterised and then compared with social welfare optima. Particular attention is paid to the distinction between horizontal and vertical differentiation as well as to the related issues of product quality and durability. This book brings together the most important theoretical contributions to these topics in a succinct and coherent manner. One of its major strengths is the way in which it carefully sets out the basic intuition behind the formal results. It will be useful to advanced undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in industrial economics and microeconomic theory.

This book presents economic theories that seek to explain the prevalence of differentiated products in market economies. It uses these theories to derive market equilibria and to compare these to social optima for both horizontally and vertically differentiated products. The implications of product differentiation for market structure and power, strategic entry deterrence and international trade are all examined.

"The discrete choice approach provides an ideal framework for describing the demands for differentiated products and can be used for studying most product differentiation models in the literature. By introducing extra dimensions of product heterogeneity, the framework also provides richer models of firm location and product selection."--BOOK JACKET.

The separation between ownership and control has become common practice over the last century, in most medium and large firms across the world. Throughout the twentieth century, the theory of the firm and the theory of industrial organization developed parallel and complementary views on managerial firms. This book offers a comprehensive exposition of this debate. In its survey of strategic delegation in oligopoly games, An Economic Theory of Managerial Firms is able to offer a reinterpretation of a range of standard results in the light of the fact that the control of firms is generally not in the hand of its owners. The theoretical models are supported by a wealth of real-world examples, in order to provide a study of strategic delegation that is far more in-depth than has previously been found in the literature on industrial organization. In this volume, analysis is extended in several directions to cover applications concerning the role of: managerial firms in mixed market; collusion and mergers; divisionalization and vertical relations; technical progress; product differentiation; international trade; environmental issues; and the intertemporal growth of firms. This book is of great interest to those who study industrial economics, organizational studies and industrial studies.

This authoritative new collection presents a selection of previously published seminal articles that have led to the development of intra-industry trade theory and empirical research. Parts I and II cover the pioneering research in the 1960s and a number of models of intra-industry trade that were developed from 1979 to the present day. Parts III and IV look at the empirical research problems in the choice of measure of intra-industry trade and empirical studies that seek to identify the nature of this trade. Part V deals with the role of the multinational corporation and part VI completes the collection with articles that look at extensions to asset markets and applications to other problems such as the geography of trade and rules of origin. Intra-Industry Trade will be an invaluable source of reference to all international trade economists and libraries specialising in this area.

The role of asymmetric information in allocation of resources, together with the associated information-revelation process, has long been a central focus of economic research. While the bulk of the literature addresses these is sues within the framework of principal-agent relationship, which essentially reduces the problem to the sole principal's (the sole Stackelberg leader's) optimization problem subject to the agents' (the Stackelberg followers') re sponses, there are recent attempts to extend analysis to other economic setups characterized by different relationships among decision-makers. A notable strand of such attempts is the core analysis of incomplete in formation. Here, there is no Stackelberg-type relationship, and more impor tantly the players can talk to each other for coordinated choice of strategies. See, e.g., Wilson (1978) for a pioneering work; Yannelis (1991) for formula tion of feasibility of a strategy as its measurability; Ichiishi and Idzik (1996) for introduction of Bayesian incentive-compatibility to this strand; Ichiishi, Idzik and Zhao (1994) for information revelation (that is, endogenous deter mination of updated information structures); Ichiishi and Radner (1997) and Ichiishi and Sertel (1998) for studies of a specific model of Chandler's firm in multidivisional form for sharper results; and Vohra (1999) for a recent work. It is a common postulate in these works that every player takes part in design of a mechanism and also in execution of the signed contract.

These contributions discuss a number of important developments over the past decade in a newly established and important field of economics that have led to notable changes in views on governmental competition policies. They focus on the nature and role of competition and other determinants of market structures, such as numbers of firms and barriers to entry; other factors which determine the effective degree of competition in the market; the influence of major firms (especially when these pursue objectives other than profit maximization); and decentralization and coordination under control relationships other than markets and hierarchies.ContributorsJoseph E. Stiglitz, G. C. Archibald, B. C. Eaton, R. G. Lipsey, David Enaoua, Paul Geroski, Alexis Jacquemin, Richard J. Gilbert, Reinhard Selten, Oliver E. Williamson, Jerry R. Green, G. Frank Mathewson, R. A. Winter, C. d'Aspremont, J. Jaskold Gabszewicz, Steven Salop, Branko Horvat, Z. Roman, W. J. Baumol, J. C. Panzar, R. D. Willig, Richard Schmalensee, Richard Nelson, Michael Scence, and Partha Dasgupta

In this book a rigorous, systematic, mathematical analysis is presented for oligopoly with multi-product firms in static as well as dynamic frameworks in the light of recent developments in theories of games, oligopoly and industrial organization. The general results derived in this book on oligopoly with multi-product firms contain, as special cases, all previous results on oligopoly with single product as well as oligopoly with product differentiation and single product firms. A constructive nu- merical method is given for finding the Cournot-Nash equilibrium, which may be extremely valuable to those who are interested in numerical analysis of the effects of various industrial policies. A sequential adjustment process is also formulated for finding the equilibrium. Dynamic adjustment processes have two versions, one with a discrete time scale and the other with a continuous time scale. The stability of the equilibrium is thoroughly investigated utilizing powerful mathematical results from the stability and linear algebra literature. The methodology developed for analyzing stability proves to be useful for dynamic analysis of economic models.

`A text that successfully bridges the gap between academic theorizing and practitioner applicability because it uses multiple real-world examples/mini-cases of management techniques to illustrate the well-researched academic theoretical foundations of the book′ - Creativity and Innovation Management `A complete and useful treatment of the domain of product and service decisions. This book is unique in its treatment, dealing with product and service portfolio evaluation, new product/service development and product/service elimination in an integrated manner. Enlivened by many mini-cases, the book provides a soup-to-nuts approach that will prove very attractive for students and be a valuable reference for managers as well. Highly recommended′ - Gary L Lilien, Distinguished Research Professor of Management Science, Penn State University `Product and Services Management (PSM) is a welcome, up to date summary of the key issues facing firms in developing and refreshing their portfolios. The examples and cases bring the academic arguments clearly into focus and demonstrate the crucial role of PSM in leading the overall strategy of the firm′ - Professor Graham Hooley, Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Aston University, Birmingham `Managers responsible for and students interested in product portfolio decisions previously had to consult several sources for obtaining up-to-date information; books on new product development, articles on service development, readers on product management, and frameworks for product evaluation and termination. With the book Product and Services Management the reader obtains four-in-one. Avlonitis and Papastathopoulou reveal in a compelling and comprehensive manner why product decisions are the cornerstone of modern marketing and business, and illustrate the theory with numerous mini-cases from Europe and elsewhere. A must read for everyone with a passion for products′ - Dr Erik Jan Hultink, Professor of New Product Marketing, Delft University of Technology This book provides a holistic approach to the study of product and services management. It looks at the key milestones within a product′s or service life cycle and considers in detail three crucial areas within product management, namely product/service portfolio evaluation, new product/service development and product/service elimination. Based on research conducted in Europe and North America, this book includes revealing cases studies that will help students make important connections between theory and practice. The pedagogical features provided in each chapter include chapter introduction, summary, questions and a further reading section. Additional material for instructors include PowerPoint slides and indicative answers to each chapter′s questions. This book is written for undergraduate and postgraduate students of business administration who are pursuing courses in marketing, product portfolio management, new product development and product policy.