how do cartels use vertical restraints reflections on bork s the antitrust paradox abstractin the antitrust paradox robert bork discusses vertical restraints and policy responses to naked and ancillary price fixing empirical research finds that vertical restraints are generally welfare enhancing we examine cartels that used vertical restraints to support collusion we find that one quarter of a sample of convicted contemporary international cartels used vertical restraints some of these cartels used vertical restraints to control downstream firms who might otherwise have undermined collusion in other cases distributors themselves had market power and received a share of cartel rents in return for their willingness to exercise that power as part of a cartel this raises questions for antitrust policy toward vertical restraints in highly concentrated industries or in those with a history of cartel activity

management of social issues in supply chains a literature review exploring social issues actions and performance outcomes the social dimension of sustainable development and its impact on supply chains have so far received less attention than the environmental dimension the aim of the research is to explore the intersection between social issues corporate social responsibility csr actions and performance outcomes a structured literature review of social issues in supply chains is presented analysing the research published so far in peer reviewed publications linking csr and supply chain management allows the exploration of strategies and performance outcomes with a focus on social issues the corresponding responsible supply chain actions adopted by firms to address these issues are grouped into communication compliance and supplier development strategies social and economic as well as buyer and supplier performance are identified as the key outcomes but the interactions among these constructs would require further research this paper contributes to the understanding of managing social issues in supply chains by linking social issues responsible supply chain actions and performance outcomes the paper consolidates related research by offering an overarching conceptual framework and points to future research directions and simultaneously provides insights into the management of social issues in supply chains

vertical control of price and inventory this paper offers a simple approach to the theory of decentralizing inventory and pricing decisions along a supply chain we consider an upstream manufacturer selling to two outlets which compete as differentiated duopolists and face uncertain demand demand spillovers between the outlets arise in the event of stockouts the price mechanism in which each outlet pays a two part price and chooses price and inventory virtually never coordinates incentives efficiently contracts that can elicit first best decisions include resale price floors or buy back policies retailer held options to sell inventory back to the manufacturers

resale price maintenance in an oligopoly with uncertain demand abstract this paper considers a model where oligopolistic manufacturers sell to consumers through competitive retailers who face demand uncertainty the setup is a symmetric duopoly with product differentiation and a perfectly competitive retail market in the game with unconstrained price competition there is price dispersion in the retail market in the game with resale price maintenance rpm manufacturers profits are higher retail inventories are at least as high and total surplus is at least as high the effect of rpm on consumer surplus is ambiguous rpm also precludes possible coordination failure between the manufacturers

vertical antitrust policy as a problem of inference the legality of nonprice vertical practices in the u s is determined by their likely competitive effects an optimal enforcement rule combines evidence with theory to update prior beliefs and specifies a decision that minimizes the expected loss because the welfare effects of vertical practices are theoretically ambiguous optimal decisions depend heavily on prior beliefs which should be guided by empirical evidence empirically vertical restraints appear to reduce price and or increase output thus absent a good natural experiment to evaluate a particular restraint s effect an optimal policy places a heavy burden on plaintiffs to show that a restraint is anticompetitive

on the equivalence of resale price maintenance and quantity restrictions abstract when demand is known with certainty there is a clear mapping between a monopolist s pricing and output decisions this suggests an equivalence between a monopolist manufacturer specifying a minimum maximum retail price and imposing a maximum minimum quantity on its retailers this paper shows that while the effect of maximum rpm can always be replicated by an appropriate quantity floor the minimum rpm outcome cannot always be replicated by an appropriately chosen quantity ceiling as such the analysis provides one reason that manufacturers will choose a price floor rather than quantity ceiling even though a quantity ceiling would appear to lead to lower monitoring costs

the boundaries of loss aversion abstract in this article the authors propose some psychological principles to describe the boundaries of loss aversion a key idea is that exchange goods that are given up as intended do not exhibit loss aversion for example the authors propose that money given up in purchases is not generally subject to loss aversion the results of several experiments provide preliminary support for the hypotheses the authors find that consistent with prospect theory loss aversion provides a complete account of risk aversion for risks with equal probability to win or lose the authors propose boundaries for this result and suggest further tests of the model

a reference price theory of the endowment effect abstract the common finding that selling prices exceed buying prices the so called endowment effect is typically explained by the assumptions that consumers evaluate potential transactions with respect to their current holdings and that the owners of a good regard its potential loss to be more significant than nonowners regard its potential acquisition in contrast to this pain of losing account the authors propose that the endowment effect reflects a reluctance to trade on terms that appear unfavorable with respect to salient reference prices in six experiments and eight more summarized in appendixes the authors show that manipulations that reduce the gap between valuations and reference prices reduce or eliminate the endowment effect these results suggest that the endowment effect is often best construed as an aversion to bad deals rather than an aversion to losing possessions

lessons from the united states s antitrust history abstract the united states s antitrust policy spans more than 100 years for most of its history the united states has had the toughest antitrust laws and enforcement policies of any country in the world a shift to a more permissive attitude with regard to antitrust matters has occurred in recent years however this paper traces the changes in antitrust policy that have occurred and the concurrent shifts in thinking among economists on antitrust questions following this review the paper offers a critical appraisal of both the economic underpinning of the new learnings on antitrust matters and the changes in antitrust policy that have accompanied them it closes with a discussion of the implications of the analysis for european antitrust competition policy

the implicit price for fair trade coffee does social capital matter abstract this study aims to ascertain whether the implicit price paid for fair trade coffee in regular supermarkets is influenced by the stock of social capital in the territory where consumers live a hedonic regression set up is adopted based on italian scanner data taken at nuts3 level regressors include attributes described on the label which include separate certifications for fair trade and organic eco label status plus various indicators of social capital and their interactions with the fair trade and organic eco label attributes the implicit consumer price paid for the fair trade attribute is significantly and positively affected by a social capital proxy the ratio of co op members to total employment

ἐμπάθɛια empatheia and caritas the role of religion in fair trade consumption there is much still to learn about the nature of fair trade consumers in light of the pope s encyclical caritas in veritate this article sought to advance the current understanding by investigating the role of religion in fair trade consumption in this study fair trade consumers and non consumers across many religions as well as the non religious described their consumption of fair trade products as well as the use of their religious beliefs in their purchase behavior it appears that the non religious are slightly more inclined toward buying fair trade products of the religious observers studied buddhists have a greater propensity to buy fair trade the relationship between religion and fair trade consumption is complex in that religious affiliation group membership alone is not enough to encourage members to buy fair trade rather it is the use of religious beliefs as a criterion in consumption behavior that linked religion to fair trade consumption

globalisation and unequalisation what can be learned from value chain analysis although many have gained from the process of globalisation there remains a stubbornly large number of people living in absolute poverty and a rise in inequality within and between countries the issue is thus not whether to participate in the global economy but how to do so in a manner which provides for sustainable and equitable income growth this study shows how value chain analysis can be used to chart the growing disjuncture between global economic activity and global income distribution and to provide causal explanations for this outcome in so doing value chain analysis provides valuable insights into policy formulation and implementation

focus on fairtrade propositions for integrating fairtrade and supply chain management research driven by increased consumer interest and stakeholder pressure the number of fairtrade ft products has been steadily increasing the mainstreaming of ft means that the products are now facing stiff competition within the generic product categories in which they operate while consumers may pressure organizations for ethical conduct they are less willing to pay premium prices for fairly traded products for ft to continue to grow more efficient operating models are required to offset the premium prices paid to producers to ensure competitiveness in the market one such improvement approach may be the management of ft supply chains to investigate the feasibility of this approach this article systematically combines literature on ft with key supply chain management scm constructs and theories we discuss existing scm paradigms in the context of ft and demonstrate aspects where the efficiency of ft chains needs to be improved to ensure their viability we present propositions that demonstrate the key limitations of the ft model from the point of view of scm theory and practice and suggest the potential changes needed in the management of ft supply chains the article provides a timely first attempt to systematically combine ft with scm constructs thus establishing a basis for the further development of ft chains and for the improvement of the operating efficiency within them

is there a fair in fair trade social dominance orientation influences perceptions of and preferences for fair trade products in recent years there has been a surge in popularity of the fair trade industry which seeks to improve trading conditions and to promote the rights of marginalized workers although research suggests that fair trade products are perceived as promoting social and economic responsibility some individuals namely those who seek to maintain existing group inequalities i e those high in social dominance orientation or sdo or those induced to think inequality is a good thing may not share this perception across three studies we found that 1 sdo relates negatively to fair trade consumption and 2 this relationship is mediated by the tendency for high sdo individuals to see fair trade products as less compatible with their conception of social justice our findings held after controlling for related individual differences variables and regardless of whether sdo was measured or manipulated implications for how to maximize the likelihood that people will perceive fair trade products as fair are discussed

resale price maintenance an empirical analysis of uk firms compliance empirical evidence on resale price maintenance rpm is scarce this paper provides novel empirical evidence based on a unique database of rpm complaints lodged in the uk to the office of fair trading oft between 2007 and 2009 we describe the characteristics of the commodity being traded and of the relevant upstream and downstream firms and their sectors we then present an econometric analysis to assess how the probability of compliance to the oft request to withdraw the rpm can be affected by the specific features of the relevant economic context in which this restraint has taken place

organizational leadership ethics and the challenges of marketing fair and ethical trade this article critically evaluates current developments in marketing fair trade labelled products and no sweat manufactured goods and argues that both the fair trade and ethical trade movements increasingly rely on strategies for bottom up change converting consumers one cup at a time this individualistic approach which we call shopping for a better world must we argue be augmented by more collectivist approaches to affect transformative change specifically we look at the concept of mission driven organizations pursuing leadership roles in developing affinity relationships to promote fair and ethical trade and developing ethical spaces increasingly a range of organizations are restructuring their operations so that their mission is reflected in ethical practices throughout their operations including product sourcing and product sales first ethical purchasing policies operated by non profits and public agencies represent markets through which fair ethical products reach end consumers the efforts discussed to create ethical spaces through direct democracy and electoral mandate build on a broad based affinity with the principles of fair and ethical trade second we explore the potential for mission driven non profit organizations such as zoos and aquaria for merging their mission of conservation education with their marketing activities through the operation of their shops and cafes interesting initiatives to link the conservation message to food choices is being undertaken by a number of zoos and aquaria while there is scope for increased linkages in the giftware sold in their shops

the fair trade movement parameters issues and future research although fair trade has been in existence for more than 40 years discussion in the business and business ethics literature of this unique trading and campaigning movement between southern producers and northern buyers and consumers has been limited this paper seeks to redress this deficit by providing a description of the characteristics of fair trade including definitional issues market size and segmentation and the key organizations it discusses fair trade from southern producer and northern trader and consumer perspectives and highlights the key issues that currently face the fair trade movement it then identifies an initial research agenda to be followed up in subsequent papers

presidential address antitrust restrictions on single firm strategies this article offers an overview of selected developments in the law and economics of antitrust regulation of single firm strategies the strategy generating the most cases historically is resale price maintenance here the law has moved sharply in both canada and the u s towards more solid economic foundations yet a gap between the law and economics remains the economics of resale price maintenance is reviewed within a framework that is much simpler and more general than the existing literature the law on a second strategy predatory pricing represents in my view a success story for the influence of economic theory in spite of the absence of a single accepted theory of predatory pricing the remaining single firm strategies are concerned largely with the exclusion by a dominant firm of rivals from a market i review with application to cases the two most basic questions concerning exclusionary strategies are exclusionary anticompetitive contracts ever entered into voluntarily by market participants on the other hand is complete or substantial foreclosure of a market through exclusionary strategies necessarily anticompetitive cette allocution presidentielle a l association canadienne d economique presente une vue d ensemble des developpements dans le droit et l economie de la reglementation antitrust sur les strategies d une firme unique la loi sur la strategie qui genere historiquement le plus de cas le maintien du prix de revente a change dramatiquement au canada et aux etats unis et derive vers une politique qui a des assises economiques solides mais il reste un ecart entre le droit et l economie on reexamine l economie du maintien du prix de revente a l aide d un cadre d analyse qui est a la fois plus simple et plus general que ce qui existe dans la litterature specialisee la loi pour ce qui est d une seconde strategie prix d eviction est a mon avis une grande reussite pour la science economique malgre l absence d une seule theorie du prix d eviction generalement acceptee un troisieme ensemble de strategies concerne l exclusion de ses rivaux d un marche par la firme dominante l auteur reexamine avec un recours extensif aux cas les deux questions de base pour ce qui est des strategies d exclusion est ce que les participants sur un marche entrent jamais volontairement dans un arrangement contractuel qui exclut et est anticoncurrentiel d autre part est ce que la saisie complete ou substantielle d un marche par des man uvres d exclusion est necessairement anticoncurrentielle

the latte revolution regulation markets and consumption in the global coffee chain abstract coffee is a truly global commodity and a major foreign exchange earner in many developing countries the global coffee chain has changed dramatically as a result of deregulation new consumption patterns and evolving corporate strategies from a balanced contest between producing and consuming countries within the politics of international coffee agreements power relations shifted to the advantage of transnational corporations a relatively stable institutional environment where proportions of generated income were fairly distributed between producing and consuming countries turned into one that is more informal unstable and unequal through the lenses of global commodity chain analysis this paper examines how these transformations affect developing countries and what policy instruments are available to address the emerging imbalances

ethics faith and profit exploring the motives of the u s fair trade social entrepreneurs although fair trade has grown exponentially in the u s in recent years we do not have a clear understanding of why small u s firms choose to participate in it to answer this question we use a qualitative case study approach and grounded theory analysis to explore the motivations of 35 small fair trade businesses we find that shared values ethical religious or business and the desire to help others altruism often triggered by a critical incident lead social entrepreneurs to found and sustain fair trade businesses the relationship between shared values and engagement in fair trade and the relationship between altruism and engagement in fair trade are strengthened by four motivating factors direct relationships with producers support for social causes the desire for the preservation of craftsmanship and the desire to share aesthetic products these links are strengthened by four facilitating factors which make fair trade engagement easier the acquisition of business knowledge family member involvement in the firm assistance from faith communities and assistance from the fair trade community additional analysis reveals three types of fair trade social entrepreneurs ethics first or ethical entrepreneurs primarily motivated by human rights and social justice concerns faith first or faithful fair traders motivated primarily by their religious faith and business first or benevolent businesspeople motivated by what they perceive to be an opportunity to build a successful business while simultaneously doing good and helping others

demand uncertainty inventories and resale price maintenance we show that a manufacturer facing uncertain demand and selling through a competitive retail market may wish to support adequate retail inventories by preventing the emergence of discount retailers in our model discounters offer low prices made possible by low probability of being saddled with unsold inventories in the event of slack demand full price retailers are compensated for a higher probability of unsold inventories by a higher retail price when they sell we show that preventing discounting increases the manufacturer s wholesale demand and profits and we delineate demand conditions under which equilibrium inventory holding and consumer welfare increase

when one size does not fit all a problem of fit rather than failure for voluntary management standards voluntary management standards for social and environmental performance ideally help to define and improve firms related capabilities these standards however have largely failed to improve such performance as intended over emphasis on institutional factors leading to adoption of these standards has neglected the role of firms existing capabilities external pressures can drive firms to adopt standards more than their technical capacity to employ them this can lead to problems of fit between institutional requirements and a firm s existing capabilities we describe a conceptual model that considers the impact of an interaction between a firm s institutional requirements and its existing capabilities on standards failure we suggest solutions that align institutional requirements to appropriate governance forms as a means to improve standards success we contribute to theory by describing the role of firms internal capabilities to the success of voluntary management standards and the reliability of self regulation generally

fair trade managerial practices strategy organisation and engagement the number of distributors selling fair trade products is constantly increasing what are their motivations to distribute fair trade products how do they organise this distribution do they apply and communicate the fair trade values this research based on five case studies in switzerland aims at understanding and structuring the strategies and the managerial practices related to fair trade product distribution as well as analysing if they denote an engagement with fair trade principles the results show a high heterogeneity of strategies and engagement in general strategies implemented by mainstream actors contribute to increase fair trade global sales but do not convey the transformative message of fair trade through their engagement the latter is rather communicated through alternative channels problems and potential solutions to this issue are discussed

a test of competing explanations of compensation demanded the disparity between willingness to pay and willingness to accept also known as compensation demanded is a robust experimental finding two types of explanations been proposed the first invokes psychological effects broadly categorized as reference dependence and loss aversion the second explanation is that there are large substitution effects but that underlying behavior is neoclassically utility theoretic the key observation motivating the present study is that loss aversion implies concavity of willingness to accept whereas the utility theoretic explanation implies convexity we report experiments in which subjects were endowed with 3 items and asked the minimum payments they required to be willing to relinquish 1 2 or 3 of them we examine whether the compensation demanded is convex concave neither or both in the number of items being relinquished

the effects of resale price maintenance on shareholder wealth the consequences of schwegmann event study methodology is used to assess the effects of the 1951 u s supreme court schwegmann decision which severely weakened the enforcement of resale price maintenance contracts in the united states overall upstream industries with heavy resale price maintenance usage apparently were not adversely affected by the decision among large retailing groups a positive effect of the decision was found for department stores cross section tests of the motives for the adoption of resale price maintenance provide support for hypotheses based on free ridership dealer cartels and to a lesser extent protection of product reputation copyright 1994 by blackwell publishing ltd

governance and trade in fresh vegetables the impact of uk supermarkets on the african horticulture industry production of fresh vegetables for export has grown rapidly in a number of countries in sub saharan africa over the last decade this trade brings producers and exporters based in africa together with importers and retailers in europe large retailers in europe play a decisive role in structuring the production and processing of fresh vegetables exported from africa the requirements they specify for cost quality delivery product variety innovation food safety and quality systems help top determine what types of producers and processors are able to gain access to the fresh vegetables chain and the activities they must carry out the control over the fresh vegetables trade exercised by uk supermarkets has clear consequences for inclusion and exclusion of producers and exporters of differing types and for the long term prospects for the fresh vegetables industry in the two major exporting countries studied kenya and zimbabwe

inventory dynamics and supply chain coordination this paper extends the theory of supply chain incentive contracts from the static newsvendor framework of the existing literature to the simplest dynamic setting a manufacturer distributes a product through retailers who compete on both price and fill rates we show that inventory durability is the key factor in determining the underlying nature of incentive distortions and their contractual resolutions when the product is highly perishable retailers are biased toward excessive price competition and inadequate inventories vertical price floors or inventory buybacks subsidies for unsold inventory can coordinate incentives in both pricing and inventory decisions when the product is less perishable the distortion is reversed and vertical price ceilings or inventory penalties can coordinate incentives

demand uncertainty and price maintenance markdowns as destructive competition this paper offers a new theory of destructive competition the authors compare minimum resale price maintenance to retail market clearing in a model with a monopolistic manufacturer selling to competitive retailers in both the resale price maintenance and flexible price games retailers must order inventories before the realization of demand uncertainty the authors find that manufacturer profits and equilibrium inventories are higher under resale price maintenance than under market clearing surprisingly consumer surplus can also be higher in which case unfettered retail competition can legitimately be called destructive copyright 1997 by american economic association

neoclassical theory versus prospect theory evidence from the marketplace several experimental studies have provided evidence that suggest indifference curves have a kink around the current endowment level these results which clearly contradict closely held economic doctrines have led some influential commentators to call for an entirely new economic paradigm to displace conventional neoclassical theory e g prospect theory which invokes psychological effects this paper pits neoclassical theory against prospect theory by investigating data drawn from more than 375 subjects actively participating in a well functioning marketplace the pattern of results suggests that prospect theory adequately organizes behavior among inexperienced consumers but consumers with intense market experience behave largely in accordance with neoclassical predictions moreover the data are consistent with the notion that consumers learn to overcome the endowment effect in situations beyond specific problems they have previously encountered this transference of behavior across domains has important implications in both a positive and normative sense

vertical price controls with uncertain demand a manufacturer distributes output before knowing demand and thus risks making more than its rivalrous independent retailers can sell at the monopoly price if demand is low retailers may therefore resell more than the joint profit maximizing output anticipating this they will not pay as much for the merchandise ex ante as they would if the manufacturer could commit to preventing rivalry the manufacturer has many options including vertical integration chain outlets restricted output buy backs just in time deliveries and minimum resale prices the article discusses each option s advantages and disadvantages and concludes that all roads lead to resale price maintenance the article closes with an alternative to the dealercartel hypothesis for minimum resale prices

the effect of giving it all up on valuation a new look at the endowment effect in three experiments we show that the endowment effect the tendency to demand more money for relinquishing owned goods than one is willing to pay for the same goods fails to emerge when sellers are not fully depleted of their endowment this finding is incompatible with prospect theory s account of the effect as stemming primarily from aversion to loss relative to the individual s current state we suggest a new account of the endowment effect as reflecting the human aversion to giving it all up rather than simply an aversion to incurring any loss relative to the status quo experiments 1 and 2 show the effect employing a pricing paradigm experiment 3 examines what constitutes all in the giving it all up effect this paper was accepted by uri gneezy behavioral economics

the globalization of product markets and immiserizing growth lessons from the south african furniture industry the central issue addressed in this paper is whether some developing countries will find it difficult to compete effectively in global product markets and will therefore be locked into processes of immiserizing growth it focuses on the role of south african producers in the global furniture value chain analyzing the factors affecting firm upgrading particularly the role of global buyers the paper observes a global industry characterized by increased competition and falling unit prices with local firms dependent on a falling exchange rate it concludes with implications for policy and future research including generalizing the findings to other sectors and countries

market foreclosure and vertical merger a case study of the vertical merger between turner broadcasting and time warner abstract we employ an event study methodology the event being the vertical merger between time warner and turner broadcasting distribution and programming respectively in the cable television industry we assess the effects of the merger on final prices subscriptions and carriage and marketing decisions of time warner the analysis finds several interesting facts first foreclosure in time warner markets following the merger is observed for the rival channels that are not integrated with any cable distributors second the turner broadcasting channels that increased market shares because of this merger appeared to be foreclosed by time warner prior to the merger the preference for own channels by time warner persisted despite a lower quality of channel bundles in its markets efficiency gains from the merger were not passed on to consumers

do fair trade and eco labels in coffee wake up the consumer conscience abstract in this study a face to face survey was conducted in order to reveal consumer preferences for ethical and environmentally sound labeling programs in coffee valuation questions regarding the fair trade shade grown and organic coffee labels were asked using a payment card format after consumers were previously informed about each of the labeling programs results suggest that consumers are very receptive toward both fair trade and shade grown coffee labels and consequently are willing to pay higher premiums for these labeling programs than for the organic coffee

multiple unit holdings yield attenuated endowment effects previous endowment effect experiments have examined circumstances in which people encounter a single unit of a good e g one chocolate we contrast single unit treatments with multiple unit treatments in which participants encounter several units of a good e g five chocolates we observe endowment effects of typical magnitude for singleton holdings but attenuated endowment effects for multiple unit holdings moreover endowment effects consistently arise for singletons even as the definition of a unit is altered for instance participants holding one piece of chocolate show an endowment effect of standard size but so do participants holding one box of chocolates yet the box contains about 20 individual pieces of chocolate and participants given that many separate pieces show a substantially attenuated endowment effect we thus propose the property of unit dependence the definition of a unit can change but contingent on any given definition a pronounced endowment effect may emerge for singletons but not multiples this paper was accepted by teck ho decision analysis

an economic theory of vertical restraints vertical restraints imposed by manufacturers on the prices locations and sales of retail firms represent a puzzling departure from the simple price mediated exchange of conventional markets in this article we analyze the theoretical basis for these restraints in a setting where retailers inform consumers and are imperfectly competitive and where a manufacturer has some monopoly power we identify three potential externalities affecting retailers decisions these externalities lead to the failure of simple uniform price contracts to coordinate the incentives of retailers with the objective of maximizing combined manufacturer and retailer profits we identify the packages of vertical restraints that are minimally sufficient under various conditions to neutralize the externalities and to achieve the joint profit maximum

sustaining inter organizational relationships across institutional logics and power asymmetries the case of fair trade this paper explores an empirical puzzle namely how inter organizational relationships can be sustained between organizations that draw upon distinctive and potentially conflicting institutional logics under conditions of power asymmetry this research analyses cases of these relationships and suggests some key conditions underlying them examining relationships between fair trade organizations and corporate retailers a series of contingent factors behind the dynamic persistence of such relationships are proposed namely the presence of pre existing hybrid logics the use of boundary spanning discourses joint tolerance of conflict and co creation of common rules these four elements are supported by a fifth mediating factor i e the presence and use of a fair trade certification system in the collaboration the latter appears as a central vehicle facilitating cross logic relationships it can be seen as a boundary object embodying a series of narratives and discourses that are open to multiple interpretations corresponding to the dominant institutional logics of each partner organization

focusing on the forgone how value can appear so different to buyers and sellers we propose that buying and selling price estimates reflect a focus on what the consumer forgoes in the potential exchange and that this notion offers insight into the well known difference between those two types of value assessment buyers and sellers differ not simply in their valuation of the same item but also in how they assess the value buyers tend to focus on their sentiment toward what they forgo typically the expenditure and buying prices are thus heavily influenced by variables such as salient reference prices by the same token sellers tend to focus on their sentiment toward surrendering the item and selling prices are hence more heavily influenced by variables such as benefits of possessing the item four studies examining buying and selling price estimates of tickets for national collegiate athletic association basketball games offer consistent support for these ideas the studies show that naturally occurring differences among respondents in attitudes relating to the tickets that sellers forgo e g significance of the game corresponded more closely to variation in selling prices than in buying prices conversely measures relating to the expenditure e g respondents concern with money corresponded more closely to buying prices than to selling prices using controlled manipulations we then showed that changes in aspects relating to the game e g expected climate in the stadium affected selling prices more than buying prices but changes relating to the expenditure e g list price of the ticket influenced buying prices more than selling prices we also showed that drawing attention to the benefits of possessing a ticket before asking for the price estimates influenced buying prices more than selling prices supporting our claim that otherwise these benefits are naturally more salient to sellers than buyers similarly drawing attention to alternative uses of money before asking for price estimates influenced selling prices more than buying prices

the rise of economics in competition policy a canadian perspective competition policy in canada and elsewhere has changed remarkably over the last 50 yearsin large measure due to advances in economics in this article we trace the impact of developments in industrial organization on the three central areas of competition policy cartels single firm conduct and mergers we focus on canadian competition policy but draw comparisons with developments in the united states and europe

in the market but not of it fair trade coffee and forest stewardship council certification as market based social change summary this paper discusses two well known market based social change initiatives fair trade coffee and forest stewardship council certification which harness market forces to pursue social and environmental objectives a serious challenge for both is to operate in the conventional market without undermining their original objectives a global commodity chain analysis approach is combined with insights from economic sociology embeddedness theory to explore the social cultural and organizational factors shaping the initiatives governance structures both initiatives are seen to move along opposite organizational trajectories but face similar pressures from conventional market logics practices and dominant actors a preliminary framework is proposed for comparative assessment focusing on distribution of benefits how conventional market institutions may be questioned and how internal governance manages diverse stakeholder interests and influence

are vertical restraints pro or anticompetitive lessons from interstate circuit abstract at the heart of antitrust law is the prohibition on horizontal collusion to enforce this prohibition the law must accurately define what collusion entails one of the most controversial areas in antitrust is the issue of vertical restraints in the last 20 years economists have come up with any number of pro and anticompetitive rationales for such restraints given this perhaps one of the most important antitrust cases is interstate circuit v united states a case that combines issues of horizontal collusion and vertical restraints a review of the facts shows that collusion cannot be properly inferred from the behavior of the parties involved and that the relevant vertical restraints had efficiency enhancing properties we then use interstate circuit s behavior to generate a theory of vertical restraints that not only explains the events in the case but also addresses an important controversy in the vertical restraints literature

credible pretrial negotiation pretrial negotiation is a structured environment in which to study bargaining with incomplete information when a plaintiff believes that a defendant owes him damages he may first attempt to reach a private settlement before resorting to a costly court imposed judgment a central issue in their negotiations is whether the plaintiff s threat to litigate is credible it is possible for the plaintiff to undermine the credibility of his litigation threat by making a settlement demand that is insufficient as a result the plaintiff must raise his settlement demand to limit the amount of bad news he can learn if his offer is rejected when this credibility constraint is binding traditional comparative static results are reversed in addition even though the defendant is being sued he wants the plaintiff s threat to be credible

confronting the coffee crisis can fair trade organic and specialty coffees reduce small scale farmer vulnerability in northern nicaragua summary this paper links changing global coffee markets to opportunities and vulnerabilities for sustaining small scale farmer livelihoods in northern nicaragua changing governance structures corporate concentration oversupply interchangeable commodity grade beans and low farm gate prices characterize the crisis in conventional coffee markets in contrast certified fair trade and organic are two alternative forms of specialty coffee trade and production that may offer opportunities for small scale producers a research team surveyed 228 farmers to measure the impact of sales on organic and fair trade markets the results suggest that participation in organic and fair trade networks reduces farmers livelihood vulnerability 2004 elsevier ltd all rights reserved

faith and fair trade the moderating role of contextual religious salience normative and historical arguments support the idea that religion potentially shapes decisions to support fair trade products that said the question of how religion influences organizational decision makers to purchase fair trade products in a business to business context has remained largely unaddressed this research examines the interactive effect of individual religious commitment and contextual religious salience on an individual s willingness to pay a price premium for a fair trade product when buying on behalf of an organization findings from two experimental studies involving 75 and 87 working individuals respectively reveal that the effect of a decision maker s religious commitment on his or her willingness to pay a price premium for the purchase of a fair trade product on behalf of an organization is moderated by the contextual salience of religion specifically when religion is highly salient in the organizational context religious commitment is positively related to the decision maker s willingness to pay a premium for the fair trade product when contextual religious salience is low religious commitment and willingness to pay a premium are unrelated implications for theory and practice are presented