bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The integral membrane FtsW protein and peptidoglycan synthase PBP3 form a subcomplex in Escherichia coli
Authors: Fraipont Claudine , Alexeeva Svetlana , Wolf Benoît , van der Ploeg René , Schloesser Marie , den Blaauwen Tanneke , Nguyen-Distèche Martine
Published: September 2010

During the cell cycle of rod-shaped bacteria, two morphogenetic processes can be discriminated: length growth of the cylindrical part of the cell and cell division by formation of two new cell poles. The morphogenetic protein complex responsible for the septation during cell division (the divisome) includes class A and class B penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). In Escherichia coli, the class B PBP3 is specific for septal peptidoglycan synthesis. It requires the putative lipid II flippase FtsW for its localization at the division site and is necessary for the midcell localization of the class A PBP1B. In this work we show direct interactions between FtsW and PBP3 in vivo and in vitro by FRET (Förster resonance energy transfer) and co-immunoprecipitation experiments. These proteins are able to form a discrete complex independently of the other cell-division proteins. The K2–V42 peptide of PBP3 containing the membrane-spanning sequence is a structural determinant sufficient for interaction with FtsW and for PBP3 dimerization. By using a two-hybrid assay, the class A PBP1B was shown to interact with FtsW. However, it could not be detected in the immunoprecipitated FtsW–PBP3 complex. The periplasmic loop 9/10 of FtsW appeared to be involved in the interaction with both PBP1B and PBP3. It might play an important role in the positioning of these proteins within the divisome.
Evaluating the microbial diversity of an in vitro model of the human large intestine by phylogenetic microarray analysis
Authors: Rajilić-Stojanović Mirjana , Maathuis Annet , Heilig Hans G. H. J. , Venema Koen , de Vos Willem M. , Smidt Hauke
Published: September 2010

A high-density phylogenetic microarray targeting small subunit rRNA (SSU rRNA) sequences of over 1000 microbial phylotypes of the human gastrointestinal tract, the HITChip, was used to assess the impact of faecal inoculum preparation and operation conditions on anin vitromodel of the human large intestine (TIM-2). This revealed that propagation of mixed faecal donations for the production of standardized inocula has only a limited effect on the microbiota composition, with slight changes observed mainly within the Firmicutes. Adversely, significant shifts in several major groups of intestinal microbiota were observed after inoculation of thein vitromodel. Hierarchical cluster analysis was able to show that samples taken throughout the inoculum preparation grouped with microbiota profiles observed for faecal samples of healthy adults. In contrast, the TIM-2 microbiota was distinct. While members of the Bacteroidetes and some groups within the Bacilli were increased in TIM-2 microbiota, a strong reduction in the relative abundance of other microbial groups, includingBifidobacteriumspp.,Streptococcusspp., andClostridiumclusters IV and XIVa, was observed. The changes detected with the HITChip could be confirmed using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of SSU rRNA amplicons.
Colonization of healthy children by Moraxella catarrhalis is characterized by genotype heterogeneity, virulence gene diversity and co-colonization with Haemophilus influenzae
Authors: Verhaegh Suzanne J. C. , Snippe Martine L. , Levy Foster , Verbrugh Henri A. , Jaddoe Vincent W. V. , Hofman Albert , Moll Henriëtte A. , van Belkum Alex , Hays John P.
Published: September 2010

The colonization dynamics ofMoraxella catarrhaliswere studied in a population comprising 1079 healthy children living in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (the Generation R Focus cohort). A total of 2751 nasal swabs were obtained during four clinic visits timed to take place at 1.5, 6, 14 and 24 months of age, yielding a total of 709M. catarrhalisand 621Haemophilus influenzaeisolates. Between January 2004 and December 2006, approximate but regular 6-monthly cycles of colonization were observed, with peak colonization incidences occurring in the autumn/winter forM. catarrhalis, and winter/spring forH. influenzae. Co-colonization was significantly more likely than single-species colonization with eitherM. catarrhalisorH. influenzae, with genotypic analysis revealing no clonality for co-colonizing or single colonizers of either bacterial species. This finding is especially relevant considering the recent discovery of the importance ofH. influenzae–M. catarrhalisquorum sensing in biofilm formation and host clearance. Bacterial genotype heterogeneity was maintained over the 3-year period of the study, even within this relatively localized geographical region, and there was no association of genotypes with either season or year of isolation. Furthermore, chronological and genotypic diversity in three immunologically importantM. catarrhalisvirulence genes (uspA1,uspA2andhag/mid) was also observed. This study indicates that genotypic variation is a key factor contributing to the success ofM. catarrhaliscolonization of healthy children in the first years of life. Furthermore, variation in immunologically relevant virulence genes within colonizing populations, and even within genotypically identicalM. catarrhalisisolates, may be a result of immune evasion by this pathogen. Finally, the factors facilitatingM. catarrhalisandH. influenzaeco-colonization need to be further investigated.
The bacterial microbiota in the oral mucosa of rural Amerindians
Authors: Contreras Monica , Costello Elizabeth K. , Hidalgo Glida , Magris Magda , Knight Rob , Dominguez-Bello Maria G.
Published: September 2010

The oral microbiota plays an important role in buccal health and in diseases such as periodontitis and meningitis. The study of the human oral bacteria has so far focused on subjects from Western societies, while little is known about subjects from isolated communities. This work determined the composition of the oral mucosa microbiota from six Amazon Amerindians, and tested a sample preservation alternative to freezing. Paired oral swabs were taken from six adults of Guahibo ethnicity living in the community of Platanillal, Amazonas State, Venezuela. Replicate swabs were preserved in liquid nitrogen and in Aware Messenger fluid (Calypte). Buccal DNA was extracted, and the V2 region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified and pyrosequenced. A total of 17 214 oral bacterial sequences were obtained from the six subjects; these were binned into 1034 OTUs from 10 phyla, 30 families and 51 genera. The oral mucosa was highly dominated by four phyla: Firmicutes (mostly the genera Streptococcus and Veillonella), Proteobacteria (mostly Neisseria), Bacterioidetes (Prevotella) and Actinobacteria (Micrococcineae). Although the microbiota were similar at the phylum level, the Amerindians shared only 62 % of the families and 23 % of the genera with non-Amerindians from previous studies, and had a lower richness of genera (51 vs 177 reported in non-Amerindians). The Amerindians carried unidentified members of the phyla Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria and their microbiota included soil bacteria Gp1 (Acidobacteriaceae) and Xylanibacter (Prevotellaceae), and the rare genus Phocoenobacter (Pasteurellaceae). Preserving buccal swabs in the Aware Messenger oral fluid collection device substantially altered the bacterial composition in comparison to freezing, and therefore this method cannot be used to preserve samples for the study of microbial communities.
Multilocus sequence analysis reveals the genetic diversity of European fruit tree phytoplasmas and supports the existence of inter-species recombination
Authors: Danet Jean Luc , Balakishiyeva Gulnara , Cimerman Agnès , Sauvion Nicolas , Marie-Jeanne Véronique , Labonne Gérard , Laviňa Amparo , Batlle Assumpcio , Križanac Ivana , Škorić Dijana , Ermacora Paolo , Serçe Çigdem Ulubaş , Çağlayan Kadriye , Jarausch Wolfgang , Foissac Xavier
Published: September 2010

The genetic diversity of three temperate fruit tree phytoplasmas ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum’, ‘Ca. P. mali’ and ‘Ca. P. pyri’ has been established by multilocus sequence analysis. Among the four genetic loci used, the genes imp and aceF distinguished 30 and 24 genotypes, respectively, and showed the highest variability. Percentage of substitution for imp ranged from 50 to 68 % according to species. Percentage of substitution varied between 9 and 12 % for aceF, whereas it was between 5 and 6 % for pnp and secY. In the case of ‘Ca P. prunorum’ the three most prevalent aceF genotypes were detected in both plants and insect vectors, confirming that the prevalent isolates are propagated by insects. The four isolates known to be hypo-virulent had the same aceF sequence, indicating a possible monophyletic origin. Haplotype network reconstructed by eBURST revealed that among the 34 haplotypes of ‘Ca. P. prunorum’, the four hypo-virulent isolates also grouped together in the same clade. Genotyping of some Spanish and Azerbaijanese ‘Ca. P. pyri’ isolates showed that they shared some alleles with ‘Ca. P. prunorum’, supporting for the first time to our knowledge, the existence of inter-species recombination between these two species.
Positive transcriptional control of the pyridoxal phosphate biosynthesis genes pdxST by the MocR-type regulator PdxR of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032
Authors: Jochmann Nina , Götker Susanne , Tauch Andreas
Published: September 2010

The pdxR (cg0897) gene of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 encodes a regulatory protein belonging to the MocR subfamily of GntR-type transcription regulators and consisting of an amino-terminal winged helix–turn–helix DNA-binding domain and a carboxy-terminal aminotransferase-like domain. A defined deletion in the pdxR gene resulted in the decreased expression of the divergently orientated pdxST genes coding for the subunits of pyridoxal 5′-phosphate synthase. The pdxST mutant C. glutamicum NJ0898 and the pdxR mutant C. glutamicum AMH17 showed vitamin B6 auxotrophy that was restored by supplementing the growth medium with either pyridoxal, pyridoxal 5′-phosphate or pyridoxamine. The genetic organization of the 89 bp pdxR–pdxST intergenic region was elucidated by mapping the 5′ ends of the respective transcripts, followed by detection of typical promoter sequences. Bioinformatic pattern searches and comparative genomics revealed three DNA motifs with the consensus sequence AAAGTGGW(−/T)CTA, overlapping the deduced promoter sequences and serving as candidate DNA-binding sites for PdxR. DNA band shift assays with the purified PdxR protein demonstrated the specific binding of the transcription regulator to double-stranded 40-mer sequences containing the detected motifs, thereby confirming the direct regulatory role of PdxR in activating the expression of the pdxST genes.
Labor Use and Landlord Control: Sharecropping and Household Structure in Fifteenth‐Century Tuscany
Authors: Emigh Rebecca Jean
Published: September 2010

The prevalence of large and extended families among sharecroppers in northern and central Italy during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries has been well documented in the historical demographic literature. Landlords relied on tenants’ extended household structure to provide a large labor force that increased their income. In earlier centuries, however, landlords’ involvement in agricultural production may have had little impact on household structure. Evidence from fifteenth‐century Tuscany illustrates that household extension was not as common among sharecroppers during this period of time. Qualitative analyses of personal correspondence and tax declarations from the fifteenth century suggest reasons why landlords’ management techniques did not lead to household extension among sharecroppers. Unlike landlords in later periods of time, fifteenth‐century landlords relied more on rearranging plots of land than particular demographic practices, because land consolidation was still in progress and farms were not fixed geographically. In addition, during the earlier period of time, sharecropping was less institutionalized and landlords had less power over their tenants. These findings suggest that sharecropping, as a tenurial form, did not necessarily lead to household extension. Instead, the effect of the tenurial form depended on the nature of sharecropping and the degree of landlords’ power.
Moral Economy or Political Economy? Property and Credit Markets in 19th Century Rural Portugal
Authors: Brettell Caroline B.
Published: September 2010

Peasants are often represented as a distinctive rural type with a reverent attitude toward the land, a disdain for commerce, and a set of institutions that sustain homogeneity and community. An alternative to this “moral economy” approach is a differentiation or political economy perspective that emphasizes articulation and integration within a broader regional, national and institutional framework, as well as individual and household strategies. Focusing on the rural population of nineteenth and twentieth century northwestern Portugal, this article addresses these two approaches through an analysis of peasant engagement with the property and finance capital markets. It explores the motives that pull peasants into these markets, how these transactions not only link rural and urban populations into a single regional economic system, but also connect individuals to the international market of labor through emigration, and finally how these transactions are embedded in village institutions including family, neighborship, and religious brotherhoods.
Insurgent Labor, Economic Change, and Social Development: Costa Rica, 1900–1948
Authors: Hytrek Gary
Published: September 2010

Costa Rica in the 1930s had a level of social development typical of a peripheral society, yet today Costa Ricans enjoy a level equivalent to the wealthier US and Italy. This paper examines the contribution of labor to state formation and social development. Beginning around the First World War, labor gradually forced the adoption of social legislation that altered the distribution of social power and reshaped the ideological and institutional character of the state. Reactions to the increasing power of labor and the state culminated in the 1948 social pact among labor, the middle strata and the dominant class that institutionalized the existing ideological and strategic trends responsible for the present level of social development.
Culture and History in the Halfway House: Ethnography, Tradition, and the Rural Middle Class in the West of Ireland
Authors: Saris A. Jamie
Published: September 2010

In this essay, I examine aspects of the life of a mental hospital nurse in the context of two main discourses (1) cultural debates about Ireland over the course of the last century or so, and (2) how the west of the island has been portrayed in some ethnographic writings. I argue that this nurse is situated partially in and partially out of both these discourses, and, furthermore, he is implicated in reproducing some ideas that render such judgment possible. I put forward a concept of “brokerage” to explain how objects and narratives that invoke a “tradition” stretching back into contested and intellectually murky histories can be experienced as felt orientations within a cultural environment.
An Empire of Drink: Gender, Labor and the Historical Economies of Alcohol
Authors: Chatterjee Piya
Published: September 2010

AbstractThis article examines the colonial and post‐colonial histories of gender, labor and alcohol production and consumption in the tea plantations of North Bengal, India. It argues that the symbolic and metaphoric constructions of primitivism within a ‐ wider imperial narrative provides one backdrop for an exploration of the symbolic and material histories of labor and alcohol politics in the plantation. The essay moves between different historical periods and languages, highlighting the interconnections between the semantic and bodily practices, which continue to index the gendered and racialized labor politics of contemporary tea plantations. It ends with a contemporary ethnographic examination of women's protest around the “liquor business” in the postcolonial plantation.
“Written All Over With Money” Earning, Spending, and Emotion in the Alcott Family
Authors: Berend Zsuzsa
Published: September 2010

Abstract The article explores the nature and symbolism of money within familial relationships and the effect of close personal ties on money use in the example of the Alcott family. The historical moment is interesting precisely because many of the oppositions between money and sentiment, intimate and financial bonds were newly formulated in the 19th century. The Alcott family is an interesting case study because they articulated and documented both cultural understandings and actual practices concerning work, money, and emotions. Georg Simmel, Viviana Zelizer, and James Carrier's work inform the theoretical framework for this project.
Education and State Formation Reconsidered: Chinese School Identity in Postwar Singapore
Authors: Wong Ting‐Hong
Published: September 2010

Abstract After WWII, Singapore launched decolonization and the state elites were under strong compulsion to blend the Chinese and other racial communities into a national whole. Chinese schools, equipping students with worldview and cultural‐linguistic abilities very different from those at other schools, hindered the completion of this task. The state elites sought to resolve this problem by replacing Chinese schools, but this policy antagonized the Chinese and undermined the legitimacy of the ruling regime. To pacify the Chinese, they switched to uphold Chinese schools as an integral and distinct category in the education system. This strategy, nevertheless, kept Chinese schools culturally compartmentalized and sacrificed the objective of promoting interracial integration. To rectify this situation, the ruling authorities sought to blunt the cultural distinctiveness of Chinese schools by strengthening Chinese teaching in English schools. However, this policy was not very successful, because the Malays – the adversary of the Chinese – resented it. This study demonstrates that state formation is a complicated project containing conflicting tasks, it reminds us state hegemonic strategies always bring about contradictory results and the connection between education and state formation is always dialectical.
Consuming Projects in Uncertain Times: Making Selves in the Galilee1
Authors: FORTE TANIA
Published: September 2010

Abstract Reception and identification processes, crucial to understand situations of political conflict, have been studied in relation to particular events, rituals, or media. This article proposes a different approach. It explores how ordinary people, through projects of their own which exhibit particular forms of intentional cultural production and consumption, manifest historically situated notions of selves. I use the idea of “projects” to understand the interconnections between global consumer culture, identity, and nationalism as they are manifested in the everyday lives of Palestinian citizens of Israel. To exemplify these interconnections, I focus on two significant, creative projects through which Palestinian inhabitants of the Western Galilee shape and manifest selves in history. Though these projects appear very different on the surface, they are used to address the same central question – that is, to understand how senses of self in history and attending identities are materially and discursively constituted by members of a national minority in the ever‐present context of political conflict. They show that people are not passive consumers of homogenizing rituals and discourse and reveal how, through a bricolage of objects and ideas, people inscribe intentions, meanings, ways of thinking, and self‐narration in places and histories.
Quebec and the Irish Catholic Relief Act of 1778: An Institutional Approach
Authors: STANBRIDGE KAREN
Published: September 2010

Abstract The following attempts to clarify the origins and character of the “movement” toward Catholic emancipation in the British empire by examining the negotiation of two early relief measures, the Quebec Act (1774) and the Irish Catholic Relief Act (1778), from an institutional perspective. It explores how institutions structuring Anglo‐Quebec and Anglo‐Irish political relations affected policy outcomes in each case, and what influence the Quebec case had on the Irish act four years later. While the Quebec Act offered a response to the Catholic question that was to assist supporters of the Irish bill, both were hard won against the inertia of institutional precedent. Neither act was accompanied by indications that greater freedoms were forthcoming. An institutional analysis thus challenges leading approaches that can represent the “movement” toward Catholic emancipation as more spontaneous and less contested than is sustained by actual events.
Retail Contracting: Theory and Practice
Authors: Lafontaine Francine , Slade Margaret E.
Published: September 2010

We summarize a number of regularities that arise in the empirical literature on contractual relationships between manufacturers and their exclusive resellers. We do this using studies of traditional and business‐format‐franchise relationships, as well as studies of sales‐force‐integration decisions. Some of the patterns that we uncover are consistent with a standard incentive‐cum‐insurance theory of organization, while others are not. We briefly review some theoretical extensions that seem promising in terms of reconciling seeming conflicts between theory and practice.
The Provision of (Two‐way) Converters in the Transition Process to a New Incompatible Technology
Authors: Choi Jay Pil
Published: September 2010

This paper analyzes the dynamic provision of converters in the transition process between two incompatible technologies. I derive the equilibrium behavior in the provision of converters and compare it to the socially optimal outcome. I find that there can be two types of market inefficiency in the provision of converters. First, converters can be supplied by the “wrong” group. Second, the timing of provision may be too late since the providers of converters ignore the positive externality that their provision would confer on the users of the rival technology.
Market‐structure Determinants of National Brand–Private Label Price Differences of Manufactured Food Products: Comment
Authors: Hinloopen Jeroen , Martin Stephen
Published: September 2010

Conor and Peterson [1992] analysed structural behavioural characteristics explaining differences in price between competing national and private label brands of manufactured food products. Hinloopen and Martin's comment points out an error in reporting results and an ambiguity in variable construction, and also comment on the interpretation of regression results. Connor and Peterson reply.
Informative Advertising Competition
Authors: LeBlanc Greg
Published: September 2010

This paper investigates informative price advertising in an established‐product Hotelling duopoly where firms compete for shares of a fixed market. Prices are uncertain because firms’ costs are private information. For a sufficiently low cost of advertising, advertising necessarily arises in equilibrium. Also, the less balanced the initial distributions over costs, the greater the potential for informative advertising. Moreover, whenever firms use informative advertising, it increases the firms’ expected profits, and social welfare, relative to the outcome without advertising.
Evidence from Patents and Patent Citations on the Impact of NASA and Other Federal Labs on Commercial Innovation
Authors: Jaffe Adam B. , Fogarty Michael S. , Banks Bruce A.
Published: September 2010

Federal lab commercialization is explored: (1) by analyzing US government patents and (2) in a qualitative analysis of one NASA lab’s patents. Tests apply to three distinct sets of patents, 1963–94: NASA, all other US government, and a random sample of all US inventors’ patents. The federal patenting rate plummeted in the 1970s. Consistent with increasing commercialization, both NASA’s and other federal agencies’ rates recovered in the 1980s. The case study finds citations to be a valid but noisy measure of technology spillovers. Excluding ‘spurious’ cites, two‐thirds of cites to patents of NASA‐Lewis’ Electro‐Physics Branch were evaluated as involving spillovers.
Computer Use and Productivity Growth in US Federal Government Agencies, 1987–92
Authors: Lehr William , Lichtenberg Frank R.
Published: September 2010

We examine the impact of information technology (IT) on productivity in the public sector econometrically, using data from the BLS Federal Productivity Measurement Program and from Computer Intelligence Infocorp, and by interviewing some government officials. We estimate a production function for government services that includes IT capital as an input, and find a strong positive relationship across federal agencies between productivity growth and computer‐intensity growth during the period 1987–92, controlling for growth in compensation and other outlays per employee, and in the number of employees. Our estimates are consistent with the hypothesis that there are ‘excess returns’ to IT capital.
Market Power and Multimarket Contact: Some Evidence from the Spanish Hotel Industry
Authors: Fernández Nerea , Marín Pedro L.
Published: September 2010

This paper analyses the effect of multimarket contact on firms’ behaviour. According to Bernheim and Whinston [1990], firms that meet in several markets for an infinite number of periods may find it profitable to redistribute market power among markets where they are operating. We present evidence supporting this prediction by using data from the Spanish hotel industry. Moreover, we also find that the omission of variables measuring multimarket contact creates a downward bias on the effect of concentration on prices. This result questions previous conclusions about the role of competition in industries where multimarket behaviour is expected.
Emissions Taxation in Durable Goods Oligopoly
Authors: Goering Gregory E. , Boyce John R.
Published: September 2010

This paper examines the use of taxation to control external damage due to pollution when product durability is endogenously determined. A special form of the emissions function is also examined which is equivalent to an excise tax on output. The model indicates that many conventional results in the durability and taxation literature need not hold when durability is endogenously determined. The analysis shows durability may not be independent of industry structure nor will firms minimize their manufacturing costs of providing service. In addition, the second‐best tax on imperfectly competitive firms is not necessarily less than the tax on a competitive firm with endogenous durability.
Market Structure, R&D and Advertising in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Authors: Matraves Catherine
Published: September 2010

Recent developments in the literature on market structure have allowed the generation of a few key testable predictions from the theory of strategic behaviour. The seminal model considers one simple but general relationship, that between market structure and market size, focusing on the competitive roles of endogenous sunk costs in the form of advertising and/or research and development (R&D). Evidence presented in this case study, building on earlier econometric work, shows that such endogenous sunk costs do play a crucial role in the formation of market structure in the global pharmaceutical industry.
Myopic Corporate Behaviour with Optimal Management Incentives
Authors: Garvey Gerald T. , Grant Simon , King Stephen P.
Published: September 2010

Existing models in which stock markets lead to corporate ‘short‐termism’ rely on an exogenously imposed objective for top managers. This paper endogenizes both managers’ concern for short‐term stock prices and the resulting distortions. We show that when the manager can trade on her own account on the stock market in a way that is observable to market participants but which is not verifiable in court, shareholders will choose an incentive contract which induces a bias towards short‐term returns. Consistent with recent evidence, the short‐term bias is greater when the optimal contract provides low‐powered management incentives.
Modelling Price Dispersion as an Outcome of Competition in the Irish Grocery Market
Authors: Walsh Patrick Paul , Whelan Ciara
Published: September 2010

The paper empirically models price dispersion between related brands within product categories of the Irish Independent Grocery market. Retail brand prices are averaged over the independent shops stocking the brand. Since individual brands are retailed through different groups of shops, brands are priced over heterogeneous consumer segments. Brand price dispersion is estimated to increase with competition when conditioned on brand distribution structures, while controlling for other observed and unobserved deterministic factors. The data suggest that brand pricing across consumer groups induce varying degrees of localised price competition rather than pricing across segments to extract consumer willingness to pay.
Demand, Information, and Competition: Why Do Food Prices Fall at Seasonal Demand Peaks?
Authors: MacDonald James M.
Published: September 2010

Prices for seasonal food products fall at demand peaks. Price declines are not driven by falling agricultural input prices; indeed, farm to retail margins narrow sharply. I use electronic scanner data from a sample of US supermarkets to show that seasonal price declines are closely linked to market concentration, and are much larger in markets with several rivals than where a single brand dominates. Seasonal demand increases reduce the effective costs of informative advertising, and increased informative advertising by retailers and manufacturers in turn may allow for increased market information and greater price sensitivity on the part of buyers.
R&D Intensity and Acquisitions in High‐Technology Industries: Evidence from the US Electronic and Electrical Equipment Industries
Authors: Blonigen Bruce A. , Taylor Christopher T.
Published: September 2010

Theory suggests R&D intensity and acquisition activity may be either directly or inversely related. However, we know relatively little about which firms are responsible for acquisition activity in high‐technology industries, which are not only R&D‐intensive, but also have substantial acquisition activity in the United States. Using a panel of 217 US electronic and electrical equipment firms from 1985–93 and limited dependent variable estimation techniques, we find a substantial negative correlation between R&D‐intensity and a firm’s propensity to acquire. This result is surprisingly robust to numerous sensitivity tests and is significant in both the ‘within’ and ‘between’ dimensions of our data.
Technology Adoption and the Emergence of Regional Asymmetries
Authors: Giovannetti Emanuele
Published: September 2010

The model explains the emergence of asymmetric productive structures among regions based on adoption of a quality improving technology. Firms’ products are differentiated both in location and quality, location is given. We characterize symmetric and asymmetric equilibria of the two stage game in price and adoption. Asymmetric equilibria display partial adoption frequencies and regular geographical patterns of adoptions. The asymmetry of the economy has, often, a reverse U‐shaped relation with the innovation size. Market integration is an obstacle for the full adoption of the new technology and favours the emergence of regional asymmetries.
The Structure of Licensing Contracts
Authors: Anand Bharat N. , Khanna Tarun
Published: September 2010

Industrial organization theory has explored several issues related to licensing, but empirical analyses are extremely rare. We amass a new and detailed dataset on licensing contracts, and use it to present some simple ‘facts’ concerning licensing behavior. Our analysis reveals robust cross‐industries differences in several contractual features, such as exclusivity, cross‐licensing, ex‐ante versus ex‐post technology transfers, and licensing to related versus unrelated parties. We offer an interpretation of these facts based on cross‐industry variation in the strength of intellectual property rights.
Multiproduct Price Regulation Under Asymmetric Information
Authors: Armstrong Mark , Vickers John
Published: September 2010

We discuss the regulation of a multiproduct monopolist when the firm has private information about cost or demand conditions. The regulator offers the firm a set of prices from which to choose. When there is private information only about costs, the firm should always have a degree of discretion over its pricing policy. When uncertainty concerns demand, whether discretion is desirable depends on how demand elasticities vary with the scale of demands. If a positive demand shock is associated with a reduction in the market elasticity, discretion is good for overall welfare; otherwise it is not.
Strategic Bidding By Potential Competitors: Will Monopoly Persist?
Authors: Chen Yongmin
Published: September 2010

Who will win the bidding to become the sole producer of a new product: the monopolist of a related product or a new entrant? When there exists potential entry to the monopolist’s existing business, the standard result that monopoly persists (Gilbert and Newbery, ‘Preemptive Patenting and the Persistence of Monopoly’, American Economic Review, 72, pp. 514–526, 1982) may or may not hold, depending crucially on how the new product relates to the existing product of the monopolist. The monopolist tends to win the bidding and to dominate both products if the two products are strategic complements; and the entrant tends to win the bidding if the two products are strategic substitutes.
Connectivity in the Commercial Internet
Authors: Crémer Jacques , Rey Patrick , Tirole Jean
Published: September 2010

We study the ‘backbone market’ in the Internet. After discussing the structure of the Internet, we use an extension of the Katz‐Shapiro network model to analyze the strategies that would be used by dominant backbone. We show that a larger backbone prefers a lower quality interconnection than the smaller one. We then analyze a ‘targeted degradation’ strategy where the larger backbone lowers the quality of interconnection to its smaller rivals in turn. Finally, we show that the qualitative results are robust to the possibility of ‘multihoming’ by clients.
The Diversity of R&D Consortia and Firm Behavior: Evidence from Japanese Data
Authors: Sakakibara Mariko
Published: September 2010

An empirical analysis of Japanese government‐sponsored R&D consortia involving 213 firms over 13 years shows that the diversity of a consortium is associated with greater R&D expenditure by participating firms. Diversity is alternatively measured by the Montgomery [1982] index, based on 3‐digit SIC codes, and Branstetter and Sakakibara’s [1998] modification of the Jaffe [1986] patent portfolio based index.
Revenue Sharing and Vertical Control in the Video Rental Industry
Authors: Dana, Jr. James D. , Spier Kathryn E.
Published: September 2010

Revenue sharing contracts, in which retailers pay a royalty on sales to their suppliers, are now widely used in the video rental industry. We show that revenue sharing is valuable in vertically separated industries in which demand is either stochastic (unpredictable) or variable (e.g., systematically declining), downstream inventory is chosen before demand is realized and downstream firms engage in intrabrand competition. Unlike two‐part tariffs, revenue sharing achieves the first best outcome by softening retail price competition without distorting retailers’ inventory decisions. Our theories are also consistent with trends in prices and availability following retailers’ adoption of revenue sharing contracts.
Imperfect Tests and Natural Insurance Monopolies
Authors: Emons Winand
Published: September 2010

In a housing insurance market buildings have different damage probabilities. High‐risk houses need investment, low‐risk houses don’t. Insurers use imperfect tests to assess risks. The market is a natural monopoly: with more than one active insurer, high‐risk house owners continue to apply to insurers until they are eventually assigned to the low‐risk class. The natural monopoly need not be sustainable. In equilibrium the incumbent accommodates entry even when the natural monopoly is sustainable. We explain recent observations from Germany and Switzerland where damage rates and prices went up drastically after the transition from state monopolies to competitive environments.
Vertical Integration and Internet Strategies in the Apparel Industry
Authors: Gertner Robert H. , Stillman Robert S.
Published: September 2010

We explore the relationship between vertical scope and the ability to respond to a significant economic shock by studying how firms in the apparel industry have adapted to the Internet. We find that vertically integrated specialty retailers, e.g., The Gap, tended to start on‐line sales sooner than non‐integrated vendors, e.g., Nautica, and department stores. We also find that the products of vertically integrated retailers are more available on‐line than those of non‐integrated vendors. These results are consistent with greater contractual barriers, coordination costs and incentive problems that non‐integrated brands face relative to integrated companies in responding to the e‐commerce opportunity.
Free Riding and Sales Strategies for the Internet
Authors: Carlton Dennis W. , Chevalier Judith A.
Published: September 2010

For many products, Internet sales can free ride off of the promotional effort exerted by brick and mortar retailers, leading manufacturers to attempt to control the availability and pricing of their products over the Internet. We examine three categories of products: fragrances, DVD players, and side‐by‐side refrigerators. Our evidence suggests that manufacturers that limit distribution in the physical world use various mechanisms to limit distribution online. In particular, these manufacturers generally prevent the sale of their products by Internet retailers that offer deep discounts. Furthermore, manufacturer websites tend to charge high prices, suggesting that manufacturers may internalize free rider issues.
The Output Effects of Government Sponsored Cartels During the New Deal
Authors: Taylor Jason E.
Published: September 2010

This paper uses the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, which set up industry‐wide cartels in the manufacturing sector of the US economy, to gain empirical insight into the current debate on the output effects of cartels. Recent theoretical studies have demonstrated ways in which cartels could expand, rather than reduce output as is traditionally thought. The New Deal cartel experiment does not support this ‘efficient cartel’ view. On the contrary, the legislation brought about a reduction in manufacturing output, as traditional cartel theory would predict.
Bertrand Competition Under Uncertainty
Authors: Janssen Maarten , Rasmusen Eric
Published: September 2010

We look at a Bertrand model in which each firm may be inactive with a known probability, so the number of active firms is uncertain. The model has a mixed‐strategy equilibrium, in which industry profits are positive and decline with the number of firms, the same features which make the Cournot model attractive. Unlike those in a Cournot model with similar uncertainty, Bertrand profits always increase in the probability that firms are inactive. Profits decline more sharply than in the Cournot model, the pattern found empirically in Bresnahan and Reiss [1991].
Strategic Vertical Differentiation and Durable Goods Monopoly
Authors: Takeyama Lisa N.
Published: September 2010

This paper considers a novel and strategic use of quality as a means for solving the durable‐goods time inconsistency problem. It demonstrates how durable‐goods producers can exploit the cannibalization of high‐quality markets by low‐quality goods. Relative to the static product line solution, this strategic dimension of quality choice implies higher quality levels of low‐end goods and the production of some low‐end products that would not otherwise be produced. In some cases, low‐end goods may rationally be sold below cost. The paper, therefore, offers a purely Coasian explanation for vertical product differentiation.
Strategy Fads and Competitive Convergence: An Empirical Test for Herd Behavior in Prime‐Time Television Programming
Authors: Kennedy Robert E.
Published: September 2010

The economics literature contains many theoretical analyses of imitation and differentiation strategies but relatively few empirical studies of these topics. This paper aims to address that shortcoming. I analyze program introductions by television networks and then compare the payoffs to imitative and differentiated introductions. The analysis indicates that the networks imitate each other when introducing new programs and that, on average, imitative introductions underperform differentiated introductions. These results are consistent with theoretical models of herd behavior but are difficult to explain using standard models of spatial competition or the possibility of omitted variable bias.
Who Initiates Recalls and Who Cares? Evidence from the Automobile Industry
Authors: Rupp Nicholas G. , Taylor Curtis R.
Published: September 2010

In this paper, we investigate two questions. First, we explore which entity (the NHTSA or the manufacturer) is more likely to initiate a given auto safety recall campaign. Second, we analyze the determinants of owner response rates to safety recalls. Our data spans nineteen years (1980–1998) for the six largest auto manufacturers. We find evidence that the government initiates larger, less hazardous recalls involving older models and financially weak firms. Inexpensive recalls are more likely to be manufacturer initiated. The largest owner repair responses are associated with newsworthy hazardous defects of new domestic vehicles in their inaugural model year.
Inducing Innovation in the Environmental Technology of Oligopolistic Firms
Authors: Innes Robert , Bial Joseph J
Published: September 2010

This paper characterizes environmental regulations which induce polluting Bertrand competitors to invest efficiently in environmental R&D. Post–innovation benefits to raising rivals’ costs provide firms with incentives to innovate. Although optimal behavior cannot be elicited with pollution taxes alone, an optimum can be achieved by combining emission taxes with environmental performance standards that are higher for firms which reveal superior environmental technologies. Faced with this policy, successful innovators voluntarily reveal their technological discovery to the government, despite the apparent regulatory penalty that results. Implications for automotive fuel regulation are discussed.
Market Structure and the Pricing of Electricity and Natural Gas
Authors: Knittel Christopher R.
Published: September 2010

US Electricity and natural gas markets have traditionally been serviced by one of two market structures. In some markets, electricity and natural gas are sold by a regulated dual‐product monopolist, while in other markets, electricity and natural gas are sold by separate regulated single‐product monopolies. I analyze whether electricity and natural gas prices depend on the market structure and compare these results to the predictions of a number of theories. The results are most consistent with the political economy theories suggesting that regulators respond to interest group activity.
Auctions for Split‐Award Contracts
Authors: Perry Martin K. , Sákovics József
Published: September 2010

The buyer of a homogeneous input divides his input requirements into two contracts that are awarded to different suppliers. He uses a sequential second‐price auction to award a primary and a secondary contract. With a fixed number of suppliers the buyer pays a higher expected price than with a sole‐source auction. The premium paid to the winner of the secondary contract must also be paid to the winner of the primary contract as an opportunity cost. When entry is endogenous, we identify the conditions under which a secondary contract can increase the number of suppliers and lower the expected price.
Consumption Externalities and Diffusion in Pharmaceutical Markets: Antiulcer Drugs
Authors: Berndt Ernst R. , Pindyck Robert S. , Azoulay Pierre
Published: September 2010

We examine the role of consumption externalities in the demand for pharmaceuticals at both the brand level and over a therapeutic class of drugs. Externalities emerge when use of a drug by others affects its value, and/or conveys information about efficacy and safety to patients and physicians. This can affect the rate of market diffusion for a new entrant, and can lead to dominance of one drug despite the availability of close substitutes. We use data for H2‐antagonist antiulcer drugs to estimate a dynamic demand model and quantify these effects. The model has three components: an hedonic price equation that measures how the aggregate usage of a drug, as well as conventional attributes, affect brand valuation; equations relating equilibrium market shares to quality‐adjusted prices and marketing levels; and diffusion equations describing the dynamic adjustment process. We find that consumption externalities influence both valuations and rates of diffusion, and that they operate at the brand and not the therapeutic class level.
Titian's three‐altar project in the Venetian church of San Salvador: strategies of self‐representation by members of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco
Authors: Bohde D
Published: September 2010

In the Venetian church of San Salvador there are two altarpieces by Titian, the Transfiguration and the Annunciation. A third altarpiece by him, a Crucifixion, was also planned, but never erected. Together they were supposed to display a christological programme. The paper argues that the three altarpieces were co‐ordinated by Titian and the patrons of the two side altars. These patrons were non‐noble merchants, involved like Titian in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. Many members of this lay confraternity desired a tomb or an altar in San Salvador, an important church near the Rialto. A history of the commissions for these altars and tombs reveals how cittadini acted in an area traditionally dominated by patricians. Their strategy of adapting to Venetian traditions on the one hand, and of developing their own modes of representation on the other, is most evident in Titian's patrons. A closer examination of Titian's Annunciation demonstrates how the painter and the patron dealt with such a crucial theme for the myth of Venice. Titian affirmed the traditional iconography of the Annunziata, but provided it with highly innovative features: the open brushwork and the unusual physicality of the holy figures express the incarnation of the divine Word.
Michelangelo's Leda: the diplomatic context
Authors: Wallace WE
Published: September 2010

In 1529, Alfonso d'Este of Ferrara commissioned a work from Michelangelo; the artist painted the famous Leda but the picture was sent to France, not Ferrara. Why did Michelangelo make the painting – when he claimed to be no painter – and why did the patron never receive his picture? These vexing questions lead us to consider the intrigue and conflicting loyalties that characterized Florentine‐Ferrarese political relations. The author examines the extensive diplomatic correspondence between Ferrara and Florence, and argues that the Leda was a diplomatic gift and a painting of calculated dynastic flattery intended to elicit Alfonsols desperately needed support during Florence's Last Republic (1527–30).