In a competitive dynamic durable good market where sellers have private information about quality, I identify certain inefficiencies that arise due to <i>heterogeneity in buyers' valuations</i>. Even if the market induces dynamic sorting among sellers and all goods are eventually traded, inefficiency...

Faced with divergent opinions among consumers on the use of genetically modified (GM) foods, Canada has adopted a voluntary labelling approach for non-GM foods, whereas the European Union has a mandatory labelling policy for GM foods. Interestingly, both labelling systems have resulted in very...

The effect of return policies on market outcomes is studied in a model where consumers differ in their valuations of time. Product reliability is identified with defect rates. Producers first choose reliability levels and then compete in prices. For given defect rates, allowing returns makes...

There exist two approaches in the literature concerning the multinational firm's mode choice for foreign production between an owned subsidiary and a licensing contract. One approach considers environments where the firm transfers primarily knowledge-based assets and assumes that knowledge is...

This study uses panel data on Canadian establishments to explore the relationship between the organization of work - in particular decentralization, information-sharing, and incentive pay schemes - and innovation. Like other studies, ours finds a clear positive link between these factors....

Competition for firms by region has a long-standing history, and the academic literature has debated whether such competition is efficient. We develop a model that explores technology development by firms facing regional competition for their investment and examine the endogenous determination...

This paper explains why a software manufacturer may permit limited piracy of its software. Piracy can be viewed as a form of price discrimination in which the manufacturer sells some of the software at a price of zero. In the presence of significant network externalities for the software, it may...

This paper examines the effects of FDI on indigenous new plants' survival, through intra- and inter-industry economic linkages. It includes all manufacturing plants born to indigenous firms from 1973 to 1997 in Canada. The study finds that indigenous plants tend to have shorter lives (more...

This paper sets up a general oligopolistic equilibrium model with multi-product firms and union wage setting. In this model, we conduct two policy experiments. First, we show that deunionization induces a general decline in firm scale and scope, the respective reduction being more pronounced in...

This paper develops a two-country, general equilibrium model of oligopoly in which the degree of horizontal product differentiation is endogenously determined by firms' strategic investments in product innovation. Consumers seek variety and product innovation is more skill intensive than...