Economic Theory
Selling when Brand Image Matters (with Daniel Halbheer), Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (2011)
This paper studies profit-maximizing seller behavior when brand image affects demand. We consider a seller...
The Investment Effects of Price Caps under Imperfect Competition: A Note (with Anton Burger and Robert Ferstl), Economics Letters (2010)
We examine the impact of price cap regulation on the capacity investments of oligopolistic suppliers...
Intimidating Competitors - Endogenous Vertical Integration and Downstream Investment in Successive Oligopoly (with Armin Schmutzler), International Journal of Industrial Organization (2008)
This paper examines the interplay of endogenous vertical integration and cost-reducing downstream investment in successive...
Deregulating Network Industries: Dealing with Price-Quality Tradeoffs (with Dennis L. Gärtner and Daniel Halbheer), Journal of Regulatory Economics (2006)
This paper examines the effects of introducing competition into monopolized network industries on prices and...
Strategic Outsourcing Revisited (with Justus Haucap), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2006)
This paper analyzes a sequential game where firms decide about outsourcing the production of a...
Asymmetric Vertical Integration (with Armin Schmutzler), Advances in Theoretical Economics (2005)
We examine vertical backward integration in a reduced-form model of successive oligopolies. Our key findings...
The Promise and Pitfalls of Restructuring Network Industries, German Economic Review (2005)
This paper examines the competitive effects of reorganizing a network industry's vertical structure. In this...
Infrastructure Quality in Deregulated Industries: Is There an Underinvestment Problem? (with Armin Schmutzler and Men-Andri Benz), International Journal of Industrial Organization (2004)
We investigate how various institutional settings affect a network provider's incentives to invest in infrastructure...
Quantitative Analysis
The Geographic Determinants of Bankruptcy: Evidence from Switzerland (with Christian Kaiser and Franz Jaeger), Small Business Economics (2011)
This paper examines the geographic determinants of firm bankruptcy. We employ hazard rate models to...
Merge or Fail? The Determinants of Mergers and Bankruptcies in Switzerland (with Christian Kaiser and Franz Jaeger), Economics Letters (2006)
This paper examines the determinants of mergers and bankruptcies using firm level data from Switzerland....
Competition Policy and Exit Rates: Evidence from Switzerland (with Christian Kaiser and Franz Jaeger), Contributions in Economic Analysis & Policy (2005)
This paper provides evidence on the relation between the intensity of product-market competition and the...
Unpublished Papers
Persuading Consumers with Social Attitudes (with Daniel Halbheer) (2011)
This paper analyzes persuasive advertising and pricing in oligopoly if firms sell differentiated products and...
Making Sense of Non-Binding Retail-Price Recommendations (with Dennis L. Gärtner), Dennis L Gärtner (2009)
This paper provides a theoretical rationale for non-binding retail price recommendations (RPRs) in vertical supply...
Restructuring Electricity When Demand is Uncertain: The Effects on Capacity Investments, Retail Prices and Welfare (with Anette Boom) (2009)
This paper proposes a stylized model of the electricity industry taking the vertical structure of...
Mergers Under Asymmetric Information: A Simple Reduced-Form Approach (with Armin Schmutzler and Thomas Borek) (2008)
This paper provides a simple reduced-form framework for analyzing merger decisions in the presence of...
Telecommunications Policy
Mobile Number Portability in Europe (with Ralf Dewenter and Justus Haucap), Telecommunications Policy (2006)
This paper examines the causes and effects of mobile number portability (MNP) and provides a...
Mobile Number Portability (with Justus Haucap), Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade (2004)
This paper examines the consequences of introducing mobile number portability (MNP). We show that if...
Regulatory Reform of Telecommunications in Switzerland, Telecommunications Policy (1998)
National policies towards the regulation of the telecommunications industry have undergone significant change in response...