When Demand Increases Cause Shakeouts

Standard economic models that guide competition policy imply that demand increases should lead to more, not fewer firms. However, This paper provides empirical evidence of this effect in the 1960s-1980s hotel and motel industry, an industry where quality competition increasingly took the form of whether firms supplied outdoor recreational amenities such as swimming pools. We find that openings of new Interstate Highways are associated with increases in hotel employment, but decreases in the number of firms, in local areas. We further find that while highway construction is associated with increases in hotel employment in both warm and cold places, it only leads to fewer firms in warm places (where outdoor amenities were more valued by consumers). Finally, we find no evidence of this effect in other industries that serve highway travelers, gasoline retailing or restaurants, where quality competition is either less important or quality is supplied more through variable costs. We discuss the implications of these results for competition policy, and how they highlight the importance and challenge of distinguishing between "natural" and "market-power-driven" increases in concentration.

Though tourism is receiving increased attention in the literature, the accommodations sector lacks basic research on what factors most influence economic behavior. One possible reason for this gap may be that economists assume the standard economic models apply directly to the hotel and motel industry. This paper develops a theory of economic behavior in the hotel industry and then tests it empirically.

This paper analyzes trade balances and unit values in Hungarian and Slovenian bilateral agricultural, food, and forestry trade with Austria, Germany, and Italy, respectively, to distinguish types of one-way and two-way trade flows, categories of price competition, and categories of quality competition. Two-way trade flows prevail among trade types. In two-way bilateral trade, categories of price competition prevail over categories of nonprice competition, but vary across trading partners. In Hungarian trade, successful price and quality competition prevail, suggesting comparative advantages for Hungarian produce arising from available agricultural factor endowments and technological improvements in processing compared with bilateral EU trading partners. In Slovenian two-way trade, unsuccessful price and quality competition prevail, suggesting comparative trade disadvantages arising from agricultural and structural disadvantages compared with bilateral EU trading partners. Looking dynamically, we find no significant catch-up in successful competition, as for Hungary, both successful price and successful nonprice competition increased only for Austria, but deteriorated for Germany and Italy. For Slovenia, successful price and nonprice competition remain at a similar level as Austria, but decline compared with Germany and Italy. The probability of remaining one-way trade is greater than the probability of staying within the same competition category in two-way trade. There are differences across countries and over individual years, but the mobility indices indicate decline in trade flow mobility, and thus, more stable trade patterns over time.

It is estimated that 12% of the American workforce has a substance abuse problem. One method of combating substance is the utilization of employee assistance programs (EAP's). This paper presents findings of a survey at the corporate level of the hospitality industry to determine the availability and variety of EAP's. The paper classifies and categorizes existing EAP's, including managers' perceptions of substance abuse problems in the hospitality industry. lt concludes with the reactions and plans for those companies not currently using an EAP approach to substance abuse.

PurposeRobots, as the crystallization of new artificial intelligence, are being applied in various fields, especially the hotel industry. They are seizing the opportunities, using technology to improve the overall quality and comprehensive competitiveness. However, they also cause many problems due to practical limitations. The purpose of this paper is to study customers' recognition and acceptance of hotel service robots to guide the successful promotion of this technology.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposed a comprehensive model based on the theory of planned behavior, the technology acceptance model and then the perceived value-based acceptance model. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, grouped regression analysis and path analysis was adopted to validate the impacts of each variable to obtain the final reliable model using data collected from hotel guests using a self-designed questionnaire.FindingsThe empirical research based on the theoretical model shows that the constructed conceptual model can thoroughly explain the influencing factors of hotel robot acceptance, enrich the acceptance theory and provide academic support for the use and popularization of hotel service robots. Among all variables, attitude, usefulness and perceived value are the factors that have the greatest impact on acceptance. They have significant differences in the effects of adjustment variables such as gender, educational level, whether hotel robots have been used, and whether other robot services have been experienced on different paths in the model.Practical implicationsThis paper explored the customer acceptance of service robots in hotels, helped to understand the process of decision-making on service robot selection and contributed to the theoretical extension of the hospitality industry. The work guides hotel management to promote better-personalized products and services of robot technology in the hospitality industries.Originality/valueThe acceptance study on hotel service robots provides insight into the hotel industry to understand customers' attitudes and acceptance of emerging technology.

As American health care moves from a professionally dominated to a market-dominated model, concerns have been voiced that competition, once unleashed, will focus on price to the detriment of quality. Although quality has been extensively analyzed in health services research, the role of quality in competition policy has not been elucidated. While economists may theorize about non-price competition, courts in antitrust cases often follow simpler models of competition based on price and output, either ignoring quality as a competitive dimension or assuming that it will occur in tandem with price competition. This unsystematic approach is inadequate for the formulation of policy in the health care industry, where quality is a central concern of both consumers and society. Instead, courts need a framework with which to analyze the implications for quality of various market structures and to understand the welfare implications of proposed market changes. A competition policy would seek to evaluate the potential for private markets to protect and improve quality in the health care system. This Article describes the present role of antitrust law in medical markets, explores the issues that would be confronted in developing a competition policy and outlines a research agenda that would begin to accomplish that task.

Energy performance certificates (EPCs) are important tools aimed at improving buildings’ energy performance. They play a central role in the context of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) which asks member states (MS) to take the necessary measures to establish a complete certification system. In this study, an application of the hedonic price method (HPM) assessing the effect of energy labels derived from the EPC on real estate market value is presented. The estimation methodology was applied to two European cities characterized by different climate conditions. The analysis was based on two datasets of listing prices referring to multi-family residential markets in Turin (Italy) and Barcelona (Spain). Four models for each dataset were applied to capture the marginal price of green attributes, but also to control for the spatial autocorrelation among values. The findings showed how the EPC has been applied in the two countries and how it has influenced the real estate market. Turin’s buyers pay more attention to the EPC label, while in Barcelona, they value much more single characteristics, such as air conditioning and a swimming pool, considered popular attributes among contemporary buildings in this climate zone. From the results, it is possible to deduce that the implementation of the EPC schemes is still irregular in EU countries and must be strengthened through a standardized rating model.

Previous articleNext article No AccessOccupational Self-Regulation: A Case Study of the Oklahoma Dry CleanersCharles R. PlottCharles R. Plott Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Law and Economics Volume 8Oct., 1965 Sponsored by The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and The University of Chicago Law School Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/466612 Views: 6Total views on this site Citations: 13Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1966 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Andrej Svorenčík Rejecting rejections—seeking acceptance of experimental economics in economics journals, Oxford Economic Papers 72, no.44 (Aug 2020): 946–965.https://doi.org/10.1093/oep/gpaa024Andrej Svorenčík Rejecting Rejections — Seeking Acceptance of Experimental Economics in Economics Journals, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2020).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3603697Benjamin Engelstätter, Michael R. Ward Strategic timing of entry: evidence from video games, Journal of Cultural Economics 42, no.11 (May 2016): 1–22.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-016-9276-7Stephen Breyer, Paul W. MacAvoy Regulation and Deregulation, (Feb 2018): 11475–11484.https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1893John William Hatfield, Charles R. Plott, Tomomi Tanaka Price controls, non-price quality competition, and the nonexistence of competitive equilibrium, Games and Economic Behavior 99 (Sep 2016): 134–163.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geb.2016.06.012John William Hatfield, Charles R. Plott, Tomomi Tanaka Price Controls, Non-Price Quality Competition, and the Nonexistence of Competitive Equilibrium, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2015).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2654431Benjamin Engelstttter, Michael R. Ward Strategic Timing of Entry: Evidence from Video Games, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2013).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2379471John William Hatfield, Charles R Plott, Tomomi Tanaka Understanding Price Controls and Nonprice Competition with Matching Theory, American Economic Review 102, no.33 (May 2012): 371–375.https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.102.3.371 George L. Priest The Origins of Utility Regulation and the "Theories of Regulation" Debate, The Journal of Law and Economics 36, no.1, Part 21, Part 2 (Oct 2015): 289–323.https://doi.org/10.1086/467276Stephen Breyer, Paul W. MacAvoy Regulation and Deregulation, (Nov 2016): 1–10.https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_1893-1David A. Garvin Can Industry Self-Regulation Work?, California Management Review 25, no.44 (Jul 1983): 37–52.https://doi.org/10.2307/41165031DOUGLAS R. MACKINTOSH, SUSAN FREY The Prices of Prescription Eyeglasses Under Advertising Restraints, Journal of Consumer Affairs 12, no.22 (Feb 2011): 323–332.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.1978.tb00893.xJessica Leight, Edward Balleisen, David Moss Public Choice: A Critical Reassessment, (): 213–255.https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511657504.008

In the article is analyzed the regulation of sector-specific industries from institutional aspects of regulation and competition policy. There is researched answer to the question what type of institutional arrangement is suitable for regulating network industries in the Baltic countries. Under the observation are three different organizational standard models: single sector-specific regulators and competition board; integrated multi-sector regulatory institution and separate competition board; and unitary competition supervisory and regulatory institution.

Who's Number One? Asymmetric Production Costs as a Determinant of Quality Rankings

Using data from the Austrian retail gasoline market we find that a higher station density reduces average prices. Market (i.e. ownership) concentration does not significantly affect average price, however is negatively related to the density of stations. Estimation of the pricing and entry equations as simultaneous equations does not alter our conclusions, and suggests causality running from station density to price. We argue that the spatial dimension of markets allows the identification of market conduct, which is particularly relevant for competition policy.

THE main purpose of this paper is to present empirical estimates of a model of the disposition of claims through the courts. Landes, Gould, Posner, and others have developed a theoretical model of the disposition process, in which the decision to settle and the size of settlement depend on the defendant's maximum offer (expected award at verdict plus litigation costs) relative to the plaintiff's minimum ask (expected award at verdict minus litigation costs).' Variants of this model have been applied in several contexts, but so far it has not been tested empirically with data on individual claims.2 The obstacles to estimation by standard econometric techniques are twofold. First, the hypothesized determinants of the outcome-the potential verdict, ask, offer, and litigation costs-are all unobserved in the data available. Second, if the theory is correct, claims closed at each stage of disposition are not random samples but are "selfselected" on the basis of those case characteristics whose effect we wish to measure. Therefore, analysis of the observed outcome-size and probability of payment to the plaintiff, at verdict and in out-of-court settlement-cannot be generalized to the universe of claims as a whole. Param-