Readings in Economics for Managers

readings in
economics for managers

compiled by
Tran Huu Dung

May 13, 2006

These are some of the readings for an MBA-level course taught by me at Wright State University. Links to this page are welcome, but please drop me a line. Thank you!
THD

TOPICS

Branding
Bundling
Costs
Discrimination
Economies of scale
Economies of scope
Industry studies
Market structures
Electronic commerce
The "new" economy
Personnel economics
Supply and demand

NEWSPAPERS
& MAGAZINES

Arts and Letters Daily
Business Daily Review
The Economist
HBS working knowledge
McKinsey Quarterly
Knowledge@Wharton
New York Times
Strategy+Business

InfoPlease

OTHER READINGS

International economics

Dell's World Isn't What It Used to Be [NYT 13-5-06]

General interests

Why you shouldn't trust the Dow [Slate 1/28/03]
Another View of Economy Focuses on Points of Pain [LAT 12/20/02] An alternative account of what has happened to the U.S. economy in recent years, one that -- in the tradition of the Rust Belt recession of the early 1980s and the "bicoastal" recession of the early 1990s -- might be called the "points-of-pain" recession of the early 2000s.
Does Economy Need a Boost? [WP 12/20/02]--Doubts Rise on Necessity of Bush 'Stimulus' Package. GOOD STATE OF PLAY
New Book: I WANT THAT! How We All Became Shoppers. By Thomas Hine [NYT 12/08/02]
Car Rental Industry Is Forced to Shift Ways [NYT 11/28/02]
Try, Fail, Then Gain Insights [NYT 10/24/02]--Hal Vatrian on experimental economics
She Holds the Cards in Copyright Fight [LAT 10/19/02]--On copyrights
Professor Summers Offers Economic-Policy Precepts [WSJ 10/16/02]--The world according to Larry Summers. Succinct, good.
Debating the Numbers on Goals for Growth [NYT 10/13/02]--How fast does the economy have to grow to reduce the unemployment rate? The experts can't seem to agree.

ECONOMICS AND WARS

War Spending Won't Outweigh Its Negative Impact on Economy [WSJ 2/4/03]
America must find the money to afford a war [FT 1/28/03]Comments by Robert Hormats. Good analysis
Venezuela Crisis Complicates Iraq Situation, Experts Say [NYT 1/10/03]
U.S. Seeks to Calm Russian Fears on War, Oil Supplies [LAT 1/10/03]
Growing U.S. Need for Oil From the Mideast Is Forecast [NYT 12/26/02]
Martin Wolf: Cost of another Gulf war [FT 12/23/02]--Subscribers only. Scenarios and forecasts
OPEC Warns of Oil Shortfall If Iraq, Venezuela Stop Output [WSJ 12/20/02]
A Crude View of the Crisis in Iraq [WP 12/07/02]--If oil is the question, Iraq is not the answer, says Daniel Yergin. Clearing up lots of misperceptions. MUST READ
U.S. Facing Bigger Bill For Iraq War [WP 12/01/02]--$200 billion?
War-Wary Saudis Move to Increase Oil Market Clout [WP 11/30/02]--Very good summary of the oild situation.
The economics of war [Economist 11/28/02]--Good, succinct summary of the costs of the war against Iraq
Where the Oil Is [NYT 11/9/02]
Iraq War Could Lead to Glut Of Oil, Fueling Global Growth [WSJ 10/28/02]
Iraq Regime Change Could Weaken OPEC [LAT 10/27/02]
Prospect of Iraq War Poses Uncertainties for Oil and Economy [WP 10/13/02]--A fair assessment, without ideological prejudice.
How to Tally the Costs of War? [NYT 10/13/02]--Interview with a pro-invasion American CEO
Economists Weigh the Uncertainties Arising From War With Iraq [WP 9/21/02]-- GOOD OVERVIEW
In Oil Fallout From Iraq War, Iran Could Gain, Saudis Lose [WSJ 9/19/02]--
Opec strives to avoid costly oil slip [FT 9/18/02]--Ministers of Opec are set to leave production quotas unchanged, a stance that will keep oil prices high and could send them even higher in the event of a war in Iraq. Useful charts
War Fears Buffeting Oil Prices [WP 9/18/02]-- A "war premium" of $5/barrel?
What War with Iraq Would Do to the Economy [BW 9/23/02]--A short one could provide a boost. A long one could bring a recession Subscription required
Iraq attack may deal blow to world economy [FT 9/16/02]--A non-US perspective
Bush Economic Aide Says the Cost Of Iraq War May Top $100 Billion [WSJ 9/16/02]
In Iraqi War Scenario, Oil Is Key Issue [WP 9/15/02]--A war could open a bonanza for American oil companies long banished from Iraq, scuttling oil deals between Baghdad and Russia, France and other countries, and reshuffling world petroleum markets.
Predicting War's Economic Effect Is an Oily Proposition [LAT 9/15/02]Iraqi production accounts for 2% of the world's oil production and about 8% of the output from the Persian Gulf region
Who's Next at the Fed? A Look at the Field [NYT 9/8/02]
Devotion to Free-Market Makes for Ineffectual Policy [NYT 9/5/02]--Economic Scene opinion by Jeff Madrick, mentioning Akerlof using behavioral economics to criticize free-market policies,
Update on Capitalism: What Do You Mean 'Us,' Boss? [NYT 9/1/02]
The Rah-rah boys [LAT 8/19/02]--By Thomas Frank, on economic pundits. MUST READ

MBA EDUCATION

Foreign M.B.A. Candidates Face Challenging Job Hunts [WSJ 12/17/02]
Ethicist at the Gate [Boston Globe 12/08/02]--Can Harvard Business School make its graduates behave?
What a Class of '49 Can Teach the Class of '02 [NYT 10/27/02]--A new book by David Callahan explores the roots of executive conduct by delving into their life histories and the social and cultural forces that shape their characters.
Is Getting an MBA Really Worth It? [Business 2.0 0/3/02]
M.B.A. Programs Now Screen for Integrity, Too [NYT 9/15/02]
The Ethics of Business Schools [Chronicle of Higher Ed 9/20-02]--Subscription required.
Can a Test Gauge the Value of an M.B.A.? [NYT 9/8/02]
An Extra Degree of Success [WP 9/02/02]--On Executive MBA
Without ethics, business can't be done - or taught [BostonGlobe 8/30/02]--By Richard Schmalensee
When It Comes to Ethics, B-Schools Get an F [WP 8/3/02]--Essay by Amitai Etzioni
Questioning wisdom, value of business school [Boston Globe 9/1/02]--
Economists as gurus
Job-Hunters In Training [Washington Post 9/24/01]--MBA Students Find No sanctuary in graduate school
At Harvard Business School, students rethink career paths in wake of attacks [Boston Globe 9/27/01]
How to Make Better Decisions in Fast-Paced Environment (WSJ, 10/14/98)
The hedge fund scandal (October 1998)
Number of Corporate Drones Head Off to Their Improv Class (WSJ, 6/15/99): Comedy and corporate successes.
Goodbye Cold Calling; Hello Cross-Selling (NYT, 12/20/99)--Trends in sales of financial services
Airbus Industrie Thinks its Giant A3XX Jet Could Take on the Boeing 747 (NYT, 7/14/2000)
Its Prices, and Its Reach, Push Wal-Mart to Top {NYT, 10/22/2000)--Wal-Mart's relentless and rapid rise is transforming whole industries. Indeed, its reach is now so broad that Wal-Mart is lending extra momentum to important elements of the new economy.
In Choosing the Right Management Model, Firms Seesaw Between Product and Place
ON DIGITAL CAMERA: Eliminate the Negative?-- This interesting article raises lots of issues: Product obsolescence, complementarities ... MUST READ
Rethinking the Economy [Business Week Oct 1, '01]--After September 11, the balance between the private and public sectors will shift
Companies Are Seeing Efficiencies Erode As Security Worries Drag on Productivity [WSJ Oct 24/2001]
Theory: On auction [NYT 8/1/02]--"Tales of manipulation and design" by Hal Varian. Also on auction: Bidding Adieu [Economist 2/27/02]--Summary the paper by Bulow and Klemperer
Business applications of behavioral economics [NYT 8/19/01]
BUSINESS TAX: A Tax Maneuver in Delaware Puts Squeeze on Other States [WSJ 8/9/02]
ON TRADEMARKS: Fighting Words: Whose Icon Is It? [NYT 9/29/02]

Supply and demand

Books for the Asking [NYT 10/16/02]--The emerging phenomenon of print-on-demand books
Water & Gas: An American pricing paradox [Christian Science Monitor 8/11/02]--Why bottled water costs more than gasoline?
Cigarette Tax, Highest in Nation, Cuts Sales in City [NYT 8/6/02]

Electronic commerce

How Much Is That Civic Online? [NYT 4/25/05]]--by Virginia Postrel "The pundits were wrong: Using the Internet to buy cars does save consumers money"
Online Sales Offer Fresh Look at Economy {NYT 12/19/02]--Hal Varian "there are two types of online consumers: some relentlessly shop for the lowest price, while others are happy to buy at a reliable brand-name merchant." GOOD APPLICATION OF THEORY
Bold Estimate of Web's Thirst For Electricity Seems All Wet [WSJ 12/06/02]--How much electricity do PCs really consume?
Digital Robber Barons? [NYT 12/06/02]--"The wide-open, competitive world of the dial-up Internet depended on the very government regulation so many Internet enthusiasts decried". Op-ed by Krugman
Amazon Writes a Drama in Canada [LAT 11/10/02]--Booksellers, usually protected from foreign rivals, are irked by lack of government action against U.S. e-tailer.
Fare Idea Returns to Haunt Airlines [NYT 10/27/02]--By disseminating their Web fares so widely on Orbitz, the airlines have created another way to ratchet fares even lower when they can least afford it.
Capital One, What's in Your Wallet? - Not as much as you thought [Salte 10/26/02]
Missed Payments and Glitches Drive Online Bill-Payers Batty [WSJ 10/16/02]--Research shows that customers who pay online are less likely to switch banks.
An Online Success for Lands' End [NYT 9/30/02]--Lands' End sells custom-made pants on its Web site
Internet economics has proved a bit of a disappointment [Economist 9/26/02]
Diploma Mills Use Reach of Internet [LAT 9/9/02]
Ears Wide Shut [WP 9/9/02]--Researchers Get Punished for Telemarketers' Crimes
Scientifically Priced Retail Goods [NYT 9/2/01]--Merchants can now set prices across different stores, or stores in different regions
Web Retailers Try to Get Personal [NYT 8/19/02]
THE INFORMATION ECONOMY--The Economics of the Internet, Information Goods, Intellectual Property and Related Issues, compiled by Hal R. Varian
Electronic Commerce Lifts Delivery Concerns' Volume (WSJ, 12/30/98)
Delivering the Internet Goods: FedEx Profit Surge Shows How Shipping Firms Are Benefiting (WP, 3/19/99)
Online Commerce Creates Strange Competition by Hal Varian (NYT, 8/24/2000)
E-Commerce: Impact and Policy Challenges (PDF) (Jonathan Coppell, OECD, June 2000)
The New Economy's 'Network Society' Plays by Old-Economy Rules by Jeff Madrick (NYT, 6/20/2000)
The Economy Transformed, Bit by Bit (NYT, 12/20/99)--Effects of the Internet on the future economy
Is There a New Economy? [OECD Report, June 2000] PDF
Internet Changes the Economics of Information Industries by Hal Varian (NYT, 7/27/2000)
In a Productivity Surge, No Proof of a 'New Economy' by Louis Uchitelle (NYT, 10/08/2000)
The Productivity Mirage --Are computers really that important? (John Cassidy, The New Yorker 11/27/2000)
Ronald Coase on the Economics of the Internet [NYT, September 2000]

Unsound Bytes? [Op ed by Krugman, NYT, 10/16/2000]--It may be a new economy, but the rules of arithmetic apply whether one uses a slide rule or a supercomputer.

And the New Economy Winner Is... Europe [Strategy+Business, 2/2001]
Rethinking Strategy in a Networked World (or Why Michael Porter is Wrong about the Internet) [Strategy+ Business, 3/2001]--Summary of Porter's article
Q&A Michael Porter [Business Week 8/27/01]--Harvard Business School's Michael Porter reflects on how companies misread the first great dot-com wave--and suggests ways the New Economy may evolve
Internet is Lowering the Cost of Advertising and Searching for Jobs by Alan Krueger (NYT, 7/20/2000)

Costs

Costs Are Important, but Revenue Is Crucial [NYT 12/06/02]--On United Airlines problem and pending bankruptcy ["the employee-ownership plan appears to have left United with a dysfunctional business model"]
Cost-Cutting Can Start a Ruinous Circle [NYT 8/25/02]

Economies of scale

In Health Care Business, Size can Matter (NYT, 12/17/98)
Trouble in hog market (Newsweek 12/21/98)
The Funeral Business's New Look (NYT, 11/10/2000)--As big corporations captured a fifth of the American market, earnings in the "death-care industry" failed to live up to expectations and opened the door to individually owned funeral homes.

Economies of scope

Coca-Cola Goes Back to Its 'Real' Past [NYT 1/10/03]
Bottled Water Is Still Pure, but It's Not Simple Anymore (NYT 8/3/02]--This is more about product differentiation athan branding per se
Coke plans to sell plain water (WSJ, November 3, 1998)
H-P to Create Subsidiary to Sell Cheap Brand of Ink-Jet Printers (WSJ, 1/6/99)
Coca-Cola to launch a range of clothing (WSJ, 1/21/99)
A case of diseconomies of scope? Hershey plans to sell pastabrands (WSJ, 11/10/98)
Does Starbuck have economies of scope? (WSJ 3/16/99)
Have hypermarkets had their day? (McKinsey Quarterly No. 4, 1998)--Economies of scale and scope that have given hypermarkets their advantages now appear to be declining
Brand leverage (The McKinsey Quarterly Number 2, 1999)
Corporate America Struggles to Define "Core" Business (WSJ, November 9, 1999)

Market structures

British Reopening the Debate Over Privatization [NYT 8/29/02]

Pricing

THE SIMPLE ECONOMICS OF BRAND STRETCHING--By: Pepall, Lynne M., Richards, Daniel J., Journal of Business, Jul2002. We analyze brand stretching--the extension of a successful brand label from an initial home market to a different product line--using a model that assumes that brand identity is a complementary feature that enhances consumer willingness to pay. Our analysis implies a pattern of brand-stretching entry in which (1) firms with strong brand identities may prefer to extend their brands to markets that are "far" from their original product line, and (2) fragmented or unconcentrated markets with no strong incumbent brands are attractive entry targets for brand extension
Use the Psychology of Pricing To Keep Customers Returning (HBS Working Knowledge)--When to charge for a product or service can be more important than how much to charge, says Harvard Business School professor John Gourville. If you want to build long-term loyalty with customers, you better understand the difference.
PRICING AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONSUMPTION -- Complete paper by Gourville and Soman. MUST READ
Is Performance-Based Pricing the Right Price for You? (HBS Working Knowledge)--Performance-based pricing is an arrangement in which the seller is paid based on the actual performance of its product or service.
Early Buyers Still Catch the Sales [WP 12/29/02]--About Most Favored Customer clause. A new twist: "only 5 to 10 percent of shoppers make a habit of returning to the store to demand reduced prices,"
Pricing the Ballgame [NYT 12/04/02]--Interesting article by Robert Frank on price discrimination plus peak-load pricing: "Last season, a given seat at Shea sold for the same price every day. That seat will now sell at four different prices, depending on when the game occurs and the popularity of the opposing team"
How the Disposable Sofa Conquered America [NYT 12/01/02]--Why IKEA is sucessful. A good case study
Toll-less in Seattle for Ages, but Ready to Move Forward [NY 11/12/02]--Peak-load pricing
Fuel Gauge Is Near 'E' for the Big Three [NYT 10/13/02]--Current troubles for US auto industry
Use the Psychology of Pricing To Keep Customers Returning [HBS 9/30/02]-- When to charge for a product or service can be more important than how much to charge,
California Power Failures Linked to Energy Companies [NYT 9/18/02]
Big Airlines Cut Service and Add Fees [NYT 8/29/02]--Follow the leader! Also, how bankruptcy might strengthen competitive position
Troubled Airlines Face Reality: Those Cheap Fares Have a Price [NYT 8/18/02]
Europeans Try Air Fares Without the Fine Print [NYT 8/9/02]--Backlash? Simple pricing is better?
Airlines Push Web Booking To Cut Costs--As more customers use the Web sites, it will enable the airlines to gather a great deal of information about its passengers. The airlines hope to use all the data they gather on customers to improve their marketing efforts and build passenger loyalty (WP 8/22/01)
Hotels Take a Lesson From Airline Pricing - Yield management tracks availability against current demand, allowing businesses to assign different prices to a commodity — an airline seat, a hotel room or the crème brûlee at a restaurant table — that used to be sold at a fixed price. (NYT 12/16/2000)
Beer Market: London Bar Tries Pricing Based on Demand (WSJ, 6/2/99)
Utilities Try News Ways to Vary Energy Pricing (NYT 7/17/2000)--A growing number of utilities are varying the price of power based on supply and demand to make sure there is enough to go around.
Flat-Rate Plans Aren't Always an Even Deal (WP, 7/28/2000)
Germany Says Wal-Mart Must Raise Prices (NYT, 9/9/2000) German regulators ordered the Wal-Mart to raise its prices for household staples like milk, flour, butter, rice and cooking oil. The regulators said they acted to prevent Wal-Mart and other big chains from using "unfair" tactics against smaller stores.
Grocery wars: Key weapon is loyalty -- Some groceries in New England require customers to use a card to obtain sale prices. This will allow the store to track what its customers buy and to market coupons and other promotions to them, based on their shopping patterns (Boston Globe, 10/10/2000)
Forced to Play Catch-Up (WSJ, 4/21/99)

This article also contains an example of two-part tariff

Discrimination

How Dealers of Rare Sneakers Are Subverting Nike's Strategy [WSJ 8/20/02]--The internet makes price discrimination difficult (subscription to WSJ required)
Technology facilitates price discrimination (Forbes, November 2, 1998)
Techies in Asia frustrate plans by DVD makers to divide world (WSJ, 3/16/99)
Discriminating cleaners (Slate, July 1998)
Indiscriminate pricing (from The Economist)
When discrimination is illegal: an interesting consequence regarding credit cards (WSJ, 11/10/98)
Making Books: Internet Anxiety Seizes Britons (NYT, 6/10/99)--Bookselling over the Internet makes it more difficult for British publishers to charge a higher price in Britain than in the U.S.
When Less is More -- Offering advance-purchase discounts to customers is a profitable business strategy when a firm faces high demamd uncertainty and high fixed costs. [Summary of "Advance-Purchase Discounts and Price Discrimination in Competitive Markets", James D. Dana, Journal of Political Economy, April 1998]
Price Tags Blur On The Web [WP, 9/27/2000]--Amazon sold the same product for different prices to different customers. What Price Fairness? [New York Times, October 4, 2000] Comments by Paul Krugman on Amazon's practice]
Peak-load Pricing -- Some examples of peak load pricing gleaned from newspapers
Capital One Revolutionizes Credit-Card Marketing (WP, 10/30/2000)--Using computer data to track customers' spending patterns, Capital one is trying to predict consumers' purchasing behaviors and target its services according to individuals' needs.
Wal-Mart to End Practice of Sharing Sales Data [NYT]
Pricing: A textbook case [BW, August 27, 2001]--Attention students! Textbooks are cheaper overseas. You can buy them (duty-free) through the internet!
Big Airlines Relax Stay-Over Policy for Lower Fares [NYT 8/11/01]

Bundling

Second Thoughts on 'Bundled' E-Journals [Chronicle of Higher Ed 9/20/02]--Subscription required
The Benefits of Bundling --Bundling the sale of several products may allowing firm to increase profits by implicitly price discriminating among their customers. [Summary of two papers by Klaus Wallner of the Stockholm School of Economics]
A bundle of trouble [Economist, July 5,/01]--Many examples of bundling, and difficulties of antitrust enforcement

The devil is in Windows' details [Salon !0/8/01]--It's the little things, like "registered file types," that allow Microsoft to maintain its monopoly. Example of predatory bundling
Sorting Out Bundling and Antitrust Law [NYT, July 26/01]--By Hal Varian

Strategies toward rivals

Opec considers strategy to combat cheating [NYT 12/10/02]--The group may consider trying to cut production and increase quotas at the same time [more NYT 12/12/02] [more NYT 12/13/02]
WSJ.com - Tech Firms Toss Playbook As Profits Shrink, Ties Fade [WSJ 10/15/02]--How Dell and H-P intrude each other's turf. VERY GOOD--
Look to Your Feet and TV to Find the Future of Air Travel [NYT 8/18/02]-Monopolistic competition, "niche marketing.
THE NASH PROGRAM -- On John Nash
Horizontal Merger Guidelines (Department of Justice)--Official Document
American Airlines Accused of Predatory Pricing (NYT, 5/14/99)
Market entry strategies: Pioneers versus late arrivals (from Strategy and Business) [PDF]
Toy's R Us anticompetitive measures (October 1998)
Price-fixing: Shoe Stores Battle Nine West over Pricing System (NYT, 1/13/99)
Price-fixing: U.S. Outlines How Makers of Vitamins Fixed Global Prices (NYT, 5/21/99)
Pepsico Accuses Coca-Cola of Unfair Business Practices in Lawsuit (NYT, 5/8/98)
Italy plans to nail Coca-Cola for what it says are anti-competitive practices (The Economist, August 14-20/99)--Read this article for arguments from both sides involving retailers, market definition .
A case of blocked merger (LAT, August 1, 1998)
U.S. Sues to Bar Northwest Air From Key Stake in Continental (NYT, 10/24/98)
AOL-Netscape merger: Wall Street Journal
How the Antitrust Wars Wax and Wane (NYT, 4/11/98)
Many Industries are Congealing into Lineup of Few Dominant Giants (WSJ, 3/8/99)
Dell doesn't want to be the first-mover (WSJ, April 9, 1999)
What Acquiring Minds Need to Know (WSJ, 2/22/99)
How Rex stores Beat Rivals ... (WSJ, 7/28/99)
COMMENTS on Judge Jackson's Ruling on the Microsolf Case (November 8, 1999)
How Companies Stall Generics and Keep Themselves Healthy (NYT, July 23, 2000) Brand and generic drug companies have sometimes joined hands to keep drugs off the market. The deals, which can lead to higher prices for consumers, are part of an effort to fend off competition from generics.
How Coke Pushes Rivals Off the Shelves (NYT, August 6, 2000)
COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE -The Pizza Plot: Schwan's knew that Kraft was going to roll out a new kind of frozen pizza. In order to compete, it needed to find out certain things about its rival. To do that, the company would have to be very sneaky. (NYT Magazine December 3, 2000)
U.S. Businesses Turning to Europeans for Antitrust Help [NYT]
The GE/Honeywell Precedent [Krugman in NYT]
Economic Scene: G.E. and Honeywell Ran Afoul of 19th-Century Thinking [NYT]--By Hal Varian
GE-Honeywell Deal Blocked [Washington Post] 7/3/01
EU Rejection Shows Divergence of World's Rules [Washington Post] 7/4/01
A brighter outlook for monopolists [Financial Times July 4, 01--The Microsoft ruling suggests that more competition is not always a good thing in the new economy
The airlines' attempt to raise prices fails as Northwest refuses to do the same.[LAT 4/23/02]
Boeing v. Airbus [Economist 4/25/2002]--VERY GOOD ARTICLE. You'll learn a lot about the aircraft industry!
Competition among universities (The Economist, December 5-11, 1998)
Discounting is no bargain (WSJ, Dec 7, 1998)--Quality vs. price competition:
Bigger is not always better (NYT, December 8, 1998)

Vertical relationships

Food Brokers Are Bigger, so Shelves Look Smaller [NYT 9/2/01]--The food broker business is consolidating rapidly, a trend that may be reducing consumer choice by killing off both new and familiar brands. Idea for our course: Due to the fewness of their number, food brokers are acting like oligopsonists, exploiting small suppliers.
It's Not Cool to Make Things Anymore (WSJ, November 8, 1999) - Outsourcing
Outsourcing: It's Not Just About Cost Cutting [HBS Working Knowledge 7/22/02]--"To get the real strategic value out of your third-party relationships, the first thing to do is throw out what you thought you knew about outsourcing. Here's why"
Classic Outsourcing Blunders [Darwin Online August 2001]--We've been doing it for more than 25 years. Why are we still doing it wrong?
The Limits of Outsourcing [Financial Times 9/24/01]

Industry studies

AIRLINES

How Airlines Resisted Change For 25 Years, and Finally Lost (WSJ 5-10-04)
WWII-era rules put foreign markets and capital out of reach of world's airlines [Boston Globe 12/15/02]--A different view. Why no airlines are truly global
'Creative Destruction' and United Airlines [WP 12/08/02]--A surprisingly good piece by Geoege Will: "The airline industry is capital-intensive ($100 million planes), highly leveraged (an idled plane can still cost $500,000 a month in payments) and labor-intensive (senior pilots can earn $300,000 a year for 80 hours per month). High fixed costs mean that a 12-week strike would bankrupt any major airline, so labor always holds the whip hand."
The Days of Coasting Are Gone [NYT 12/08/02]--Long and boring article
No Clear Way Forward for Airlines [NYT 12/06/02]--Good op-ed article
Why Bush Rejected UAL But Aided Many Others [WSJ 12/06/02]--"Other industries -- particularly those with more political clout than UAL -- have succeeded in winning valuable favors from the Bush administration"--
Airlines' Pain a Chronic Condition [WP 12/06/02]--The problem is chronic overcapacity
Ripple effects of an airline's woes [Christian Science Monitor 12/03/02]--Troubles with United Airlines (wrong price discrimination could hurt)

RETAILS

In New York, a Black Market For Illegal Cigarettes Thrives [WSJ 12/27/02]
Getting Deep-Fried in the Burger Wars [LAT 12/22/02]--McDonald's troubles
Discounters Stalking High-Tech Territory [NYT 12/14/02]

PHARMACEUTICALS

As Patents on Popular Drugs End, Costs for Generics Surge {NYT 12/27/02]

Personnel economics

Why Tax Cuts Will Not Pay Off [NYT 6/26/03]--Supply-side economics says people will work more if their take-home pay rate rises. They do, but only slightly.
Downsizing Could Have a Downside [NYT 12/26/02] "if they use layoffs, they're going to end up with a work force that's going to be more concerned about themselves than about increasing productivity."
What's in a Name? Perhaps Plenty if You're a Job Seeker [NYT 12/12/02]--Discrimination by names
Setting Their Own Schedules [WP/08/02]--Important work trend. Instead of outright retirement or working full time, many are easing out.
If Stock-Options Grants Didn't Work, What Will? [WSJ 8/26/02]--
The Outrage Constraint {NYT 8/23/02]--Krugman. The high pay of America's C.E.O.'s reflects intense competition among companies for the best managerial talent. Stock options and other typical forms of executive compensation are designed to provide incentives for performance. These incentives align the personal interests of managers with those of shareholders. NONE IS TRUE!.
A better way to share the rewards [FT 8/13/02]--Giving managers stock rather than options tends to be cheaper and less risky for shareholders, argue Roberto Mendoza and Peter Hancock.
Options Do Not Raise Performance, Study Finds [NYT 8/11/02]
The pay of chief executives can seem ridiculous. Often, it is [Economist July 11/02]
An Idea Gone Haywire: Linking Executive Pay to Sales [NYT July 14/02]
Stock pricing and workers retention (WSJ, 11/3/98)
Stock options as executive pay
Wal-mart sues Amazon.com for trying to steal its people (October 1998)
The Ugly option [WSJ 4/10/02]--It turns out giving employees stocks has tricky incentives
Lessons on Motivation by Jack Welch (WSJ 6/21/99)
Why Do Firms Train? -- A study explains why, unlike U.S. firms, German firms usually pay for apprenticeships, even though the training is general and easily transferable to a competitor. [Summary of "Why Do Firms Train? Theory and Evidence", Daron Acemoglu and Jorn-Steffen Pischke, Quarterly Journal of Economics, February 1998]
Hal Varian: Good Monitors Make for Better Contracts [NYT 8/23/01]
Professors Who Defend Tenure: Are They Hypocrites? [Chronicle of Higher Ed 10/4/01] By Bhagwati and O'Flaherty
U.S. Airport Task Starts With Staff [NYT 11/23/01]--it will take much more than the new airline-security law's promise of higher salaries

International

Learning to Avoid a Deal-Killing Faux Pas in Japan [NYT 9/17/02]
Five Rules for winning Emerging Market Consumers (Strategy and Business, 2nd quarter 1999)--

Multinationals need a disciplined approach to selling in emerging markets. They can't launch consumer products with a scattershot approach.

Doing business abroad: dealing with cultural differences in advertising (WSJ, November 6, 1998), Korea, Japan
Marketing Gimmicks on Rise in Hong Kong (NYT, 12/26/98)
How small businesses deal with problems of foreign exchanges (from the Wall Street Journal)
Russia's Patchwork Economy: South Korean Companies, Chinese Workers and U.S. Entree (NYT, 3/18/99)
Bagged Cement (The Economist, 6/19-26/99)--Globalization and the cement industry
Newest of Canadian Exports: Surgery (Dayton Daily News, October 24. 1999)
Lower Tariffs, Retail Muscle Translate Into Big Sales for Wal-Mart in Mexico [WSJ 8/31/01]
For more international topics, see my Readings in International Economics

Miscellaneous links

EconLinks (all round good site)
Link to Antitrust site (including DOJ Merger Guidelines)
Price Theory: An Intermediate Text by David Friedman (in case you wish to brush up on your microeconomics)
International finance and development for laypeople
For all about network externalities or network effects, visit this site of S. J. Liebowitz, especially Path Dependence, Network Externalities (Effects), L ock-in and History. Dictionary of Terms in Network Economics (link to Nicholas Economides site)
Papers on retail services published by PricewaterhouseCoopers
Full texts of periodical articles available from OHIOLink (accessible only to students and faculty in member universities)
Policy Debate: Does Globalization Require a Change in Antitrust Policy?
Policy Debate: Is Microsoft a Monopoly?

Personalities

Laurels for an Odd Couple [BW 10/21/02, subscribers only]--On two 2002 Nobelists
Even Without Law, Contracts Can Be Enforced [NYT 10/10/02]--Virginia Postrel on the new institutional economics
A Nobel That Bridges Economics and Psychology [NYT 10/10/02]
An interview with W. Brian Arthur (a proponent of, inter alia, increasing returns to scale)
An interview with C. K. Prahalad (pioneering exponent of the idea of "core competencies")
Profile of Alfred D. Chandler
For more profiles and gossips, click here

General Articles of Interest | Economics of Internet | Cases | Links | Personalities | Branding, Economies of Scope | Pricing | Discrimination | Bundling | Strategies Toward Rivals | Vertical Relationships | Personnel Economics | International
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This page is created and maintained by
Dr. Tran Huu Dung
Department of Economics
Wright State University
Dayton, OH 45435
USA