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Lower Prices (lower + price)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	80%
Medical Sciences	9%
2 Other Domains	11%

Distribution within Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting

General & Introductory Economics	35%
Agricultural Economics & Resource Management	11%

Selected Abstracts

Why Do Suppliers Charge Larger Buyers Lower Prices?

THE JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2001
Rajeev K. Tyagi
The phenomenon of input suppliers charging larger buyer firms, relative to smaller buyer firms, lower prices is commonly explained in terms of supplier economies of scale, supplier competition for larger buyers, and the larger bargaining power of larger buyers. This paper provides an alternative explanation, and shows that the observed direction of differential pricing can benefit the supplier by lowering the level of tacit collusion its buyers can sustain in their output market. This result also provides a new mechanism through which a ban on price discrimination by input suppliers may lower consumer welfare. [source]

Monopoly Price Dispersion Under Demand Uncertainty

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 3 2001
James D. Jr. DanaArticle first published online: 23 DEC 200
When a monopolist sets its price before its demand is known, then it may set more than one price and limit the availability of its output at lower prices. This article adds demand uncertainty and price rigidities to the standard model of monopoly pricing. When there are two states of demand and the ex post monopoly price is greater when demand is high then the monopolist's optimal ex ante pricing strategy is to set two prices and limit purchases at the lower price. [source]

Cassava starch functional properties by etherification , hydroxypropylation

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 6 2006
Cláudio S. Schmitz
Summary Starches are important food biopolymers with gelling properties that are well explored by the food industry for texture and physical food characteristic control. Brazil contributes to a large part of the starches produced world wide, but the modified starches used are imported and expensive. The objective of this work was to develop a hydroxypropylated starch from cassava starch, at a lower price and in conditions in accordance with Brazilian reality. Dihydroxypropylstarch (DHPS) was produced with a less expensive and less harmful substituting molecule, chloropropylene glycol. DHPS physical chemistry properties, retrogradation and micro structural characteristics were studied and compared with native corn, cassava starches and a commercial hydroxypropylated (HPS) cassava starch, with an extensive use in the food industry. DHPS showed the highest values for swelling power and viscosity, low retrogradation and higher freezing,thawing stability, compared with HPS, cassava and native corn starches. The microstructure of DHPS remained unmodified when compared with commercial HPS. Retrogradation and physical chemistry properties are superior to DHPS, which would indicate its use in industrial food production. [source]

Fertility and Economic Growth: Do Immigrant Maids Play a Role?

PACIFIC ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 2 2002
Sucharita Ghosh
A significant source of child-care services in East and South-East Asia are provided by immigrant maids. Using a modified version of the model used in Galor and Weil (1996), the present paper analyses the impact of this source of child-care services on women's labor market participation, fertility behavior and the household purchase of child-care services. The results show that a lower price for the maid service leads to a lower savings rate, a higher demand for children and less time being spent with children. We also find that hiring immigrant maids leads to lower economic growth in the long run. [source]

Dynamic pricing in internet retail: Effects on consumer trust

PSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 6 2003
Ellen Garbarino
Individual-level price discrimination, while not a new idea, is more than a theoretical possibility in the Internet age. Economic theory argues that dynamic pricing (i.e., individual-level price discrimination) is inherently good for the profitability of the firm, because it allows the firm to capture a larger share of the consumer surplus, but anecdotal evidence from recent retail experiments with Internet-based dynamic pricing suggests that consumers react strongly against this practice. Using a two-dimensional conceptualization of trust, based on benevolence and competence trust, the current experiment examines how the experience of a dynamic pricing event and the direction of the pricing discrimination (i.e., whether one is offered the higher or the lower price) affects both the mean levels of trust and the weight given to the separate trust dimensions in the formation of overall trust. Because demand-based pricing, such as dynamic pricing, is generally considered unfair, it is expected that trust levels will be lower and that more weight will be given to benevolence trust. Results show that mean benevolence trust is significantly lower (which leads to a marginal decrease in overall trust) and the weight given to benevolence trust in the formation of overall trust substantially increases. The direction-of-price-discrimination effects are generally unsupported. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

The Impacts of Contract Type on Broker Performance

REAL ESTATE ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2001
Ronald C. Rutherford
This paper offers a theoretical and empirical analysis of the exclusive agency and exclusive-right-to-sell contracts used in real estate brokerage. The theoretical model predicts that while both contract types will yield the same price, the exclusive agency contract will result in faster sales than the exclusive-right-to-sell contract. In the empirical model, we find that houses sold faster under the exclusive agency contract than the exclusive-right-to-sell contract. However, houses sold with exclusive agency contracts also sold at a marginally lower price. We also find a slightly greater concession from the listing price at the negotiation stage of exclusive agency listings. [source]

The euro and the competitiveness of European firms

ECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 57 2009
Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano
SUMMARY EMU and competition Much attention has been paid to the impact of a single currency on actual trade volumes. Lower trade costs, however, matter over and beyond their effects on trade flows: as less productive firms are forced out of business by the tougher competitive conditions of international markets, economic integration fosters lower prices and higher average productivity. We assess the quantitative relevance of these effects calibrating a general equilibrium model using country, sector and firm-level empirical observations. The euro turns out to have increased the overall competitiveness of Eurozone firms, and the effects differ along interesting dimensions: they tend to be stronger for countries which are smaller or with better access to foreign markets, and for firms which specialize in sectors where international competition is fiercer and barriers to entry lower. , Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano, Daria Taglioni and Filippo di Mauro [source]

The alcohol industry and trade agreements: a preliminary assessment

ADDICTION, Issue 2009
Donald W. Zeigler
ABSTRACT Aims To review trade agreements, their relation to alcohol control policy and examine the role of the alcohol industry in supporting and attempting to influence trade policy. Methods Review of peer review, public health advocacy literature (both pro and con on free trade), business, press and government documents on trade agreements, assess current and potential challenges by trade agreements to alcohol control policy and investigate the means and extent of industry influence in trade agreements. Findings ,Free' trade agreements reduce trade barriers, increase competition, lower prices and promote alcohol consumption. However, international treaties, negotiated by free trade experts in close consultation with corporate lobbyists and without significant, if any, public health input, governments and corporations contain significant provisions that will result in increased alcohol consumption and may challenge public health measures of other nations as constraints on trade. Conversely, alcohol control measures seek to reduce access and consumption, raise prices and restrict advertising and product promotion. The prospect is for increased alcohol consumption and concomitant problems throughout the world. Conclusions Trade agreements challenge effective alcohol control policies. The alcohol industry seeks to influence agreements and can be expected to work through trade agreements to reduce tariffs, increase market access and seek to restrict effective domestic regulations. Further research is needed on the impact of trade agreements and the ongoing role of the industry. Advocates must recognize the inherent conflicts between unbridled free trade and public health, work to exclude alcohol from trade agreements, counter industry influence and protect alcohol control policies. [source]

The midterm review and the new challenges for EU agriculture

EUROCHOICES, Issue 3 2002
Tassos Haniotis
Summary The Midterm Review and the New Challenges for EU Agriculture The Brussels Summit agreement of October 2002 on the financing of the CAP opens the way for a final agreement on enlargement and defines the level of the agricultural budget for the next financial perspective. Answering the how much question allows the debate to focus on the how question of support for EU agriculture. To these questions the Commission had responded with its Midterm Review of July 2002. Although proposals will have to be adapted in view of the new financial perspective, the fundamental issues addressed in the Midterm Review remain unchanged as these reflect the gradual shift from supply driven to demand driven orientations for the CAR The citizens of the EU seem to agree that EU agriculture should, at the same time, be competitive and promote the highest environmental, product quality and animal welfare standards. This apparent paradox implies, on the one hand, the need for lower prices and, on the other hand, higher production costs. To resolve this dilemma the underlying philosophy of the Midterm Review is to shift the policy debate onto the efficiency of the available policy instruments in meeting their stated objectives. Thus the need for safety-net market support, decoupled income support and strengthened rural development. La revue à mi parcours et les nouveaux défis de l'agriculture européenne Grâce à l'accord obtenu sur le financement de la PAC au sommet de Bruxelles d'octobre 2002, la voie est maintenant ouverte à un accord final sur l,élargissement et sur la définition du budget agricole pour les prochaines échéances. Répondre à la question "à quel niveau" permet au débat de se centrer sur le "comment" soutenir l'agriculture européenne. La commission a donné sa réponse à ces questions dans sa "revue à mi-parcours". Même si les propositions en question devront faire l'objet d'ajustements aux nouvelles perspectives budgétaires, les problèmes fondamentaux posés par la revue à mi-parcours demeurent, dans la mesure où elles reflètent le passage graduel d'un pilotage de PAC par l'offre à un pilotage par la demande. Les citoyens de l'UE semblent d'accord pour dire que l'agriculture doit être à la fois compétitive, et obtenir les plus hauts standards possibles en matière de qualité et de bien-être animal. Ce paradoxe apparent implique d'un côté, des prix plus bas, et de l'autre, des coûts de production plus élevés. Pour résoudre ce conflit, la philosophie sous-jacente à la "revue à mi-parcours" consiste à faire glisser le débat politique sur la question de l'efficacité des instruments disponibles et de leur aptitude à atteindre les objectifs ainsi fixés. D'où le besoin d'un filet de sécurité sur les marchés, d'un soutien découplé pour les revenus et d'un renforcement du développement rural. Die Zwischenbewertung und die neuen Herausforderungen an die Landwirtschaft der EU Das Abkommen vom Brüsseler Gipfel im Oktober 2002 zur Finanzierung der GAP eröffnet die Möglichkeit einer endgültigen Einigung im Hinblick auf die Erweiterung und legt die Höhe des Agrarhaushalts für die kommende Finanzplanungsperiode fest. Durch die Festlegung kann sich die Debatte nun der Frage widmen, auf welche Art und Weise die Landwirtschaft der EU unterstützt werden soil. Diesen beiden Aspekten hatte die Kommission in der Zwischenbewertung vom Juli 2002 Rechnung getragen. Obwohl die Vorschläge angesichts der neuen Finanzplanungsperiode angepasst werden müssen, bleiben die grundlegenden, in der Zwischenbewertung angesprochenen Probleme bestehen, da diese den schrittweisen Übergang der GAP von der Angebotsorientierung hin zur Nachfrageorientierung widerspiegeln. Die EU-Bürger stimmen scheinbar darin überein, dass die Landwirtschaft der EU gleichermaßen wettbewerbsfähig sein und die höchsten Standards im Hinblick auf die Umwelt, die Produktqualität und den Tierschutz erreichen sollte. Dieser offenkundige Widerspruch erfordert einerseits niedrigere Preise und zieht andererseits höhere Produktionskosten nach sich. Zur Auflösung dieses Dilemmas sieht es der der Zwischenbewertung zugrunde liegende Ansatz vor, den Fokus der politischen Debatte darauf zu richten, wie effizient die verfügbaren Politikmaßnahmen zum Erreichen der Zielsetzung beitragen. Daraus ergibt sich die Notwendigkeit für eine Marktstützung als Sicherheitsnetz, für eine entkoppelte Einkommensstützung und für eine intensivere Entwicklung des ländlichen Raums. [source]

The restructuring and privatisation of British Rail: was it really that bad?

FISCAL STUDIES, Issue 4 2002
Michael G. Pollitt
Abstract This paper uses a social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA) framework to assess whether rail privatisation in Britain has produced savings in operating costs. The paper shows that major efficiencies have been achieved and consumers have benefited through lower prices, whilst the increased government subsidy has been largely recouped through privatisation proceeds. We also find that output quality is no lower (and is probably better) than under the counterfactual scenario of public ownership (pre-Hatfield). The achievement of further savings is key to delivering improved rail services in the future. This paper finds that a privatised structure, where shareholders demand a return on their investment, has led to significant improvements in operating efficiency. It remains to be seen whether the new regime, with a not-for-profit infrastructure owner, will deliver the same efficiency improvements. [source]

Monopoly Price Dispersion Under Demand Uncertainty

Demand for differentiated milk products: implications for price competition

AGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009
Elena Lopez
The authors apply the Berry, Levinsohn, and Pakes (1995) model to scan data from Boston supermarkets augmented with consumer characteristics data to analyze consumer choices and price competition in a differentiated fluid milk market. Milk characteristics include price, fat content, brand name, and the organic and/or lactose-free nature of the product. Empirical results show that consumer valuation of fat decreases with income, but increases with the number of children. Low-fat and specialty milks, such as organic and lactose-free milks, are preferred by high-income consumers with no children. Although all milks are price elastic at the individual brand level, the cross-price elasticities are quite low and negligible for specialty milks. Based on calculated Lerner indexes, private label milks have the highest percent markups despite their lower prices, whereas specialty milks have the lowest markups despite their higher prices, which attests to a greater degree of market power for conventional and particularly for private label milk. [JEL Classification: D12, D40, L11, L81]. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

International Pricing in a Generalized Model of Ideal Variety

JOURNAL OF MONEY, CREDIT AND BANKING, Issue 2009
DAVID HUMMELS
Lancaster ideal variety; price to market We examine international markups and pricing in a generalized version of an "ideal variety" model. In this model, entry causes crowding in variety space, so that the marginal utility of new varieties falls as market size grows. Crowding is partially offset by income effects, as richer consumers will pay more for varieties closer matched to their ideal types. We show theoretically and confirm empirically that declining marginal utility of new varieties results in: a higher own-price elasticity of demand (and lower prices) in large countries and a lower own-price elasticity of demand (and higher prices) in rich countries. The model is also useful for generating facts from the literature regarding cross-country differences in the rate of variety expansion. [source]

Optimal operating policies in a commodity trading market with the manufacturer's presence

NAVAL RESEARCH LOGISTICS: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2010
Hui Zhao
Abstract With the help of the Internet and express delivery at relatively low costs, trading markets have become increasingly popular as a venue to sell excess inventory and a source to obtain products at lower prices. In this article, we study the operational decisions in the presence of a trading market in a periodic-review, finite-horizon setting. Prices in the trading market change periodically and are determined endogenously by the demand and supply in the market. We characterize the retailers'optimal ordering and trading policies when the original manufacturer and the trading market co-exist and retailers face fees to participate in the trading market. Comparing with the case with no trading fees, we obtain insights into the impact of trading fees and the fee structure on the retailers and the manufacturer. Further, we find that by continually staying in the market, the manufacturer may use her pricing strategies to counter-balance the negative impact of the trading market on her profit. Finally, we extend the model to the case when retailers dynamically update their demand distribution based on demand observations in previous periods. A numerical study provides additional insights into the impact of demand updating in a trading market with the manufacturer's competition. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010 [source]

Relationship between product groups' price perceptions, shopper's basket size, and grocery store's overall store price image

PSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 10 2003
Kalpesh Kaushik Desai
This research investigates how consumers form an overall store price image (OSPI) of grocery stores. Whereas prior research on this topic has explored the influence of the number of products offered at lower prices and of the magnitude of such price reduction, this study addresses the following two questions: How do the (lower) prices offered on different types of products influence OSPI? Does such influence vary across consumers, and, if so, how? A general framework of product-price saliency on consumers' OSPI is developed and tested. Specifically, based on two product-related factors,consumption span (length of time required to finish the consumption of a standard unit of the product) and unit price, grocery-store products are classified into four exhaustive and mutually exclusive product groups, and the relationship between OSPI and group-level price perceptions across the four product groups is examined. The framework also examines to what extent this relationship is moderated by consumers' shopping-basket size. Consistent with the proposed framework, this research finds strong empirical evidence of a systematic but differential relationship between OSPI and product group-level price perceptions and also a systematic interaction effect with consumers' basket size. The findings help to identify focal product categories across distinct consumer segments and thus hold important strategic implications for category management and target marketing that are likely to increase the overall effectiveness of retail promotional strategies. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Listing Price, Time on Market, and Ultimate Selling Price: Causes and Effects of Listing Price Changes

REAL ESTATE ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2002
John R. Knight
Information about price changes during a home's marketing period is typically missing from data used to investigate the listing price, selling price, and selling time relationship. This paper incorporates price revision information into the study of this relationship. Using a maximum-likelihood probit model, we examine the determinants of list price changes and find evidence consistent with the theory of pricing behavior under demand uncertainty. Homes most likely to undergo list price changes are those with high initial markups and vacant homes, while homes with unusual features are the least likely to experience a price revision. We also explore the impact of missing price change information on estimating a representative model of house price and market time. Our results suggest that mispricing the home in the initial listing is costly to the seller in both time and money. Homes with large percentage changes in list price take longer to sell and ultimately sell at lower prices. [source]

Retail Mergers, Buyer Power and Product Variety,

THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 516 2007
Roman Inderst
This article analyses the impact of retail mergers on product variety. We show that, following a merger, a retailer may want to enhance its buyer power by committing to a ,single-sourcing' purchasing strategy. Anticipating further concentration in the retail industry, suppliers will strategically choose to produce less differentiated products, which further reduces product variety. If negotiations are efficient, the overall loss in product variety may reduce consumer surplus and total welfare. With linear tariffs, however, there may be a countervailing effect as the more powerful retailer passes on lower prices to final consumers. [source]

Bank Mergers and Crime: The Real and Social Effects of Credit Market Competition

THE JOURNAL OF FINANCE, Issue 2 2006
MARK J. GARMAISE
ABSTRACT Using a unique sample of commercial loans and mergers between large banks, we provide micro-level (within-county) evidence linking credit conditions to economic development and find a spillover effect on crime. Neighborhoods that experience more bank mergers are subject to higher interest rates, diminished local construction, lower prices, an influx of poorer households, and higher property crime in subsequent years. The elasticity of property crime with respect to merger-induced banking concentration is 0.18. We show that these results are not likely due to reverse causation, and confirm the central findings using state branching deregulation to instrument for bank competition. [source]

Why Do Suppliers Charge Larger Buyers Lower Prices?

Purchasing Cooperatives for Small Employers: Performance and Prospects

THE MILBANK QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2000
Elliot K. Wicks
Health insurance purchasing cooperatives were established in the early to mid-1990s for the purpose of making health insurance more affordable and accessible for small employers. Extensive interviews at six cooperatives reveal that while some cooperatives enrolled large numbers of small employers, most have won only small market shares and a number have struggled for survival, not always successfully. They have allowed small employers to offer individual employees choice of health plans, but none has been able to sustain lower prices than are available in the conventional market. Among the important impediments to their success are limited support from health plans and conflicts over the role of insurance agents. [source]

Beyond semi-dwarf wheat yield increases: impacts on the Australian wheat industry of on-going spillovers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL & RESOURCE ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2007
John P. Brennan
Wheat genetic materials developed from research at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico for developing countries have provided spillover benefits to Australia. Varieties developed from those genetic materials have resulted in yield increases in Australia. While the initial impact came through the introduction of higher-yielding semi-dwarf wheat crops, those impacts have continued in the post-semidwarf period. CIMMYT's success in developing countries has also reduced the world price for wheat. While the lower prices affect returns in Australia, the increased yields in Australia from the CIMMYT spillovers from both the semi-dwarfs and the post-semidwarf phases have provided benefits to Australia averaging A$30 million per year. [source]