Showing results for: “loyalty discounts”
FTC/ DOJ Section 2 Hearings Continue
The FTC/ DOJ Section 2 Hearings (aka Hearings on Section 2 of the Sherman Act: Single Firm Conduct as Related to Competition) continued earlier this week with a session on tying Wednesday featuring David Evans, Robin Cooper Feldman, Mark Popofsky, Donald Russell, Michael Waldman, and Robert Willig. This link contains presentation materials and will eventually, ... FTC/ DOJ Section 2 Hearings Continue
Nobel Speculation and Some Very Casual Empiricism
With the Econ Nobel (or for those who feel better using the official label, the “Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel” … ) to be announced on Monday, the time is ripe for speculation. Greg Mankiw, Don Boudreaux, the WSJ, and Tyler Cowen have chimed in on the frontrunners. Cowen ... Nobel Speculation and Some Very Casual Empiricism
Mutual Fund Voting
The W$J ran a story earlier in the week on mutual fund voting (see here). The story reported on the somewhat old news that academic research has “found no evidence of fund companies tailoring their votes to specific business relationships,” contrary to earlier claims by shareholder activists. The article is nonetheless of interest because it ... Mutual Fund Voting
J&J’s Bundled Discounts Victory
As reported here, Johnson & Johnson scored a major victory last week in a case challenging some of its discounting practices. The jury concluded that J&J had not engaged in monopolization of the market for “trocars,” which are sharp cylindrical devices used in endoscopic surgery. Plaintiff Applied Medical Resources Corp., which sells trocars that compete ... J&J’s Bundled Discounts Victory
Hovenkamp on Slotting, Discounts, and Competition for Distribution
Like Thom, I also have spent the last few weeks reading Herbert Hovenkamp’s excellent new antitrust book, The Antitrust Enterprise: Principles and Execution. I am looking forward to Thom’s review in the Texas Law Review, and wholeheartedly agree with him that Hovenkamp’s book is an important and significant contribution to the antitrust literature (see also ... Hovenkamp on Slotting, Discounts, and Competition for Distribution
Rules.
I basically like rules. Rules, laws, parameters, boundaries. I tend to be more of a visual thinker, so rules allow me to create mental boxes into which I can visually put ideas. And, setting aside my own cognitive style, rules keep the world organized. We all know what to expect from each other if we ... Rules.
Delaware Opinion Addresses Multitude of Corporate Law Issues
Francis Pileggi has a summary on his blog of the recent Delaware Chancery Court opinion in Oliver v. Boston University (see here). He also links to the 105 page opinion. I have not read the opinion but intend to because it addresses a number of core corporate law issues including the business judgment rule, duty ... Delaware Opinion Addresses Multitude of Corporate Law Issues
UnitedHealth Option Backdating Lawsuit Complaint
As I noted in this post, there are a variety of federal securities law claims that could be alleged with respect to option backdating. The case filed against UniteHealth, however, is a derivative suit which indicates it is based on state law claims. I was curious as to what exactly the claims are so I ... UnitedHealth Option Backdating Lawsuit Complaint
A Bizarre Insider Trading Case from Down Under
Today’s W$J reports on an odd lawsuit the Australian government is pursuing against Citigroup. According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, a smoke break conversation between Citigroup employees resulted in illegal insider trading. Citigroup, it seems, was representing bidder Toll Holdings, Inc. in a yet-to-be-announced hostile bid for Patrick Corp., Austrialia’s largest port cargo ... A Bizarre Insider Trading Case from Down Under
"Hofstra-gate?" Revisited
Matt Bodie, of Hofstra and Prawfsblawg, is “a little outraged” at the NCAA tournament selection committee’s failure to invite Hofstra to the big dance. But what really gets Matt is that: George Mason, a team that Hofstra beat twice, is going instead. George Mason had a slightly tougher out of conference schedule, but it has ... "Hofstra-gate?" Revisited
Trust the Customer!
Nobel Laureate (and GMU Prof) Vernon Smith has a must read column in the WSJ on the growing costs of health care and education. The problem? “[I]f third-party deep pockets pay whatever is the price B charges A this year, the effect is to reinforce the incentive to raise the price next year. Spending escalates, ... Trust the Customer!
On disclosure: Shame?
Daniel Akst in the NYT has an interesting piece on executive compensation and disclosure (HT: Tyler Cowen). He calls for more shame — more reliance on norms to manage intractable agency problems: Although more disclosure and pay-for-performance requirements won’t dampen runaway C.E.O. compensation, both are useful for illustrating a larger lesson: that it’s naïve to ... On disclosure: Shame?
