Relying on the Information of Others: Debt Rescheduling with Multiple Lenders

Can inertia in terminating unsuccessful loans (creditor passivity) be due to the multiplicity of lenders in loan arrangements? Can a lender reschedule, betting against his odds? Private information in the form of bad but coarse news, that would prompt foreclosure on its own, will instead lead to rescheduling. The gamble is that other lenders may have sharper information. At equilibrium, rescheduling occurs even if all lenders received bad news. This is ine¢ cient (increasing the cost of capital) compared to perfect information sharing. However, barren information sharing, at equilibrium there is no excess reliance on the information of others from a social point of view. The paper also contains an extension dealing with \"�financial scandals\".Debt contracts, asymmetric information, rescheduling, in- solvency, Bayesian games.

Relying on the Information of Others: Debt Rescheduling with Multiple Lenders

Can inertia in terminating unsuccessful loans be due to the multiplicity of lenders in loan arrangements? Can a lender reschedule, betting against his odds? We show that fear of being last in a liquidation run prevents the aggregation of the lenders' information about the value of continuation. Private information in the form of bad but coarse news, that would prompt foreclosure on its own, will instead lead to rescheduling. The gamble is that other lenders may have sharper information. At equilibrium, rescheduling occurs even if all lenders received bad news. This is inefficient (increasing the cost of capital) compared to perfect information sharing. However, from a social point of view, barren information sharing, the equilibrium does not exhibit excessive reliance on the information of others.Debt contracts, asymmetric information, rescheduling, bankruptcy, Bayesian games

- EXCLUSIVE DEALING CLAUSES FACILITATE ENTRY

Firms willing to enter a market with a new product often face the problem that the market does notknow its quality. Selling through a retailer might avoid excessive entry costs by renting thereputation of an incumbent. The incumbent can apply excusive dealing clauses to his retailer. Weshow that the incumbent enforces the clause only againts low quality entrants and that exlusivedealing clauses lead to a more fragmented industry and improve welfare. However, if theincumbent can undertake e.g. brand differentiating investments at the retailer (which are welfareenhancing under perfect information), the overall effect of exlusive dealing clauses may be welfarereducing under asymmetric information.Retailing, vertical restraints, market entry

The Effects of Minimum Quality Standards on Product Quality

In a model where two firms’ products are di¤erentiated both, horizontally and vertically, introduction of a quality standard affects equilibrium quality levels of both firms. The effects, furthermore, depend upon consumers being or not perfectly informed about qualities. Qualities are strategic substitutes and under perfect information only non-innocuous standards, i.e. above the lowest quality in an unregulated equilibrium, change the equilibrium. However, the average quality in the market may go down due to the standard, and total consumers welfare decrease. Under uncertainty, even apparently innocuous standards, below the lowest unregulated equilibrium quality, may alter the equilibrium quality choices

Are ”innocuous” Minimum Quality Standards really innocuous?

The present note shows that ”innocuous” Minimum Quality Standards, namely standards that are below the lowest quality level observed in the market, may have effects on equilibrium outcomes. In particular this is true in a duopoly where one high quality firm invests in R&D to lower its cost of quality improvements. A Standard that is below, but close to, the lowest quality observed in the market reduces the incentive to invest by the quality leading firm

The Effects of Minimum Quality Standards: Better or Worse Products?

In a duopoly where two firms’ products are differentiated both, horizontally and vertically, introduction of a quality standard affects equilibrium quality levels of both firms. The effects, furthermore, depend upon consumers being or not perfectly informed about qualities. Qualities are strategic substitutes and under perfect information only non-innocuous standards, i.e. above the lowest quality in an unregulated equilibrium, change the equilibrium. However, the average quality in the market may go down due to the standard, because the high quality firm will lower its own quality, and total consumers welfare may decrease. Under uncertainty, even innocuous standards, below the lowest unregulated equilibrium quality, may alter the equilibrium quality choices

The effects of taxes and subsidies on environmental qualities in a differentiated duopoly

AbstractIn a horizontally differentiated duopoly, a green attribute (environmental quality) can be added to the products. Average green quality generates a positive externality entering the Government's objective function (and possibly consumers' utility). A tax on the "dirtiest" product decreases its environmental quality but it increases that of the cleaner rival enough to imply an average quality increase, achieving environmental protection. The same holds for a subsidy to production targeted to the cleanest producer. A generic quality-related subsidy also increases the positive externality, increases profits of the greenest and lowers those of the dirtiest producer. Education campaigns by the Government also increase average green quality

Exit, Sunk Costs and the Selection of Firms

The paper analyzes the question of which cost characteristics are exhibited by the firms that exit an oligopolistic market when costs are asymmetric and firms can credibly be forced out by the remaining competitors. The main results are: (i) if reentry is impossible (due to the presence of large sunk costs), then the firm with the highest marginal cost function dtays in; if reentry is costless then the firm with the highest average cost exits. Consequenty sunk costs not only affect the number of firms in an industry, but they also enter the determination of the type of firms that resist predation