The consequences of endogenous timing for diversification strategies of multimarket firms

When firms diversify into new markets in spite of the existence of diseconomies of scope, not only firms' profits are affected, but also potential welfare is reduced. Nevertheless, multimarket competition is the outcome of a game when players move simultaneously. A Cournot model is developped where players can choose the timing of their action before deciding over quantities. This helps firms to avoid the inefficiencies that ocur with multimarket competition. Whenever the timing game has an impact on the outcome of the basic game, the consequences for welfare are positive. -- Die Diversifikation von Unternehmen in neue Märkte führt zu Effizienzverlusten und Gewinneinbußen, wenn dadurch Spezialisierungsvorteile nicht mehr genutzt werden können. Dennoch ist Diversifikation das Ergebnis eines simultanen Cournotspiels, in welchem sich zwei Unternehmen auf zwei Märkten als potentielle Wettbewerber gegenüberstehen. Die Einführung einer Vorstufe zum Cournotspiel, in welcher Unternehmen den Zeitpunkt ihrer Angebotsentscheidung in beiden Märkten wählen können, kann einen Teil dieser Ineffizienzen beseitigen. Unternehmen konzentrieren sich auf je einen Markt. Wegen der Existenz potentieller Konkurrenz sind die Wohlfahrtswirkungen trotz der resultierenden monopolistischen Marktstruktur im Vergleich zum Ausgangsspiel positiv.

Interdivisional information sharing: the strategic advantage of knowing nothing

Divisional managers of multiproduct firms often only have precise information about market conditions of their own market. They may have expectations about the demand function of markets served by other divisions. When divisional profits are linked due to interrelated costs or demand parameters, it may be advantageous for a firm to provide each division with information about the other division's demand parameters. I study the incentives of owners to implement such an information structure and the value of intrafirm information sharing in a two firm - two market setting where there are interdivisional cost linkages. It is shown, that the value of bilateral information consists of a (positive) efficiency and a (negative) revenue effect, the weight of which depends on the incentive scheme used to evaluate managers. Regardless of managers' incentive scheme, owners of both firms always choose interdivisional information sharing, even if profits are lower than in a situation of noninformation. -- Manager divisionaler Mehrproduktunternehmen sind oftmals in der Lage, Nachfragebedingungen innerhalb der von ihnen betreuten Märkte einzuschätzen. Marktparameter von Märkten außerhalb ihres Verantwortungsbereich sind ihnen i.d.R. nicht bekannt. Der Wert von und die Anreize zu interdivisionalem Informationsaustausch, wenn divisionale Profite über eine gemeinsame Kostenfunktion miteinander verbunden sind, wird im Rahmen eines zweistufigen Modells untersucht, in welchem zwei Zweiproduktunternehmen miteinander im Wettbewerb stehen. In einer ersten Stufe entscheiden sich die Eigner über die Einführung eines Managementinformationssystems, in der zweiten Stufe treten treffen divisionale Manager ihre Mengenentscheidungen. Der Wert der Information und das Ergebnis des Spiels hängen u.a. von dem Anreizsystem ab, nach welchem Manager beurteilt werden: Information ist nur dann vorteilhaft, wenn Manager divisionale Gewinne maximieren; sie hat negative Wirkungen bei Anreizsystemen, welche Manager zur Internalisiering divisionsexterner Effekte induzieren.

Multimarket contact, collusion and the internal structure of firms

"Im Rahmen von unendlich wiederholten Spielen kann gezeigt werden, daß der Kontakt von Firmen auf mehreren Märkten kooperatives Verhalten und Kollusion beeinflußt. Grund ist, dass ein Aggressor nicht nur auf einem Markt, sondern auf allen Kontaktm ärkten 'bestraft' werden kann. Die Literatur geht dabei von der Existenz eines einzelnen Entscheidungsträgers aus, der Vergeltungsstrategien in den einzelnen Märkten koordiniert. Mehrmarktfirmen sind jedoch oft durch divisionalisierte Organisationsstrukturen gekennzeichnet, in welcher Entscheidungen über einzelne Märkte auf Manager übertragen wird. In diesem Beitrag wird daher der Einfluß von Delegationsentscheidungen auf die Stabilität kooperativer Gleichgewichte im Rahmen eines Zweimarktduopols untersucht. Durch das Vorliegen einer gemeinsamen Kostenfunktion sind die Märkte miteinander verbunden. Es kann gezeigt werden, daß Delegation die Stabilität kooperativer Gleichgewichte erhöht, wenn die Kostenfunktion 'economies of scope' aufweist, und reduziert, wenn negative Kostenverbindungen vorliegen. Implizite Kollusion wird folglich maßgeblich durch Organisationsentscheidungen von Firmen beeinflußt." (Autorenreferat)"Multimarket contact has an impact on the sustainability of collusive outcomes, whenever firms or markets differ from each other or scope effects are present. An implicit assumption made in the literature dealing with multimarket contact and collusion in infinitely repeated games is the existence of a single decision taker. Nevertheless, big firms often hand over responsibility for single markets to managers, who maximize divisional profits. If markets were independent from each other, the impact of multimarket contact would vanish. In this paper, the consequences of divisionalization on the sustainability of are analyzed in a two-firm two-market framework with intra-firm scope effects. Within a divisionalized structure, each manager chooses the output of his market to maximize long-term divisional profits. Managers do not coordinate their collusion or deviation decisions. It is shown, that - dependent on the kind of scope effects - the lack of coordination between divisions may increase or decrease the collusive power of firms. If firms face economies of scope, collusion is easier to sustain within a divisionalized structure, whereas firms facing diseconomies of scope prefer centralized decision making and coordination of collusion across markets. Furthermore, the impact of the compensation scheme for managers is explored: Managers should be made to internalize negative spillover effects, but should be made to neglect positive spillovers." (author's abstract

Multimarket contact, collusion and the internal structure of firms

Multimarket contact has an impact on the sustainability of collusive outcomes, whenever firms or markets differ from each other or scope effects are present. An implicit assumption made in the literature dealing with multimarket contact and collusion in infinitely repeated games is the existence of a single decision taker. Nevertheless, big firms often hand over responsibility for single markets to managers, who maximize divisional profits. If markets were independent from each other, the impact of multimarket contact would vanish. In this paper, the consequences of divisionalization on the sustainability of are analyzed in a two-firm two-market framework with intra-firm scope effects. Within a divisionalized structure, each manager chooses the output of his market to maximize long-term divisional profits. Managers do not coordinate their collusion or deviation decisions. It is shown, that - dependent on the kind of scope effects - the lack of coordination between divisions may increase or decrease the collusive power of firms. If firms face economies of scope, collusion is easier to sustain within a divisionalized structure, whereas firms facing diseconomies of scope prefer centralized decision making and coordination of collusion across markets. Furthermore, the impact of the compensation scheme for managers is explored: Managers should be made to internalize negative spillover effects, but should be made to neglect positive spillovers. -- Im Rahmen von unendlich wiederholten Spielen kann gezeigt werden, daß der Kontakt von Firmen auf mehreren Märkten kooperatives Verhalten und Kollusion beeinflußt. Grund ist, dass ein Aggressor nicht nur auf einem Markt, sondern auf allen Kontaktm ärkten .bestraft. werden kann. Die Literatur geht dabei von der Existenz eines einzelnen Entscheidungsträgers aus, der Vergeltungsstrategien in den einzelnen Märkten koordiniert. Mehrmarktfirmen sind jedoch oft durch divisionalisierte Organisationsstrukturen gekennzeichnet, in welcher Entscheidungen über einzelne Märkte auf Manager übertragen wird. In diesem Beitrag wird daher der Einfluß von Delegationsentscheidungen auf die Stabilität kooperativer Gleichgewichte im Rahmen eines Zweimarktduopols untersucht. Durch das Vorliegen einer gemeinsamen Kostenfunktion sind die Märkte miteinander verbunden. Es kann gezeigt werden, daß Delegation die Stabilität kooperativer Gleichgewichte erhöht, wenn die Kostenfunktion .economies of scope. aufweist, und reduziert, wenn negative Kostenverbindungen vorliegen. Implizite Kollusion wird folglich maßgeblich durch Organisationsentscheidungen von Firmen beeinflußt.

Studying dietary intake in daily life through multilevel two-part modelling: a novel analytical approach and its practical application

Background Understanding which factors influence dietary intake, particularly in daily life, is crucial given the impact diet has on physical as well as mental health. However, a factor might influence whether but not how much an individual eats and vice versa or a factor’s importance may differ across these two facets. Distinguishing between these two facets, hence, studying dietary intake as a dual process is conceptually promising and not only allows further insights, but also solves a statistical issue. When assessing the association between a predictor (e.g. momentary affect) and subsequent dietary intake in daily life through ecological momentary assessment (EMA), the outcome variable (e.g. energy intake within a predefined time-interval) is semicontinuous. That is, one part is equal to zero (i.e. no dietary intake occurred) and the other contains right-skewed positive values (i.e. dietary intake occurred, but often only small amounts are consumed). However, linear multilevel modelling which is commonly used for EMA data to account for repeated measures within individuals cannot be applied to semicontinuous outcomes. A highly informative statistical approach for semicontinuous outcomes is multilevel two-part modelling which treats the outcome as generated by a dual process, combining a multilevel logistic/probit regression for zeros and a multilevel (generalized) linear regression for nonzero values. Methods A multilevel two-part model combining a multilevel logistic regression to predict whether an individual eats and a multilevel gamma regression to predict how much is eaten, if an individual eats, is proposed. Its general implementation in R, a widely used and freely available statistical software, using the R-package brms is described. To illustrate its practical application, the analytical approach is applied exemplary to data from the Eat2beNICE-APPetite-study. Results Results highlight that the proposed multilevel two-part model reveals process-specific associations which cannot be detected through traditional multilevel modelling. Conclusions This paper is the first to introduce multilevel two-part modelling as a novel analytical approach to study dietary intake in daily life. Studying dietary intake through multilevel two-part modelling is conceptually as well as methodologically promising. Findings can be translated to tailored nutritional interventions targeting either the occurrence or the amount of dietary intake

Microtemporal Dynamics of Dietary Intake, Physical Activity, and Impulsivity in Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Ecological Momentary Assessment Study Within Nutritional Psychiatry

Background: Increasing attention is being paid to lifestyle factors, such as nutrition and physical activity (PA), as potential complementary treatment options in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Previous research indicates that sugar and saturated fat intake may be linked to increased impulsivity, a core symptom of ADHD, whereas protein intake and PA may be related to reduced impulsivity. However, most studies rely on cross-sectional data that lack microtemporal resolution and ecological validity, wherefore questions of microtemporal dynamics (eg, is the consumption of foods high in sugar associated with increased impulsivity within minutes or hours?) remain largely unanswered. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) has the potential to bridge this gap. Objective: This study is the first to apply EMA to assess microtemporal associations among macronutrient intake, PA, and state impulsivity in the daily life of adults with and without ADHD. Methods: Over a 3-day period, participants reported state impulsivity 8 times per day (signal-contingent), recorded food and drink intake (event-contingent), and wore an accelerometer. Multilevel 2-part models were used to study the association among macronutrient intake, PA, and the probability to be impulsive as well as the intensity of impulsivity (ADHD: n=36; control: n=137). Results: No association between macronutrient intake and state impulsivity was found. PA was not related to the intensity of impulsivity but to a higher probability to be impulsive (ADHD: β=−.09, 95% CI −0.14 to −0.04; control: β=−.03, 95% CI −0.05 to −0.01). No evidence was found that the combined intake of saturated fat and sugar amplified the increase in state impulsivity and that PA alleviated the positive association between sugar or fat intake and state impulsivity. Conclusions: Important methodological considerations are discussed that can contribute to the optimization of future EMA protocols. EMA research in the emerging field of nutritional psychiatry is still in its infancy; however, EMA is a highly promising and innovative approach as it offers insights into the microtemporal dynamics of psychiatric symptomology, dietary intake, and PA in daily life

Individual differences in the dietary response to stress in ecological momentary assessment: Does the individual‐difference model need expansion?

According to the individual-difference model, individuals differ in the way stress changes their eating behaviour. Research shows that some increase, some decrease, and others show no change in food intake. Despite numerous efforts to identify moderating variables that explain these individual (i.e., between-person) differences, evidence remains inconclusive. The present study aims at deepening the understanding of the stress and eating relationship by applying ecological momentary assessment to study (1) the influence of stress on whether and how much individuals eat and (2) the moderating role of gender, age, BMI, trait stress-eating, and eating styles. The APPetite-mobile-app was used for 3 days to capture actual food intake (event-contingent) and perceived stress (signal-contingent). Data of 154 healthy adults suggest that stress is not associated with whether but how much individuals eat. Only gender moderated the relationship between stress and the amount of food intake. Individual differences were small indicating that an individual\u27s dietary response to stress might not be as stable as yet assumed. Moreover, a study suggests that time-varying factors (e.g., food availability) moderate the stress and eating relationship. Hence, intraindividual (i.e., within-person) variability may be relevant. Therefore, we propose an expansion of the individual-difference model, which accounts for time-varying factors

Presence of apoptotic and nonapoptotic disseminated tumor cells reflects the response to neoadjuvant systemic therapy in breast cancer

INTRODUCTION: Neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) is an established strategy to reduce tumor size in breast cancer patients prior to breast-conserving therapy. The effect of NST on tumor cell dissemination in these patients is not known. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of disseminated tumor cells (DTC), including apoptotic DTC, in breast cancer patients after NST, and to investigate the correlation of DTC status with therapy response. METHODS: Bone marrow aspiration was performed in 157 patients after NST. DTC were detected by immunocytochemistry using the A45–B/B3 anticytokeratin antibody. To detect apoptotic DTC the antibody M30 (Roche Diagnostics, Germany) was used, which detects a neo-epitope expressed only after caspase cleavage of cytokeratin 18 during early apoptosis. RESULTS: The incidence of DTC in breast cancer patients was 53% after completion of NST. Tumor dissemination was observed more frequently in patients with no change/progressive disease (69%) than in patients with partial remission or complete remission of the primary tumor (46%) (P < 0.05). Ten out of 24 patients with complete remission, however, were still bone marrow positive. Apoptotic DTC were present in 36 of 157 (23%) breast cancer patients. Apoptotic cells only were detected in 14% of the patients with partial remission or complete remission, but were detected in just 5% of the patients with stable disease. Apoptotic DTC were detectable in none of the patients with tumor progression. CONCLUSION: The pathological therapy response in breast cancer patients is reflected by the presence of apoptotic DTC. Patients with complete remission, however, may still have nonapoptotic DTC. These patients may also benefit from secondary adjuvant therapy

Impact of High Mathematics Education on the Number Sense

In adult number processing two mechanisms are commonly used: approximate estimation of quantity and exact calculation. While the former relies on the approximate number sense (ANS) which we share with animals and preverbal infants, the latter has been proposed to rely on an exact number system (ENS) which develops later in life following the acquisition of symbolic number knowledge. The current study investigated the influence of high level math education on the ANS and the ENS. Our results showed that the precision of non-symbolic quantity representation was not significantly altered by high level math education. However, performance in a symbolic number comparison task as well as the ability to map accurately between symbolic and non-symbolic quantities was significantly better the higher mathematics achievement. Our findings suggest that high level math education in adults shows little influence on their ANS, but it seems to be associated with a better anchored ENS and better mapping abilities between ENS and ANS