Oligopolistic Non-Linear Pricing and Size Economies

The effects of non-linear pricing are determined by the relationship between the demand and the technological structure of the market. This paper focuses on a model in which firms supply a homogeneous product in two different sizes. Information about consumers' reservation prices is incomplete and the production technology is characterized by size economies. Four equilibrium regions are identified depending on the relative intensity of size economies with respect to consumers' evaluation of a second unit of the good. The desirability of non-linear pricing varies across different equilibrium regions.non-linear pricing, size economies, supply technology.

Mechanosensing in myosin filament solves a 60 years old conflict in skeletal muscle modeling between high power output and slow rise in tension

Almost 60 years ago Andrew Huxley with his seminal paper \cite{Huxley1957} laid the foundation of modern muscle modeling, linking chemical events to mechanical performance. He described mechanics and energetics of muscle contraction through the cyclical attachment and detachment of myosin motors to the actin filament with ad hoc assumptions on the dependence of the rate constants on the strain of the myosin motors. That relatively simple hypothesis is still present in recent models, even though with several modifications to adapt the model to the different experimental constraints which became subsequently available. However, already in that paper, one controversial aspect of the model became clear. Relatively high attachment and detachment rates of myosin to the actin filament were needed to simulate the high power output at intermediate velocity of contraction. However, these rates were incompatible with the relatively slow rise in tension after activation, despite the rise should be generated by the same rate functions. This discrepancy has not been fully solved till today, despite several hypotheses have been forwarded to reconcile the two aspects. Here, using a conventional muscle model, we show that the recently revealed mechanosensing mechanism of recruitment of myosin motors \cite{Linarietal2015} can solve this long standing problem without any further ad-hoc hypotheses

Horizontal Mergers in the Spokes Model

The theoretical analysis of merger poses a number of paradoxes. If firms compete in prices, a merger is profitable for all parties involved. Outsiders, however, free-ride and earn higher profits than insiders. The "spokes model" is a recently introduced framework to study n-firms spatial competition. This paper shows that in this model free-riding does not necessarily take place.horizontal mergers, spokes model, mergers paradoxes.

Optimal Differentiation and Spatial Competition: The Spokes Model with Product Delivery

The spokes model is a recent framework to study n-firms spatial competition. In a spatial framework firms delivering their product can price discriminate with respect to consumers’ location. Conditions for the existence of a price-location equilibrium of the spokes model with delivered product are established in both the case where there are as many firms as spokes and in the case not all spokes are occupied. The equilibrium outcome may be interpreted as one firm supplying a "general purpose product" while others focusing on their "niche".spokes model, discrimination, optimal location

Religious Attitudes and Home Bias

Home bias affects trade in goods, services and financial assets. It is mostly generated by "natural" trade barriers. Among these dividers we may list many behavioral and sociological factors, such as status quo biases and a few kind of ‘embeddedness’. Unfortunately these factors are difficult to measure. An important part of ‘embeddedness’ may be related to religious attitudes. Is there any relation between economic home bias and religious attitudes at the individual tier? Our aim is to provide a first answer to this question, by going through the econometric analysis of data from a survey conducted among in 11 European universities

Home Bias among European Students

Home bias in international trade and finance has been deeply investigated in both theoretical and applied studies. Nonetheless, we do not possess so far any experimental and/or survey assessment of the phenomenon. This paper fills this gap and examines home (and European) bias from survey data based on questionnaires handed out to university students of eleven European countries. Uneven evidence of home and European biases has been found across distinct economic decisions in some individual attitudes

Net neutrality and innovation at the core and at the edge

How would abandoning Internet net neutrality affect content providers that have different sizes? We model an Internet broadband provider that can offer a different quality of service (priority) to heterogeneous content providers. Internet users can potentially access all content, although they browse and click ads with different probabilities. Net neutrality regulation effectively protects innovation done at the edge by small content providers. Prioritization, instead, increases both infrastructure core investment and welfare only if it sufficiently stimulates innovation from the large content provider. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Municipal Solid Waste, Market Competition and the EU Policy

Two of the main pillars of the EU solid waste policy are the Proximity Principle and the Self-Sufficiency Principle. According to those, waste should be disposed as close as possible to where it has been produced. A likely effect of such provision is to prevent competition from neighbouring areas and increase the market power of local disposers, with possible undesirable consequences for other firms in the vertical chain. We show through a simple spatial model that one additional effect of the Proximity Principle and of the Self-Sufficiency Principle is to provide an incentive to collectors and waste producers to increase the amount of separated waste

Biomechanical comparison of shorts with different pads: An Insight into the Perineum Protection Issue

An intensive use of the bicycle may increase the risk of erectile dysfunction and the compression of the perineal area has been showed to be a major mechanism leading to sexual alterations compromising the quality of life. Manufacturers claim that pads contribute to increase cyclists perineal protection ensuring a high level of comfort. To investigate the influence of various cycling pads with regard to perineal protection and level of comfort. Nine club road cyclists rode 20 min on a drum simulator, located at the Nutrition and Exercise Physiology Laboratory, at a constant speed and gear ratio wearing the shorts with 3 cycling pads of different design and thickness: basic (BAS), intermediate (INT), and endurance (END). Kinematics and pressure data were recorded at min 5, 15, and 20 of the test using a motion capture system and a pressure sensor mat. The variables of interest were: 3-dimensional pelvis excursions, peak pressure, mean pressure, and vertical force. The comfort level was assessed with a ranking order based on the subjects' perception after the 20-min trials and measuring the vertical ground reaction force under the anterior wheel as well as the length of the center of pressure (COP) trajectory on the saddle. Results showed that the vertical force and the average value of mean pressure on the saddle significantly decreased during the 20-min period of testing for BAS and END. Mean peak pressure on the corresponding perineal cyclist area significantly increased only for BAS during the 20-min period. Interestingly objective comfort indexes measured did not match cyclists subjective comfort evaluation. The lower capacity of BAS to reduce the peak pressure on the corresponding perineal area after 20 min of testing, together with its positive comfort evaluation, suggest that a balance between protection and perceived comfort should be taken into account in the choice of the pad. Hence, the quantitative approach of objective comfort indexes introduced in this study could be helpful for manufacturers in the development of their protective pads