Scope Of Competition Research Articles

Price competition in pharmaceuticals – Evidence from 1303 Swedish markets

We study the short- and long-term price effects of the number of competing firms, using panel-data on 1303 distinct pharmaceutical markets for 78 months within a reference-price system. We use actual transaction prices in an institutional setting with little scope for non-price competition and where simultaneity problems can be addressed effectively. In the long term, the price of generics is found to decrease by 81% when the number of firms selling generics with the same strength, form and similar package size is increased from 1 to 10. Nearly only competition at this fine-grained level matters; the effect of firms selling other products with the same active substance, but with different package size, form, or strength, is only a tenths as large. Half of the price reductions take place immediately and 70% within three months. Also, prices of originals are found to react to competition, but far less and much slower.

Partial Mediators Influencing Entrepreneurial Competencies and the Performance of Small Hospitality Firm in Ghana

As successive Governments in Ghana invest more funds into the training of skilled personnel as well as reduce taxes on fuel, airport taxes and other taxes that affect travelers, private brands must also take steps to ensure a high maintenance culture and deploy their entrepreneurial competences to stimulate greater competitive scope and organizational capability to achieve higher performance. The study revisits this case in the context of small scale hospitality firms in Ghana to scrutinize the degree to which entrepreneurs’ competencies influence competitive scope and organizational capability to support performance. Acollection of a robust feed-forward Artificial Neural networks (ANN) based on sigmoid basis function was used. We collected data from a sample of 321 managers and supervisors from ten regional capitals in Ghana. We deployed a sigmoid basis function neural networks to establish the autonomous and simultaneous mediating role of organizational capabilities and competitive scope in the interplay between entrepreneurial competencies and performance of small scale hospitality firms. Our study confirms that entrepreneurial competencies have a positive impact on SME performance. Firms’ managers with high levels of entrepreneurial competencies are able to scrutinize the environment for new opportunities and consolidate their competitive positions.

Hospital Competition in the National Health Service: Evidence from a Patient Choice Reform

We study the impact of exposing hospitals in a National Health Service (NHS) to non-price competition by exploiting a patient choice reform in Norway in 2001. The reform facilitates a difference-in-difference research design due to geographical variation in the scope for competition. Using rich administrative data covering the universe of NHS hospital admissions from 1998 to 2005, we find that hospitals in more competitive areas have a sharper reduction in AMI mortality, readmissions, and length of stay than hospitals in less competitive areas. These results indicate that competition improves patient health outcomes and hospital cost efficiency, even in the Norwegian NHS with large distances, low fixed treatment prices, and mainly public hospitals.

Taxonomic resolution and functional traits in the analysis of tropical oribatid mite assemblages.

We analysed species-level datasets representing Oribatida assemblages along a gradient of old-growth primary tropical forests, secondary forests, and plantation forests in Dong Nai Biosphere Reserve, Vietnam. We identified patterns in abundance, species richness and species assemblages of Oribatida, then applied taxonomic sufficiency approach to the datasets. Using three levels of higher-taxon aggregation, we evaluated whether aggregated datasets are useful in identifying ecological patterns, in comparison to species-level data. Species-level data on Oribatida assemblages clearly separated plantation forests from other forest environments; there was no significant separation between primary and secondary forests. Geographical structuring of species-level assemblages was significant, separating sites from two regions of the reserve. There was a significant concordance between multivariate ordination plots produced for species-level and aggregated (families, suborders/superfamilies) datasets, with Oribatida assemblages of plantation forests consistently separated from two other forest types. Mycobatidae (at family level) and Ceratozetoidea (at suborder/superfamily level) were indicators of plantation forests. The coarsest taxonomic resolution dataset with only four aggregated groups produced no separation of Oribatida assemblages by forest type or region. Moderate level of taxonomic aggregation applied to Oribatida community data did not cause great differences in patterns revealed by multivariate analysis, and therefore could be a valid approach to analysing the structure of tropical Oribatida assemblages. The taxonomic level of suborders and Brachypylina superfamilies appears to be the best compromise for ecological information and ease of identification. Two traits-body size and reproductive mode-were recorded for collected Oribatida species. Community-weighted mean trait value, modified Mason's index of functional divergence, and Rao's index of functional diversity were calculated for each trait in each of the sampled Oribatida assemblages. Sexual reproduction was a dominant reproductive mode in soil Oribatida and did not vary across forest types, indicating similar levels of resource limitation for this trait. For body size, lower functional divergence in plantation forests suggests less scope for niche differentiation and higher competition among different body sizes in this forest type. Use of functional traits can enhance and complement the analysis of Oribatida communities, but more data are needed on feeding- and diet-related traits in tropical Oribatida.

A new era in fintech payment innovations? A perspective from the institutions and regulation of payment systems

ABSTRACTThis article analyses the existing institutions and infrastructure for payments. Authoritative settlement based on central bank support is seen as being essential for both large value and retail payment systems; and, in the EU, UK, and US, the importance of regulating for the protection of consumers who use retail payment systems is recognised. In this institutional context, payment innovations (including Bitcoin and distributed ledger or autonomous organisation technologies) are assessed. It is suggested that, while competition at certain levels is likely to bring social benefits through commercial developments, the maintenance of public interest objectives necessarily delineates the scope of competition. While this might limit the disruptive impact of payment innovations, it is argued that, in the light of the public policy needs for a stable and efficient public infrastructure and the social needs of confidence and trust in a predictable and regulated payment system that meets commercial and social expectations such as in consumer protection, this is not necessarily undesirable.

The Contribution of Scientific Project Competitions upon High School Students’ Acquiring a Scientific Viewpoint (Geography Lesson Case)

Scientific research projects competitions for high school students have been held by TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) since 1969. Whereas only projects on science were taken into the scope of competition for long years, the projects appropriate to the interdisciplinary approach such as social sciences projects and values education have been started to be included beside science broadening the range since 2000s. In projects, it has been aimed to encourage students studying at high school grade for carrying out studies on basic, social and applied sciences, directing their studies and providing contribution upon the development of current scientific studies. The required qualification is projects’ being originated and developed from own knowledge, skill and original thoughts of the students, and being completed by the support of a counselor.Geography has started to be included in scientific project competitions since 2011. In this research, it was aimed to reveal the importance of secondary education students’ scientific project competitions upon their gaining a scientific point of view depending upon the branch of geography. In the research, case study design as one of the qualitative research methods was used. The study group of the research included 38 geography teachers carrying on their duties in Nevsehir province in 2015-2016 academic year. Semi-structured interview technique was used as data collection tool, and the data were analyzed using content analysis method. Obtained quantitative data were digitized, their frequency and percentage were obtained and interpreted.In the research, it was concluded that participating into scientific project competitions was very beneficial in terms of students, developed viewpoint of students in terms of various aspects, most of the geography teachers considered that the institutions they carried on their duties were adequate for students’ developing projects, teachers considered themselves competent for guiding students during the process of preparing the project, and preparing a project provided significant benefits and experiences for the future of students.

The spatial scope of airline competition

We investigate whether alternative city- or airport pairs are viable substitutes and the extent to which they impact airline competition between the United Kingdom and continental Europe. To this end, we employ and measure airlines’ best responses in equilibrium. Using monthly airline-route seat capacity levels and two stage least-squares dummy-variables regression models, we estimate airlines’ strategic reaction to the competitors’ capacity levels, including competitors on other routes. We show that airlines’ relevant market extends beyond the airport-pair level. Strategic reactions depend on airline type, but all airline types have a similar strategic reaction towards high speed rail.

Solving America's Gray-Zone Puzzle

ABSTRACT: Until the missing pieces of the role of global transitions, of American flawed by design concepts of war and peace, and of paradoxical consequences resulting from America's roles and actions to maintain and disrupt the international system are calculated into the ongoing strategy and force planning reforms, any resulting changes of those efforts will inadequately prepare America to fight, win, and fully finish gray-zone wars. For anyone paying even the slightest attention to recent global security affairs, particularly over the past three to five years, denying the significant change and disruption of what has long been the conventional sense of world order would be difficult. Determining if and how the character, scope, and direction of geopolitical competition has changed, and is changing, from the previous and current norms is the most fundamental, and arguably the most essential, imperative facing grand and military strategists as well as the national leaders and polities they serve at such times of major geostrategic inflection. Perhaps the clearest recognizable signs supporting such a claim are the measurable rise in actions taken by a number of nationstates and nonstate actors as well as the prolific increase in scholarship related to their activities. Nonstate actors such as al-Qaeda and hybrid non-Westphalian forms of self-declared alternative statehoods such as the Islamic State challenge the legitimacy of both the norms, principles, rules, and decision-making processes of the current Western advanced-industrial state-based majoritarian international order and the United States as lead nation, hegemon, and guaranteeing power of the current world order. Another sign lies in the heuristic devices and labels scholars and practitioners alike adopt and use to describe and assign meaning to these behaviors in simple understandable terms and the early practical responses and reactions to match, counter, and then ultimately, overmatch these challenges and restore the status quo ante. The increasingly relationships the United States faces with great powers such as Russia and China, in addition to regional-level disruptors such as North Korea, Iran, and the self-declared Islamic State lead the concerns of America's senior defense leadership. Consequently, the Pentagon and the armed services call for major strategic shifts in policy, war plans, planning architectures, and approaches. The United States' top general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford, recently stated traditional approach where we are either at peace or at war is insufficient to deal with that dynamic--the 'four-plus-one' challenges [of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, as well as Islamist extremism] and the five domains of land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. Moreover, Dunford recognizes the state of adversarial competition with a military dimension short of armed conflict military and security studies scholars and practitioners have come to label gray-zone conflict. (2) This particular description, which answers the key questions of whether and how the character of geopolitical competition has changed, now represents an increasingly resonant line of inquiry in defense circles. But, just how smartly are we forming our understandings of, redesigning our overmatching strategies for, and planning our operational approaches to these so-called gray-zone problems? In the following pages, we argue current US defense efforts to better understand and to deal with this gray-zone puzzle, while sound and necessary, remain insufficient. In short, these three missing cause-and-effect pieces to the complete gray-zone puzzle are missing. If these elements are not soon acknowledged and sufficiently incorporated into our planning and capability development activities, future strategic efforts of the United States national security and defense enterprise to meet, overmatch, and overcome future gray-zone threats will be left wanting. …

Competition policy for health care provision in Norway

Competition policy has played a very limited role for health care provision in Norway. The main reason is that Norway has a National Health Service (NHS) with extensive public provision and a wide set of sector-specific regulations that limit the scope for competition. However, the last two decades, several reforms have deregulated health care provision and opened up for provider competition along some dimensions. For specialised care, the government has introduced patient choice and (partly) activity (DRG) based funding, but also corporatised public hospitals and allowed for more private provision. For primary care, a reform changed the payment scheme to capitation and (a higher share of) fee-for-service, inducing almost all GPs on fixed salary contracts to become self-employed. While these reforms have the potential for generating competition in the Norwegian NHS, the empirical evidence is quite limited and the findings are mixed. We identify a set of possible caveats that may weaken the incentives for provider competition – such as the partial implementation of DRG pricing, the dual purchaser–provider role of regional health authorities, and the extensive consolidation of public hospitals – and argue that there is great scope for competition policy measures that could stimulate provider competition within the Norwegian NHS.

Supply Chain's Market Entering Strategy with Unbalanced Power

In this Internet age, global economic integration process increases fierce market competition. In addition to dealing with issues such as geography, culture, technology, knowledge, and close relations of cooperation between enterprises, the enterprises also expanded the scope and space of the competition among enterprises. Market becomes more crowded. At the same time, customer demand over the past simple quality, cost-effective, and after-sales service is quite different; companies need to provide timely quality assurance while meeting the special needs of customers personalized products and services. Therefore, businesses have to cost reduction even more responsive to changes in product demand, distribution and more rapid, more comprehensive service. View the extensive literature on the basis on the powers of the supply chain not including retailers accounted for the dominant and supplier account issues such as the dominant narrative. The introduction of the binary value of the structure, functions can be summarized in the market acceptance of products in use function and enjoyment features. Use features can be known as the basic value, determined by the substitution effect of satisfaction; enjoyment from beyond the performance of an enjoyment features, can be described as beyond the value of the product to meet consumer satisfaction of the fashion and goods function. Market access that is, supply chain ranging from power problems, functions and enjoy the functionality requirements, constraints, where quality and service, and is proportional to the level of product quality and service, the same external coefficient between products, in order to determine the market of product differentiation positioning, companies need to consider the results of price competition, the use of backward induction, first obtain the equilibrium solution of the price competition in the Stackelberg equilibrium, and then get the enterprise product differentiation and positioning strategy.

Hire Authority: Turning Statutory Regulation into Private Regulation for the UK's Taxi Industry

Over the past two years, there has been a worldwide regulatory backlash against new smartphone-app-based Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) operators, with Uber probably being the most emblematic one. While a few regulatory clarifications can be justified, the vast majority of measures have been transparent attempts to obstruct the growth of this sector to protect the interests of politically well-organised, competition-averse incumbents. Contrary to conventional wisdom, smartphone-enabled apps have not created an ‘unregulated’ private transport sector – on the contrary, they have fostered the emergence of regulatory brands. Organisations such as Uber do not just offer transport services, they also offer a set of rules and regulations under which these services are provided. This is regulation – but it is private regulation, or regulation by the market, as opposed to statutory regulation. The scope for competition has also been broadened as drivers compete with each other for custom; passengers compete for rides; and apps compete for users on both sides of the transaction. As with other Internet-based innovations, transport apps have increased economies of scale in private transport. London provides a suitable setting for reform. The milestones to be achieved include the abolition of taxi privileges and the equal treatment of black cabs and private hire operators. The London Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA) would be granted powers to regulate the quantity of black cab drivers and the fares to be charged (similar to how Uber and private hire firms oversee their own drivers and vehicles). It is important to note that the LTDA would not be given a monopoly – black cab drivers could over time decide to form competing brands and associations within the trade. Statutory regulations would be limited to criminal background checks; the monitoring of fraud and illegal behaviour; and a periodic review of the state of competition in the market. These tasks could be conducted by Transport for London (TfL), with the assistance of the Competition and Markets Authority in the latter function.

R-bUCRP: A Novel Reputation-Based Uneven Clustering Routing Protocol for Cognitive Wireless Sensor Networks

Energy of nodes is an important factor that affects the performance of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), especially in the case of existing selfish nodes, which attracted many researchers’ attention recently. In this paper, we present a reputation-based uneven clustering routing protocol (R-bUCRP) considering both energy saving and reputation assessment. In the cluster establishment phase, we adopt an uneven clustering mechanism which controls the competitive scope of cluster head candidates to save the energy of WSNs. In the cluster heads election phase, the residual energy and reputation value are used as the indexes to select the optimal cluster head, where the reputation mechanism is introduced to support reputation assessment. Simulation results show that the proposed R-bUCRP can save node energy consumption, balance network energy distribution, and prolong network lifetime.

The effects of price-matching guarantees on consumer response in an online retail context

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of three price-matching guarantee (PMG) variables, including refund depth, refund period and competitive scope, on consumer response; the moderating role of consumer search costs is also examined. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a scenario simulation method with a 2×2×2 factorial design to test the research model and hypotheses. Findings – The results indicate that refund depth has a significant effect on price perception and purchase intention, while competitive scope has a significant effect on purchase intention. In addition, the effects of both refund depth and competitive scope on price perception are moderated by consumer search costs. Originality/value – This study is a pioneering effort to explore the effects of PMGs variables on consumer response in the context of online retailing. These findings provide several important theoretical and practical implications for the PMG strategy of online retailing.

Competition and supply chain integration: a taxonomy perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of competition on supply chain integration (SCI). Design/methodology/approach – Survey data from 617 manufacturers in China were used in this study. Taxonomy with cluster analysis was used to investigate the patterns of competition, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to investigate the influence of these competition patterns on SCI. Findings – Seven competition patterns composed of local competition, international competition, and operational challenges were identified from the survey data. The ANOVA results showed that companies with different patterns achieved significantly different levels of SCI, indicating that higher levels of local competition, international competition, and operational challenges drove higher levels of SCI. Post hoc analyses revealed that international competition had stronger effects than local competition on SCI. Research limitations/implications – The data were collected from a single country, which may limit the generalization of the findings. The data were cross-sectional and thus lacked causal explanatory power. Practical implications – The findings provide suggestions for managers to use different configurations of SCI to adapt to different patterns of competition. Originality/value – This study makes three main contributions to the literature. First, it extends the research on the relationship between competition and cooperation to the supply chain management area. Second, it extends the concept of competition by incorporating not only competitive intensity, but also competitive scope and competitive capability. Third, the use of a configuration approach rather than a dimensional approach to investigate the effects of competition on SCI solves many methodological problems.

The extent and costs of reproductive interference among four species of true bug

AbstractReproductive interference arises when individuals of one species engage in reproductive activities with individuals of another, leading to fitness costs in one or both species. Reproductive interference (RI) therefore has two components. First, there must be mis‐directed mating interactions. Second, there must be costs associated with these mis‐directed interactions. Here we consider RI between four species of true bug in the family Lygaeidae, focusing in particular on the fitness consequences to Lygaeus equestris. The species we consider vary in their relationships with each other, including species in the same or different genus, and with or without natural overlap in their geographic ranges. First we show that inter‐specific mating interactions, although not a certain outcome, are common enough to perhaps influence mating behaviour in these species (arising in up to 10 % of inter‐specific pairings). Second, we show that reproductive interference can seriously reduce female fitness in L. equestris. Importantly, different species impose different costs of RI on L. equestris, with interactions with male Spilostethus pandurus inflicting fitness costs of similar magnitude to the costs of mating with con‐specifics. On the other hand, mating interactions with male Oncopeltus fasciatus appear to have no effect on female fitness. In a follow‐up experiment, when we allowed competition amongst just females of S. pandurus and L. equestris, the fitness of the latter was not reduced, arguing more strongly for the role of reproductive interference. However, in our final experiments under mass mating conditions with extended ecological interactions (including scope for competition for resources and cannibalism), the costs of RI were less apparent. Our data therefore suggest that the costs of RI will be context‐specific and may act in concert with, or be swamped by, other ecological effects. We suggest that comparative studies of this sort that both mimic naturally occurring reproductive interference events, and also artificially generate new ones, will be necessary if we are to better understand the ecological and evolutionary significance of reproductive interference.

"Multi-Unit Chains, Market Competition, And Product Portfolio Scope: Evidence From Hospitals"

We attempt to identify the benefits of multi-unit chain membership and study the boundary conditions of the effects of chain affiliation. We test our arguments in the context of the U.S. hospital i...

MARKET CONCENTRATION AND PERFORMANCE OF GENERAL HOSPITALS IN POLAND

Theories of the hospital market view hospitals as competing for patients, physicians and third-party payers simultaneously. The competition involves such elements as price, quality, convenience, technology and innovation and the effects of the competition in the market affect the quality of care, clinical outcomes, cost of services, access as well as patient satisfaction. The purpose of the paper is to shed some light on the impact of competition on the performance of general hospitals in Poland. Due to the unavailability of micro-level data, territorial concentration based on regional data is used as a proxy for the scope of competition. Therefore, the territorial concentration of hospital beds is measured with the use of the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI) for each of the 16 provinces of Poland and for the four-year period of 2008-2011. In the second stage, the values of the concentration index are correlated with a set of variables describing the performance of hospitals. The results show that the concentration of hospital beds in the regions is uneven. The regions with the most concentrated markets (zachodniopomorskie, lodzkie, podlaskie and mazowieckie) are characterized by four times higher values of the HHI than the one with the least concentrated market (śląskie). The results suggest that a higher concentration in the hospital market correlates with a larger number of patients treated and an increase in the cost of services.

Comfortable with a Carcinogen? The Problems with Polyurethane Foam and How Regulations May Be Blocking the Performance Fiber Alternative

Polyurethane foam is the world’s most popular cushioning product for a wide variety of applications. Although it has many properties that are desirable, there are also serious problems associated with foam’s ubiquity. Polyurethane foam is highly flammable, and therefore flame retardants must be added to the material to lessen its potential danger. While these additives do slightly reduce the fire hazard that foam presents, they pose a number of health and environmental problems. Also, polyurethane foam is greatly limited in its potential recyclability.Since polyurethane foam is subject to a great deal of regulation, the very same regulations that are intended to limit foam’s negative consequences actually may work to block entrance into the market by competitive healthier and more sustainable products. In effect these regulations may exacerbate the negative consequences they are formed to protect.In this paper we address the drawbacks of polyurethane and briefly analyze an alternative polyester-based material known as “Performance Fiber.” Performance Fiber meets many of the cushioning standards that could formerly only be met by foam, while also being fire resistant, hypo-allergenic, and highly recyclable. Performance Fiber faces regulation-related challenges outside the normal scope of entrepreneurial competition in coming to market.

RPI-X, competition as a rivalrous discovery process, and customer engagement – Paper presented at the Conference The British Utility Regulation Model: Beyond Competition and Incentive Regulation?

This paper considers the continued relevance of competition for utility regulation, especially in the context of Britain. It does so in three steps. First, it considers the context in which RPI-X entered the policy debate and became a central aspect of subsequent utility reforms. Second, it considers the contemporary context of British utility regulation. Third, this paper points to some significant new departures in British utility regulation that might allow for an extension of the emphasis placed on 'discovery' in the initial 1983 report, namely growing emphasis on negotiated settlements and customer engagement. The paper assesses some recent experiences, with a specific emphasis on water regulation in Scotland. The paper concludes by suggesting the scope for competition in designing and setting price controls.

Regulation and strategic group dynamics of the Nigerian telecommunications industry

Purpose– In order to achieve a desirable level of market efficiency, regulators need to identify the strategic groups within an industry and understand the way the constituent groups relate to one another. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– In the current study, factors that may lead to strategic group formation were developed and used as clustering variables in ak-means cluster statistical analysis to categorize the firms into strategic groups. The factors used are entry costs, timing of entry, technology type and scope of operations. In addition, the number and type of competitive actions employed by the firms in the industry were identified by structured content analysis of a public source. The competitive actions were used to examine the dynamics of the resulting groups within the context of competitive behavior, resource and scope commitments and corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions. In addition,χ2 analysis was employed to ascertain the likelihood that actions of a firm will be responded to by firms from the same group or from outside the group.Findings– License fees was found to be the most significant clustering variable. The study also showed that groups with significantly higher license fees carried out considerably more competitive actions, had higher resource and scope commitments and executed more CSR actions. In addition, the study revealed significantly more competition within strategic groups than between groups.Research limitations/implications– The absence of financial records for firms in the sample necessitated the use of CSR activity as a measure of firm performance. Some empirical studies have shown strong links between CSR and firm performance.Practical implications– The study revealed high mobility barriers which prevent ease of movement of firms in the industry from one strategic group to the other. Therefore regulators who wish to promote competition must do so by identifying the strategic groups with significant market power and permitting entry not by lowering entry barriers but by allowing the entry of firms with proven resources similar to the firms in those groups and to stipulate similar commitments in entry conditions. The results also offer management practitioners an insight into competitive behavior in the industry.Originality/value– The study utilized a unique data set (competitive actions of firms in the Nigerian Telecommunications industry as reported in the media) in contributing to empirical studies on competitive dynamics and strategic group literature.