John Asker, Stern School of Business, New York University

Working Papers

1. A Study of the Internal Organisation of a Bidding Cartel
                      Related Stuff: A sub-sample of the data
                                      Slide Deck (Updated less frequently)

2. Competition and the Structure of Vertical Relationships in Capital Markets
(with Alexander Ljungqvist)

3. Optimal Procurement when Both Price and Quality Matter
(with Estelle Cantillon)
                        Matlab Code: Numerical Simulation Code
                                                     
4. Diagnosing Foreclosure Due to Exclusive Dealing

5. Measuring Advantages from Exclusive Dealing

6. Industry Size and the Distribution of R&D Investment,
(with Mariagiovanna Baccara)

Published Papers

1. Subsidizing (and Taxing) Business Procurement, Journal of Public Economics, v92(7), pp 1630-1643, 2008.

2. Properties of Scoring Auctions (with Estelle Cantillon), RAND Journal of Economics, v39(1), pp 69-85, 2008.

3. Teaching Auction Strategy using Experiments administered via the Internet (with Brit Grosskopf, Carl N. McKinney, Muriel Niederle, Alvin E. Roth and Georg Weizsacker), Journal of Economic Education, 35(4), pp 330-342, 2004.

4. Bidding up, Buying out and Cooling-off: An examination of auctions with withdrawal rights, Economic Theory, v16(3), pp 585-611, 2000.
   

Work in Progress

1. Collusion in Procurement Auctions
2. The Industrial Organisation of Financial Markets (with Alexander Ljungqvist)
3. Strategic Procurement for Complex Goods (with Estelle Cantillon)


Research Outline

My research tends to focus on different forms of interaction between upstream firms (producers) and downstream firms (retailers or distributors) and how these interactions affect the social desirability of market outcomes. Much of this work has a strong regulatory focus.

My work on auctions is motivated by various business-to-business procurement problems, most notably (with Estelle Cantillon) how to design competitive tendering processes when quality, as well as price, is an important feature distinguishing responses to a request for tender. I have also investigated how government interventions, such as subsidies and taxes, affect markets that operate using competitive tendering processes. Currently, I am working on an empirical investigation of collusion in auction markets.

My work on the structure of supply chains started with my dissertation work on the beer industry, which examined the effect of exclusive distribution agreements between brewers and distributors. I am continuing this broad research agenda in work with Alexander Ljungvist, where we investigate the structure of vertical relationships in the banking industry, and with Kate Ho and Catherine Thomas, where we are looking at how interaction between insurers and hospitals affects the wider organisation of health care.

The following keywords may help clarify the content of my research: Industrial Organisation, Antitrust Regulation, Cartels, Bidding Rings, Collusion, Vertical Market Structure, Procurement, Economics of Supply Chain Management, Exclusive Dealing, Vertical Integration, Contracting, Price Descrimination, Applied Econometrics, Non-Parametric Econometric Methods, Density Estimation, Auction Theory.


Teaching Material

MBA Firms and Markets, Summer 2008

Very Provisional Syllabus and Outline

Other MBA Courses

MBA Firms and Markets, N.Y.U. Fall 2007: Provisional Syllabus and Outline
MBA Firms and Markets, N.Y.U. Fall 2007: Final Exam (with acknowledgements to David Madden)
MBA Firms and Markets, N.Y.U. Fall 2007: Midterm Exam
MBA Firms and Markets, N.Y.U. Summer 2007: Provisional Syllabus and Outline
MBA Managerial Economics, M.B.S. Sept - Nov 2006: Final Exam
MBA Firms and Markets, N.Y.U. Spring 2005: Syllabus
MBA Firms and Markets, N.Y.U. Spring 2005: Final Exam (with acknowlegements to Lanier Benkard and Phil Leslie)

PhD Industrial Organisation, Fall 2005

Syllabus and Readings
Preliminary Class Notes on Auctions
Final Exam
Mariagiovanna Baccara's page for this course can be reached here

PhD Industrial Organisation, Spring 2005

Provisional Syllabus and Readings
Preliminary Class Notes on Demand
Assignment 1
Data for Assignment 1
Final Exam


Online Data

  • Center for International Data
  • US BLS
  • US Census
  • UK Census
  • EuroStat
  • US CPI Data
  • National Center for Health Statistics
  • Chicago Marketing Public Data
  • NBER Patent Data
  • Manitoba Oil Drilling and Exploration Data
  • Energy Information Administration
  • Lloyds Maritime Intelligence Unit
  • Climate Data
  • Regional Airline Association Statistics
  • Bureau of Transportation Statistics
  • Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis
  • Clarkson Shipping Data
  • FRB Small Business Financing Data

    • Other Links

    Balanced Budget Act
    Balanced Budget Act - HHS Legislative Guide
    CBO Assesment of Balanced Budget Act
    Congressional Testimony on Impact of Balanced Budget Act
    Overview of the Balanced Budget Review Act



    Miami's Housing Boom
    Case-Schiller Index of Repeat Single Dwelling Sales, CPI adjusted, Base year = Jan 2000

    (Fiscal) Cost of the Iraq Conflict:
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    $500 Billion would provide the tuition waivers needed to fund over 3.1 million students through the entirety of a 4-year college degree, at the country's most expensive private colleges. There are around 4.5 million 18 year olds in the USA.