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We use grocery data from Norway and COVID‐19 border closings to gauge the effect of cross‐border shopping on commodity tax revenue. Detailed store–category‐level data identify differential treatment effects that depend on distance to Swedish stores. Economically significant effects extend to up to two hours' drive from the border, and even further for prominent cross‐border shopping products, such as beer, cigarettes, and carbonated soft drinks. Across all products, cross‐border shopping decreases tax revenue from VAT by 3.6 percent at the national level. National commodity tax revenue from carbonated soft drinks (subject to a sugar tax) is reduced by 8.1 percent and from cigarettes by 11.9 percent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse 69 entries and relocations by the largest Norwegian discount variety chain Europris during the period 2016–2019, and measure how its location choices affect local grocery stores' performance. We use detailed data from a major Norwegian grocery chain, which enables us to combine local grocery stores' sales and traffic with travelling distance to new or relocated Europris stores, and a two-way fixed effects strategy. Our findings suggest that entries and relocations have significant effects and that the sign of the effect depends on the distance between the stores, creating a non-linear relationship between the effect of entry and the distance between the stores. Sufficiently close entries and relocations increase local demand since more customers are attracted to the market, but as the distance increases, the competitive effect of a new discount variety store dominates, and local grocery store sales and traffic are reduced. As we move further away, the entry effect is gradually reduced to zero. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First, we analyze how regular days off from competition and a time-dependent price pattern affect firm performance. Second, we examine the effects on firms' profitability from consumers' changing search- and timing behavior. We use microdata from gasoline retailing in Norway. From 2004 to 2017, firms practiced an industry-wide day off from competition, starting on Mondays at noon, by increasing prices to a common level given by the recommended prices (decided and published in advance). In turn, a foreseeable low-price window is open before every restoration. During the data period, we observe an additional weekly restoration on Thursdays at noon. The additional day off from competition increases firm performance. As expected, a conventional price search of where to buy reduces firms' profitability. In contrast, consumers who are aware of the cycle and spend effort on when to buy have a positive impact on firms' profitability. If consumers spend effort on when to buy, they attempt to tank during low price windows. By its very nature, this shrink consumers' ability to compare prices at several outlets. Consequently, more attention to when to buy may soften price competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the contracts of 898 legal Finnish cartels. Cartels that exclusively allocate markets, either geographically or in the product/production space, are dominant in manufacturing. They are often bilateral and include a vertical dimension. Structural industry characteristics predict the type of a cartel, e.g. consistent with theory, quota cartels are more common in manufacturing and when buyers are primarily industrial. The contracts of quota cartels include more (governance) clauses. Pure pricing cartels are the dominant cartel type in non-manufacturing and are more common when demand is primarily from retail buyers. Pricing cartels are larger than other types of cartels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine Norwegian gasoline pump prices using daily station-specific observations from 2003 to 2006. The four big gasoline companies use a vertical restraint that is adopted industry-wide (labeled price support). This moves price control from the hands of independent retailers into the hands of the headquarters. Retail gasoline prices follow a fixed weekly pattern, where we observe de facto simultaneous decision-making by the headquarters (without knowledge of their rivals' prices) when every Monday around noon they decide to increase pump prices to the same level. The price level on Mondays corresponds to the recommended prices published by the headquarters of the gasoline companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the economic dynamics and institutional factors associated with a cartel in the Norwegian cement industry. The two problems that challenge the cartel are deciding on the domestic quantity and the distribution of rents. Data used in this empirical analysis is from the cartel period of 1955-1968 and a monopoly period of 1968-1982. The study shows that the cartel used a production sharing rule inefficiently, which benefits consumers and led the cartel to overinvest in capacity and export in order to expand its domestic market.

Analyzes the use of vertical industry linkages as channels for externalities in Norway. Strength of self-reinforcing agglomeration forces; Distinguish between different sources of externalities; Determinants of industry structure, firm size and growth.

Examines the emergence of endogenous agglomeration forces in the maritime industry in Norway. Categorization of agglomerations; Existence of significant economies of scale in the maritime environment; Development of a model for external economies of scale; Investigation on the structure and degree of interdependencies.

A model focusing on the choice of capacity in an environment with stochastic demand is presented. The paper establishes the conditions under which bias in traditional econometric measures of capacity utilization may occur. As illustration, the model is applied to the Norwegian vessel-building industry. The results from traditional econometric studies in this industry are adjusted using the results from the model presented. The analysis indicates an upward bias in the traditional capacity utilization index; the excess capacity in the analyzed industry, as determined by deviation from the optimal, stochastically-adjusted level of capacity, is higher than that determined by traditional econometric measures. However, the author is reluctant to draw definitive conclusions from the empirical part of the paper due to uncertainty regarding data and assumptions made. The empirical implementation is primarily illustrative and should be interpreted as such. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relative performance between seasons in a fishery is tested empirically. In particular, the importance ora stochastic environment—what may be denoted as fishing luck in a fishery—is established by applying DickeyFuller unit-root tests for the efficiency scores of vessels between seasons. More specifically we test whether the performance of individual vessels can be characterized as random or not; i.e., given good performance in one period, is it possible to also expect good performance in the next (a so-called "highliner"), or is performance due to the stochastic environment (fishing luck). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Semicollusion," part of the book "Foundations and Trends in Microeconomics," by Frode Steen and Lars Sørgard, Vol. 5, No. 3, is presented.