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This paper examines the demand for hockey game trips among metropolitan and nonmetropolitan residents of Alberta, Canada. Using data on both revealed and stated preference game-trip behavior from a telephone survey conducted throughout Alberta, we estimate the effect of ticket prices, team quality, arena amenities, and capacity on the latent demand for National Hockey League hockey games. We find that lower ticket prices, higher team quality, and additional capacity encourage attendance. In the status quo scenario, consumer surplus per game is $50 for those who had attended hockey games and about 50% less for those who had not attended games. Exploiting the stated preference data, we develop a number of other consumer surplus estimates. We also include travel costs in the estimation of the demand function and estimate the full value of the game trip considering both ticket prices and travel costs. Sold-out arenas in Calgary and Edmonton generate annual consumption benefits of $40 and $35 million when only ticket prices are used to calculate consumer surplus (i.e., excluding travel costs). Considering the full-price consumer surplus for the Calgary Flames of $103 per game trip, the annual consumption benefits may be as high as $82 million. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. In our earlier studies of the supermarket industry in Edmonton, Alberta, we tested for predation in a spatial setting and found evidence which supported the predation hypothesis. In this paper we use data on the locations, entry, exit and market area populations of supermarkets in Edmonton to test whether the entry deterrence and timing-of-expansion implications of the reputation hypothesis are confirmed. We find that our time series data are consistent with entry's being deterred and with delayed opening of new supermarkets by the dominant established firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]