No description available.

Thesis advisor: Charles Murry / This dissertation addresses questions in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. In the first chapter, I study the welfare effects of price discrimination in the medical device industry. In the second chapter, I document shifts in the marketing and prescription behavior for a drug after it is acquired. In the third chapter I study the reputation spillover effects of a major medical device recall. Chapter 1: Implantable medical device manufacturers are able to directly price discriminate by setting different prices for the same product in different hospitals. I analyze the welfare effects of this form of price discrimination in the case of Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICDs). I find that if ICD manufacturers were forced to switch to uniform pricing, prices increase on average, which causes a decline in hospital welfare and manufacturer profits. Allowing manufacturers to indirectly price discriminate by strategically delaying the exit of old products to target their elastic consumers can cause an increase in product variety, which can lead to different welfare predictions. If we fail to account for a manufacturer's ability change their product offerings in response to a uniform pricing policy, we can overestimate the effects of uniform pricing on hospital welfare, underestimate the effect of uniform pricing on the take up of older, lower quality products, and we may overestimate or underestimate the effects of uniform pricing on manufacturer profitability. Chapter 2: In this chapter, Motaz Al-Chanati and I document novel evidence of a shift in marketing and prescription behavior for a drug after its acquisition. Network size is highly relevant for this industry, as advertising to physicians (known as detailing) typically involves in-person meetings between sales representatives and physicians. We use 10 drug acquisitions in 2015-2016 to document patterns in the data consistent with firms leveraging their existing physician-sales representative networks to market a drug after they acquire it. We also show that this shift in marketing strategy translates into prescription behavior, i.e. after a drug is acquired, physicians that have prior relationships with the acquiring firm increase their prescriptions of it. Chapter 3: I analyze the effects a major product recall in the implantable medical device industry on the sales of other products manufactured by the recalling firxm. I find that after the recall, consumers substituted away from the recalling firm's other products that were not recalled, and toward the products of the recalling firm's rivals. I also quantify the heterogeneity in the response to this recall based on two consumer characteristics: firm loyalty and exposure. I construct proxies for these characteristics, and I find that while consumers that were more exposed to the recall did not have a significantly different response to it, consumers that were more loyal to the recalling firm had smaller responses to it. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 92-93).

Kaohsiung is located at the pivot of Asia-Pacific airlines and seaways traffic. It has been the second largest metro city of Taiwan. Since 1979 as Kaohsiung was switched to be a municipality directly under the Central Government after its population was increased over 1 million, now there are 1.5 million (April 2009) living in the city. Within the city, besides the Kaohsiung harbor, a natural deep-water port well-known as a container transshipment, there is also Hsiao-Kang international airport that makes Kaohsiung one of the rare cities with both seaport and airport. In addition, it contains abundantly solid industrial foundations such as the export processing zones, steel industry, petrochemical industry, cement plants, and various kinds of large-scale heavy industry regions. It has been the important strategic city for heavy industry and manufacturing industry, the locomotive engine of economic development of Taiwan, and has driven the first wave of Taiwan¡¦s economic development miracle since 1960s . However, as the industrial policy adjusted, the Central Government establishes Hsinchu Science Park in which not only attracts excellent professionals to join, but also continues to expand the business niche as well as asset size. The developmental gap between the Northern and the Southern Taiwan has thus been widened. In terms of industry activities and living functionalities, the difference deepens even more. Over the past decade, the traditional basic industries have been impacted by factors of going west (to mainland China) or south (to ASEAN markets), and Kaohsiung --- a city with function of both seaport and airport as well as heavy industries --- is lacking motive power of deep plowing and moment of essential growth during the process of industrial development. It is a challenge for Kaohsiung to transfer from a highly-polluted heavy industrial city to develop brand new industries or enhance added values of the current industries through the transformation of traditional industry. Kaohsiung has competitive advantages, including "international gateway with both harbor & airport" and "industry diversification", still it is situated at the pivotal location of south Taiwan, which is not replaceable. Although the traditional industries still influence and benefit Kaohsiung¡¦s economy, they begin to face operational difficulties while facing global economic change or shifting. Therefore it is an imperative topic of how to embark on upgrading or renewing Kaohsiung¡¦s industries so as to enhance professional techniques and increase economic benefits greatly. Moreover, since the new government inaugurated in May 2008, the Cross-Straits relations are getting smooth gradually which makes direct aircraft transportation II possible. Besides, the global financial tsunami happened in the second half of 2008 has impacted the traditional industries seriously. How to assist the industries to get through the crisis is the very issue worth thinking and discussion. Therefore it is necessary to investigate and analyze the developmental status quo as well as the direction of future transformation of Kaohsung¡¦s industries, furthermore, to work out plans, and practical strategies for encouraging industries. In cooperation with the governing requirements of Kaohsiung City Government, the purposes of this research are as follows: 1 to collect and manage transformative cases of domestic and oversea industries, and to investigate in terms of local viewpoint, the role of Kaohsiung industries, and the future development trends. 2. through ¡§Kaohsiung-Pingtung Development Strategy¡¨ to analyze the status quo of Kaohsiung industries, and to discuss feasible directions of industry transformation. 3. to investigate the difficulties and impediment of Kaohsiung industry transformations and industry upgrades, and to understand the role of Kaohsiung¡¦s industry in cooperation with developmental needs of the Central Government and the regional areas, 4. to work out and propose the supplementary measures and implementation strategies for Kaohsiung¡¦s industry transitions.

This dissertation is a study of strategy in thin industries, a class of industries whose members include the aircraft industry, jet engines, heavy electrical equipment, and diesel locomotives. These industries have a number of common features which inter-relate to produce a unique configuration. Foremost among the attributes that make up this configuration is the sparsity and magnitude of transactions on which the industry must subsist. The decrease in the number of transactions, and the increase in their size, results in a "thin" industry. The sparsity and size of transactions combine to produce complex, unstable, and highly interconnected environments. These environmental conditions motivate firms to develop external linkages with other organizations. The successful management of external linkages will frequently depend on knowledge and experience obtained in previous relationships. Many of the problems created by external linkages can only be resolved once they are formed. At the same time, the knowledge required to resolve these problems calls for previous experience. / The dissertation is divided into two parts. In the first three chapters we explore thin industries as a type and as an environment. In the remaining three chapters we look at the ramifications of interorganizational learning on the management of external linkages. In the concluding chapter we discuss the implications of thin industries to the study and practice of strategic management. Three issues in particular are singled out: the decline of organizational autonomy, the limits of competition, and new directions for theory building. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-88).

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

<p>The Electricity Industry Reforms (EIR) is a worldwidephenomenon that is inducing an intensive business orientedcontext in the organization, processes and functions of theElectricity Industry (EI). The electric power grid is nowtreated as the electricity market, the consumer as thecustomer, the power system activities are related to marketactors (i.e. generators, distributors and retailers) and theElectricity Industry Control Centers (EICC) provide theessential coordination and economic trade functions andtransactions.</p><p>The EICC are looking for solutions to introduce, amongstothers, emerging information processes in the business orientedcontext with all the Electricity Industry actors without losingthe technical reliability of the EI. The EIR is delineated as amajor change on the traditional EI relying heavily oninformation exchange amongst the market actors.</p><p>In the Central American countries, these EIR started around1996. The EICC in this region are facing the demanded changeswith information legacy systems, in operation long time beforethe EIR and considered already obsolete.</p><p>This thesis exploresand summarizes, as a researchcontribution, the main problems at the EICCs in CentralAmerica, in managing the incorporation of emerging informationproc-esses.</p><p>An Information System Migration Framework (ISMF) for theEICC is proposed as a re-search contribution and solution tothe problems identified. The ISMF here presented provides a setof steps and guidelines to follow for managing any emerginginformation processes in a systematic, feasible and reliableway. The ISMF is a continuous description of emerginginformation processes, risk assessments, requirementelicitation and specifica-tions with traceable and incrementalimplementations without completely replacing the system. TheISMF has as fundamental characteristic that provides a feasibleview of the current operation of the EICC, a continuous anditerative process of controlled changes and a systematicprocess to update the EICC operation model with a set of stepsthat are implementation independent, technology independent,process ori-ented and user centered.</p><p>The ISMF’s feasibility, replicability and useracceptance has partially tested at the EICC in El Salvador andNicaragua.</p><p><b>Key words:</b>Electricity Industry, Electricity IndustryReforms, Electricity Industry Control Centers, InformationSystem Migration, Information Systems Modeling andRequirements, Case Studies in the Electricity Industry inCentral America.</p>

Lai Ho King. / Summary of Chinese. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--The Chinese University of Hongkong. / Bibliography: l. 97-99.