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A marketing scheme for making money off innocent people: A user's manual

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  • Basu, Kaushik

Abstract

Firms often give away free goods with the product they sell. Firms often give stock options to their managers and employees. Mixing these two practices--giving stocks to consumers who buy the firm's product--creates a deadly brew. People can be lured into buying this product, giving the entrepreneur huge profits and the consumers a growing profit share. But this is a camouflaged Ponzi that will ultimately crash. It is argued, by analogy, that the common practice of giving stock options to employees can be a factor behind financial crashes. Understanding this can help create a better regulatory structure.

Suggested Citation

  • Basu, Kaushik, 2010. "A marketing scheme for making money off innocent people: A user's manual," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 122-124, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:107:y:2010:i:2:p:122-124
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kaushik Basu, 2009. "A Simple Model of the Financial Crisis of 2007-9 with Implications for the Design of a Stimulus Package," Working Papers id:2179, eSocialSciences.
    2. de Andrés, Pablo & Arroyo, David & Correia, Ricardo & Rezola, Alvaro, 2022. "Challenges of the market for initial coin offerings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. David J. Scheaf & Matthew S. Wood, 2022. "Entrepreneurial Fraud: A Multidisciplinary Review and Synthesized Framework," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(3), pages 607-642, May.
    4. Kaushik Basu, 2016. "Beyond the Invisible Hand: Groundwork for a New Economics," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9299.
    5. Kaushik Basu, 2011. "A simple model of the financial crisis of 2007‐2009, with implications for the design of a stimulus package," Indian Growth and Development Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(1), pages 5-21, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Marketing Stock options Financial scams Product bundling;

    JEL classification:

    • D92 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
    • M30 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - General

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