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Strategic short-termism: Implications for the management and acquisition of customer relationships

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  • Miettinen, Topi
  • Stenbacka, Rune

Abstract

We study a duopoly model of history-based price competition with switching costs and demonstrate how strategic history-based pricing induces the owners of the firms to implement managerial short-termism by delegating the pricing decisions to managers with a discount factor lower than that of the owners. Managerial short-termism is a strategic device whereby owners can soften price competition at the stage when customer relationships are established. The degree of short short-termism is shown to depend on the market structure, the intensity of competition and the magnitude of switching costs.

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  • Miettinen, Topi & Stenbacka, Rune, 2018. "Strategic short-termism: Implications for the management and acquisition of customer relationships," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 200-222.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:153:y:2018:i:c:p:200-222
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2018.07.006
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    2. Li, Chengguang & Gelfand, Michele J., 2022. "The influence of cultural tightness-looseness on cross-border acquisition performance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 1-15.

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