An empirical testing of leverage effects via the common distribution network

The paper aims to empirically test the significance of leverage effects via the common distribution network in the conglomerate mergers between beer and soju manufacturers of Korea in the time period of 1994–2003. In this paper, a beer (or soju) manufacturer's ability to push the sales of soju (or beer) products via the common regional liquor distribution network is measured by the beer (or soju) firm's market share in the region. If the leverage effect is significant, we expect consumer choices to be significantly affected by the merged firm's ability to push. For a consistent estimation of the leverage effect on consumer demands, this paper adapts a logistic demand function for Yellow Pages in Rysman [Rysman, M. (2004). Competition between networks: A study of the market for yellow pages. Review of Economic Studies, 71, 483–512], controlling other demand-side variables such as prices, consumer loyalty, quality and the introduction of new products. The hypothesis test results indicate that the leverage effects via the common distribution network were not significant at the significance level of 0.1. This conclusion is robust to different specifications of leverage effects and the number of potential drinking.     

Money,Mortgages, and the Conquest of America

In colonial America, land acquired new liquidity when it became liable for debts. Though English property law maintained a firm distinction between land and chattel for centuries, in the American colonies, the boundary between the categories of real and personal property began to disintegrate. There, the novelty of easy foreclosure and consequent easy alienation of land made it possible for colonists to obtain credit, using land as a security. However, scholars have neglected the first instances in which a newly unconstrained practice of mortgage foreclosure appeared—the transactions through which colonists acquired land from indigenous people in the first place. In this article, I explore these early transactions for land, which took place across fundamental differences between colonists’ and native communities’ conceptions of money, land, and exchange itself. I describe how difference and dependence propelled the growth of the early American contact economy to make land into real estate, or the fungible commodity on the speculative market that it remains today.     

AN EVALUATION OF SUPERVISED ACCESS III

Although supervised access has become a more frequently used option within the custody and access domain over the last 10 years, no empirical literature has examined supervised access from the standpoint of its effect on the legal system. As part of a large-scale evaluation of Ontorio's Supervised Access Pilot Project, the present study sought the perceptions of the legal community and the courts regarding supervised access centers. A total of 14 lawyers and 13 judges participated in semistructured telephone interviews concerning supervised access cases in general, the function and impact of the supervised access program in their community, and their satisfaction with and recommendations regarding the center. Both lawyers and judges expressed high levels of satisfaction with the centers and believed that their availability resulted in savings to the legal system and reductions in hostility and conflict between parents. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.     

Identity Confusion

When I was in high school, I went on a family vacation to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. I was getting lunch at a grilled chicken stand, when the cook asked me, "Miss Chin, where are you from?" (Jamaicans use Miss Chin as an affectionate nickname for all Chinese women.) I answered, "I’m from New Jersey, but I’m Korean." He practically dropped his spatula. "Whaaaat? I never met Korean Japanese Miss Chin fromNewJersey!"heshouted.Thatwas the only time I’ve had someone