The strategy of raising counterfeiters’ costs in luxury markets

A luxury monopolist can prefer increasing its net profits by raising the costs of a competitive fringe of counterfeiters compared to a situation where it can completely drive them out of the market. The mechanism underpinning this outcome results from the fact that counterfeiters can generate net revenues for the luxury monopolist because (1) sanctions imposed to counterfeiters are shaped and pocketed by the luxury monopolist under cover of deterrence (2) costs and profit loss due to counterfeiters and incurred by the luxury monopolist can be less than what is usually assumed. Moreover, the presence of counterfeits can be considered as promotional devices that signal the true luxury cachet, increases the snob value of the counterfeited brand and rewards high-end designers in a non-monetary way. In short, counterfeiting is like the light of the sun: it can burn the genuine firm but living without can be more harmful for the genuine firm.     

Substituting piracy with a pay-what-you-want option: does it make sense?

Rather than tolerating piracy or increasing sanctions, an artist can release his product directly to consumers by allowing them to download it under a ‘pay-what-you-want’ online strategy. We show analytically that this strategy can (1) be more profitable than a strategy with perfect or imperfect intellectual property rights enforcement for the artist and (2) change the organization and allocation of added value between artists and publishers along the supply chain. This higher profit result is achieved through an increased demand for live performance and positive voluntary contributions of downloaders directly pocketed by the artist. Indeed, a ‘pay-what-you-want’ strategy allows artists to reduce piracy without using sanctions while benefiting from a strategic negotiation ‘weapon’ in the relationship with record labels. Moreover, consumers draw procedural utility from the way the product is delivered. Counter-intuitively, rather than advocating for elimination of conventional releases at posted prices, pay-what-you-want strategies may need them to remain successful. A brief case study of Radiohead’s experiment and anecdotal evidence are developed to support these theoretical insights. Some implications regarding the re-organization of the supply chain and property rights regime are drawn.     

The Fatal Poisoning Pattern of Ankara (Turkey) and Nearby Cities from 2007 to June 2011: A Retrospective Study in Forensic Autopsies

We aimed to obtain an outline of the nature and number of fatal poisonings which still appear to affect widely the population in Turkey. A total of 5921 forensic autopsies were performed between 2007 and 2011 in Ankara and nearby cities and 366 of them were fatal poisonings (219 male, 147 female). Most of the cases were between 41 and 60 years old (n = 84). Most of the fatalities were reported during winter months (48.1%). Carbon monoxide exposure was the most common reason (66.7%) within all the causes followed by medicine and narcotics (13.9%). Postmortem blood alcohol concentrations in ethyl and methyl alcohol poisonings were 385.1 ± 61.9 and 206.8 ± 138.9 mg/dL, respectively. The most common location of deaths was home (71.3%). Fatal poisonings have been a growing global problem because of some shortcomings about the socioeconomic conditions and increasing illicit drug abuse. The level of education, socioeconomic conditions, and legal approaches are very important for the prevention fatal poisonings.     

How a luxury monopolist might benefit from the aspirational utility effect of counterfeiting?

Thanks to an intertemporal analytical model, we incorporate aspirational consumers in Veblen markets for luxury fashion items. We show how a luxury monopolist can increase its profits thanks to the presence of counterfeit products. The genuine producer profit is shaped by two opposite effects: (1) a positive aspirational effect resulting from a sales increase due to the aspirational consumers who seek to imitate the lifestyle of snob consumers (2) a negative snob effect, resulting from a sales decrease due to the reduction of consumption by some snob consumers. We identify the conditions under which the overall effect generated by counterfeiting can increase the genuine firm profit. These conditions imply the existence of large aspirational effects and high additional utility gain associated with buying an original product instead of obtaining a counterfeit product.     

Unusual suicides with band saws: Two case reports and a literature review

Suicides or suicide attempts with power saws (band, circular or chain saws) are rather rare events and only a few case reports exist in the forensic literature. The use of a band saw, in particular, has been extremely rare in cases of suicide.We report two cases of suicide that occurred in the same suburban area, three years apart. In each case, the victim was a carpenter and had a history of psychiatric disorder and/or of prior suicide attempts.We summarize the findings of the death scene investigations, the pertinent autopsy findings, and also summarize the world literature pertaining to suicide committed with power saws.