Competition | Center for Economic Policy

Research Affiliate Zhitao YIN Assistant Professor, Information Systems Zhitao is an Assistant Professor at the School of Business and Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research focuses on addressing the following three problems via econometrics as well as computational techniques (e.g., machine learning, natural language processing, network analysis) to provide evidence for the design of algorithmic, business, and policy interventions that can be implemented in the business and public sectors. (1) What are the risks that emerge when human delegate tasks to or collaborate with algorithm-based machines?

Conference, Symposium, Forum Asia Pacific Industrial Organization Conference 2023 The Asia Pacific Industrial Organization Conference (APIOC) 2023 will take place on December 15-17, 2023 by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Call for Papers Paper Submission Timeline: June 1 to September 3, 2023. Please submit your paper here. Find out more about the event here. Submit your enquiry at cmd-enquiries@unimelb.edu.au

2023-12-15 ~ 2023-12-17
12:00am - 12:00am

Current Student Research Intern Jenny Chow Current Student Research Intern Jenny Chow is a year 3 student majoring in Economics and Finance and minoring in Sustainability. She is also interested in sustainable finance and ESG issues. She is currently assisting Prof. Alminas ZALDOKAS to work on Collusion and Innovation project.

Search Algorithm, Repetitive Information, and Sales on Online Platforms The CEP working paper “Search Algorithm, Repetitive Information, and Sales on Online Platforms” authored by our research affiliate Yangguang Huang(with Yu Xie) was published at International Journal of Industrial Organization on 15 February 2023.

Publications Resource Allocation Among Competing Innovators Many innovative products are designed to satisfy the demand of specific target consumers; thus, the innovators will inevitably compete with each other in the product market. This paper investigates how a profit-maximizing principal should properly allocate her limited resources to support the innovations of multiple potentially competing innovators. The study finds that, as the available resources increase, the optimal diversification of investment may first increase and then decrease. By Yangguang Huang, Ying-Ju Chen, Pin Gao, Xiaoshuai Fan

Publications Agglomeration, Misallocation, and (the Lack of) Competition Industrial agglomeration policies may limit competition. This study develops, validates, and applies a novel approach for measuring competition based on the comovement of markups and market shares among firms in the same location and industry. Then this study develops a model of how this reduction in competition affects aggregate income. In this paper, the authors apply their approach to the well-known special economic zones (SEZs) of China. This paper estimates that firms in SEZs exhibit cooperative pricing almost three times as intensively as firms outside SEZs. By Yao Amber Li, Wyatt J. Brooks, Joseph P. Kaboski

Publications Indemnification, Monitoring, and Competition: Evidence from R&D Contracts This article examines the adoption of indemnification clauses in research and development (R&D) contracts, in which a firm commits to reimbursing its agent against liabilities and legal costs. Indemnification achieves efficient risk sharing but dilutes the agent’s incentives to take precautions. Such incentives may be restored if the firm offers contingent indemnification and monitors the agent’s activities. Additionally, tougher competition can motivate the firm and agent to take more aggressive R&D activities, which leads to higher liability risks. By Xinyu Hua, Di Guo , Kun Jiang

Current Student Research Intern Yuhan Ai Current Student Research Intern Ai Yuhan is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Economics and Finance. She is currently assisting Prof. Huang Yangguang to investigate the industrial organization. Before joining CEP as a student research intern, she worked on a project studying products, supply chains, and finance in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program.

Seminar, Lecture, Talk Lunchtime Brown-bag Seminars The Center for Economic Policy is organizing lunchtime brown-bag seminars in Fall term at LSK6045. It will be opened to all faculty and students who want to attend. In the one-hour seminar, there will be a presentation by CEP research affiliates, postdoctoral fellow or HKUST PhD students, followed by a Q&A session. The schedule of the seminars in Fall term is as follows:

2023-09-04 ~ 2023-11-13
12:00pm - 1:00pm

Former Student Research Intern Xinzi Li Current Student Research Intern LI, Xinzi is an undergraduate student at HKUST majoring in Economics and Finance and minoring in Mathematics. She is supervised by Prof. Alminas Žaldokas to assist with a project investigating the firms’ adjustments to the introduction of economic sanctions. Her work primarily focuses on empirical data analysis.