Two behavioral assumptions that are often made in the industrial organization literature are that an established firm (or group) may deter entry either through limit pricing (the Sylos Postulate) or by holding excess capacity (the Excess Capacity Hypothesis). In an interesting recent article in this Review (1981), Daniel Spulber examines these behavioral assumptions to see whether they are consistent with rational behavior by an established firm. Spulber's analysis is based on a two-firm, two-period game model in which the established firm is given a first-in advantage. By introducing this dynamic element into the model, Spulber is able to explicitly address the issue of the optimality of entry-deterring behavior. Spulber finds that the use of limit pricing and/or excess capacity to deter entry is rational only under a very limited set of circumstances.' In particular, when the second-period outcome is determined by a Cournot-Nash equilibrium, he derives the following results. 1) The first-period output of the established firm is always less than or equal to the first-period output produced by a firm not anticipating entry. The established firm essentially accommodates entry and limit pricing does not occur. 2) The established firm never holds more capital than the amount that would minimize its production costs, given its output choices in periods one and two. This comment takes issue with Spulber's conclusions about the Cournot-Nash case. It will be shown that the two results cited above may be reversed when the production technology is characterized by variable proportions. This reversal hinges on the particular type of Nash equilibrium employed in the analysis of the two-period model. Spulber implicitly uses a Nash equilibrium that is not subgame perfect.2 It is shown below that, when one requires the Nash equilibrium to be subgame perfect, both limit pricing and excess capital investment outcomes are possible for the variable proportions technology case. The subgame perfection property thus seems to capture an important strategic element in decision making for the established firm. In some cases, this type of strategic behavior leads to entry barriers that would not exist under innocent profit maximization by the established firm. Strategic entry barriers are discussed by Steven Salop (1979). Spulber's notation and assumptions about demand and costs are adopted below.

The formation of individuals' horizons, which is central to the theory of life-cycle behavior, has been completely neglected. This is especially surprising, since the life expectancy of adults has recently increased rapidly in Western countries. This study analyzes responses to a questionnaire designed to elicit subjective expectations and probabilities of survival. People do extrapolate past improvements in longevity when they determine their subjective horizons, and they are fully aware of levels of and movements within today's life tables. The subjective distribution has greater variance than its actuarial counterpart; and the subjective variance decreases with age. The implications of these findings for optimal Social Security, for the construction of annuities, for the analysis of savings behavior, and for evaluating lifetime earnings are discussed.

When charitable contributions are tax deductible, the marginal price of charitable giving in other consumption foregone per dollar of contributions is generally less than unity. Further, if the income tax schedule is a progressive step function, the marginal price of contributions is generally a rising step function of the level of contributions. The problem of estimating a contributions demand function for individuals is therefore complicated by the spurious correlation between the level of contributions and the observed marginal price. We take this econometric problem into account in estimating a contributions demand function using data from the 1972-73 Consumer Expenditure Survey. After comparing our results with those of estimation techniques used by other authors, we provide evidence on the impacts of alternative tax policies on charitable giving using our estimates of the model parameters.

C. Edward Arrington, Charles D. Bailey, William S. Hopwood, An Attribution Analysis of Responsibility Assessment for Audit Performance, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Spring, 1985), pp. 1-20

Little attention has been paid by the academic community in the United States to the Japanese stock market and its structure. Japan has the second largest economy in the Western world, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) is second only to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in terms of aggregate market values and sales volume. Analysis of the Japanese stock market is useful given its relative importance, but, in addition, examination of the Japanese market may offer insights into controversies surrounding U.S. markets. This study focuses on two such current controversies: the January and size anomalies.

Reviews the book "Consolidated Balance Sheets," by George Hillis Newlove.

Reviews the book "Standardized Accountancy in Germany," by H.W. Singer.

Reviews the book "Consolidated and Other Group Accounts," by T.B. Robson.

Reviews the book "Words of Wall Street, 2000 Investment Terms Defined," by Allan H. Pessin and Joseph A. Ross.