Does diversity in the boardroom increase profit?

Gray and Barry say the claim that diversity in the boardroom increases profit is not based on the evidenc. (WSJ, April 2021).

What are the limits of economies of scope?

 

HT: MURevolution, April 2021

"The social purpose of a company is to find profitable solutions to the challenges of people and planet"

Have Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Oxford economist Colin Mayer rebranded Milton Friedman's statement that “the social responsibility of business is to increase profits”? (WSJ, April 2021)

Is this the end of Barbie doll pricing for printers?

New printers are NOT charging a high price for refills of ink. (WSJ, March 2021) My question is, "What took so long?" Were consumers unable to look ahead and then reason back?

Look ahead and reason back

Tractor manufacturers are trying to lock farmers into getting repairs from their dealers. (WSJ, March 2021) One question is, "Were the manufacturers hoping to use Barbie doll pricing?"

This article finds that right to repair legislation can result in a lose-lose-lose outcome.

1. Consumers may lose because manufacturers increase the price of the tractor when the link between tractor sales and revenues from repairs decreases. 
2. Producers may lose because the increase in the price of tractors fails to offset the lose of revenue from repairs. 
3. The environment may also lose.

Barbie doll pricing for printers

Planet Money (Feb. 2021) describes how companies charge low prices for printers to sell high-price ink and make substituting third-party ink difficult.

Is this an example of 1st degree price discrimination?

"When a woman gets a caesarean section at the gleaming new Van Ness location of Sutter Health’s California Pacific Medical Center, the price might be $6,241. Or $29,257. Or $38,264. It could even go as high as $60,584.

"The rate the hospital charges depends on the insurance plan covering the birth. At the bottom end of the scale is a local health plan that serves largely Medicaid recipients. At the top are prices for women whose plans don’t have the San Francisco hospital in their insurers’ network" (WSJ, Feb. 2021).