This paper presents a model with rental housing vacancies in equilibrium. Because of the indivisibility and multi-dimensional heterogeneity of housing units, the housing market is thin. As a result, a typical household entering the market is willing to pay a premium for its most-preferred over its second most-preferred available (vacant) unit. This confers monopoly power on landlords, which they exploit by setting rents above costs. Free entry and exit force profits to zero, with vacancies as the equilibrating mechanism. A nice feature of the model is that housing vacancies are socially useful in expanding the choice set of entering households, though there is no presumption that the market vacancy rate is socially optimal. Thin markets are modeled by assuming an idiosyncratic component to households' tastes over housing units.

The positive and normative properties of the basic model, which assumes costless search, are investigated. Then the model is extended to treat costly search. Finally, directions in which the model could usefully be extended are discussed.

The Federal Republic of Germany’s balance of payments has been in the black for years, a record unparallelled by any other major country since the Second World War. Proceeding from status quo assumptions, the surpluses are unlikely to decline in the medium term, either.¹ Can they be endured? Do they really pose no serious problem, as current debate on national economic policy suggests?

This article examines goal theory in conjunction with sales contests. Specifically, the study examines goal difficulty, goal clarity, and goal acceptance and their association with performance, effort and selling method. The results of the study are based on a sales contest of a Fortune 500 industrial sales organization. A theoretical base for goal theory is reviewed. Results indicate that difficult goals and increased acceptance of goals are important attributes in a sales contest. Other results are presented and managerial implications are discussed.

In many previous studies of consumer behavior, shopping has been equated with buying. This research examines the concept of browsing—the examination of a retailer’s merchandise without a current intent to buy. Results indicate that for the product classes of clothing and personal computers, browsing is related to perceptions of relevant dimensions of the retail environment. In addition, heavy browsers are more involved with the product, are more knowledgeable, and are more likely to be opinion leaders than are other consumers. Suggestions for future research are also noted.

Although structural change in many industrialized countries has increased since the early 1970s, the environmental policy aspects of this change have hardly been investigated. Using a set of four indicators, this study examines the correlation between structural changes and environmental pollution in thirty-one Eastern and Western industrialized countries from 1970 to 1985.