Are nutrition labels useful for the purchase of a familiar food? Evidence from Chinese consumers�� purchase of rice

Nutrition labeling has been accepted by Chinese consumers as an information source to learn about food quality and safety. This paper uses Chinese consumers’ rice purchase as an example to study how consumers use food nutrition labels to make purchase decision of a familiar food product. The goal is to understand how consumers seek information from the labels to make purchase when extensive experience with the food has been developed. Survey data from 400 random respondents in Beijing were analyzed using an empirical framework and a Mont Carlo integral econometrics model. We find that more than 50% of the consumers in Beijing have heard of food nutrition labels in general, 36.50% carefully use label information even if they are familiar with the food, and nearly 70% consider mandatory food nutrition labels as beneficial. Those who are more knowledgeable about rice nutrition labels are more likely to use the labels when purchasing rice, no matter how familiar they are with the product. Frequent users of nutrition labels are more likely to consider food mandatory nutrition labels as beneficial. This study suggests that consumers still use the label information to reassure the quality and safety of food despite a history of consumption.     

Richard Follett. The Sugar Masters: Planters and Slaves in Louisiana's Cane World, 1820-1860

Nobody writes books with grand titles like American Slaveryany more, and with good reason. No matter how thick the volume,no single study can adequately depict the dazzling varietiesof unfree labor in North America, even within a single era.Broad statements about unwaged labor practices in one part ofthe country will attract the criticism of specialists of anothersection. Even within a single colony or state, slavery on thecountryside was     

对北京胡同旅游产品深度开发的思考——以什刹海地区为例

目前,北京胡同旅游面临一系列亟待解决的问题,如胡同数量不断减少、胡同文化日渐淡薄、胡同游产品种类单一以及胡同游市场竞争无序等。如何在有效保护胡同文化资源的基础上,通过对目标消费者的深入分析,相应实现胡同游文化产品的合理、有序开发,充分挖掘和展现北京胡同的深厚文化内涵,是本文旨在探讨的问题。     

红罐对决 谁的王老吉?

<正>赢了官司就等于赢得一切?经过如此旷日持久的纷争后,"王老吉"这个已有很好知名度的品牌会否被逼入死胡同而渐渐走向灭亡呢?对于未来市场上两种红罐凉茶,竞争才刚刚开始。加多宝集团在17年的凉茶运营中获得了配方、产能、资金、渠道、综合体系的积淀,广州医药集团则有着巨大的品牌优势和集团优势。     

北京市服务业结构和竞争力的动态偏离—份额分析

北京市已经迈入服务经济时代,但随着全国服务业水平的普遍发展,北京市服务业是否能继续保持竞争优势是个值得研究的课题。选取2005-2010年北京市服务业的相关数据,采用引入时间维度的动态偏离-份额法,以全国服务业产值为参照系,剖析了北京市服务业各分行业的结构效应与竞争力效应随时间推移的动态变化趋势,发现北京市服务业内部结构有待优化和相对竞争优势正逐渐减弱等深层次问题,并提出推动北京市服务业进一步发展的若干政策建议。     

论辛亥革命前后梁漱溟的革命观

辛亥革命前后,在中学和西学的不断演进中,知识分子关于“革命”的观念也经历从古代形态向现代形态的转型。在转型过程中,多种革命观念和革命形态层出不穷。在这样的思想背景下,粱漱溟对于革命的认识也经历从政治革命到经济革命、从狭义革命到广义革命、从单一革命论到系统革命论,从近代革命观到现代革命观的转变。粱漱溟理解的革命问题的复杂性,既是当时复杂的革命形势的一个显影,同时也是近代知识分子通过不同革命手段寻求中国现代化道路的艰难尝试。     

Circles within a Circle: The Condition for the Possibility of Ethical Business Institutions Within a Market System

How can a business institution function as an ethical institution within a wider system if the context of the wider system is inherently unethical? If the primary goal of an institution, no matter how ethical it sets out to be, is to function successfully within a market system, how can it reconcile making a profit and keeping its ethical goals intact? While it has been argued that some ethical businesses do exist, e.g., Johnson and Johnson, the argument I would like to put forth is that no matter how ethical a business institution is, or how ethical its goals are, its capacity to act in an ethical manner is restricted by the wider system in which it must operate, the market system. Unless there is a fundamental change in the notion of the market system itself, the capacity for individual businesses to act in an ethical manner will always be restricted. My argument is divided into two parts. The first part is to show the inherent bias towards unethical outcomes that is inherent in the market system. The second part is to suggest how to reorient the general economic framework in order to make ethical institutions more possible. The question then becomes, how to define economic behavior in terms other than competition for profit.     

Strategic inertia,financial fragility and organisational failure: The case of the Birkbeck Bank, 1870–1911

This article looks at the key factors behind the failure of the Birkbeck Bank in 1911. Using a wide range of primary source material, it charts how the Bank emerged from its philanthropic roots as a mutual building society in the 1870s to go on and enjoy spectacular growth during the late nineteenth century before eventually faltering and failing in the early twentieth century. Throughout the analysis, particular attention is given to the investment decisions taken by the Bank's management and the impact that these had on the Bank's fortunes. In addition, the article also looks at the extent to which the Birkbeck Bank's overall business model differed from those of other banks in this period. Ultimately, what it shows is that the Bank's failure to modify its investment strategy quickly enough in response to changing market conditions – most notably the fall in the value of Consols and other gilt-edged securities – proved to be the decisive factor in its eventual collapse. For this reason, the article contends, it is appropriate to categorise the 1911 Birkbeck Bank failure as one caused by strategic inertia rather than excessive risk-taking.     

浅谈色情业现实问题的法律治理

由于色情业存在于社会的灰色地带,对其发展的规模无法进行有效的管理和制约。在色情业的背后,又存在着执法者的腐败和黑恶势力助纣为虐等违法犯罪行为。不论是合法化,还是坚决抵制,色情业的发展正在社会的阴暗角落悄然兴起,大有蓬勃发展之势,对它的规制已刻不容缓。在现实的社会法制环境下,我国的色情业不能完全合法化。     

Beijing——Outstanding Advantages to Develop ABP Economy

Geographical advantage. Beijing is the capital city of China, the center of politics, culture, science and technology, information and international communication. The national macro-decision making and regulatory sectors are located in Beijing. At the same time, the transportation volume of aviation and railway has been listed No. 1 in China. No other city can compare to Beijing.     

Drivers' behaviour at roundabouts in Riyadh

As is the case in many cities, roundabouts are used extensively in Riyadh. However, instead of improving safety, driving through roundabouts in Riyadh can be a dangerous experience as many drivers do not follow regulations. Unfortunately, no official statistics exist on accidents or violations at roundabouts and no studies have been done to assess this problem. A field study to collect data on drivers' behaviour at five roundabouts in Riyadh was done and a questionnaire was randomly distributed to drivers to explore this issue. Results showed that the percentage of drivers breaching at least one traffic regulation is approximately 90% of all drivers driving through these roundabouts, with leaving without flashing and entering the roundabout without giving way being the most frequent violation types. Questionnaire results from 384 respondents showed that there is a lack of information among most drivers on roundabout driving regulations and that driver training and licensing process does not include enough information related to this matter. Finally, practical suggestions as how to tackle this issue in terms of education, training and policing are given.     

A new tale of two cities: Japanese FDIs in Shanghai and Beijing, 1979–2003

Transitional economies can be characterized by considerable sub-national variation in economic and political characteristics. We investigate how this variance influences the timing of entry, entry mode, industrial traits, and survival rates for Japanese foreign direct investments (FDIs) made in China's two major metropolises—Shanghai, the economic center, and Beijing, the political capital. Using a sample of 1610 subsidiaries of Japanese firms established during the 1979–2003 period, our empirical results show that Japanese multinational enterprises (MNEs) tended to choose an economic-oriented rather than a political-oriented city as their investment location, with the consequence being higher survival likelihoods in Shanghai than in Beijing. This location choice helped Japanese firms avoid policy uncertainty and political hazards in China's transition economy. Our findings highlight the point that fundamental features of institutional environments at sub-national levels should be analyzed when looking at investment strategy and performance in transitional economies.     

论货币流通量的“正常水平”

“让货币流通量回归到正常水平”的提法是对的.因为从理论上讲,不管哪一个因素导致的通货膨胀都是一种货币现象,通货膨胀总是同货币流通量偏多有关.但问题并没有那么简单,有若干问题还需要进一步探讨,如什么是货币流通量的“正常水平”,如何计算外汇储备增长和结构对货币流通量“正常水平”的影响等等.在当前形势下,实行货币流通量向“正常水平”回归,很可能引起产品供应链的断裂和企业资金链的断裂,从而出现企业停产、倒闭和员工下岗、失业的情况,也可能出现使个体工商户收缩、使承包土地的农民收入下降的情况.因此,在采取措施实行“货币流通量回归正常水平”时,不能忽略通货膨胀预期和企业盈利前景预期,这两种预期同样重要.     

王宇:这个市场有点乱

<正>11月3日,中国住房和城乡建设部、财政部、人民银行、银监会四部委3日再次发出通知,全面叫停第三套住房公积金贷款,并将第二套住房公积金个人住房贷款首付提至五成。这是我国楼市调控政策的最新消息。对大多数人来说,这不过是众多新闻中最     

知识经济时代的网络营销

２０世纪下半叶，世界经济正在从工业经济向知识经济转变，这一转变使企业营销环境也大为改变，导致网络营销产生。我国企业为加快知识经济时代的网络营销，必须从思想上对网络营销竞争意识的重视，实施有效的营销策略组合，完善金融安全认证体系，在实施过程中不断去发展与创新。     

The changed legality of resale price maintenance and pricing implications

From 1911 until 2007, minimum resale price maintenance agreements between manufacturers and resellers were illegal under federal antitrust law. This handicapped manufacturers which sought to exert control over how their products were priced and promoted through the distribution channel. In June 2007, the United States Supreme Court—via the Leegin case—ruled that bilateral minimum resale price maintenance agreements would no longer be automatically illegal. Rather, they would be legal if their net impact is pro-competitive, and illegal only if the net impact is anti-competitive. This ruling empowers manufacturers to use resale price maintenance to create value for their customers and consumers. However, not all stakeholders—including some state legal systems—have embraced the Leegin ruling, thereby creating uncertainty regarding its final impact. Despite this uncertainty, the opportunities created by Leegin are worth exploring and acting upon. Since the Leegin ruling 3 years ago, a new landscape for resale pricing maintenance has been evolving. We discuss this landscape and the considerations for using resale price maintenance within its ambit. For many manufacturers, the chance of benefitting from Leegin outweighs any potential risks.     

International Enterprises and Trade Unions

A “shipping war” has broken out between two friendly neighbouring countries: Estonia (a rather poor land; liberated of Soviet occupation in 1991), and Finland (a wealthy one; independent since 1918). Led by their trade union the Finnish dockers boycott Estonian ships demanding for Estonian sailors the salary in the same range as that is in wealthy West-European countries. Estonian Sailors' Union finds that such a war is not for their better work-conditions but against their working possibilities: the cheap labour force is the only possibility for a poor country to entice foreign investments in it. No matter how the “shipping war” will be solved – the problem will remain. This is the problem of two opposites – cheap labour force of poor countries and expensive one of wealthy countries –, and international enterprises standing between them. Could such an enterprise survive without using the cheap labour force? And if it could, how could the poor countries survive then? Could there be found a clear unambiguous ethical solution? What ought to be the role of trade unions in such international business conflicts?     

金融海啸下软价值战略研究

2007年的美国次贷危机如海啸一般冲击着全球经济,其广度和深度前所未有。无论跨国企业,还是本地中小企业,如何挖掘供应链软价值,提升企业供应链管理软实力,达到企业长期竞争优势,已成为业界关注的焦点。鉴于此,本文着力研究供应链上下游企业商流、物流、资金流、信息流和海关关务的创新战略,提升企业国际竞争力。     

北京市产业集群及其物流功能选择

北京市产业集群发展的特殊性,要求新的物流产业发展模式与之相配套。就此本文提出了集群式物流的概念,并研究了这种物流发展模式对于产业集群形成发展的重要作用。     

A martingale representation theorem and valuation of defaultable securities

We consider a financial framework with two levels of information: the public information generated by the financial assets, and a larger flow of information that contains additional knowledge about a random time. This random time can represent many economic and financial settings, such as the default time of a firm for credit risk, and the death time of an insured for life insurance. As the random time cannot be seen before its occurrence, the progressive enlargement of filtration seems tailor‐fit to model the larger flow of information that incorporates both the public flow and the information about the random time. In this context, our interest focuses on the following challenges: (a) How to single out the various risks coming from the financial assets, the random time, and their correlations? (b) How these risks interplay and lead to the formation of any risk in the larger flow of information? It is clear that understanding how risks build‐up and interact, when one enlarges the flow of information, is vital for an efficient risk management and derivatives' evaluation in those informational markets. Our answers to these challenges are full and complete no matter what the model for the random time is and no matter how the random time is related to the public flow. In fact, we introduce “pure default” risks, and quantify and classify these risks afterward. Then we elaborate our martingale representation results, which state that any martingale in the large filtration stopped at the random time can be decomposed into orthogonal local martingales (i.e., local martingales whose product remains a local martingale). This constitutes our first principal contribution, while our second contribution consists in evaluating various defaultable securities according to the recovery policy, within our financial setting that encompasses any default model, using a martingale “basis.” Our pricing formulas explain the impact of various recovery policies on securities and determine the types of pure default risk they entail.