How Do Retailers Price Beer During Periods of Peak Demand? Evidence from Game Weeks of the German Bundesliga

This article considers retail beer pricing during game weeks of the German Bundesliga. German consumers exhibit a high degree of brand‐loyalty in their preference for regionally crafted beers, and we exploit the regional brand‐loyalty of German beer consumers to identify brand‐level demand shocks for beers preferred by the home team's fans and visiting team's fans during Bundesliga game weeks. We find retailer price adjustments at the category level mask a considerably more nuanced pricing behavior at the brand level. Retailers in regions hosting Bundesliga games significantly increase beer prices at the category level during game weeks; however, at the brand level, we find retailers selectively discount prices on the home team's sponsored beers and systematically raise prices on the visiting team's sponsored beers. Our findings are consistent with a “tourist–natives” model of retail pricing during periods of increased demand in the German beer market.     

消费者公平关切下制造商主导的供应链最优决策研究

究消费者不仅在意产品的功能,还在意交易中的公平性,因此研究了消费者公平关切对制造商和零售商定价决策问题。对零售商与消费者具有公平关切与制造商与消费者具有公平关切两种情况下的制造商主导的Stakelberg模型进行研究分析,并得出两种情况下制造商的最优批发价格、最优质量以及零售商最优零售价。研究发现:适中的消费者公平关切能够一定程度上缓解供应链竞争。制造商与零售商都不应过度关注自身公平关切,否则会损害另一方利益,从而不利于供应链的稳定发展。     

Economic Effect of Zoning Regulations on Korea's Small and Medium‐Sized Retailers*

In this paper, we investigated the economic effects of zoning regulations on the retail industry in Korea. We estimated the changes in the number of sales for retail stores using a panel regression analysis for stores in traditional markets. This analysis was conducted to examine the benefit of zoning regulations on retail stores. Our results show that the zoning regulations (called Traditional Commercial Activity Protection Zones) have contributed to an improvement in the actual business performance of small independent retailers. We found that the amount of sales for each store clearly increased on average in the areas designated as Traditional Commercial Activity Protection Zones where there was no market entry of mega supermarket chains (called SSM in Korea). We also present evidence that the effects of this policy differ geographically: the effects were stronger for small and medium cities than for large metropolitan cities. These results suggest that zoning regulations enacted by the government to protect traditional markets and small retailers should also consider regional differences when assessing policy effectiveness.     

Output and productivity comparisons of the Singapore and Hong Kong wholesale and retail trade sectors, 2001–2008

This paper employs the industry of origin approach to compare value‐added and labour productivity of Singapore and Hong Kong's wholesale and retail sectors for the period 2001–08. The direct comparison between these two economies was motivated by the statement of the Singapore Government that its services sector, especially the retail sector, lagged behind Hong Kong's productivity levels. The results show that since 2005, Singapore's wholesale and retail sector performance in terms of labour productivity has been below Hong Kong's level, largely due to the poor performance of its retail sector arising from an influx of foreign workers. Results from total factor productivity analysis of these two economies also suggest that Hong Kong's better performance (since 2005) was largely due to its ability to employ more educated and trained workers with limited use of capital. The results suggest that polices that have worked in Hong Kong may not work in Singapore because its population is more diverse, which poses a challenge to policymakers in raising its productivity level.     

Competing with Costco and Sam's Club: Warehouse Club Entry and Grocery Prices

Prior research shows that grocery stores reduce prices to compete with Walmart Supercenters. This study finds evidence that the competitive effects of two other big‐box retailers—Costco and Walmart‐owned Sam's Club—are quite different. Using city‐level panel grocery price data matched with a unique data set on Walmart and warehouse club locations, we find that Costco entry is associated with higher grocery prices at incumbent retailers and that the effect is strongest in cities with small populations and high grocery store densities. This is consistent with incumbents competing with Costco along nonprice dimensions, such as product quality or quality of the shopping experience. We find no evidence that Sam's Club entry affects grocery stores' prices, consistent with Sam's Club's focus on small businesses instead of consumers.     

北京市西瓜销售市场和典型零售商调查研究

从北京市西瓜价格走势、销售产地、品种等情况对北京市西瓜销售情况进行分析,并以北京市各区的西瓜批发零售点作为销售环节的调研对象,对零售商抽样调研进行成本效益分析。结果显示,从销售量上,农贸市场＞超市＞便利店,而在销售价格上,超市＞农贸市场＞便利店,三种零售商的利润率在10%～12%之间。最后提出对零售商进行基础建设升级改造、采用差异化战略和加大促销力度等方面的建议。     

Securing small farmer participation in supermarket supply chains in South Africa

Urbanisation and a growing middle class with changing consumption patterns provide an ideal setting for supermarkets to prosper. With South Africa's urban population approaching 60 per cent, supermarket retail chains are now important players in the agro-food sector. Over the last two decades they have begun to purchase produce from in-house sourcing companies who buy mainly from large-scale farmers. Together with the strict requirements of the retail groups, this makes it difficult for small-scale farmers to supply these retailers. This paper highlights the market changes that could continue to exclude small producers from mass consumer markets. It uses a case study to show how small farmers can be integrated into the urban retail market and, using evidence from this study, proposes a number of strategies to help them participate in the mainstream agro-food supply chains and an innovative model for including them while maintaining profitable business operations.     

The British ‘failure’ that never was? The Anglo‐American ‘productivity gap’ in large‐scale interwar retailing—evidence from the department store sector1

Interwar British retailing has been characterized as having lower productivity, less developed managerial hierarchies and methods, and weaker scale economies than its US counterpart. This article examines comparative productivity for one major segment of large‐scale retailing in both countries—the department store sector. Drawing on exceptionally detailed contemporary survey data, we show that British department stores in fact achieved superior performance in terms of operating costs, margins, profits, and stock‐turn. While smaller British stores had lower labour productivity than US stores of equivalent size, TFP was generally higher for British stores, which also enjoyed stronger scale economies. We also examine the reasons behind Britain's surprisingly strong relative performance, using surviving original returns from the British surveys. Contrary to arguments that British retailers faced major barriers to the development of large‐scale enterprises, that could reap economies of scale and scope and invest in machinery and marketing to support the growth of their primary sales functions, we find that British department stores enthusiastically embraced the retail ‘managerial revolution’—and reaped substantial benefits from this investment.     

基于POI数据的卷烟消费者行为研究

随着新零售时代的来临,如何利用大数据分析技术对卷烟消费者行为进行研究分析,成为了烟草企业寻求有效精确营销和产品投放策略的关键之所在。通过POI数据分析技术,对某卷烟企业在QD地区的消费者数据进行了实证分析,研究了消费者购买行为的区域聚集规律以及地点和时段偏好。研究为大数据时代下烟草企业的消费者行为分析提出一条新途径,同时对卷烟消费者行为具体研究结论对卷烟企业的产品投放和营销策略提供了参考。     

Does Manufacturer Advertising Crowd‐in or Crowd‐out Retailer Advertising? An Application of an Endogenous Prize Contest with Asymmetric Players

When a manufacturer advertises, what is the impact on retailer advertising? I analyze a contest model of advertising where total advertising by the manufacturer and by retailers determines market size, and the relative level of advertising by each retailer determines market share. If retailers are symmetric I show that there is a crowding‐in effect so increased manufacturer advertising increases retail advertising. But if one retailer is stronger, then marginal increases in manufacturer advertising have a crowding‐out effect on retailer advertising, while sufficiently large increases have a crowding‐in effect by “jump‐starting” competition between retailers for the larger market. Furthermore, asymmetric abilities in such contests can lead the weaker player to effectively drop out of the contest, thereby undermining the ability of increased prizes to increase effort by intensifying competition.     

Foreign aid,government behaviour,and fiscal policy in Papua New Guinea

The paper explores a number of long standing questions surrounding how foreign aid has influenced the fiscal behaviour of the PNG Government. This includes whether grant aid has encouraged the PNG government to be less fiscally responsible and accumulate higher levels of foreign debt; whether grant aid has tended to lower the PNG government's domestic revenue raising efforts; whether grant aid has drawn government expenditures away from key service delivery sectors; and whether budget support and project and program aid have had differential effects with respect to any of the foregoing questions. The analysis reveals several important insights regarding the interplay between foreign aid and public sector fiscal behaviour including evidence that grant aid has been an important source of debt reduction during this period. However, grant aid has tended to erode the domestic tax base, which has limited the government's ability to increase aggregate expenditure levels. Evidence is also found that suggests a significant portion of budget support was spent on key development sectors, although it also undermined domestic revenue collection. A number of policy implications follow.     

In the Aftermath: Consumer Choice and the Deregulation of Australian Retail Banking, 1988–1993

This article explores whether deregulation of the Australian retail banking sector in the 1980s delivered the enhanced consumer choice that had been promised. Using new data on banking products and their usage, it analyses consumers' ability to select optimal ‘frontier’ products. It concludes that following deregulation of retail banking, product offerings underwent such tumultuous change that the scope for effective consumer choice was severely constrained. While there were improvements towards the end of the period, progress was not assisted by the banks' strategy of proliferating and re‐bundling products. Consequently, the anticipated improvements to consumer choice were slow to arrive.     

The contagion externality of a superspreading event: The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and COVID‐19

Large in‐person gatherings of travelers who do not socially distance are classified as the “highest risk” for COVID‐19 spread by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). From August 7–16, 2020, nearly 500,000 motorcycle enthusiasts converged on Sturgis, South Dakota for its annual rally in an environment without mask‐wearing requirements or other mitigating policies. This study is the first to explore this event's public health impacts. First, using anonymized cell phone data, we document that foot traffic at restaurants/bars, retail establishments, and entertainment venues rose substantially at event locations. Stay‐at‐home behavior among local residents fell. Second, using a synthetic control approach, we find that the COVID‐19 case rate increased substantially in Meade County and in the state of South Dakota in the month following the Rally. Finally, using a difference‐in‐differences model to assess nationwide spread, we find that following the Sturgis event, counties outside of South Dakota that contributed the highest inflows of rally attendees experienced a 6.4–12.5% increase in COVID‐19 cases relative to counties without inflows. Our findings highlight that local policy decisions assessing the tradeoff between local economic benefits and COVID‐19 health costs will not be socially optimal in the presence of large contagion externalities.     

Absorptive Capacity,International Business Knowledge Transfer,and Local Adaptation: Establishing Discount Department Stores in Australia

This article examines the ways that Australia's largest retail firms accessed and adapted external knowledge flows, largely from the USA, to develop discount department store chains from the late‐1960s onwards. In doing so, it extends work on retail internationalisation by focusing on the importation, rather than the exportation of business models. The three firms – Coles, Myer and Woolworths – exhibited differing degrees of absorptive capacity in identifying and commercialising knowledge flows. This was reflected in fluctuating levels of success, the scope of store networks and relative positioning in the Australian market. Further, the role played by informal associations between managers in non‐competing firms in different markets during the development of discount department stores in Australia advances the case for socialising analyses of business knowledge transfer more broadly.     

Market and Welfare Effects of Mandatory Country‐of‐Origin Labeling in the U.S. Specialty Crops Sector: An Application to Fresh Market Apples

This study provides a new framework of analysis of the market and welfare effects of mandatory country‐of‐origin labeling (MCOOL) for fruits and vegetables that accounts for heterogeneous consumer preferences, differences in producer agronomic characteristics, and retailer market power. The market and welfare effects of MCOOL are shown to be case‐specific and dependent on the labeling costs at the farm and retail levels, the strength of consumer preference for domestic products, the market power of retailers, the marketing margin along the supply chain, and the relative costs of imported and domestic products. Simulation results for the U.S. market of fresh apples indicate that domestic producers are the most likely beneficiaries of MCOOL, followed by domestic consumers. Being unable to exercise market power on consumers or suppliers of fresh apples, retailers will lose if the implementation of MCOOL entails fixed costs. Imports of fresh apples decline after MCOOL introduction.     

Discrimination in hire‐purchase lending by retailers of consumer durables in apartheid South Africa

A double‐hurdle partial observability model of hire‐purchase lending is specified and estimated to test for racial discrimination by retailers of consumer durables during apartheid. ‘Discrimination’ is defined as supplying no loans or less desirable loans to certain borrowers, who do not differ from more successful borrowers with respect to creditworthiness but who do differ with respect to race. There is strong evidence of discrimination. In particular, black households are 13 percentage points more likely to desire a hire‐purchase loan but not to have one supplied to them than are other households equivalent in all ways except race. Although the statistical test cannot determine whether race affected lending because lenders were bigoted or because race is correlated with unobserved characteristics correlated in turn with creditworthiness, increased access to formal loans for all South Africans could be promoted by relaxing the Usury Act and by removing from loan applications information that could reveal an applicant's race.     

风险规避零售商基于双向期权的采购管理

以前景理论的效用函数为基础构建零售商的风险规避决策模型，研究双向期权下风险规避零售商的采购管理决策问题，比较风险中性与风险规避决策者的最优决策以及最优期望效用，分析风险厌恶水平以及相关契约参数对零售商的影响。研究结果以及数值仿真实验表明：风险厌恶水平的增加会改变零售商的订购组合，从而降低其期望效用；除此之外，期权购买价格以及看涨期权执行价格的增加都会降低零售商的期望效用，看跌期权执行价格的增加会增加零售商的期望效用。     

外商直接投资对零售业的溢出效应研究——基于省际面板数据的实证检验

运用2006—2018年省际面板数据分析对外直接投资(FDI)对中国零售业的溢出效应.结果显示,FDI对中国内资零售业的溢出效应和挤出效应并存:FDI的参与度会对中国内资零售业的技术进步产生负面影响,不利于FDI集聚性行业内溢出效应的产生;而外资零售企业的劳动生产率有利于中国内资企业的技术溢出,表现为FDI效率性行业内溢出效应.此外,企业规模在中部地区的影响更显著,资本密集度对中国内资零售业的技术进步具有显著的正向影响.     

基于供应商入侵的两级供应链批量博弈及决策

考虑由一个供应商和一个零售商组成的两级供应链,构建了三阶段博弈模型,研究在不对称信息下供应商入侵对零售商订单量及供应商库存量决策的影响。通过设计市场规模阈值及调查市场规模,进而得出每一阶段下供应商和零售商的利润。对3个阶段供应商和零售商利润先后进行比较分析,发现当后一阶段利润大于前一阶段时,供应链成员才会对订单量及库存量进行调整,从而得出在每阶段零售商订单数量及供应商库存数量范围。结果表明,供应商入侵在一定的零售商订单量及供应商库存量范围内可以提高供应链利润。     

Openness and Economic Performance: A Comparative Study of China and the Asian NIEs

Being the world's largest developing economy, China's successful economic performance since 1978 has had a powerful impact on the global economy. Its open policy features an evolutionary process, involving the gradual liberalization of foreign exchange, international trade and foreign direct investments. This paper evaluates how this evolutionary process has contributed to China's economic success in comparison with the development experiences of the Asian newly industrialized economies (NIEs). It concludes that despite the economic crisis in 1997–98, China and the NIEs represent a successful development model, which is built upon openness and huge investments in physical and human capital.