Illustrating the Power of fsQCA in Explaining Paradoxical Consumer Environmental Orientations

Prior research on proenvironmental and prosocial behavior focuses primarily on explaining consistent rather than paradoxical tendencies. Even though this field receives wide attention from different scientific disciplines, findings for many causal factors of such proenvironmental orientation are contradictory. Nevertheless, knowing who those individuals are who think and behave in a pro‐/antienvironmental way or show a paradoxical behavior in this regard becomes useful for many different parties in human societies including public policy makers, governmental and nongovernmental environmental protection organizations, and for‐profit firms. Therefore, this study identifies those individuals who show neither consistent proenvironmental nor consistent antienvironmental tendencies as the “walkers‐only” and “talkers‐only” (i.e., for short, “walkers” and “talkers”). The former are defined as persons who put much effort into the recycling of waste materials but do not support pollution standards, whereas the latter term describes individuals who have a strong opinion with regard to the support of pollution standards yet do not engage in recycling efforts. The present study reports evidence of the existence of walkers and talkers. Further, this research is the first study to employ “fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis” to identify the complex antecedent conditions for some individuals’ paradoxical belief–behaviors in the field of socially and environmentally directed behaviors and orientations. The findings yield valuable insights both into the applicability and benefits of configural analysis and for public policy makers and managers in waste management and recycling industries.     

Throwing It All Away: Exploring Affluent Consumers’ Attitudes Toward Wasting Edible Food

The skewed allocation of food across the world population is a major concern, as the result is that some of us live in abundant supply while others spend their life in constant scarcity. While researchers have studied a variety of issues related to the amounts of food being wasted, or the waste of edible food across consumers with different demographic characteristics, less is known about the drivers of attitudes toward food waste. Based on survey data from a sample of affluent Norwegian consumers, we test how subjective food knowledge, environmental concern, age, and income are related to consumer attitudes toward wasting edible food. We find that all variables except income drive consumer attitudes. Implications for theory and public policy are offered.     

IMPERFECT COMPETITION IN THE RECYCLING INDUSTRY

We study the market allocation in an economy where material is used for producing a consumption good, then recycled and finally landfilled, and where a recycling firm has market power. The material content constitutes an aspect of green product design and affects the recycling costs. Although the recycling firm's supply of recycling services is inefficiently low, it does not abuse its market power to distort the product design allocation. Different policy schemes are proposed which correct for market failures. One promising candidate is a relative recycling standard combined with a consumption good's tax, a material subsidy and a subsidy on recycling services.     

Marketing of Recycling Services:

While some research studies have investigated recycling, little work has been done in the area of marketing of recycling behavior by those providing recycling services. This study looks at the effects of different informational, convenience, and economic factors, as well as social norm effects, on recycling behavior of consumers for newspapers, aluminum containers, glass containers, and plastic containers. Results indicate that optimal strategies for inducing recycling behavior may differ depending on the materials to be recycled.     

What a Waste! A Study of Food Wastage Behavior in Singapore

This study focuses on analyzing food wastage behavior of consumers in Singapore. Qualitative research with experts from food waste management organizations and restaurant operators indicated key reasons for food wastage to be food spoilage, risk of hurting brand due to substandard food, lack of appropriate methods for sorting food, reverse logistics for proper waste collection/disposal, and appropriate recycling facilities. High costs of waste disposal, lack of government incentives or regulations governing service providers, and lack of awareness among consumers also contributed to solid food waste in Singapore. A survey with consumers recorded their habits with regard to planning food purchases, food wastage while cooking, and wastage during consumption of cooked, canned, and ready-to-eat products. A stepwise multiple discriminant analysis done on a key categorical variable “How much effort do you take to minimize amount of uneaten food you throw away?” yielded two groups that differed significantly along several attitudinal/behavioral dimensions.     

The effects of environmental attitude and fashion opinion leadership on textile recycling in the US

This study explored consumers' use of existing textile recycling options and tested relationships between general environmental attitudes, fashion opinion leadership and textile recycling behaviour. Nearly 51·2% of consumer textile products end up in landfills each year. Therefore, recycling of post-consumer textiles has implications for reducing the impact of consumer waste on the environment. The sample comprised a total of 277 male and female students from one Mid-western university. Factor analysis, correlation analysis and t-tests were the statistical methods used to analyse the data. Environmental attitude was found to be positively related to textile disposition method but not related to fashion opinion leadership. Gender differences were found for general environmental attitude as well as textile disposition method. These results have implications for consumer textile recycling initiatives. Suggestions for further study are given.     

The Impact of Public Policy on Social and Moral Norms: Some Examples

Social and moral norms may be required for a sustainable development of private consumption patterns. But how can public policy influence norm-motivated consumer behaviour? Based on a recent research project two possible mechanisms for such influence are outlined. The first focuses on behaviour motivated by social approval or disapproval; in such cases, policy can sometimes lead the economy into, or out of, "good" or "vicious" circles, with potentially dramatic consequences for aggregate behaviour. The second mechanism relates to internalized moral motivation; in this case, policy may affect consumers' perception of what morally responsible behaviour means. Explicit inclusion of such mechanisms can change the predictions from economic models in important ways; however, results may depend crucially on whether norms are enforced by social approval or through internalized self-sanctioning. Survey data on considerate smoking behaviour, recycling of household waste, and voluntary community work support several assumptions and predictions from the theoretical models discussed.     

以“价值添附”破解“产权游离”——绿色流通视角下城市生活垃圾分类回收新设想

“无废城市”理念为国家级城市群建设提出了更高的标准,但随着人口在大城市的不断集聚,现有的以填埋和焚烧为主的城市生活垃圾处理模式,受土地和环境所限已难以符合新时代绿色发展的要求。文章立足于马克思商品流通和产权理论,从物质转换视角分析垃圾分类回收在人与自然之间物质能量绿色流通循环中的重要性,发现“产权游离”现象抑制了消费者主动分类回收的积极性,而通过一定的“价值添附”便可实现商品流通与再生资源回收系统的“两网融合”。以上海生活垃圾分类“绿色账户”模式为案例分析,进一步论证了“价值添附”推动生活垃圾源头分类的可行性,为新时代城市绿色发展拓展了新的思路。     

硫酰氟熏蒸处理集装箱扩散规律初步研究

[目的]研究硫酰氟施药后在集装箱内的扩散规律以及集装箱装载不同的物品对硫酰氟吸附和解吸附作用的差异。[方法]根据集装箱的体积计算施药量,施药后不同时间点及散毒后关闭集装箱门不同时间点,用硫酰氟浓度检测仪测定箱内硫酰氟浓度。[结果]硫酰氟在集装箱内分布不均匀,下层浓度高于中层,中层浓度高于上层。相同施药量时,装载废纸集装箱内硫酰氟实际测量浓度低于装载废塑料集装箱内测量浓度。散毒后再次关闭箱门,箱内物品吸附的硫酰氟解吸再次释放出来,装载废旧塑料集装箱的浓度明显高于废纸集装箱内的浓度。[结论]硫酰氟密度大于空气,是其在集装箱上部与下部浓度存在差别的原因。与废塑料相比,废纸的孔隙多,致密程度差,对硫酰氟的吸附与阻留作用强于废塑料,因而吸附硫酰氟的作用更明显,而解吸硫酰氟的速度正好相反,慢于废塑料。     

Recycling and Landfilling in a Dynamic Sraffian Model: Application of the Corn–guano Model to a Waste Treatment problem

Landfill sites may be regarded as input for a waste treatment process. Considering landfill as an exhaustible resource, we apply a basic corn–guano model to a waste treatment problem. We show how dynamic substitution between landfilling and recycling occurs. Namely, in an early stage, landfill disposal is adopted as waste treatment and a recycling process is not activated. Once an economy faces exhaustion of landfill, a recycling process is activated as a backstop technology. We refer to the possibility that an economy may be unstable after exhaustion of landfill, even if it enjoys stable growth at the early stage.     

“Nobody Told Me I was a Nano-Consumer:” How Nanotechnologies Might Challenge the Notion of Consumer Rights

Regarding nanotechnologies and the consumer, a central paradox is the absence of a regulatory framework while more than 1,000 nano-enabled products are already available on the consumer markets. This represents a serious challenge for the consumer interest. Even though the prospects of nanotechnologies are truly fascinating and represent possibilities to solve major problems—for instance in the realms of health, energy and poverty—it is important to also discuss the potential risks of nano-enabled products. The present study reports on a Norwegian study with data derived from focus groups, a content analysis of advertisements, packaging and labels for cosmetics as well as on a Norwegian consumer survey. Conceptually, the paper is based on the notion of consumer rights introduced by President J.F. Kennedy in 1962. Based on the results of these studies, consumer policy implications are sketched.     

The costs of governance in international companies

Using foreign direct investment as a governance mechanism has a cost side that goes beyond mere production and input costs. The governance costs of foreign operations are often vague and underestimated, and sometimes even ignored by companies entering a foreign market. The effects of these costs have also largely been neglected in former empirical research. This study examines the governance cost effects on foreign subsidiary performance. Using data from a survey of 160 Norwegian multinational companies the study shows that there are significant and negative relationships between bargaining, monitoring, and maladaptation costs and subsidiary performance. Conversely, costs incurred due to bonding activities are positively associated with performance. Overall, this study indicates that governance costs play a significant role in explaining the performance of foreign subsidiaries: close to 40% of the variation in performance can be attributed to such costs. Dealing with such costs is hence of utmost importance for the management of multinational companies.     

复合产出、废弃物交换追加成本与市场结构——基于企业个体行为选择的废弃物资源化经济学原理探析

废弃物处理是当前经济社会面临的重要课题。通过市场手段实现废弃物资源化是较为理想的途径。本文从微观企业视角出发,引入复合产出、废弃物交换追加成本的概念,运用微观经济学中的厂商均衡理论,解释生产过程中产生的废弃物资源化的基本原理,让市场说出生态真理,弥补了产业共生理论的经济学基础不足的缺陷。     

基于层次分析法的废旧物回收中心选址研究

随着再制造物流越来越受到企业和政府的重视,关于再制造物流的研究也越来越多．然而专门针对再制造物流中废弃物回收中心的选拉研究还相对较少。以回收中心选址为研究课题,首先对再制造,再制造物流进行简单回顾,然后阐述了回收中心的作业流程及选址原则,分析了回收中心选址时需要考虑到的各种因素,接着基于层次分析法和专家打分法,并结合案例对回收中心选址决策进行了研究。     

Internal determinants of recycling behaviour by university students: a cross‐country comparative analysis

University students are a key group for research since they will be the consumers and the intellectual vanguard of the future and, therefore, a reference group for other consumers. Accordingly, data obtained from university students in Spain (n = 640) and the US (n = 597) were analysed to identify the main internal factors which lead them to participate in recycling activities. Given that morality‐based theories, and more specifically the Value–Belief–Norm (VBN) Theory, might be very useful in explaining pro‐environmental behaviour which requires personal sacrifices and whose benefits are mainly for the environment itself, that is the theoretical approach that we take for the selection and analysis of factors. Our findings support our thesis that environmental knowledge is a factor that should be (but is not currently) considered in the framework of VBN theory for predicting recycling behaviour. Although university students from Spain and the US have very different recycling rates, the internal factors that explain their recycling behaviour are very similar (motivations, perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE), environmental knowledge and gender). The elasticity of recycling behaviour to changes in internal factors is estimated with a view to making predictions, and altruistic motivations and PCE are found to be the factors that have the greatest effect in terms of improving recycling behaviour, followed by environmental knowledge. These predictions could help university policy makers take better decisions about the factors on which they need to act to increase recycling activities. Some guidelines for consideration in future intervention strategies to encourage this group to recycle are also provided.     

Struggling with Destiny: The Cotton Industry,Overseas Trade Policy and the Cotton Board, 1940–1959

This essay provides an institutional approach to the analysis of the Norwegian state's effort to promote industrial development between 1950 and 1980. It explores the extent to which national financial systems influence the ability of governments to intervene in industrial policy. It also explores the extent to which both the governance structures and investment strategies of Norwegian firms have been influenced by government policy. It demonstrates that the financial system is indeed a critical factor in the effective implementation of industrial policy in the period in question.     

Enhancing Brand Equity Through Sustainability: Waste Recycling

Unlike many existing research studies that explain reverse marketing from a purchasing perspective, this study recognizes it as an honest effort made by managers aiming to promote sustainability by purposefully managing waste and discusses the spillover effect of their initiatives on brand equity. It argues that efficient recycling of products through reverse marketing by a brand demonstrates its sincere intent to adopt sustainable business practices and enhances its equity in the marketplace. A business‐to‐business viewpoint has been used to combine knowledge about waste recycling and management through reverse marketing based on the unpretentious operations and management practices. The propositions reflect on the criticality of engaging business customer firms in a procedural mechanism of recycling for increase in brand equity as the success of reverse marketing. A comprehensive adoption of an initiative like waste management through reverse marketing by a brand highlights how sustainability initiatives can create value for the customers of the brand and ultimately drive brand equity. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

What's in a relationship? The case of commercial lending

This article presents a survey and an analysis of the academic literature on relationship lending to small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). It is noted herein that relationship lending depends on soft (non-quantifiable) information, while other “lending technologies” depend on hard (quantifiable) information. Based on relative benefits and costs, relationship lending may be best suited for some types of SMEs, with alternate lending technologies better matched to others. Also discussed in this article are some interesting managerial and public policy issues. On the bank management dimension, relationship lending may create a special challenge for risk managers. On the public policy dimension, evidence suggests that relationship lending may be better delivered by smaller community banks; banking industry consolidation could, however, threaten the presence of such providers. Counter-intuitively, it is possible that banking industry competition may not be the best environment for relationship lending. Finally, this article highlights potentially interesting differences in the relative importance of relationship lending and the other lending technologies across countries with different financial architectures, and examines a potentially powerful link between relationship lending and monetary policy and other monetary shocks.     

中德两国废纸回收率差距分析及其对我国的启示

运用比较分析的方法,对德国废纸回收的措施、造纸工业与环境的和谐、公民环保意识的培养等方面进行了分析,总结出德国废纸回收率高的原因,以时我国的废纸回收管理及两型社会建立有所裨益。     

Who Buys Overpackaged Grocery Products and Why? Understanding Consumers’ Reactions to Overpackaging in the Food Sector

While most studies dealing with waste reduction at the consumer level focus on recycling, this paper rather concentrates on precycling strategies and purchasing behaviors in order to understand how to promote waste reduction at the source. More specifically, the purpose of this work is to grasp consumers’ perceptions of overpackaging and understand the mechanisms underlying their choice of overpackaged versus non-overpackaged food products. Based on the different themes that emerged from a qualitative study (study 1, n = 11), a quantitative research was conducted among French interviewees (study 2, n = 327) in order to identify relevant groups of consumers. Five profiles emerged from the cluster analysis: the supporters, the self-sacrificing, the detractors, the indifferent, and the self-centered. Finally, an experiment was conducted (study 3, n = 808) that highlights the influence of range positioning and salience of non-overpackaging on consumer choice. Implications for public policy makers and companies are discussed.