改善网购“柠檬”化的博弈探讨

"柠檬"问题是信息不对称的具体表现,Internet商务市场以其独特的虚拟性和开放性,在具备很多优势的同时,也出现了严重的弊端。通过从经济学角度,对网络市场交易中的"柠檬"做出说明,运用博弈论方法,对如何在电子商务中有效解决这一问题给予一定理论探讨。     

投资者—国家仲裁机制中“投资”概念的界定及中国的选择

投资者-国家仲裁机制中"投资"概念的界定大致有3种模式,即以资产为基础的模式、以企业为基础的模式以及混合模式。在适用这些模式的基础上,仲裁裁决解释了缔约国采用多种技术手段限制"投资"内涵的效力:与东道国的国内法相一致的规定仅指投资的有效性;缔约国领土境内的投资并不要求所有交易过程在缔约国境内完成;直接或间接、拥有或控制资产的表述可以保护小股东和间接持股股东的利益。中国现已兼具投资国和东道国的地位,有必要升级原有的以资产为基础的"投资"概念界定模式为混合模式,并相应地调整国际投资协定中"投资"的限制性解释。     

Emotion As Well As Reason: Getting Students Beyond "Interpersonal Accountability"

The paper notes the recent spread of business ethics courses in American higher education, observing that teachers trained in economics have not readily incorporated ethical notions or theory into regular courses, such as finance, management, accounting, and marketing. The presumed ethically neutral, value-free approach of economists, who dominate business courses, is increasingly inadequate to meet the needs of business managers – or of business students. Technological and political changes, creating an interdependent environment within which managers operate, have eroded older ethics based on tradition and common backgrounds. They have also raised ethical issues of new orders of complexity. With corporate business managers finding ethical concerns more pressing matters than do many teachers, the paper offers some tentative answers to three questions about how to interest business students in ethical issues: What Approach to Business Ethics Gets student's Attention? What Is the Value of Simulations and Games? What Can Be Said About the Business System And Its Values? The answer to the first question is simulations and games. Case method analysis is serviceable, engaging students' intellect, but all too often without emotional involvement or self-revelation. Experiential learning through class-room games accomplish both engagement and involvement in ways that are exceedingly helpful to business students, who have had "less occasion for critical reflection on self and world than have others of their age." The answer to the second question is: They engage the whole student, stimulating the player to examine the source of her ethical strengths and the reasons for ethical lapses. Generating emotional involvement the games leverage and enhance reasoning, allowing students to learn more about their own values and question their own behavior. The answer to the third question is: A socially justifiable (community-legitimated) competitive market system requires of its managerial participants an emotionally informed response – as well as a rational analysis and use of business techniques. Business operates with enhanced effectiveness efficiency at appropriate levels of such virtues as loyalty, trustworthiness and cooperativeness; they ensure externality benefits as well as promote justice for its own ultimate social justification.     

Green supplier development: What’s in it for you,the buyer?

Greening suppliers, or cultivating environmental responsibility throughout the supply chain, has become an important strategic issue for firms. While various approaches exist, green supplier development—that is, helping and collaborating with your suppliers to reduce their negative environmental impact—is a key method that can produce significant gains for both parties at multiple levels. Yet the benefits have not been sufficiently discussed and may therefore appear nebulous for managers. Focusing particularly on “What’s in it for you, the buyer?” this article describes benefits at the intrafirm, interfirm, and market levels. Barriers to the realization of the benefits are also discussed, providing managerial guidance on supplier prioritization for green supplier development.     

Floating Maximally Many Boats: A Preference for the Broad Distribution of Market Benefits

Market economics can overreach and reduce all human activities to market-governed activities. More than a market-inspired explanation for human activities, it offers a normative account of how all goods and services should be distributed by private parties negotiating mutually agreeable terms. This paper argues that market values and practices are constrained by other fundamental values and practices. Liberal values are generally consistent with, though they are not reducible to, market values. Democratic and egalitarian values often contrast with market values. The distribution of market benefits should accommodate those democratic and egalitarian values which constitute a polity's core commitments (and those core commitments need to be reasserted regularly). Indeed, market stability depends upon a general distribution of its benefits. Incentives to productive activity entail inequalities, but the terms of those inequalities are subject to review. Internal refinements to specific markets can reduce inequalities by promoting the fairness of market operations and by increasing the number of effective participants.     

Anonymous market and group ties in international trade

History provides many examples of cohesive groups dispersed over several countries who exploit the ties between their members to gain entry into foreign markets. The phenomenon is well-established empirically and noteworthy because it suggests the importance of informational barriers in international transactions. We present a simple model where output is produced through a joint venture, and agents have complete information domestically but are unable to judge the quality of their match abroad. A minority of individuals, otherwise identical to all others, can exploit complete information in international matches between group members, if they so choose. Group ties increase aggregate trade and income, but hurt the anonymous market because they deprive it disproportionately of the group’s more productive members.     

"Intrapreneurship as a Peaceful and Ethical Transition Strategy Toward Privatization"

The problem this article is concerned with is the failure ofmany large organizations in formerly socialist countries and inpublic sectors of market economies to make effective, peaceful,and ethical transformation from command to market responsiveorganization and privatization. There are at least threeimportant behavioral causes of this problem. First, organizationtransformation is blocked because the organization tries tochange "all at once" before the organization has learned how toact successfully in a new for the organization environment as amarket responsive instead of a command organization (Churchman,1971; Quinn, 1980; Nystrom and Starbuck, 1984; Mintzberg andWaters, 1985; Mintzberg, 1994; Goldman, 1994). Second,organization transformation is blocked because "all at oncechange" stimulates so much fear and political opposition thatchange is politically not possible (Argyris and Schon, 1974;Argyris, 1990; Goldman, 1994; Sachs, 1992). Third, organizationtransformation is blocked because the "guardian" ethics syndromeof command organization is less appropriate for market responsiveorganization than a "commercial" ethics syndrome (Jacobs, 1992;Harris, 1995). Gradual intrapreneurship (Burgelman, 1983; Nielsenet al., 1985) can serve as a peaceful and ethical transitionstrategy. Intrapreneurship can help bridge some of thecontradictions between "commercial" vs. "guardian" ethicssyndromes (Jacobs, 1992; Nielsen, 1996).     

Time to Do the Job Properly—The Case for a New Approach to EU Consumer Legislation

Following 25 years of legislative activity in the field of consumer law, the EU has proposed major reforms to the consumer law acquis. Existing legislation is largely based on directives harmonizing aspects of national consumer laws. This paper argues that a more appropriate approach for EU consumer law would be legislation in the form of a regulation which is applicable to cross-border transactions only. This argument will consider the constitutional constraints of the EU Treaties, before examining the case for a cross-border-only measure. It will be argued that the cross-border approach is preferable, because it would provide clearer benefits for consumers seeking to buy goods/services across borders, while not upsetting domestic law unnecessarily, in particular in the context of e-commerce.     

A Multi-Attribute Negotiation Support System with Market Signaling for Electronic Markets

Despite the rapid growth of technology and Internet-based markets, many of the current systems limit themselves to price as the single dimension variable and offer, if at all, only minimal negotiation support to the consumer. In the real world, commercial transactions take into account many other parameters both quantitative and qualitative such as product quality, speed, reputation, after sales service, etc. This paper discusses how these multiple attributes can be captured to augment standard negotiation processes in order to support electronic market transactions. Using a combination of utility theory and multicriteria decision-making, we propose heuristic algorithms to discover potential trades. In addition, the approach is included within a larger framework that incorporates market-signaling mechanisms. This not only allows for the systematic evolution of negotiation positions among buyers and sellers but can ultimately lead towards improving both market transparency and efficiency. To illustrate the multiple criteria model coupled with the dynamic market signaling framework, we report in this paper the implementation of a Web-based clearinghouse that serves the real estate market.     

信息不对称与电子商务的发展

本文认为,信息不对称引致的信用缺失是制约电子商务发展的重要因素,发展我国电子商务除了继续加强基础设施建设外,建立和完善社会信用体系,提高信用度是必不可少的重要方面。文章提出,要建立良好的信息沟通渠道和机制,使信息公众化、公开化;提高企业组织化程度;制定企业信用评价制度:健全法制,约束企业交易行为,提高其信用度;消除信息不对称,促进我国电子商务健康发展。     

Vor der Bundestagswahl: Argumente für Mindestlöhne überzeugen nicht

For the first time ever, all political parties represented in the German Bundestag are proposing some form of minimum wage regulation in their federal campaigns. After sketching an overview of the vast empirical literature on the employment effects of minimum wages, which has yet to come to a consensus, the paper concentrates on the most common theoretical arguments for the view that minimum wages need not reduce the employment levels of affected workers. The authors find that those arguments are either conceptually inconsistent or assume market characteristics that can hardly describe the reality of low-wage labour markets. In the end, minimum wages are a blunt instrument to reduce poverty among workers — its primary objective — because it benefits many that are not poor and does not address the most important determinant of poverty in Germany, namely unemployment.     

Ganxi's Consequences: Personal Gains at Social Cost

Is guanxi ethical? This question is largely ignored in the existing literature. This paper examines the ethical dimension of guanxi by focusing on the consequences of guanxi in business, from ethically misgiving behaviour to outright corruption. Guanxi may bring benefits to individuals as well as the organisations they represent but these benefits are obtained at the expenses of other individuals or firms and thus detrimental to the society. As guanxi has an impact on the wider public other than the guanxi parties, it must be studied in the context of all stakeholders. It can be argued that guanxi is an inevitable evil under the current political and socio-economic systems in China. Its role and importance in business life will be diminished as the country moves towards an open market system.     

Contextualizing speed and cross-border acquisition performance: Labor market flexibility and efficiency effects

There is general agreement that acquisition integration is decisive for acquisition performance. Despite this consensus, there are heterogeneous results on integration measures, such as integration speed with empirical research supporting the benefits of either fast or slow integration. We argue that the business environment surrounding acquisitions has the potential to reconcile conflicting findings. We develop how institutional factors (i.e., labor market flexibility and efficiency) influence the relationships between speed of human and functional integration on acquisition performance. With a sample of 203 transactions from acquirers from central Europe and Scandinavia, we find human and functional integration speed have divergent effects on acquisition performance. Further, both relationships are moderated by labor market flexibility and efficiency, but in different ways. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

批发市场中电子中间商问题的分析

随着网络经济的迅速发展 ,出现了许多基于网络基础的提供信息服务的具有中介功能的电子中间商。批发市场中产品的质量存在不确定性 ,电子中间商能提高市场交易的效率 ,但物流和市场交易的分离也给市场的买卖双方带来了新的交易风险。电子中间商可以采用拍卖交易方式 ,并建立一个能降低交易风险的信用机制。信用机制的建立会促使电子市场的交易集中于高质量的产品 ,且产品的价格要高于传统市场产品价格。     

The Role of the Surrogate Consumer in Service Delivery

This article considers the overlooked role of consumer surrogates in the marketing process. While it is commonly assumed that consumers are actively involved in important purchase decisions, it is proposed that in fact they often relinquish control to external surrogate services, which may collect market data, evaluate competitive alternatives, and even conduct transactions on their behalf. Some distinguishing characteristics of surrogate services are identified and discussed. Two types of consumer surrogates, interior decorators and wardrobe consultants, are highlighted as illustrations of surrogate activity, and survey data obtained from wardrobe consultants are presented regarding the perceived importance of a variety of both functional and intangible surrogate service benefits.     

Reasoning about Responsibilities: Mining Company Managers on What Stakeholders are Owed

Stakeholder theories propose that managers are responsible not only for maximizing shareholder value, but also for taking into account the well being of other parties affected by corporate decisions. While the language of stakeholder theory has been taken up in industries like mining, controversy remains. Disagreements arise not only about the apportionment of costs and benefits among stakeholders, but about who counts as a stakeholder and about how "costs" and "benefits" are to be conceived. This paper investigates these questions empirically by examining how managers in one mining company talk about corporate responsibilities and by analysing the explicit and implicit values systems and moral logics which inform this talk. The investigations discovered that while some claims by stakeholder groups were readily accommodated by managers, others were not. Analysis of the value frameworks employed by the mangers confirms the views of leading stakeholder theorists that stakeholder theory is grounded in the realities of management practice and behaviour.     

Can Ethical Behaviour Really Exist in Business

Our soft survey reveals that the assumption underlying much of the business ethics literature -- that the conduct of business can and ought to support the social good -- is not accepted within the workplace. This paper considers an apparent dichotomy, with companies investing in ethical programs whose worth their employees and managers question. We examine the relationship between work, bureaucracy and "the market" and conclude that employees often question the existence of business ethics because there is no good and bad between which to choose. The choice is between success and failure. A common view of success and the "good life" is one determined by hard work in a well-organised company operating in a free market. Analysing the three aspects of this view (the free market, hard work, bureaucracy) we suggest these are mere fictions. A major problem we identify in business is that organisations are designed as profit making mechanisms and have no interest in the good of society. The challenge is to convince such organisations that a direct benefit accrues to them through their own ethical behaviour. In order to do this organisations must first be shown the importance of long termism. Executives, managers and other employees can be expected to attain high ethical standards only when they feel they are a integral part of an organisation and the organisation itself respects those standards. One of the keys to unravelling the undesirable situation of a perceived absence of ethics in business is in encouraging a greater identity community, company and workforce. We provide some examples of ways companies can meet the challenge of encouraging more ethical, long-sighted behaviour. In addition, we highlight ways in which the expectations of the organisations of the organisation can be communicated more strongly through corporate structures that foster ethical action that benefits the long term interests of the individual and the organisation. Overall implementing a successful ethical program is shown to parallel that of the implementation of a quality program.     

Marketing Military Service: Benefits Segmentation Based on Generalized and Restricted Exchange

SUMMARY

Willingness to engage in exchange is based on desired benefits. In typical commercial transactions, restricted exchange benefits dominate. However, public policy, social marketing situations might require consideration of both restricted and generalized exchange benefits. Applying factor analysis, cluster analysis and cross-tabulation, this paper reports research that has successfully segmented a young adult target market regarding interest in military service based on considerations of generalized and restricted exchange motivations. This research contributes to a growing body of literature on generalized exchange as a key conceptual element for social marketing. Results demonstrate the utility of the generalized exchange concept in identifying a market segment distinguished by strong interest in military service and positive perceptions on several key generalized exchange factors.     

New logistics technologies in improving customer value in retailing service

Today's business success to a great extent depends on logistics and supply chain performance. The role of logistics has never been as critical as it is today. This paper identifies a series of market trends and technological advances which are likely to affect Croatian retail logistics over the next 10–15 years. The results of the study conducted on the sample of Croatian retailing managers reveal that Croatian retailers have not yet recognized the importance of new logistics technology and that they do not use them sufficiently. Although retail sector is facing significant pressures to offer high level of service, knowledge and skills of their employees and to reduce cost as well, Croatian retailers do not see the opportunity of Internet based technologies to improve the knowledge of their employees as the most important source of the company. They use some Internet technologies mostly in advertising, the process of ordering and all transactions with suppliers, and the communication with other business entities.     

Price elasticity and bid-ask price spreads in the treasury bond market

Typical analyses of transactions costs in the bond markets explain these costs in terms of yield, term to maturity, coupons, and issue size. However, these analyses do not recognize the price elasticity of bonds to interest rate movements, which provides better measures of market risk and bid-ask price spreads. Elasticity or duration and issue size together display stronger associations with bid-ask price spreads than do the traditional variables. The association is also less subject to multicollinearity of the independent variables. Finally, stepwise regressions show that coupon and yield data add no information about bid-ask price spreads not already impounded in the duration statistic. This casts doubt on the nonduration arguments often used to support these variables as separately meaningful in transactions cost analyses.