BOOKS REVIEWED AND RECEIVED

Book reviews in this article: Consumer Protection. The Consumer Society. Ed, by I. R. C. Hirst and W. Duncan Reekie, Tavistock Publications Women at Work. By L. Mackie and P. Pattullo. Research Studies in Advertising. 10. The Consumer Movement and The Consumer. By Christina Fulop.     

BOOK REVIEWED ANDRECEIVED

Book reviews in this article: Microwave—the Cooking Revolution. By Jenny M. Webb. The Consumer's Guide to Local Government. Ed. by Martin Minogue for the National Consumer Council. Junior Home Economics. By A.Moloney. Sex Roles. By S. Weitz.     

Business ethics and the international trade in hazardous wastes

The annual production of hazardous wastes which was less than 10 million metric tonnes in the 1940s is now in excess of 320 million metric tonnes. These wastes are, in the main, by-products of industrial processes that have contributed significantly to the economic development of many countries which, in turn, has led to lifestyles that also generate hazardous wastes. The phenomenal increase in the generation of hazardous wastes coupled with various barriers to local disposal has led to the thriving international trade in these environmentally hazardous substances. This paper examines the nature of the international trade in hazardous wastes and the ethical issues associated with such business activity. Jang B. Singh, B. A. (Toronto), M.A. (St. Thomas), M.A. (Toronto), M.B.A. (Windsor), Ph.D. (Toronto), is Associate Professor of Business Administration at the University of Windsor. His research focus is on ethical issues involved in the management process. He also maintains a keen interest in issues related to business activity in the Third World. V. Chris Lakhan, M.A. (Windsor), Ph.D. (Toronto), F.R.G.S. is an Associate Professor affiliated with the Department of Geography and the Institute for International and Developmental Studies at the University of Windsor. He specializes in computer modeling, and theoretical and applied research on remote sensing, environmental impacts, and natural resources utilization.     

Der neue Protektionismus der USA

The decisions of the U.S. administration to levy additional duties on the import of steel, aluminium and washing machines are the first policy changes by U.S. President Trump that will directly affect existing U.S. trade flows. These recent decisions point to a new trend towards more protectionism in the U.S. and raise the fear that similar trade policy changes, which will ultimately harm both the U.S. economy and the international rule-based trading system, will soon follow. The article analyses the economic and political consequences of the new U.S. import tariffs in the light of an increasingly restrictive U.S. trade policy.     

Growth,markets, and competitive strategies: Successes and challenges in Latin America

M. Kotabe & R. Leal (Eds.). 2001. Market Revolution in Latin America: Beyond Mexico. New York: Pergamon. 379 pages. ISBN 0‐08‐043897‐0. F. Robles, F. Simon, & J. Haar (Eds.). 2002. Winning Strategies for the New Latin Markets. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. 364 pages. ISBN 0‐13‐061716‐4. J. Vial & P. K. Cornelius (Eds.). 2002. The Latin American Competitiveness Report 2001–2002. New York: Oxford University Press. 213 pages. ISBN 0‐19‐515256‐5.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Retail Meat Cuts in Great Britain . Technical Editors: C. D. Figg, J. W. Strother and R. J. Tyler JP. The Law of Consumer Protection and Fair Trading.     

China—The new paradox

Ian Rae and Morgan Witzel. 2004. Singular and Different: Business in China, Past, Present and Future. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 173 pages. ISBN: 1‐4039‐1722‐1. Sheila Oakley. 2002. Labor Relations in China's Socialist Market Economy. Westport, CT: Quorum Books. 231 pages. ISBN: 1‐56720‐589‐5. Ilan Alon (Ed.). 2003. Chinese Culture, Organizational Behavior, and International Business Management. Westport, CT: Praeger. 270 pages. ISBN: 1‐56720‐456‐1.     

Outward Foreign Direct Investment,Interindustry Networks,and U.S. Trade Politics

This article investigates how outward foreign direct investment by U.S. multinational corporations influences industry lobbying for trade protection in the United States, focusing on interindustry structure of goods sales networks between upstream and downstream sectors and also on the multinationals’ input procurement patterns. If foreign affiliates of U.S. multinationals switch input sources from U.S. to host-country suppliers, U.S. suppliers should receive a negative demand shock, ceteris paribus. An empirical test finds that those U.S. upstream sectors that are highly dependent upon U.S. multinationals for goods sales tend to lobby more as the multinationals’ overseas production and sales increase.     

Online/offline (hybrid) consumers and the attention economy

Yoram (Jerry) Wind, Vijay Mahajan, & Robert Gunther. 2002. Convergence Marketing: Strategies for Reaching the New Hybrid Consumer. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. 368 pages. ISBN 0‐13065‐075‐7. Thomas H. Davenport & John C. Beck. 2001. The Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of Business. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. 272 pages. ISBN 1‐57851‐871‐7.     

入世后美国对华直接投资及中国的对策

2003年以来,美国对华直接投资持续下滑,美国在中国利用外资中的地位不断下降,这不利于优化中国外商投资的来源结构,也不利于中国承接美国的产业转移。本文试图研究入世后美国在华直接投资的变化情况,并对今后扩大利用美资提出对策建议。     

Movies and the Mystery of the Missing Trade: Is Hollywood Good for U.S. Exporters?

Research has shown that consumers have a preference for goods based on the origin of production. This is important because it suggests that, in some cases, even lowering trade barriers may not significantly increase trade flows. In particular, flows may be lower than are predicted by trade theories such as Heckscher-Ohlin. Despite evidence that home consumption bias exists in many countries, it is only recently that research has begun to examine the sources of this bias.

This article fills a gap in the literature by testing a model that addresses the source of this consumption bias. The paper's model incorporates consumers' exposure to foreign products and culture through media imports and tourist visits as factors affecting consumers' preferences for foreign products. Using panel data from 19 countries, the article's results support the hypothesis that lagged exports of U.S. movies have a positive impact on other U.S. exports. Some evidence is also found of a positive effect of tourist visits on U.S. exports.

Since U.S. media exports may generate demand for other U.S. goods and services, opening up foreign media markets should receive a higher priority in U.S. trade negotiations. Another interesting implication of the paper is that overall U.S. export losses resulting from media piracy may be lower than previously calculated, as the consumption of pirated media products may increase demand for other U.S. exports.     

Some Considerations about Low-Carbon Logistics

More and more People have paid attention to low-carbon logistics.This article,based on the characteristics of low-carbon logistics,proposes the effective ways to achieve low-carbon logistics,including logistics information,effective supply chain management,establishing environmental logistics and reverse logistics.     

Why Is It (Un-)ethical? Comparing Potential European Partners: A Western Christian and An Eastern Islamic Country – On Arguments Used in Explaining Ethical Judgments

Located at the crossroads of the Eastern and Western world, Turkey today is characterized by a demographically versatile and modernizing society as well as a rapidly developing economy. Currently, the country is negotiating its accession to the European Union. This article yields some factual grounding into the ongoing value-related debate concerning Turkey’s potential EU-membership. It describes a mixed-methodology study on moral reasoning in Austria and Turkey. In this study, the arguments given by individuals when evaluating ethically problematic situations in business were compared. Although there were major consistencies, a number of differences were found. These differences, however, were not in the substance (categories) of arguments used but in their relative frequency. Overall, our findings suggest that young, well-educated urban individuals from Western Christian and Eastern Islamic countries are highly consistent in their moral reasoning. Katharina J. Srnka is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Vienna, Austria, and has been teaching at different European universities and institutions. Dr. Srnka received her Ph.D. from University of Vienna for her work on cultural influences on ethical decision making in marketing. Her research interests concern qualitative and mixed research methods, consumer behavior, and cross-cultural marketing ethics. A. Ercan Gegez is Associate Professor of Marketing at Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Gegez holds a Ph.D. from Marmara University in the field of International Marketing. He is one of the founding members of The Turkish Marketing Association and he has served as a member of the supervisory board. His research interests include international marketing, marketing research and marketing ethics. S. Burak Arzova is Associate Professor of Accounting at Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Arzova holds a Ph.D. from Marmara University in the field of Accounting for his work on Activity Based Cost Management. His research interests comprise accounting ethics, cost management and international financial standards.     

Is American manufacturing in decline?

There is a widespread view that American manufacturing is in decline. This view reflects many factors. First, real GDP growth during the current business expansion has been the weakest in the post-World War II period. Second, over the decade from 2000 to 2010 manufacturing employment declined by about 6 million. Third, persistent manufacturing trade deficits have led many observers to conclude that U.S. competitiveness has eroded. This paper discusses these arguments and suggests that, instead, U.S. manufacturing is a leading growth sector and has remained strongly competitive internationally. We show that traditional domestic economic forces adequately explain recent trends in U.S. manufacturing output and employment growth. The recent reduction in the corporate income tax rate may further boost the fortunes of the U.S. manufacturing sector, although this favorable development could be offset by a more restrictive international trade regime.     

Folgen der Finanzkrise für die globalen Wirtschaftsbeziehungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung Prof. Dr. Rolf J. Langhammer, 61, ist Vizepr?sident des Instituts für Weltwirtschaft, Kiel. Prof. Dr. Gunther Schnabl, 42, ist Leiter des Instituts für Wirtschaftspolitik an der Universit?t Leipzig. Jürgen Matthes, 41, Dipl.-Volkswirt, leitet das Referat Internationale Wirtschaftspolitik im Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft K?ln. K. MIchael Finger, 62, Dipl.-Volkswirt, war bis vor Kurzem Senior Economist in der Economic Research and Statistics Division der WTO. Prof. Dr. Andreas Freytag, 46, hat den Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftspolitik der Friedrich-Schiller-Universit?t Jena inne und ist Senior Fellow beim European Centre for International Political Economy; Sebastian Voll, 25, Dipl.-Volkswirt, ist wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftspolitik der Friedrich-Schiller-Universit?t Jena.     

Women as Managers in the United States and China: A Cross-Cultural Study

This article investigated Chinese and U.S. attitudes toward women as managers with the goal of establishing an empirical basis for comparison and understanding of the glass ceiling potential in each culture. The authors used the Women as Managers Scale (WAMS) to measure perceptions of 919 U.S. and Chinese participants. Results indicated differences in perceptions by gender and nationality. Overall, women were perceived less favorably as managers by Chinese and U.S. males as compared to perceptions of Chinese and U.S. female participants. Findings are discussed in terms of existing research and areas for future research are suggested.     

Learning about corruption: Reviews,roots, and Russia

R. Rose‐Ackerman. 1999. Corruption and Government: Causes, Consequences and Reform. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 266 pages. ISBN 0‐521‐63293‐5. R. Neild. 2002. Public Corruption: The Dark Side of Social Evolution. London: Anthem Press. 250 pages. ISBN 1‐84331‐065‐1. D. E. Hoffman. 2002. The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia. New York: Public Affairs. 567 pages. ISBN 1‐58648‐001‐4.     

Comparative study of vegetable intake in Japan and the United Kingdom

According to published sources, the vegetable consumption in Japan and the U.K. between 1965 and 1985 has remained largely steady. However, in the U.K. the consumption of vegetables other than potatoes, has somewhat increased. A questionnaire was designed to determine the attitude to and utilisation of vegetables in both Japan and the U.K. 750 questionnaires were distributed in Greater Tokyo (76.9% returns) and 400 in Leeds, U.K. (66.8% returns). On a hedonic scale (1–5) an almost identical number of respondents in both countries liked vegetables very much (J — 69.8%, U.K. — 70.0%). Approx. 60% of Japanese ate vegetables with every meal, while only 20% of the British did so. Up to 80% of the Japanese felt that they should eat more vegetables, while almost 60% of the British were satisfied with their level of intake. In both countries vegetables were eaten primarily because of taste and nutritional aspects. A significant number of Japanese used them because of colour. In Japan an important source of information on cooking methods was the media, while in U.K. respondents mainly learned from their mothers. In both countries vegetables were most often obtained from supermarket and green grocer. A total of 31 vegetable varieties were mentioned in Tokyo and 29 in Leeds. Cabbage, carrots and potatoes were at the top of both lists. 46.8% of Japanese preferred raw cabbage, while the British preferred it boiled. Further information on seasoning and vegetable combinations is required.     

Sino-EU Relations in 2009 Will Be Warmer

In 2009, the Czech Republic officially took over the six-month EU presidency from France. Following Slovenia, the Czech Republic is the second new EU member to hold the EU presidency. The Czech Republic is currently faced with the challenge of coping with the global financial crisis and promoting EU political reform, as well as handling its own internal issues. On January 15, H.E. Mr. Vitezslav GREPL,the ambassador of the Czech Republic in China, held a press conference to address the Sino-EU relationship in 2009. H.E.Mr. Serge Abou, the EU ambassador to China and H.E. Mr. Mikael Lindstrom,the ambassador of Sweden to China also attended this conference.     

A Cross-Cultural Application of a Theoretical Model of Business Ethics: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Data

Hunt and Vitell's General Theory (1992) is used in a cross-cultural comparison of U.S. and Taiwanese business practitioners. Results indicate that Taiwanese practitioners exhibit lower perceptions of an ethical issue in a scenario based on bribery, as well as milder deontological evaluations and ethical judgments relative to their U.S. counterparts. In addition, Taiwan respondents showed higher likelihood of making the payment. Several of the paths between variables in the theory are confirmed in both U.S. and Taiwan samples, with summary data suggesting the Hunt and Vitell theory performs well in both U.S. and Taiwan. Some unanticipated linkages within the model were uncovered in the samples. Results and implications are discussed.