Freedom of Choice and Poverty Alleviation

The Capability Approach (henceforth CA) views poverty as a multidimensional phenomenon that is not only characterised by lows levels of achievement in the various dimensions but also by a restricted opportunity to choose among different ways of life. The CA thus puts a lot of emphasis on (limited) freedom of choice as a crucial aspect of poverty. If poverty is seen in this way there are two ways to improve the situation of the poor: by broadening the set of opportunities open to them or by strengthening their ability to choose. The paper concentrates on the latter. Although the CA discusses several possibilities for strengthening the ability to choose it does not explicitly consider the role of enhancing the capability of choosing as a means of poverty alleviation. The paper summarizes which circumstances are seen in the CA as suitable for strengthening freedom of choice. Namely, the paper discusses the market as an institution that trains the ability to choose, democracy as a political institution that is based on freedom of choice and participatory methods as an attempt to build explicitly on freedom of choice of the participants. Two shortcomings in the theoretical conceptualization of freedom of choice in the CA are identified by discussing these institutions and circumstances: first, the interplay between social structures and individual agency is not modelled in much detail within the CA. Second, the CA does not provide an explicitly temporal model of agency. The paper takes a closer look at these shortcomings from a sociological perspective since the questions they raise are core questions of sociology. The problems are intertwined. In order to tackle the problem of social embedding in the CA one needs to introduce time and processes as well. Sociological approaches show how social structures evolve from the interaction of individuals. The paper gives an example of how sociological concepts of this interaction can be used for drawing a model of social work for strengthening the agency of the poor. The paper proceeds as follows: first the view of poverty as capability deprivation is presented. The second section gives an overview of the areas in which the CA discusses the strengthening of individual choice: the market, democracy and participatory projects. The third section elaborates on the shortcomings of the CA identified in the preceding section from a sociological perspective and introduces a concept of social work developed in a similar theoretical context. The conclusion summarizes the lessons and outlines further lines of research.     

开发商与消费者对承包商的选择偏好探讨——基于对开发商与消费者的问卷调查

本文通过直接的问卷调查形式对我国的建筑工程业中价格是否作为承包商选择的唯一标准问题进行研究,研究对象包括各种类型的项目开发商和普通消费者。研究结果表明,在缺乏直接衡量标准时,企业仍然以价格作为最重要的衡量标准。而消费者在人均收入较低的情况下,对价格因素也很敏感。但随着社会经济条件的变化,收入的增加,这种敏感度在下降,对承包商的选择标准有从单一的价格指标向多指标转变的趋势。     

Freedom of Choice in the Production Sphere: The Capitalist and the Self-managed Firm

A formula for measuring freedom of choice in the production sphere is proposed. Then a capitalist firm and a worker self-managed firm are compared in terms of freedom distribution. It is shown that the workers have little freedom, if any at all, in a capitalist firm, whilst the capitalist enjoys a great deal of freedom. In a self-managed firm, on the other hand, the amount of freedom enjoyed by the workers is positive and often even greater than that of the capitalist. The analysis is further developed by the introduction of asymmetric information. It is argued that, based on plausible hypotheses of monitoring costs, the difference between the amount of freedom enjoyed by self-managed workers and that enjoyed by the capitalist increases.     

消费者的企业社会责任认知研究

本文在对企业社会责任(CSR)相关文献分析、研究的基础上,从消费者的视角出发构建企业社会责任构成模型,研究消费者认知CSR的维度。通过对问卷数据的分析,发现产品自身质量、售后服务、商业道德、危机事件的处理、公益行为及管理层社会形象这6个方面构成了消费者对企业社会责任的认知,这对企业树立良好的社会形象、增加企业的知名度与美誉度具有重要的指导意义。     

Freedom of Choice in Technology Strategy? An Analysis of Technology Strategy in the Large Commercial Aircraft Industry

Many companies experience difficult situations as a result of their selected strategy. Strategic management theories implicitly assume that companies have a free choice in setting their strategy. Hence, when companies experience difficult situations this is because of management inadequacy. It is questionable whether companies always have a free choice. This research examines this issue by examining the new product strategies of the two main competitors in the commercial aircraft industry. The development of the A380 aircraft was selected to determine to what extent the companies had a choice in setting their product development strategies. The conclusion is that neither has the alleged freedom for setting its strategy. Implications of this finding are that the strategy theory needs to be adjusted for this choice issue, and that management should not always be held fully responsible for the developing events.     

Time Deformation in UK Consumers' Expenditure

Cook, Holly and Turner recently developed a hypothesis of a positive relationship between the durability of consumers' expenditure and the asymmetric behaviour it exhibits. Supportive evidence was found by applying Sichel's tests of business cycle asymmetry to the component series of UK consumers' expenditure, which represent goods of differing durability. In this paper the relationship is re‐examined using the original data, by implementing Stock's diagnostic tests of time deformation. The results provide further support for the durability–asymmetry hypothesis.     

Product Safety Provision and Consumers' Information

Economic mechanisms related to the provision of product safety are explored, with particular attention paid to the structure of consumers' information. The case of perfect information, of experience goods (for which consumers detect product safety after consumption) and of credence goods (where consumers cannot link a disease to a particular product consumed in the past) are explored. Imperfect competition is assumed in the supply sector. In the case of both perfect information and experience goods, market equilibrium is characterised by a less-than-socially optimal provision of safety, when the safety effort is costly. With credence goods, imperfect information leads to the absence of safety effort and to a market closure. Different types of public regulation aiming at increasing consumer protection and circumventing market failures are explored. Particular attention is paid to minimum safety standards, labels and liability enforcement. The relative efficiency of these instruments depends on the information structure. In the cases of perfect information and experience goods, a minimum safety standard can be an efficient instrument. Regulation is necessary but not sufficient to avoid market failure in the case of credence goods.     

论企业善因营销对消费者态度的影响

在综合善因营销各种调节变量基础上,选取消费者对公益事业的态度、品牌的介入度、企业与公益事业/非营利组织的匹配度、消费者对企业及其动机感知和企业对善因营销的宣传等5个变量,构建了善因营销影响消费者态度的综合模型,探讨善因营销对消费者态度的影响,认为"公益"和"利益"双赢的善因营销是能被现代社会公众所理解和接受的新营销手法,选择合适的公益项目、进行专业化运作并作为企业长期战略行为,是善因营销成功的保障.     

Durability and Asymmetry in UK Consumers' Expenditure

Cook et al. (1998) have recently proposed the hypothesis of a positive relationship between the durability of consumers' expenditure and the asymmetric behaviour it exhibits. Some support was found for this hypothesis via the application of Sichel's (1993) univariate tests of business cycle asymmetry to quarterly data on the components of UK consumers' expenditure. In this paper this hypothesis is revisited, with the original analysis extended in a number of ways. First, the hypothesis is examined using annual data over a longer span than the original study, potentially allowing more business cycles to be captured. Secondly the effects of alternative means of detrending, a prerequisite for the analysis, are considered. Using durable, non-durable and total consumption data for the UK, the 'durability-asymmetry' hypothesis is found to hold. It is also found that a previously noted aggregation paradox disappears, but a new temporal aggregation paradox is uncovered. Significantly, the manner in which the data are detrended is also seen to influence results.     

消费者视角下的企业社会责任研究综述

本文回顾与评价国内外学者基于消费者视角的企业社会责任研究文献,包括企业社会责任对消费者认知的影响、企业社会责任联想与消费者购买意愿、消费者对企业社会责任动机的归因、企业社会责任对客户满意度的影响、消费者视角下的企业社会责任实现等相关研究,提出目前研究存在的不足并扼要指出我国企业社会责任研究需要关注的问题。     

消费者权益问题的经济学分析

消费者权益问题伴随消费的作用与意义日益突出而越来越重要,有必要从经济学上专门进行分析。从此出发,运用成本一收益分析等方法和理论,探讨消费者权益问题的性质、经济学实质、效应、特征及解决的经济学取向,使对消费者权益问题的了解与解释体现出更多的经济学特色,从而在理论研究与实践活动中能较明快和更有效地把握它、解决它。     

论宗教信仰自由

本文论述了宪法保护宗教信仰自由的意义。并指出宗教信仰自由不是绝对的自由,无论是外国宪法还是我国宪法都规定了种种的限制,这是宗教信徒必须遵守的法律规则,宗教信仰与封建迷信,邪教有着重要的区别,在保护宗教信仰自由的同时,必须打击封建迷信和邪教组织。     

商品空缺陈列对消费者选购决策的影响

营销实践和研究文献多强调饱满陈列的作用。假设空缺陈列在特定条件下也会产生积极的效果,商场环境、产品信息、购买卷入度、购买者个性特点是影响空缺陈列作用效果的重要变量。实验结果表明不知名产品的空缺陈列比饱满陈列效果好,但多个产品同时空缺陈列时销售量下降。     

基于新技术的营销模式对消费者行为的影响分析

高新技术日新月异的发展影响着生产消费的各个环节,企业若忽视科学技术进步,其营销手段必定落后于竞争对手。文章详细阐述了Web2.0网络技术、移动营销以及RSS新闻传输等新技术的基本功能及其在企业营销中的应用模式,并分析了这些新技术的产生和发展导致的消费者行为变化,旨在为企业更有效地把握新型营销模式下消费者的购买决策方式提供依据。     

An International Perspective on Asymmetries in Consumers' Expenditure

Data on real consumers' expenditure for seven major OECD economies(Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US) are subjectedto Sichel's (1993) tests of business cycle asymmetry. The results derivedshow that the high cross-country correlations in consumers' expenditure maskvery different underlying cyclical properties. Interestingly, while Franceand Germany fail to exhibit any type of asymmetric adjustment, asymmetry ofsome form and to some degree is present for all of the other economiesconsidered. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

消费者不安全感与怀旧产品购买行为研究

本文结合营销学、心理学和社会学等多领域的文献成果,对消费者的不安全感与怀旧产品购买行为之间的关系进行了实证调查。结果发现,当消费者感受到现实世界中的威胁、压力、创伤而处于心理上的不安全感状态时,会试图通过对旧事物的怀念寻找安慰,对那些引起过去经历回忆的怀旧产品激发出强烈的感情和购买倾向,以此来缓解不安全感。因此,不安全感(包括存在不安全感、个人不安全感、社会不安全感和发展不安全感)的增加是促使消费者更多选择怀旧产品的一个重要原因。企业在使用怀旧营销策略以帮助消费者缓解不安全感而促进产品销售时,可以采用设计怀旧的产品样式、采取古老的制作工艺和为产品虚构一个有意义的怀旧故事三种策略,其中,第三种策略效果最佳。     

Freedom and the market

Those who believe that the free market is positively related to both economic efficiency and individual freedom are prone to regard resistance to the establishment of the global market essentially free from any serious sociopolitical constraint as a politically insignificant expression of impatience, ignorance, and hypocrisy. This article attempts to endow the manifestation of discontent with the status quo evident in public protests in Seattle and Washington DC with political significance through explicating it as an expression of a fundamental conflict between economic efficiency and individual freedom inherent in the global implementation of the principle of self-regulating markets. This analysis of the antiglobalization movement is conducted from the perspective of the theoretical foundation of the evaluation of the dynamics of capitalism by Polanyi, Hayek, and Keynes, and its conclusions are brought to bear upon the validity of their contesting views of the relationship between economic efficiency and individual freedom.     

电子商务中消费者权利之保护探要

只有切实保护消费者权利,电子商务才得以长足发展,对电子商务中消费者权利保护程度的定位,应依据利益衡量说予以解决,在消费者的各项权利之中,其知悉真情权,保障安全权,获得合理赔偿权及个人隐私权更应尽快研究加以解决,同时,对电子商务中出现的交易争端,应设计一套及时,快捷,有效的解决机制,以切实保护消费者的权利。     

Consumers' motivational associations favoring free-range meat or less meat

The present paper analyzed the motivational orientations of consumers who choose to eat (1) small portions of meat or (2) ethically distinctive meat, such as free-range meat, in relation to the motivational orientations of their opposites. Going beyond the conventional approach to consumer behavior, our work builds on recent insights in motivational psychology about the ways in which people may approach matches or avoid mismatches to the desired end-state of “getting enough nourishment by eating the right food”. Consumers who tend to approach matches are often focused on choosing the best alternatives from their choice set (chronic promotion focus). Consumers who tend to avoid mismatches are often focused on rejecting unacceptable alternatives from their choice set (chronic prevention focus). Distinguishing these two motivational orientations provides a scientific basis for the aim to foster more sustainable food consumption and production patterns. Our approach involves a systematic analysis of consumers' goal orientations regarding meat choices. We examined how a sample of Dutch consumers (n = 939) described their chronic motivational orientations regarding food, their own meat choices and, about two weeks later, their promotion- and prevention-oriented associations favoring either small portions of meat and free-range meat or their opposites. Largely in line with our hypotheses we found that consumers with a chronic prevention orientation avoided the mismatch of “large portions”. Also, those of them who paid the premium price of free-range meat considered eating “meat produced by intensive farming“ a mismatch. Conversely, if consumers with a chronic promotion orientation paid the premium price of free-range meat, they considered this the best alternative from their choice set. Accordingly, choosing a small portion of meat was often approached with a prevention orientation and choosing free-range meat with either a prevention or a promotion orientation. These differences in motivational orientation underline that the pursuit of sustainability requires careful consideration of not just undesirable but also of desirable alternatives.