The role of the Internet on free-riding: An exploratory study of the wallpaper industry

This study discusses the role of the Internet on possible free-riding activities for product categories where retail services are a critical part of the completed consumer purchase transaction. The study investigates free-riding in terms of consumer pre-purchase activities during the information search stage (how they process shopping information) and actual purchase decisions with a literature review. The study's empirical findings indicate that full-service retailers’ beliefs about online consumers’ choice of purchase outlet are predominantly influenced by online retailer prices rather than availability of a variety of products (place) on the Internet. This, in turn, indicates the possibility of strong free-riding opportunities in the sample wallpaper market. The study, in this context, proposes strategies and policies to eliminate many of the destructive effects of the opportunities for free-riding provided by the Internet for long-lasting channel and market effectiveness and efficiency.     

Firm Heterogeneity,New Investment and Acquisitions

This paper presents a model of investment in which heterogeneous firms choose between new investment and acquisitions. New investment involves purchasing a new plant for an existing variety. Acquisitions involve purchasing a plant and a variety from a selling firm. Using a variable‐elasticity demand system, I show that if varieties within a differentiated industry are imperfect substitutes, mid‐productivity firms invest. As varieties approach perfect substitutability, high‐productivity firms invest. For both cases, within the region of investing firms, the most productive choose acquisitions over new investment. In analyzing firm‐level data from Compustat, I find evidence that supports these predictions.     

On the problem of scale: Hayek, Kohr, Jacobs and the reinvention of the political state

There is no shortage of crises in the ecological (e.g. climate change), economic (e.g. the Global Financial Crisis), and socio-political spheres (e.g. the Arab Spring). While such crises are not new to the human saga, both the magnitude and frequency of these crises seem to be intensifying. The usual prognosis follows the public/private dichotomy, suggesting more or less government intervention (and the closely related variants of more integration and regime change). However, there are ‘islands’ of alternative analyses where crises result from scale distortion (organisational structures of states, markets and firms that are too large or too small) and scale entanglement (strong rather than weak ties between different scales such as the local, national and global). This paper attempts to synthesise this scale problematisation into one coherent school of thought. To this end, we introduce the complexity ansatz, which links complexity to symmetry (breaking), scale and collapse. To illustrate, the paper traces this ansatz in the writings of Friedrich Hayek, Léopold Kohr and Jane Jacobs (HKJ). The thesis is that the moribund nation state needs to be relegated to a subsidiary role to evade collapse. Loosely coupled (fiscally and monetarily) autonomous city-regions should be the ‘eyes’ of socio-economic action.     

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Abstract

In this study we examined the effect of specialization on behavioral choice among Wisconsin goose hunters, who were able to choose a relatively easy hunt at the Horicon Marsh or a more complex hunt in the exterior zones. Past research has shown that more specialized recreationists have differing motives, attitudes, satisfaction levels, crowding perceptions, environmental preferences, and management preferences. Our goal in this study was to extend this research to behavioral choices and to learn more about the dimensions of specialization in goose hunting. Specialization did not predict behavioral choice among the sample. Specialization, as measured by past experience, commitment, media involvement, club membership, and preferred hunting style, did not differ significantly when comparing Horicon goose hunters and exterior zone hunters. Novice hunters hunted alongside experienced hunters, and behavioral choice appeared to be more a function of structural constraint than attitu‐dinal preference. Specialization did explain differences in hunter judgments of quality, correlating negatively with shooting and bagging and positively with social and natural components of a quality experience. These findings indicate that although the specialization framework can effectively predict attitudinal differences among participants in a given activity, it is less efficient at predicting behavioral choice. Consequently, specialization researchers need to be cautious about inferring levels of specialization from observations of locational choice.     

A Study on Pollutant Emission Through Gas Consumption in the Hong Kong Hotel Industry

A survey of 11 hotels in Hong Kong was carried out to collect three years' energy consumption data. Regression analysis indicated that gross floor area was a major and statistically acceptable factor in explaining the gas consumption in new hotels. Based on past consumption data and some established pollutant emission factors, the amount of sulphur dioxides, nitrogen dioxides, carbon dioxides and particulate created by the Hong Kong hotel industry's gas usage during a 10-year period from 1989–1998 was estimated. The study predicts the increase in these amounts in 1999–2003 accompanying the rise in the number of hotels. The findings indicate that emissions will rise by nearly 40% in the next few years, requiring urgent discussions. The study also finds that a heat pump running on coal-fired electricity and with a coefficient of performance (COP) greater than 3 could produce lower level emissions than a gas-fired boiler. It is further suggested that an effective method to reduce the emissions is to substitute naptha with natural gas as the fuel for generating town gas and electricity. We believe the hotel industry should adopt a more proactive approach to reduce gas usage and propose the inclusion of environmental reporting in trade journals.     

Regulating unlawful behavior in the global business environment: The functional integration of sovereignty and multilateralism

This article uses the Convention on Cybercrime as a case study to illustrate the functional integration of international law into diverse national legal systems through the paradigm of treaty harmonization. Nations control the impact of international regulation on domestic business interests by implementing legislation to preserve fundamental rights. Thus, the sovereignty-based legal harmonization model better explains the baseline characteristics of national sovereignty while recognizing that global cooperation in business is a necessary and positive feature of multilateralism.Critics dismiss sovereignty as irrelevant, claiming instead that a “new world order” has emerged in its place. That kind of deconstructionist talk typically injects fear of multilateralism into the global business community. However, the premise is flawed because it ignores the actual mechanics of treaty accession and the synergy between international law and commerce in the global legal environment.     

The impact of collinearity on regression analysis: the asymmetric effect of negative and positive correlations

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain how collinearity in general, and the sign of correlations in specific, affect parameter inference, variable omission bias, and their diagnostic indices in regression. It is found that collinearity can reduce parameter variance estimates and that positive and negative correlation structures have an asymmetric effect on variable omission bias. It is also shown that the effects of collinearity are moderated by the relationship between the dependent variable and the regressors, a consideration not incorporated into most commonly used collinearity diagnostics. The formulae derived enable researchers to assess the sensitivity of regression results to the underlying correlation structure in the data.