The Tradable-Permits Approach to Protecting the Commons: Lessons for Climate Change

Tradable-permit approaches for rationing access to the commonshave been applied to many different types of resources in manydifferent countries. This essay reviews the experience withthree main applications of tradable-permit systems—air-pollutioncontrol, water supply, and fisheries management—as wellas some unique related programmes. The purpose of the reviewis to draw together what we have learned about tradable permitsin practice that might offer some useful insights for the implementationof the three tradable-permit mechanisms that are part of theKyoto Protocol.     

A comparison of the effect of retail purchase and direct marketing on the endowment effect

This article reports on a study comparing the effect of the retail and direct marketing channels of delivery on the endowment effect. The results demonstrated the endowment effect for both retail and direct marketing channels of product delivery. In addition, in the direct marketing channel, the endowment effect was strengthened by the physical, tangible possession of products at the point of product receipt compared to its virtual possession value at the point of purchase. In the retail channel of delivery, confirming consumer expectation with the possession of the product at the point of purchase resulted in the strengthening of the endowment effect compared to the unexpected out‐of‐stock retail situation. Contrary to expectations, the duration of the product possession did not affect product valuation. Managerial implications are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A multivariate Poisson mixture model for marketing applications

This paper describes a multivariate Poisson mixture model for clustering supermarket shoppers based on their purchase frequency in a set of product categories. The multivariate nature of the model accounts for cross-selling effects between the purchases made in different product categories. However, for computational reasons, most multivariate approaches limit the covariance structure by including just one common interaction term, or by not including any covariance at all. Although this reduces the number of parameters significantly, it is often too simplistic as typically multiple interactions exist on different levels. This paper proposes a theoretically more complete variance/covariance structure of the multivariate Poisson model, based on domain knowledge or preliminary statistical analysis of significant purchase interaction effects in the data. Consequently, the model does not contain more parameters than necessary, whilst still accounting for the existing covariance in the data. Practically, retail category managers can use the model to devise customized merchandising strategies.     

Effects of Family Policy Reforms in Norway: Results from a Joint Labour Supply and Childcare Choice Microsimulation Analysis*

Mothers of pre‐school children represent one part of the population that might be able to increase its labour supply. We discuss the effects of family policy changes that encourage the labour supply of these mothers, such as childcare fee reductions and increased availability of centre‐based care. The effects of policy changes are described by using a joint labour supply and childcare choice decision model. Detailed empirical results are provided with respect to mothers' labour supply, families' childcare choices, public expenditures, and distributions of income and money metric utility.     

The literature on the economic causes of and policy responses to obesity

This paper discusses economic perspectives on obesity, summarizes the economic literature and outlines potential policy responses. The paper provides the most up-to-date review of the literature. The literature illustrates the potential role of informational market failures and the dichotomy between the private and social costs of obesity. Market failures can act to provide a rationale for government intervention. Suggested factors for explaining the increase in the prevalence of obesity are discussed as relating to imperfect information, lifestyle changes and technology changes. Some of the potential remedial policies that are being debated in the literature include applying Pigouvian taxes, labelling regulation and advertising limitations.     

Tradeable permits for pollution control when emission location matters: What have we learned?

Our knowledge about tradeable permit approaches to pollution control has grown rapidly in the two decades in which they have received serious analytical attention. Not only have the theoretical models become more focused and the empirical work more detailed, but we have now had over a decade of experience with them in the U.S. This article draws upon economic theory, empirical studies, and actual experience with implementation to summarize what we have learned about applying tradeable permits to air pollution control in the special circumstance where the spatial aspects of the problem are a prime consideration.     

The Rhetoric of Modernization and the Labour Government's Pay Agenda

The modernization agenda is central to New Labour's desire to improve public services and reforming public sector pay is argued to be a fundamental requirement to delivering such improvement. This article argues that both the modernization agenda and pay reform have a rhetorical function. The authors analyse some short extracts of text from the NHS Agenda for Change on pay reform and show that much of the text requires unstated assumptions and premises to be added by the reader to render the arguments of the text to be fully coherent. Reaction to these unstated aspects of the Government's rhetoric are central to whether modernization is approved of or not.     

Identity, intended image, construed image, and gnreputation: An interdisciplinary framework and suggested terminology

Many scholars across various academic disciplines are investigating the following questions: What do individuals know or believe about an organization? How does a focal organization (and/or other interested entity) develop, use, and/or change this information? and How do individuals respond to what they know or believe about an organization? Cross-disciplinary research that centers on these questions is desirable and could be enhanced if researchers identify and develop consistent terminology for framing these questions. The authors work toward that end by identifying four central ‘viewpoints’ of an organization and proposing labels to represent each of these viewpoints:identity, intended image, construed image, andreputation.     

Demand for electric vehicles in hybrid households: an exploratory analysis

Previous studies of the potential market for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from different research streams have failed to converge on a single, robust estimate. What these previous research streams share are untested or implausible assumptions about consumer response to new transportation technology. We frame the BEV purchase decision in terms of a household's entire stock of vehicles, car purchase behavior and travel behavior. Within this framework, households which own both electric vehicles and gasoline vehicles are called ‘hybrid households’. Because nearly all consumers are unfamiliar with the characteristics of BEVs, we designed an interactive interview based on week-long travel diaries, which we call Purchase Intentions and Range Estimation Games (PIREG) to explore hypothetical hybrid household vehicle use. Our primary finding is that consumers' perceived driving range needs are substantially lower than previous hypothetical stated preference studies conclude. We find evidence of a viable market for BEVs with 60 to 100 miles driving range.