Price adjustment at multiproduct retailers

We empirically study the price adjustment process at multiproduct retail stores. We use a unique store level data set for five large supermarket and one drugstore chains in the USA, to document the exact process required to change prices. Our data set allows us to study this process in great detail, describing the exact procedure, stages, and steps undertaken during the price change process. We also discuss various aspects of the microeconomic environment in which the price adjustment decisions are made, factors affecting the price adjustment decisions, and firm-level implications of price adjustment decisions. Specifically, we examine the effects of the complexity of the price change process on the stores' pricing strategy. We also study how the steps involved in the price change process, combined with the laws governing the retail price setting and adjustment, along with the competitive market structure of the retail grocery industry, influence the frequency of price changes. We also examine how the mistakes that occur in the price change process influence the actions taken by these multiproduct retailers. In particular, we study how these mistakes can make the stores vulnerable to civil law suits and penalties, and also damage their reputation. We also show how the mistakes can lead to stockouts or unwanted inventory accumulations. Finally, we discuss how retail stores try to minimize these negative effects of the price change mistakes. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Expert System Approach to Audit Planning and Evaluation in the Belief-Function Framework

The main purpose of this article is to discuss an expert system approach for audit planning and evaluation using belief functions. First, we show how to use belief functions to represent strengths of various types of evidence such as positive, negative, or mixed items of evidence in an audit. The situation where one item of evidence relates to more than one audit objective or account is of special interest here, particularly the evidence that provides different levels of support to different audit objectives or accounts. Second, we illustrate the use of Auditor's Assistant, an expert system shell, for planning and evaluation of an audit. For this illustration, we use an actual audit program of one of the Big Six accounting firms for the accounts receivable account of a health care unit. Third, two types of sensitivity analyses are performed on the evidential network (audit program) created above. The first one determines the effects of the location of evidence in the network and the second one deals with the effects of variations in the auditor's judgment of the strength of evidence on the overall belief on each variable in the network. Finally, practical implications of the findings of the sensitivity analyses are discussed in the article.     

A strategic analysis of global warming: Theory and some numbers

We model the global warming process as a dynamic commons game in which the players are countries, their actions at each date produce emissions of greenhouse gases, and the state variable is the current stock of greenhouse gases. The theoretical analysis is complemented by a calibration exercise. The first set of results establishes theoretically, and then with illustrative numbers, the over-emissions due to a “tragedy of the commons.” The power of simple sanctions to lower emissions and increase welfare is then examined as is the effect of cost asymmetry. Finally, a complete theoretical charactrization is provided for the best equilibrium, and it is shown that it has a very simple structure; it involves a constant emission rate through time.     

Rubinstein Auctions: On Competition for Bargaining Partners

This paper analyzes the effect of competition for bargaining partners on the prices that prevail in thin markets, as well as how the matches are simultaneously determined. Three trading processes or bargaining procedures are described. In all the variants that we consider, except for one case of public offers, either there is no pure strategy subgame perfect equilibrium or such equilibria exhibit delay in reaching agreement.Journal of Economic LiteratureClassification Numbers: C72, D43.     

The whip and the Bible: Punishment versus internalization

A variety of experimental and empirical research indicate that prosocial behavior is important for economic success. There are two sources of prosocial behavior: incentives and preferences. The latter, the willingness of individuals to “do their bit” for the group, we refer to as internalization, because we view it as something that a group can influence by appropriate investment. This implies that there is a trade-off between using incentives and internalization to encourage prosocial behavior. By examining this trade-off we shed light on the connection between social norms observed inside the laboratory and those observed outside in the field. For example, we show that a higher value of cooperation outside the laboratory may lower the use of incentives inside the laboratory even as it increases their usage outside. As an application we show that the model calibrated to experimental data makes reasonable out-of-sample quantitative forecasts.     

Financial inclusion and poverty: a tale of forty-five thousand households

ABSTRACT

Using a new nationally representative survey data covering approximately 45,000 Indian households, we examine the effects of financial inclusion on poverty. We construct a multidimensional indicator of financial inclusion and examine the effects of financial inclusion on multiple measures of poverty including the household Poverty Probability Index (PPI), household deprivation scores, and poverty line. We find that financial inclusion has a strong poverty-reducing effect. This finding is consistent across the different measures of poverty used, and alternative ways of measures financial inclusion. These results underpin the importance of financial inclusion and the need for its promotion across countries.     

Evaluation and Selection of Sustainable Strategy for Green Supply Chain Management Implementation

The aim of this study is to explore the implementation of green supply chain management (GSCM) strategies and to select the best GSCM strategy using fuzzy analytical network process (ANP) methodology. The ANP helps in analyzing the interdependence and interrelations among the various determinants and dimensions of GSCM strategy selection. Fuzzy set theory is applied to avoid the vagueness and uncertainty in human preference judgement. This study uses an empirical case study of an Indian automobile organization to validate the applicability of the proposed model. The results show that the resource based strategy is in first position, having the maximum impact on each determinant. The case organization should improve the green management system with the assistance of a suitable GSCM strategy, i.e. the resource based strategy. This study may help managers to make decisions, and to analyze and standardize their environmental advantages dynamically. The robustness of the projected model is checked by conducting a sensitivity analysis. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

What influences entrepreneurship among skilled immigrants in the USA? Evidence from micro-data

Business Economics - Self-employment among immigrants is a key source for income and social assimilation with natives. Rate of self-employment is significantly higher for immigrants than for...     

Macroeconomics of Agricultural Trade Liberalization

Abstract

In this article a macroeconomic model is built to examine interactions between the agricultural sector and the industrial sector in an emerging market economy. This article examines how monetary shock and real shocks produce agricultural price fluctuations and change in employment through multiple cross effects. Monetary shocks result in overshooting of primary commodity price while real shock in terms of rise in the production of primary commodity mitigates the volatility of primary price.