Preference heterogeneity, wage inequality, and trade

We consider individuals who value product variety, and who can be skilled or unskilled as workers. Skilled people prefer to consume skill-intensive goods. We show that under plausible conditions an increase in the relative size of the skilled population increases the relative wage of skilled workers, thereby increasing wage inequality. In our two-country model of trade, an increase in the relative supply of skilled labor in either country increases the relative wage of skilled workers, and hence increases inequality in both countries.     

A map of the nanoworld: Sizing up the science, politics, and business of the infinitesimal

Mapping out the eight main nodes of nanotechnology discourse that have emerged in the past decade, we explore how various scientific, social, and ethical islands of discussion have developed, been recognized, and are being continually renegotiated. We do so by (1) identifying the ways in which scientists, policy makers, entrepreneurs, educators, and environmental groups draw boundaries on issues relating to nanotechnology; (2) describing concisely the perspectives from which these boundaries are drawn; and (3) exploring how boundaries on nanotechnology are marked and negotiated through contestations of power among various nodes of nanotechnology discourse.     

Temporary shocks and offshoring: The role of external economies and firm heterogeneity

We construct a model of offshoring with externalities and firm heterogeneity. Due to the presence of externalities, temporary shocks like the Y2K problem can have permanent effects, i.e., they can permanently raise the extent of offshoring in an industry. Also, the initial advantage of a country as a potential host for outsourcing activities can create a lock in effect, whereby late movers have a comparative disadvantage. Furthermore, the existence of firm heterogeneity along with externalities can help explain the dynamic process of offshoring, where the most productive firms offshore first and the others follow later. Finally, we work out some unexpected welfare implications which show that net industry profits can be lower in an outsourcing equilibrium than in a regime of no outsourcing. Consumer welfare rises, and under fairly plausible conditions this effect can offset the negative impact on profits.     

Non-Conscious Influences on Consumer Choice

While consumer choice research has dedicated considerable research attention to aspects of choice that are deliberative and conscious, only limited attention has been paid to aspects of choice that occur outside of conscious awareness. We review relevant research that suggests that consumer choice is a mix of conscious and nonconscious influences, and argue that the degree to which nonconscious influences affect choice is much greater than many choice researchers believe. Across a series of research domains, these influences are found to include stimulus that are not consciously perceived by the consumer, nonconscious downstream effects of a consciously perceived stimuli or thought process, and decision processes that occur entirely outside of awareness.     

Interorganizational processes in buyer–supplier dyads: An information intensity perspective

In an increasingly global business environment, organizations interact with partners, suppliers and customers who are geographically spread and exchange information regularly. Without a robust information technology infrastructure, the speed and effectiveness of this information exchange is limited. Business-to-business (B2B) electronic business applications are a class of interorganizational information systems (IOIS) that facilitate such information exchange arising out of interorganizational processes (IOPs). The success of any e-business initiative depends on the successful implementation and the actual use of such IOIS. This study uses the concept of information intensity (II) to identify the information sharing requirements arising from IOPs, thus presenting opportunities for B2B Web site use, with specific reference to organization-specific customer-facing and supplier-facing IOIS. We use data from four buyer–supplier dyads, eight medium- to large-scale organizations in the Indian context and identify a generic set of dominant IOPs in buyer–supplier interactions. Through these we present the sources of II in IOPs along three dimensions – complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity which influence the feature set in the IOISs. We conclude with implications for IOIS design, implementation and use.     

International trade and unemployment: Theory and cross-national evidence

We present a model of trade and search-induced unemployment, where trade results from Heckscher-Ohlin (H-O) and/or Ricardian comparative advantage. Using cross-country data on trade policy, unemployment, and various controls, and controlling for endogeneity and measurement-error problems, we find fairly strong and robust evidence for the Ricardian prediction that unemployment and trade openness are negatively related. This effect dominates the positive H-O effect of trade openness on unemployment for capital-abundant countries, which turns negative for labor-abundant countries. Using panel data, we find an unemployment-increasing short-run impact of trade liberalization, followed by an unemployment-reducing effect leading to the new steady state.     

Framing Effects in Risk Perceptions of Aids

This paper examines a boundary condition of the ease-of-retrieval effect shown to affect risk perceptions of AIDS (Raghubir and Menon 1998; R&M). R&M had shown that when AIDS-related behaviors were difficult (vs. easy) to recall, people reduced their estimates of contracting AIDS, based on an inference that the more difficult an item was to recall, the smaller the population of behavioral experiences in memory, from which it was drawn. In this paper, we show that when people can attribute recall difficulty to task contingencies (i.e., the difficulty is not informative about their own behavioral experience), the content of the information recalled from memory, rather than the ease with which such information was recalled, affects judgments. In such a scenario, framing the recall task as one that causes AIDS leads to perceptions of higher risk versus one that prevents AIDS. Theoretically, these results show that the use of information accessibility as a cue is based on inferences about the population from which the information is drawn. Managerially, the results suggest that risk perceptions are based on contextual cues that affect content and accessibility of memory-based information.     

Asking sensitive questions: The effects of type of referent and frequency wording in counterbiasing methods

Respondents typically underreport socially undesirable behaviors and overreport socially desirable behaviors because of a social desirability bias. This not only leads to biased data, but also has important implications for health-care marketers interested in encouraging people to perform in more socially desirable ways. This article investigates the effects of providing counterbiasing information on reducing this social desirability bias. Study 1 investigates whether information that a socially desirable behavior is performed less frequently than expected reduces the extent of overreporting. In Study 2, alternative methods of presenting information about the target behavior are studied. The data demonstrate that counterbiasing information is more effective when the referent is a population base rate versus an individual, and is moderated by the wording of the frequency, such that the counterbiasing is more effective when the frequency is worded as an actual number versus a percent. Implicaitons for questionnaire design and health-care marketing are discussed. ©1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Modelling the predictors of young consumers' sustainable consumption intention

Sustainable consumption refers to consumers' socially and environmentally responsible consumption practices. The present study is the first to investigate possible individual, behavioural, and situational factors that predict sustainable consumption intention among young consumers in India. A survey was carried out on 325 young consumers. Structural equation modelling was applied to check the extent to which the considered variables predicted sustainable consumption. The results determined drive for environmental responsibility, subjective norm, and attitude towards sustainable consumption as key predictors of consumers' sustainable consumption intention. The paper offers a better understanding of the main predictors of consumers' sustainable consumption intention. Such understanding may enable managers to design effective marketing strategies to encourage sustainable consumption intention and behaviour.