Patterns of consumer response to retail price differentials

Decomposing price elasticity suggests that the major impact of promotions is on brand switching rather than increased consumption. Consumers may also buy smaller quantities of more expensive brands when compared to cheaper ones (inter-brand elasticity). Using panel data for the purchases of 80 consumers buying nine product categories over a 16-week period, we verified that inter-brand elasticities occur, and report the relative importance of intra- and inter-brand elasticities in determining quantity price elasticity per shopping occasion for the product category. Brands were classified by informational (socially mediated) and utilitarian (product-mediated) benefits. Intra-brand elasticity was higher than utilitarian inter-brand elasticity, which was higher than informational inter-brand elasticity.     

Technical change: It should be positive and make sense!

We present the results of eight models that differ with respect to the time behavior of technical inefficiency and the presence of country heterogeneity. When taken into account, heterogeneity raises average technical change estimates, however technical progress rankings become counter-intuitive.     

Mixed methods studies in entrepreneurship research: Applications and contributions

Mixed methods research is becoming an increasingly popular approach in several fields. However, its application in the field of entrepreneurship has not been studied. The authors reviewed the use of mixed methods research in three entrepreneurship journals and two leading generalistic journals that publish entrepreneurship research, examining the main purposes and designs. A total of 955 articles were reviewed and 81 mixed methods studies were identified. The analysis of these articles revealed opportunities associated with the application of this approach. Mixed methods may help to improve entrepreneurship research addressing challenges emphasized in earlier studies. Suggestions on why and how to use mixed methods research are offered, and recommendations are provided to guide future mixed methods studies to advance our understanding of the entrepreneurial phenomenon.     

Consumer Ethics in the European Union: A Comparison of Northern and Southern Views

There is a growing interest in understanding consumer ethical actions in relation to their dealings with firms. This paper examines whether there are differences between Northern and Southern European Union (EU) consumers' perceptions of ethical consumer behaviour using Muncy and Vitell's (1992) Consumer Ethics Scale (CES). The study samples 962 university students across four Northern EU countries (Germany, Denmark, Scotland, The Netherlands) and four Southern EU countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece). Some differences are identified between the two samples, which might question the ability of organisations to consider the EU as one homogeneous market.     

Which Firms are More Sensitive to Public Disclosure Schemes for Pollution Control? Evidence from Indonesia’s PROPER Program

This paper analyzes differences in firms’ responsiveness to PROPER, Indonesia’s public disclosure program for industrial pollution control. The overall effectiveness of this program at achieving emissions reductions and its low regulatory costs have earned it a good reputation around the world. PROPER had no deterrents or incentives other than those that arose indirectly from publicly disclosing information about the environmental performances of firms. We analyzed plant-level data to relate short- and longer-term environmental responses to facility characteristics. The results revealed that foreign-owned firms were consistently more likely to respond to the environmental rating scheme, compared to private domestic firms. This is a clear and important insight with consequences for a number of issues, such as understanding the pollution haven debate. Also, firms located in densely populated regions, particularly in Java, responded more positively to the public disclosure of PROPER ratings. The main observed effect was however given by the initial level of environmental performance of firms. Those firms that had bad environmental performance records felt pressure to improve, but if the initial abatement steps had already been taken, the incentives to improve further appeared to diminish.     

Extending the SAM with Social and Environmental Indicators: An Application to Bolivia

Extending economic accounts with sets of social and environmental indicators is a first step towards a more integrated analysis of aspects of sustainability problems. In this article, therefore, a proposal is made to nest social and environmental indicators into an existing economic accounting framework. The Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) is taken as a basis, because of its flexibility regarding extensions with non-monetary data addressing social and environmental concerns. The main thrust of the paper is methodological. From the discussion of methodological issues and the application to the SAM for Bolivia for the year 1989, it is concluded that it is, in principle, feasible and relatively simple to extend the SAM with the two sets of indicators. However, additional data will have to be collected to be able to address, more adequately, the problems of sustainability.     

Employment shifts, economic reform and the changes in public/private sector wages in Mexico: 1987–1997

Over the last decade, the public sector in Mexico experienced substantial fiscal reform, divestiture of public enterprises, and the elimination of many regulations affecting pay and employment. This study analyzes the changes in the public/private sector differences in wages during the 1987–1997 period. The results from analyzing microdata from the Encuesta Nacional de Empleo Urbano show that relative public sector wages increased from 1987 to 1997. Most of the relative wage increase in the public sector can be explained by increases in the price of skills and by changes in sorting across sectors. The results have important public policy implications since they suggest that public sector workers earn more and their wages have grown faster than those of their private sector counterparts. As such, policies contemplating public sector reform should take into account the effect of these measures on the inter-sectoral income distribution and the overall economic growth. First version received: April 2000/Final version received: December 2000     

The case of market and system failures in services innovation

This paper reviews and analyses the rationale for an innovation policy in services. It focuses on the relevance of the various categories of market and system failures, on the basis of economic arguments and some empirical evidence at EU level. Results show that market and system failures affect service innovation, so that there are no economic reasons supporting any discrimination of policy actions against service activities. Moreover, some of the market and system failures may be even more relevant in the field of services than of goods, although differences between categories of services should be also taken into consideration.     

Product Placement Versus Conventional Advertising: The Impact on Brand Choice of Integrating Promotional Stimuli into Movies

ABSTRACT

Despite the increasingly favorable environment enjoyed by product placement, the question of whether this technique produces stronger behavioral effects than conventional advertising remains largely unexplored. Based on the transportation-imagery model, we hypothesized that, among users of well-established products, promotional stimuli produce stronger effects on brand choice when integrated into movies than when presented as independent ads, while among nonusers, no differences are expected. Our hypotheses were confirmed in a field experiment that compared the effects of a Coca-Cola placement within the movie Ways to Live Forever with the same Coca-Cola stimulus shown as a usual commercial.     

The rise of Mexican entrepreneurial migration to the United States: A mixed‐embeddedness approach

Although many studies have analyzed the behavior of high‐skilled migration to the United States, few have focused on the escalating migration of Mexican entrepreneurs, and particularly on the determinants of this kind of high‐skilled migration. This article addresses this gap through a qualitative approach conforming to quantitative procedures, based on 20 in‐depth interviews applied to Mexican entrepreneurs working and/or living in the United States. Theoretically, a mixed‐embeddedness approach guides this research because it allows examining both the individual characteristics of Mexican entrepreneurs, and the influence of the home and host countries' institutional contexts on their business endeavors. Findings revealed Mexico's institutional weaknesses, such as insecurity, corruption, and bureaucracy, are important drivers of migration but so are the perception of a friendly U.S. fiscal system, the search for a better quality of life, and the appeal of a more transparent business environment.