Introduction to the IMM special issue on ‘Project marketing and the marketing of solutions’ A comprehensive approach to project marketing and the marketing of solutions

This introduction to the special issue on ‘Project Marketing and the Marketing of Solutions’ starts by highlighting the major contributions made in the field of project marketing during the last decade. Then it points out the emergence of integrated solutions and details the major challenges facing the marketing of solutions. It concludes on the possible synergies between the marketing of solutions and project marketing.     

Anticipatory effects of voluntary export restraints: a study of home video cassette recorders market, 1978-86

This paper investigates the impact of voluntary export restraints (VERs) at the pre-implementation stage when exporters have a good prospect for the VERs. Distinctive features of the VCR market in 1978-86 provide a testable hypothesis to analyze the effect of the EC-Japan VERs, which were implemented in the fiscal years of 1983-85. The paper finds consistent evidence that the VERs affected firms’ pricing behavior in the U.S. market prior to the VER period, as a result of Japanese exporters’ anticipation of the VERs.     

Hope and anticipation in education for a sustainable future

Global sustainability problems pose serious challenges for humanity. In handling these problems education for sustainable development (ESD) is seen as important. Different key competences that ESD should focus on have been introduced, such as the ability to deal with future dimensions. Still, studies indicate that future dimensions are not always included in ESD and that many young people are pessimistic concerning the global future. Therefore, one could argue that a focus on anticipatory emotions, especially hope, should be included in ESD. There is a worry, however, that hope will lead to unrealistic optimism and/or less engagement. The aim of this paper is to problematize the discussion about hope in relation to ESD and the global future by grounding it in theories from different disciplines and in empirical research about young people, hope, and climate change. The review shows that hope is a complex, multifaceted, and sometimes contested concept. Hope can be related to denial, but in other cases it can help people face and do something constructive with their worries about the global future. The close relation between hope and trust is emphasized and a need for critical emotional awareness in ESD is argued for.     

Testing for intertemporal nonseparability

This paper presents a nonparametric analysis of a common class of intertemporal models of consumer choice that relax consumption independence. Within this class and in the absence of any functional form restrictions on instantaneous preferences, we compare the revealed preference conditions for rational habit formation and rational anticipation. We show that these models are observationally equivalent in the presence of finite data sets composed of prices, interest rates, and consumption choices.     

The macroeconomic effects of tax changes: Evidence using real-time data for the European Union

This paper examines the macroeconomic effects of tax changes in the European Union between 2000 and 2016. The novelty of our approach hinges on the use of real-time estimates of discretionary fiscal adjustments. In particular, exploiting a unique database covering anticipated and unanticipated tax changes, we provide the first narrative panel estimates of output and employment multipliers for tax changes. Our results suggest that medium-term revenue-based output multipliers are in the range of −1.1 to −1.9 for unanticipated tax changes. Preannounced changes, on the other hand, temporarily impact economic activity inversely upon announcement, resulting in a less than one-to-one change in ex post tax receipts, but portray up to one percentage point larger employment responses. Finally, we find evidence of asymmetry between the effects of revenue increasing and decreasing measures in the European Union.     

人民币升值对收入分配的影响

根据经济学原理,汇率升值似乎对于国际间分配没有影响,因此,人民币升值使人民币标价的资产,相对于美元会提高其价值,但这只是一种相对的比价变化,不影响实际福利状态。根据实际观察,就人民币升值对收入分配的影响展开研究,包括对国内产业间收入分配的影响,对国内区域间收入分配的影响,对国内不同消费者收入分配的影响和对国内外收入分配的影响,并提出政策建议。     

Bridging anticipation skills and intercultural competences as a means to reinforce the capacity of global citizens for learning to learn together

The view of the authors is that, in response to challenges created in many countries by the coexistence of communities of different origins and cultures, living together in peace requires a capacity to learn together and to navigate a plurality of cultures but also a plurality of futures.To explore this idea, a research has been conducted to identify future-oriented methodologies that can sustain activities in such fields as the culture of peace and global citizenship education. Such methodologies as Causal Layered Analysis, the Sarkar game, Transformative Scenario Planning and the framework of Futures Literacy are examined in relation to their added value for intercultural competences. The paper finishes on the presentation and analysis of a case study on a foresight participative workshop held with young people in Africa.The four methodologies and the case study presented in this paper provide, in our view, a strong impetus to further explore spaces where intercultural competences and the discipline of anticipation can be hybridized. Such hybridity seems to correspond to what is required of citizens in a globalizing world where solutions must not only be based on long term perspectives but also be shared across national, cultural, ethnic or religious boundaries.     

Anticipating a service experience

This paper explores the anticipations consumers have before service experiences. Consumers think ahead about future service experiences and may foresee problems or discomfort. This research examines the strategies consumers engage in to minimize the impact of these anticipated problems or discomforts. Qualitative interviews and the critical incident technique with a content analysis provide the tools of this study. In Study 1, planning and preparation, avoidance and adjustment, and seeking support emerge as three problem-solving behaviors. In Study 2, the same three problem-solving behaviors emerge, while a fourth category, gathering information, also appears. In addition, worry, as an emotional response to perceived risk, provides understanding to service anticipation issues. Social risk plays a particularly important role as well.     

对我国提高货币政策透明度的几点思考

目前不少国家提高货币政策透明度,旨在实现货币政策调控目标。结合近年来我国中央银行提高货币政策透明度的举措,思考其中存在的若干问题,并借鉴国外实务和理论研究成果,提出对策建议。