Price Effects on Compound Commodities

We examine the effect of simultaneous price changes on the total demand for a group of goods, which we call a compound commodity. Specifically, we consider unit and proportional cost components (e.g., taxes, transportation costs) imposed on compound commodities. If the unit cost is positive, then the proportional cost raises the relative price of the more expensive good, and thus induces substitution towards the less expensive good within this group. Then, the substitution effect of the proportional cost for a compound commodity is non‐negative if and only if the compound commodity and the other goods are, on average, not strongly substitutable.     

Institutions and Work Incentives in Collective Farming in Maoist China

This paper challenges the conventional wisdom that assumes widespread shirking and inefficiency in agricultural production under the collective system in Maoist China, and attributes these problems to egalitarianism in labour remuneration and difficulties in labour supervision. Drawing on interviews with 131 former production team members from 16 provinces, this paper re‐examines the issue of work incentives by placing it in a historical and social context in which formal institutions, such as the different forms of collective organization, income distribution and state extraction, as well as informal institutions, such as indigenous social networks, communal norms and collective sanction, interacted with non‐institutional factors, especially local geographical, demographic and ecological conditions, to constrain and motivate Chinese villagers participating in collective production. The complexity and fluidity of this context gave rise to a multiplicity of patterns of peasant behaviour in team farming, which accounts for the contrasting performances of rural collectives in different areas and periods.     

The effect of host country Internet infrastructure on foreign expansion of Korean MNCs

This study examines the effect of host country Internet infrastructure on a multinational corporation (MNC) foreign expansion. Using Heckman’s selection model on a sample of 2589 subsidiaries of 487 Korean MNCs between 1990 and 2011, we find that host country Internet infrastructure is important in MNC expansion decisions. In addition, we find that a well-developed Internet infrastructure within a host country leads to more investments from MNCs producing consumer over industrial goods and is more attractive to domestic market followers than market leaders. We find that the host country’s Internet infrastructure is important for an MNC foreign expansion decision, suggesting that efficient communication within an MNC is critical in coordinating globalized MNC subsidiary operations.     

Selling Versus Leasing of Durable Goods: The Impact on Marketing Channels

While many durable products are sold through intermediaries, there is limited understanding of how channel performance is influenced by transactions involving durable goods in a competitive market. In particular, extant research shows that intermediaries can significantly impact the leasing versus selling policy of a monopolistic manufacturer. This article seeks to fill that gap by examining the selling versus leasing choice of duopolistic manufacturers in the context of decentralized channels. Our analysis demonstrates that in addition to the unique equilibrium of selling, a prisoner's dilemma may arise where both manufacturers are better off if they were to lease their products.     

Sustainability concerns in luxury supply chains: European brand strategies and French consumer expectations

Sustainability in supply chain management has become a concern in both research and practice. Although consumption and purchasing have been significantly explored in the luxury sector, a gap in supply chain studies is still evident. Therefore, the aim of this article is to examine how industry bodies and supply chain partners address sustainability concerns in the European luxury sector and how they respond to consumer expectations. In an explanatory study, we have collected data about sustainable supply chain practices in 11 European luxury good companies, by interviewing and surveying 13 managers. In a first consumer study, we held interviews with French luxury consumers in Bordeaux about their sustainability expectations (N = 170). The results show that while the distribution of attention is dependent on the respective supply chain activities, luxury goods companies address sustainability concerns and aim to take responsibility for their activities. However, the emphasis is on the dimension of economic sustainability. A comparison with sustainability expectations of French luxury goods consumers suggests that business practices are not perfectly well aligned with these expectations. Consumers put more emphasis on social and environmental sustainability dimensions. On the other hand, business activities concerning waste reduction and raw material management rather well match consumer expectations.     

Asset indexes and the measurement of poverty,inequality and welfare in Southeast Asia

Using data on household consumer durables from the Asian Barometer Survey, this paper examines the evolution of inequality, poverty and welfare in six countries of South East Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. We start by deriving the most common order of acquisition of these durables, using first an algorithm proposed by Paroush (1965), and then Item Response Theory. We also compute the frequency distribution of the number of durables owned by households. We then use these results to compute inequality, poverty and achievement or welfare indices adapted to the case of ordinal variables.Our empirical results confirm the existence of an order of acquisition. The results show that inequality was higher in Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines and lower in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. A similar classification of countries was obtained when computing multidimensional poverty indices.Finally, using the welfare or achievement index recently introduced by Apouey et al. (2019), we found that welfare was generally higher in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia and lower in Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines.     

Income Taxation and the Diversity of Consumer Goods: A Political Economy Approach*

After‐tax income inequality has risen since the mid‐1990s, as increases in market income inequality have not been offset by greater fiscal redistribution. We argue that the substantial increase in the diversity of consumer goods has mitigated mounting political pressures for redistribution. Within a probabilistic voting framework, we demonstrate that if the share of diversified goods in the consumption bundle increases sufficiently with income, then an increase in goods diversity can reduce the political equilibrium tax rate. Focusing on OECD countries, we find empirical support for both the model's micro‐political foundations and the implied relation between goods diversity and fiscal policy outcomes.     

Process innovation capability and subsequent collaborative team performance in travel planning: a knowledge exchange platform perspective

Purpose: Backpacker tourism is flourishing in this century as the high development of Internet technology which enables travellers to search for resources they need easier. The research goal of this study was to exam how virtual skill and collective efficacy affect process innovation capability and subsequent team performance of collaborative design team in a virtual community. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, we formulated the virtual team model from the perspectives of open innovation paradigm and virtual competence, and we collected virtual community participation samples from the online communities. Invitation emails were delivered to numerous trip plan initiators in two well-known online travel communities for filling survey questionnaires for this study. In total, 3000 invitation messages were mailed, of which 373 were returned completed. The model and hypotheses were tested by structural equation modelling. Findings: Virtual competence, including collective efficacy and virtual media skill, is the essential key to facilitate process innovation capability and subsequent team performance success. Besides, knowledge sharing significantly moderates the relationship between process innovation capability and the team performance. Originality/value: Backpackers in the online travel communities have to have not only the willingness to collaborate, but also the abilities of using the correct tool to help with their tasks. When a self-efficacy gets into collective efficacy, it enables the collaborative team to develop with good virtual competencies. Accordingly, trip plan initiator and participants of a virtual team are as expertise contributors between conformity in online communities and online compulsive control tendencies.     

On the global supply of basic research

In a two-country Schumpeterian growth model, we study the incentives for basic research investments by governments in a globalized world. A country׳s basic research investments increase with the country׳s level of human capital and decline with its own market size. This may explain why some smaller countries invest so much in basic research. Compared with the optimal investments achievable when countries coordinate their basic research policies, a single country may over-invest in basic research. However, the total amount of decentralized basic research investments is always below the socially optimal investment level, which justifies policy coordination in this area.     

农村集体经济组织与农民专业合作社协同扶贫模式创新:重庆例证

农村集体经济组织和农民专业合作社是与农民联系较为紧密的两类经济组织,是贫困地区打赢脱贫攻坚战的重要内生性力量。但在实践中,受农村集体经济组织市场主体地位不明确、承担市场经营风险能力弱及农民专业合作社总体规模偏小、脱贫带动力不强等因素影响,两类主体的扶贫作用都未能得到充分发挥。重庆市城口县是国家扶贫开发工作重点县,在近年来的脱贫攻坚中,一方面普遍性地成立了新型农村集体经济组织,作为承接相关政府部门扶贫资源、开展村集体资产运营管理的平台;另一方面通过平等协商将村集体经济组织承接的扶贫资源以入股方式投入当地运行规范、实力较强的农民专业合作社,以获取相对稳定的分红收益,并优先用于增加贫困户收入。该模式既为村“两委”参与市场活动和承接政府扶贫资源提供了有效载体,又较好地保证了农民专业合作社等市场主体的经营自主权,有利于构建激励兼容、多方共赢的长效扶贫机制,是有镜鉴价值的扶贫模式创新。