The role of fundamental motivations in willingness-to-pay online

This study aims to determine whether an understanding of chronic fundamental consumer motivations can help determine the mechanisms of willingness-to-pay for products online. To do so, it employs a simulated buying task on a fictional e-commerce site for a consumer product (branded either as a “new arrival” or a “classic”) to investigate the effects of two fundamental motivations (mate acquisition vs. self-protection) on willingness-to-pay for the product online. The primary focus of the paper to investigate the capacity of mate acquisition and self-protection motives to moderate the relationship between attitude toward the product and willingness-to-pay, as well as, the effects of the motives on willingness-to-pay are considered. Through regression and interaction effect analyses, it is shown that chronic fundamental motivation for mate acquisition is directly correlated with an increased willingness-to-pay for both product types, and it moderates the relationship between attitude toward a product and willingness-to-pay. Self-protection motivation increases willingness-to-pay for classic products but not new arrivals. By offering a rare look at chronic fundamental motivation in the consumer context and potentially being the first investigation of the moderating effects of fundamental motivations, the results mostly support the notion of predictable motivation induced behavioral tendencies.     

“一带一路”倡议能否提升对外直接投资企业盈利能力？

基于2011-2015年A股上市公司与商务部《境外投资企业（机构）名录》数据，利用倾向得分匹配方法（PSM）和双重差分法（DID）考察“一带一路”倡议对中国对外直接投资企业盈利能力的影响及作用机制。研究发现：“一带一路”倡议显著提升了中国对沿线国家投资企业的盈利能力。机制检验表明，“一带一路”倡议能够通过推进中国与沿线国家间的经济融合和文化包容来提升对外投资企业的盈利能力，而政治互信在样本期内不显著。进一步研究发现，“一带一路”倡议对企业盈利能力的提升作用主要体现在国有企业、新兴优势产业以及投资目的为非邻近中国的“一带一路”国家上。     

基于不同城市化发展阶段的山西省城镇建设用地适度集约利用研究

研究目的:针对城市化进程中的土地低效利用以及过度集约问题,探讨不同城市化发展阶段的土地集约利用状况及适度集约利用状态。研究方法:采用匹配度模型、曲线估计模型和多目标规划模型,对山西省的土地集约利用进行分区优化。研究结果:(1)1999—2012年山西省土地集约利用与城市化水平之间的匹配趋势逐渐由失调、磨合向协调转变,但不同地区之间的匹配水平差距却在逐渐扩大;(2)2018年山西省城市化水平处于低于30%、30%～70%和高于70%时,以单位城镇建设用地固定资产投资额为表征的土地适度集约利用值分别为249.93万元/km~2、367.57万元/km~2和692.72万元/km~2,两项指标叠加全省可划分为平稳发展区、重点挖潜区和优化拓展区,并提出了不同地区差别化的建设用地管控政策。研究结论:不同城市化发展阶段的土地适度集约利用研究能为制定区域差别化政策提供参考,以促进该地区的土地集约利用水平达到适度状态。     

“倒挂型”土地利用总体规划的耕地保护效果评价

研究目的:揭示"倒挂型"土地利用总体规划与耕地保护效果之间的关系,以期为国土空间规划的编制提供参考。研究方法:倾向值匹配法。研究结果:(1)耕地"倒挂型"规划对耕地面积净变化的影响具有统计显著性,2006—2008年,耕保指标"倒挂型"规划使耕地面积净变化量平均减少2.270万hm2;(2)2010—2016年,耕保指标"倒挂型"规划使耕地面积净变化量平均减少0.496万hm2;(3)建设用地"倒挂型"规划对耕地面积净变化量并无显著影响。研究结论:在省级政府耕地保护责任目标考核的制度环境下,耕地"倒挂型"规划对地方政府形成一定压力,促使各级政府采取措施加以应对,从而使得"倒挂型"规划在一定程度上降低了耕地净减少量。     

Estimating matching functions when recruiting intensity matters

The article estimates matching functions – the relationships between new hires, job vacancies and unemployment – using monthly time series data for Sweden. The data contain rich information on types of job vacancies which provides information on firms’ recruiting efforts. The analysis shows that the aggregate flow of new hires is well explained by an augmented version of a standard matching function that incorporates data on firms’ recruiting intensity.     

Entrepreneurial innovativeness and growth ambitions in thick vs. thin regional innovation systems

Research in economic geography has paid increasing attention to regional innovation systems (RISs) as a potential vehicle for growth and development. Yet despite an increasing amount of research studying RISs in particular and economic regions in general, we have limited knowledge about their influence on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. We respond to this knowledge gap and study if entrepreneurs’ localization in thick vs. thin RISs affects their innovativeness and growth ambitions. Thick RISs are predominately urbanized spaces that include organizations of higher-level education, R&D intensive milieus, and an ample industry sector, while thin RISs to a lesser degree encompass these features. Empirically, we analyse 870–917 entrepreneurial firms in Agder of Southern Norway. Based on trade and labour markets, as defined by the EU’s classification of local administrative units (LAU1), we identify two thick and six thin RISs in Agder. Econometric analyses show that entrepreneurs located in thick RISs are more innovative than entrepreneurs located in thin RISs, but there are no significant differences concerning entrepreneurs’ growth ambitions. In light of our findings, we discuss the potential agency role played by entrepreneurial firms at a micro level on path dependent features of RISs at a macro level.     

Price matching and product differentiation strategies considering showrooming

Showrooming, a phenomenon in which customers use brick-and-mortar stores to assess products and then purchase them from online retailers (o-retailers) for lower prices, is considered a great threat to traditional retailers (t-retailers). To combat showrooming, many t-retailers have executed price matching which enables customers to pay o-retailers' lower prices for the identical product. To avoid direct competition with t-retailers who execute price matching, many o-retailers have begun to sell differentiated products from t-retailers, which weakens the information advantage to customers from practicing showrooming. Motivated by these observations, we construct a duopoly game, where a t-retailer and an o-retailer sell products in a same category, to study the profitabilities of product differentiation and price matching in the context of showrooming. The results show that in the scenario without price matching, the o-retailer is likely to benefit from product differentiation only when the o-retailer's differentiated product is more popular with customers than the t-retailer's product. However, in the price matching scenario, the o-retailer also has the opportunity to benefit from product differentiation when the o-retailer's differentiated product is less popular with customers than the t-retailer's product, and product differentiation can be a win-win strategy for the two retailers under certain conditions. Considering the o-retailer's product differentiation decision, the t-retailer is only likely to execute price matching if the non-digital attributes of the product category sold by two retailers are not very obvious.     

绞股蓝荷叶复配茶包研发

以荷叶和绞股蓝为主要原料,对荷叶与绞股蓝复配比例、过筛目数、水的添加量和冲泡时间4个因素进行单因素试验,并根据单因素试验结果,设计L9(34)正交试验.结果表明,绞股蓝荷叶复配茶包最佳工艺配方为:荷叶添加量与绞股蓝添加量的比例为1:4、过筛目数为70μm、水添加量为150 mL、冲泡时间为7 min,此条件下的荷叶绞股蓝复配茶包感官评分最高,为95分.     

Bias-corrected estimates of reduction of post-surgery length of stay and corresponding cost savings through the widespread national implementation of fast-tracking after liver transplantation: a quasi-experimental study

Background: Fast-tracking is an approach adopted by Mayo Clinic in Florida’s (MCF) liver transplant (LT) program, which consists of early tracheal extubation and transfer of patients to surgical ward, eliminating a stay in the intensive care unit in select patients. Since adopting this approach in 2002, MCF has successfully fast-tracked 54.3% of patients undergoing LT.

Objectives: This study evaluated the reduction in post-operative length of stay (LOS) that resulted from the fast-tracking protocol and assessed the potential cost saving in the case of nationwide implementation.

Methods: A propensity score for fast-tracking was generated based on MCF liver transplant databases during 2011–2013. Various propensity score matching algorithms were used to form control groups from the United Network of Organ Sharing Standard Analysis and Research (STAR) file that had comparable demographic characteristics and health status to the treatment group identified in MCF. Multiple regression and matching estimators were employed for evaluation of the post-surgery LOS. The algorithm generated from the analysis was also applied to the STAR data to determine the proportion of patients in the US who could potentially be candidates for fast-tracking, and the potential savings.

Results: The effect of the fast-tracking on the post-transplant LOS was estimated at approximately from 2.5 (p-value?=?0.001) to 3.2 (p-value?Conclusion: The fast-track program was found to be effective in reducing post-transplant LOS, although the reduction appeared to be less than previously reported. Nationwide implementation of fast-tracking could result in substantial cost savings without compromising the patient outcome.