The impact of a gasoline crisis on retail sales

The gasoline crises of the 1970s demonstrated the need for including gasoline prices and gasoline shortages in models explaining retail sales. In this article, a model is constructed that incorporates the aforementioned variables, other variables, and a lagged sales figure as independent variable. The results indicate a high degree of explanatory power in predicting retail sales for a specialty store chain with a preponderance of their stores in large regional malls that sell a product which lends itself to unplanned purchase behaviour.     

Price competitiveness of tourism packages to Australia: Beyond the “Big Mac” index

One issue facing any country or region concerns its price competitiveness as a package tour destination. One method of measuring this is to use what in other contexts has been referred to as the Big Mac approach. The “Big Mac” is a simple product with ingredients in fixed proportions, whereas the tourism product is a very complex one comprising different components depending on tourist expenditure patterns. There is no equivalent tourism product offered across countries, as the nature of the product is tailored to the origin market, expenditure levels and the length of the trip involved. The key issue is that of how to standardize the products being compared, so as to determine their relative price competitiveness. A method of constructing price competitiveness indexes, developed by the authors, can be applied to develop measures of the price competitiveness of different tour packages. This paper has three aims: To set down the essence of the preferred approach to measuring price competitiveness, noting its advantages and limitations; to employ this approach to construct price competitiveness indexes for package tours to Australia from Japan and the USA; and to indicate areas for farther research into the price competitiveness of package tourism worldwide.     

Determinants of transport mode choice: a comparison of Germany and the USA

Germany and the USA have among the highest motorization rates in the world. Yet Germans make a four times higher share of trips by foot, bike, and public transport and drive for a 25% lower share of trips as Americans. Using two comparable national travel surveys this paper empirically investigates determinants of transport mode choice in Germany and the USA.In both countries higher population density, a greater mix of land-uses, household proximity to public transport, and fewer cars per household are associated with a lower share of trips by automobile. However, considerable differences remain: all groups of society in America are more car-dependent than Germans. Even controlling for dissimilarities in socio-economic factors and land-use, Germans are more likely to walk, cycle, and use public transport. Moreover, Americans living in dense, mixed-use areas, and close to public transport are more likely to drive than Germans living in lower density areas, with more limited mix of land-uses, and farther from public transport. Differences in transport policy that make car travel slower, more expensive, less convenient, and alternatives to the automobile more attractive in Germany may help account for the remaining differences.     

相互依存视阈下的中国跨国公司对美直接投资

文章认为，跨国公司的对外直接投资活动及其所产生的政治经济影响已经使得跨国公司成为影响国际关系的重要非国家行为体，对于国家间相互依存的关系起到了日益增进的作用。目前不断增长的中国跨国公司对美国直接投资活动根本上有利于两国的经济利益，也对两国日益加深的相互依存的经济政治关系产生着越来越广泛和重要的影响。     

Managerial Problem-Solving Styles: A Cross-Cultural Study

ABSTRACT

The literature suggests that North American business-people differ from their Latin American counterparts with respect to specific behavioral traits. Our particular interest is in problem solving and in effecting changes in behavior to achieve better problem-solving capability. The purpose of the present study is to assess whether there are differences in problem-solving styles between two culturally different groups of managers registered in MBA Programs: Anglo American and Latin American. Using Kolb's (1984 2006) Learning Style Inventory, it was found that Anglo American managers tended to be relatively action-oriented, “Convergers” (they emphasize decision-making and use deductive reasoning), while Latin American managers tended to be reflection-oriented, “Assimilators” (they emphasize planning and like to create models in their analyses) in their problem-solving styles. The positive and negative aspects of each style are discussed and suggestions for improved decision-making are offered.

RESUMEN. La literatura sugiere que los empresarios norteamericanos difieren de sus contrapartes latinoamericanos, en lo que atañe a ciertos trazos comportamentales específicos. Nuestro interés particular se orienta a la solución de problemas e implementación de cambios comportamentales, con el propósito de adquirir habilidades específicas para la solución de problemas. El propósito de este estudio es evaluar si existen diferencias entre los estilos empleados para solucionar problemas entre diferentes grupos culturales de gerentes matriculados en Programas MBA angloamericanos y latinoamericanos. Usando el sistema de estilos de Kolb (1984 2006) denominado Learning Style Inventory, descubrimos que los gerentes angloamericanos tienden a orientarse con bastante frecuencia en la acción, los llamados ‘Convergentes’ (que hacen hincapié en la toma de decisiones y el uso del razonamiento deductivo), mientras que los gerentes latinoamericanos tienden a volcarse a la reflexión, los llamados ‘Asimiladores’ (que hacen hincapié enplanear y les gusta crear modelos en sus análisis), como característica de sus estilos para solucionar problemas. Discutimos los aspectos positivo y negativo de cada estilo, y hacemos sugerencias para mejorar la toma de decisión.

RESUMO. A literatura sugere que os homens de negócios norte-americanos diferem de seus colegas latino-americanos em traços comportamentais específicos. Nosso interesse particular recai sobre a resolução de problemas e a introdução de mudanças de comportamento para obter uma melhor capacidade de resolução de problemas. O objetivo deste estudo é avaliar se existem diferenças nos estilos de resolução de problemas de dois grupos culturalmente diferentes de gerentes matriculados em cursos de MBA: anglo-americanos e latino-americanos. Utilizando o inventário LSI (learning style inventory) de Kolb (1984 2006), constatou-se que os gerentes anglo-americanos tendiam a ser relativamente orientados para a ação, “convergentes” (eles enfatizam a tomada de decisões e o raciocínio dedutivo), enquanto os gerentes latinoamericanos tendiam a ser orientados para a reflexão, “assimiladores” (eles enfatizam o planejamento e gostam de criar modelos em suas análises) em seus estilos de resolução de problemas. Os aspectos positivos e negativos de cada estilo são discutidos, e sugestões para melhorar a tomada de decisões são oferecidas.     

人民币汇率及其对日本美国进口价格的传递效应

本文估计了人民币汇率变化对美国和日本从中国进口商品价格的传递效应。实证结果表明,人民币名义升值1%,将导致美国的进口价格短期上涨0.23%,长期上涨0.47%。日本从中国的进口价格对人民币和日元双边汇率的变化更为敏感。如果人民币兑日元名义汇率上升1%,日本的进口价格短期提高0.55%,长期则提高0.99%,具有完全的传递效应。这种高传递效应在食品、原材料、服装、制造和机械等不同类别的进口商品中也存在。但是,进一步分析表明:日本的高传递效应主要归因于中国钉住美元的汇率政策,而美元是中国对日本出口贸易的主要计价货币。在控制了计价货币因素后,自2005年7月以来人民币的累计升值并未传递到日本的总体进口价格或分类商品进口价格上。人民币汇率的这种低传递效应表明,人民币适度升值对中国的贸易顺差影响甚微。     

战后经济危机与美国跨国公司的发展（1947---1970年）

本文从政治与经济结合的视角对1947～1970年间美国跨国公司发展的背景及特征进行了分析，认为战后美国跨国公司的对外投资实际上起了一种释放过剩产能、缓解资源需求的压力和增强国际分工地位的作用，即在一定程度上“烫平”了经济周期的波动。在此背景下，美国政府也通过增加其在国际投资领域的规则制定权的方式，对跨国公司对外投资行为进行了扶持，促进了战后这一时期美国跨国公司的发展。     

Positive uncertainty: the benefit of the doubt in advertising

Positive uncertainty refers to uncertainty surrounding an anticipated positive outcome. It provides consumers with the opportunity to imagine and speculate on a product's or experience's potentially positive characteristics. Research has shown that when uncertainty is associated with something positive, consumers may prefer uncertainty to certainty. In a between-subjects experimental design with a large US (n = 446) and Japanese sample (n = 453), the present study demonstrates that positive uncertainty increases consumers’ positive feelings when they evaluate a product, particularly for high-involvement products that allow consumers to imagine and speculate about potentially positive product benefits. Unexpectedly, the study findings are consistent across the two different markets, which vary substantially in terms of consumers’ level of uncertainty avoidance. Specifically, results show that future-framed advertisements are effective in generating positive uncertainty and that positive uncertainty generates positive attitudes, both in countries scoring high (Japan) and low (USA) on uncertainty avoidance.     

日美动漫产业营销战略的比较及对我国动漫产业的启示

通过研究日本和美国动漫产业营销战略,并与我国动漫产业发展渠道、产品策略、成本策略及衍生品开发策略进行比较,给予我们的启示是,我国应该走一条有中国特色的动漫产业道路。这条路需要我们将目前的世界动漫市场进行重新划分,在二维和三维动漫市场之间划分出一个夹缝市场,以二维为渲染背景,三维构造人物,充分利用我国目前的文化资源,将中国元素与动漫产品相结合,充分发挥我国的武术资源和劳动力资源,开创真正的动作动画片。     

Beta adjustment methods

This study is an analysis of the forecasting ability of adjusted and unadjusted betas. Based on the Canadian data for 252 stocks, random errors in betas are the most important reason for the poor predictive ability of individual security betas. Most of this random error is eliminated if securities are grouped into portfolios. However, further improvements in forecasting ability are gained by adjusting the security betas for bias and inefficiency. Five methods of adjusting the naive beta estimates have been tried, including two methods not tested before. These two, Vasicek's two-stage method and order-bias adjustment method, gave results generally superior to others.