Access prices,unbundling and product variety in European Internet markets

A fundamental policy in European broadband regulation is unbundled access to the local loop of the incumbent telephone company. We present comparative static results that show as the access price decreases, the retail price decreases, the variety of plans offered by Internet service providers increases and the quantity of each variety increases when a threshold condition is met. Using data from 18 European countries from 2006 to 2012, we find empirical support for these results when Internet product variety is measured by variation in download speeds.     

Understanding on-the-go consumption: A retail mix perspective

On-the-go (OTG) consumption is a growing phenomenon in the food and beverage industry. Drawing on the theory of consumption values, this study is conducted to acquire a better understanding of the influence that retail-mix elements have on OTG consumption outcomes. Specifically, this study examines the role of value for money, customer service, general assortments and healthy assortments in driving intention and satisfaction related to OTG consumption. The study also assesses the conditional value generated by the consumer's health orientation, impulsiveness and perceived time pressure. Based on a sample of 433 OTG consumers, and applying multi-group structural equation modelling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), value for money was identified as the key driver of OTG consumption outcomes. Impulsiveness and time pressure are shown to increase the effects of value for money perceptions on OTG consumption intention, while health orientation enhances the relationship between customer service and satisfaction. This study contributes to the literature on OTG consumption, explains the managerial implications for retailers, and offers recommendations to target OTG consumers better.     

新发展格局视野中的消费券发放问题与重构研究

2020年面对新冠肺炎疫情冲击,各地纷纷发放消费券刺激消费。本轮发放消费券的省市和规模远超以往。考察当前各地消费券的实践,其存在三方面的问题:短期刺激消费与构建发展新格局缺乏衔接、地方各自为政与顶层设计阙如、财政补贴与财政约束的张力。针对这些问题,本文从新发展格局视野提出将当前消费券重构为财政和金融融合的消费金融券,使之成为构建新发展格局中扩大内需的长期政策和重要的宏观调控工具。消费金融券的制度设计要与社会结构新特征和新趋势相契合。针对低收入群体的消费金融券,应以财政补贴为主、以重大生活项目消费的利息补贴与信用担保为辅。针对中等收入群体的消费金融券,应以利息补贴为主,通过消费金融的方式扩大消费。加大消费金融券的全国顶层设计,明确中央和地方财政支持产业的范围和力度。     

老龄化与碳排放：消费效应还是生产效应？——基于2002-2017年中国省级面板数据的实证研究

人口老龄化是经济增长的一大阻碍,它对碳排放的影响是做出环境政策抉择的关键因素.以中国2002—2017年的省级面板数据为研究样本,从理论与实证两个层面分析人口老龄化与碳排放的关系及影响机制.一方面,构建包含碳排放的世代交叠模型(overlapping generations,OLG),发现老龄化主要通过消费效应和生产效应两个路径对碳排放产生影响;另一方面,从实证层面发现老龄化与碳排放之间存在倒"U"形关系,而且消费效应在人口老龄化与碳排放的关系中起到部分中介作用,生产效应的影响则不显著.     

Social capital,user motivation,and collaborative consumption of online platform services

Collaborative consumption is broadly defined as sharing, obtaining, and giving access to products and services through peer networks online. As it is expected to resolve the societal and environmental problems, quite a few studies investigated consumers’ motivations that lead to positive attitudes and intention for collaborative consumption. This paper aims to study the determinants that motivate participants to perceive a positive attitude towards collaborative consumption focusing on three salient traits of social capital (shared goal, social interaction tie, and norms of reciprocity). The study found that social capital exerts a more substantial influence on intrinsic motivation (enjoyment and sustainability) than extrinsic motivation (economic benefit). The study also found that different social capital traits display different effects on motivation. In particular, the shared goal was a key determinant of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. And all three motivations positively affect collaborative consumption attitudes.     

博弈视角下大学生互联网消费信贷决策行为研究

基于博弈论视角,从理论上构建了金融机构与大学生消费信贷决策的动态博弈模型,并引入信誉机制,比较分析了传统金融机构退出大学生信用卡市场而互联网金融大举进入校园信贷市场的深刻原因,同时借助大学生消费信贷调查一手数据实证检验了信誉机制的有效性,研究结果表明:在单次和有限次重复博弈中,“囚徒困境”普遍存在,而在无限次重复博弈中,尽管利率和交易成本下降有利于促进交易,但信息不对称问题却使博弈只能进行有限次,因此要达成长期合作,必须引入具有“社会性惩罚”的信誉机制来抑制大学生的短期投机行为,然信誉机制对于促进传统金融机构与大学生合作的作用有限,更多的是促进互联网金融机构与大学生消费信贷关系的达成,实证结果验证了该结论。由此得到的启示是,充分利用互联网大数据优势、强化互联网金融市场监管、引导大学生树立正确的消费观和责任意识,有助于破解“一放就乱,一管就死”的监管困局,这对于规范互联网金融校园消费信贷市场具有重要现实意义。     

城乡炫耀性消费差异的根源探索

运用中国家庭追踪调查数据,研究发现:农村家庭的炫耀性消费支出比例显著高于城镇家庭,且这一结果随时间变化比较稳健。进一步研究发现,在考虑了家庭参照群体的平均收入之后,城乡炫耀性消费差异不再显著,且参照群体的平均收入对家庭炫耀性消费的影响显著为负。这很可能来源于家庭为寻求社会地位而消费的动机,更高的社会地位意味着更多的财富和带来更高的收益。炫耀性消费充当了家庭社会地位的信号,向其参照群体传递了自身的收入水平状况,参照群体的平均收入越低,消费者寻求社会地位的消费动机越强。农村家庭参照群体的平均收入较低,所以其寻求社会地位的动机更强、炫耀性消费水平更高。因此,寻求社会地位的消费动机是城乡炫耀性消费差异的主要原因。     

An empirical investigation of water consumption forecasting methods

Many regions on earth face daily limitations in the quantity and quality of the water resources available. As a result, it is necessary to implement reliable methodologies for water consumption forecasting that will enable the better management and planning of water resources. This research analyses, for the first time, a large database containing data from 2 million water meters in 274 unique postal codes, in one of the most densely populated areas of Europe, which faces issues of droughts and overconsumption in the hot summer months. Using the R programming language, we built and tested three alternative forecasting methodologies, employing univariate forecasting techniques including a machine-learning algorithm, with very promising results.     

Non-stationary additive utility and time consistency

Within a continuous time life cycle model of consumption and savings, I study the properties of the most general class of additive intertemporal utility functionals. They are not necessarily stationary, and do not necessarily multiplicatively separate a discount factor from “per-period utility”. I prove rigorously that time consistency holds if and only if the per-period felicity function is multiplicatively separable in $t$, the date of decision and in $s$, the date of consumption, or equivalently, if the Fisherian instantaneous subjective discount rate does not depend on $t$. The model allows to explain “anomalies in intertemporal choice” even when the agents are time consistent and various empirical regularities. On the other hand, the model allows to characterize mathematically the “effective consumption profile” of naive, time-inconsistent agents.