Sustainable Development in Retailing: What is the Impact on Store Choice?

Sustainability is gaining ground in the food retail industry. But empirical studies on sustainable development in retailing are rare when it comes to highlighting the customer's perspective. This paper investigates the impact of sustainability initiatives on store choice. We report from a web‐based conjoint experiment with 153 customers from Austria, Germany and Switzerland and investigate 1224 choice‐decisions conducted between June and October 2009. We find that sustainability is more than a soft topic and has a hard impact on customers’ store choice. In particular we show that price is not of paramount importance when it comes to store choice, and if retailers consider different sustainability measures they can have a positive impact on store choice. We propose that retailers incorporate matters of sustainability in general management and performance‐oriented management. Further, more detailed implications apply. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

THE EIGENFUNCTION EXPANSION METHOD IN MULTI-FACTOR QUADRATIC TERM STRUCTURE MODELS

We propose the eigenfunction expansion method for pricing options in quadratic term structure models. The eigenvalues, eigenfunctions, and adjoint functions are calculated using elements of the representation theory of Lie algebras not only in the self-adjoint case, but in non-self-adjoint case as well; the eigenfunctions and adjoint functions are expressed in terms of Hermite polynomials. We demonstrate that the method is efficient for pricing caps, floors, and swaptions, if time to maturity is 1 year or more. We also consider subordination of the same class of models, and show that in the framework of the eigenfunction expansion approach, the subordinated models are (almost) as simple as pure Gaussian models. We study the dependence of Black implied volatilities and option prices on the type of non-Gaussian innovations.     

History repeats itself: The acquisition method and nonrecurring charges

The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Statement No. 141 (R) that replaces Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 141, Business Combinations. The new standard mandates use of the acquisition method, which requires expense treatment for acquisition-related transaction costs. Expense treatment is a departure from purchase accounting procedures, but is consistent with past guidance of Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 16 for the pooling-of-interests method. Restoration of historical and controversial accounting procedures resurrects past outcomes. This study utilizes econometric techniques to predict outcomes of the acquisition method. Evidence indicates that expensing acquisition-related costs may improve transparent reporting. The results, based on 638 business combinations from 1994 through 1998, support the expectation that expense treatment for acquisition-related costs increases the likelihood that these costs appear more frequently and are greater in magnitude.     

El indicador de normas del trabajo del Banco Mundial. Averiguaciones y críticas recientes

Los autores reseñan las últimas novedades acerca del estudio Doing Business del Banco Mundial, haciendo hincapié en el indicador de las normas del trabajo: la dificultad de contratación, la rigidez de la jornada de trabajo y la dificultad y costo del despido de trabajadores. Primero pasan revista a los estudios que inspiraron la concepción del indicador y a los que lo han usado o se han visto influidos por él. Analizan después las críticas vertidas contra el mismo, y ponen de relieve los problemas conceptuales y empíricos que plantea. Por último, proponen ideas alternativas y líneas de investigación para el futuro.     

Exploring justice judgment patterns in Asia: a four country multi-group latent class analysis

We explore workers’ justice judgment patterns to understand how they use information to assess fair treatment at work. Justice judgment patterns are the unique set of information that individuals draw upon and use when evaluating the overall fairness of an entity. Data from four samples of workers from Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines, and China were analyzed using a multi-group latent class analysis. Results suggest four classes of justice judgment processes, three of which represent different patterns of heuristic processing. Comprehensive processors use a wide range of information when making justice judgments, while minimalist processors consider a limited range of information. Reward-focused processors focus on distributive justice cues and treatment-focused processors specifically attend to interpersonal justice cues while neglecting distributive justice cues. The latent class structure shared conceptual meaning across countries but the patterns had different rates of representation. Findings suggest that individuals do not always use complete information when assessing how fairly they are treated at work. Many appear to use heuristics that emphasize minimizing information processing, instrumental outcomes, or more relational outcomes. Results and implications are discussed.     

Bank productivity in China 1997–2007: Measurement and convergence

This study examines the productivity growth of the nationwide banks of China and a sample of city commercial, banks for the ten years to 2007. Using a bootstrap method for the Malmquist index, estimates of the total factor productivity growth are constructed. Five different models of inputs and outputs based on variants of the Intermediation and Production approaches and non-performing loans are treated as a bad output, are examined for the purpose of arriving at a robust measure. The productivity growth of the state-owned commercial banks (SOCBs) is compared with the joint-stock banks (JSCBs) and city commercial banks (CCBs). In general, average TFP growth has been neutral over the period for the SOCBs and JSCBs but positive for the CCBs in the second part of the period. Efficiency gains (catch-up) were obtained through cost reduction and technical innovation was associated with greater diversification of revenue away from interest earnings. The opening up of the banking market has not led to a discernible improvement in bank productivity growth.     

Welfare impacts of technological change on women in southern Mali

It has often been hypothesized that new agricultural technologies could have an adverse impact on women because additional labor required of them reduces the time spent and therefore income earned from private-field activities. This study shows that the expansion of cotton cultivation on the household communal fields in southern Mali associated with the introduction of new technologies results in increased payments to women for their increased labor on the cotton fields. Unfortunately, these payments are small compared to the loss of revenue from private-plot production. Thus, the net effect of the expansion of household cotton cultivation is a reduction in incomes of women who cultivate private plots. Short-run policy implications of this study are that improving women's income requires concern with their private - plot earnings. For example, profitability of the private-field crops could be increased with higher input use. In the long run, as land becomes even more constrained, emphasis needs to be placed on institutional changes to increase women's bargaining power so that they obtain larger shares of the new income streams resulting from technological change on the communal field. Institutional changes already occurring in the region, with the apparent objective of increasing women's (and non-household head men's) bargaining power, include organized work teams and the movement toward smaller, nuclear families.     

中国畜产品如何应对动物福利壁垒

近年来，越来越多国家开始关注畜产品在养殖和加工过程中所受的待遇，并以动物福利为借口限制外国产品出口。本介绍了动物福利内容，分析了我国畜产品的动物福利现状及制约因素，并提出了应对措施。     

The effect of trade liberalization on child labor

The question of how trade liberalization affects the employment of children in developing economies is at the core of the debate on globalization. Trade theory predicts that an increase in the price of an exported good could either increase or decrease child labor depending on the magnitudes of the substitution and income effects. In this paper, we study the relationship between changes in the relative price of an exported commodity and child labor using household-level data from within a poor country. In particular, we relate child labor to regional and intertemporal variation in the real price of rice surrounding national and international rice market integration in Vietnam. We find that higher rice prices are associated with declines in child labor. Income effects play an important role in this relationship. Rice price increases are associated with the largest declines in child labor in households that are large net producers of rice. These findings show that greater market integration can be associated with less child labor. Moreover, our results suggest that the use of punitive trade sanctions on exports from developing countries to eradicate child labor is unlikely to yield the desired outcome.     

领导-部属交换感知匹配对员工工作表现的影响

本文通过410个领导与部属的配对样本分析了领导-部属交换(LMX)的感知匹配及其对员工工作表现的影响.基于自评-他评概念模型,本文提出了LMX感知的四种匹配类型:双高匹配(高领导LMX/高部属LMX)、双低匹配(低领导LMX/低部属LMX)、员工高估(低领导LMX/部属LMX)和员工低估(高领导LMX/低部属LMX).分析结果表明:(1)双高匹配LMX对员工工作表现有正向影响;(2)双低匹配LMX对员工工作表现有负向影响;(3)员工高估LMX可以正向预测工作满意度和组织承诺,员工低估LMX可以正向预测工作绩效和组织公民行为.本文研究验证了LMX感知匹配模型在中国情境下的有效性.