Product Differentiation in the Spanish Beef Industry

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate changes in the structure of the Spanish quality beef industry in response to the significant decline in beef consumption happened over the last few decades. The role of product differentiation, mechanisms and factors involved in it, are specially studied. We use focus groups and a survey to examine the outlook for the organization of the beef industry, and trends in the development of product differentiation mechanisms and vertical co-ordination strategies.

Results reveal the existence of a restructuring process that is being implemented in two ways: Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) and Quality Certified Brands (QCB). Each strategy forms its own entry barriers: the origin of calves in the case of PGI and farm size in QCB; they are therefore complementary rather than competitive.     

广西城乡居民信息消费分化影响因素研究

根据消费理论及信息消费的特点,城乡居民信息消费分化是多因素综合作用的结果。5变量SVAR(2)模型的实证结果进一步表明收入分化和文化素质分化是信息消费分化最重要的两个内在影响因素,其贡献率分别为29%和28%;紧随其后的消费氛围分化与消费条件分化是不容忽视的外在因素,贡献率分别为20%和18%。显然,降低这些影响因素的分化程度是有效缓解城乡信息消费分化的关键。     

社会利益分化下的政府转型与和谐社会构建

利益博弈时代的到来对我国政府转型提出了新的要求,政府转型的价值取向和制度安排都亟待做出重大调整。通过政府转型,进行相应的制度整合和政府间协调,能够有效化解利益冲突和矛盾,对于构建和谐社会意义重大。     

Measuring Food Product Differentiation by Quality Ratings: A Cross‐Entropy Analysis of Specialty Coffee e‐Auctions

Food quality ratings can be used for product differentiation and strategic marketing. This article develops a differentiation measure based on the cross‐entropy of two distributions for speciality coffees. It examines whether quality ratings achieve their objectives for speciality coffee supply chains. The estimation, using e‐auctions data, indicates that the quality rating is more informative in the Cup of Excellence (CofE) relative to the Q auction. To determine significance, a statistical test for comparing the information measure across different e‐auctions and segments of the quality rating was developed. The significant difference between the two auctions is not a surprise as the auctions trade coffee lots of different volumes and the quality evaluation is more important in the case of the CofE, with its jury of renowned coffee experts. The total cross‐entropy measure of product differentiation shows that the 100‐point quality rating does not carry the same information content and meaning in the two different e‐auctions and their respective supply chains. The cross‐entropy measure of product differentiation is shown to be a good indicator of the information and the value created throughout the speciality food supply chain.     

高职助产专业学生职业防护认知调查分析

为了解高职助产专业学生对职业防护的认知，给职业防护教育提供对策，采用问卷方式对黄石理工学院高职学院在校108名助产专业学生进行调查，结果为助产专业学生对职业防护的认识普遍较差。99．07％的学生认为开设职业教育课程很重要，且认为学校和医院应同时做好职业防护教育工作。提高助产专业学生的自我防护意识，降低危险因素对他们的伤害，学校、医院和带教教师对此问题应予以重视。     

Product innovation and firms’ ownership

This paper explores (i) the incentives for an incumbent firm to acquire an entrant willing to sell a product innovation rather than openly competing with this entrant, and (ii) in case of acquisition, the incentives to sell simultaneously both the existing products and the new one rather than specializing on a single variant. We prove that, in some circumstances, an incumbent firm can find it profitable to make an acquisition proposal to the entrant. Nevertheless, in this acquisition scenario, a product proliferation strategy is never observed at equilibrium. Furthermore, while being available for sale, sometimes the innovation simply remains unexploited.     

新型农业经营主体的空间分异特征及其创新发展机制——以山东省为例

目的 新型农业经营主体的创新发展是我国实现农业农村现代化发展的重大战略，通过对山东省3类新型农业经营主体发展特征进行研究，有利于以点带面，提升各类新型农业经营主体发展质量。方法 文章以山东省1 585个新型农业经营主体为研究对象，综合运用空间分析方法和地理探测器模型系统揭示山东省3类新型农业经营主体空间分异特征及其创新发展机制。结果 （1）山东省3类经营主体呈集聚型分布，3类经营主体的空间离散程度均处在高非均衡水平，空间分布结构的区域差异明显。（2）3类经营主体呈现“多中心，连片化”的空间分布特征，家庭农场整体呈“带状”分布，农民专业合作社和龙头企业整体呈“环带状”分布。（3）家庭农场与农民专业合作社在县域层面呈显著的空间正相关性，龙头企业在市域层面呈显著的空间负相关性。（4）生产要素、政府能力、劳动力质量、技术创新、产业结构、金融服务、电子商务和市场化水平共同推动各类经营主体创新发展，且两两之间的交互能对3类经营主体创新发展具有协同增强的作用。结论 因此，针对不同类型新型农业经营主体创新发展特性，采取多元化、差异化的发展策略组合有助于推动各类经营主体的创新发展。     

Welfare and quality improvement in an international market

This paper analyzes the optimal uniform and discriminatory quality requirements under Cournot competition when two firms produce high-quality and low-quality products, respectively, in an international market. The quality requirements in our paper are not set for the foreign firm but are set to regulate products of different qualities, since in the real world a domestic firm could be a high- or low-quality producer. We find that whether the government should raise the quality requirements depends on the type of competition in which firms engage and the adopted quality requirements. By and large, the government should always set quality requirements raising both firms’ quality directly or indirectly, regardless of the quality of the product of the domestic firm. However, if the domestic firm is a high-quality producer, the government should set a quality requirement that enables the domestic firm to monopolize the market when a discriminatory quality requirement is adopted, and should not set any quality requirement when a uniform quality requirement is adopted. Moreover, we show that the quality requirement can actually improve global welfare in most cases.     

后危机时代海外共同基金业的发展

共同基金作为历史悠久、运作规范的主流投资品种,在资产管理行业中具有举足轻重的地位。在次贷危机对全球金融业产生严重冲击的背景下,全球共同基金业也未能独善其身。但随着危机热浪退去,海外共同基金业又重新显示出旺盛的生命力。本文梳理了2009年以来海外共同基金的发展状况,从规模、类型、申购、费率、交易自动化等多个角度进行深入分析,从而得出共同基金产业后危机时代呈现出的一些新特点,及其与全球金融市场之间的联动与契合。