Internet versus bricks-and-mortar retailers: An investigation into intangibility and its consequences

Intangibility has long been studied as a unidimensional construct with the focus being placed upon the physical element. This paper explores the effects of three unique intangibility dimensions on a consumer's ability to evaluate goods and services, and the perceived risk (PR) associated with the transaction. The authors examine these relationships in purchase environments that include both traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers and the Internet. Their investigation further incorporates prior knowledge as a moderating factor into the proposed framework. This allows for a thorough comparison of the effects and relationships that exist between intangibility and its consequences in general, evaluation difficulty (ED) and perceived risk (PR) in particular. The authors develop hypotheses pertaining to the proposed model and test them with two experiments. The empirical results are broadly supportive of the hypotheses. Theoretical and managerial implications to the services marketing literature are discussed.     

Values and the Perceived Importance of Ethics and Social Responsibility: The U.S. versus China

This study examines the effects of nationality (U.S. vs. China) and personal values on managers’ responses to the Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility (PRESOR) scale. Evidence that China’s transition to a socialist market economy has led to widespread business corruption, led us to hypothesize that People’s Republic of China (PRC) managers would believe less strongly in the importance of ethical and socially responsible business conduct. We also hypothesized that after controlling for national differences, managers’ personal values (more specifically, self-transcendence values) would have a significant impact on PRESOR responses. The hypotheses were tested using a sample of practicing managers enrolled in part-time MBA programs in the two countries. The results indicate that nationality did not have a consistent impact on PRESOR responses. After controlling for national differences, self-transcendence values had a significant positive impact on two of the three PRESOR dimensions. Conservation values such as conformity and tradition also had a significant association with certain dimensions of the PRESOR scale. William E. Shafer is an associate professor in the Department of Accountancy at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. His primary research interests are professionalism and ethics in accounting and corporate social and environmental accountability. His publications have appeared in a variety of academic and professional journals, including Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory; Accounting Horizons; Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal; Business Ethics Quarterly; Journal of Business Ethics; Journal of Accountancy; and The CPA Journal. Kyoko Fukukawa is a lecturer in marketing at Bradford University School of Management and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham, UK. Her research interests include ethical decision-making in consumption and business practices; corporate social responsibility (CSR) of MNCs concerning their policies and strategic communication; and CSR and corporate branding. Her publications appear in the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Corporate Citizenship and others. Grace M. Lee is an assistant professor is the Department of Accountancy at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Her primary research interests are corporate financial disclosure and corporate social responsibility disclosure in the Greater China Region. She has published in the Journal of International Financial Management and Accounting and the Journal of Information Systems.     

建立中国——东盟自由贸易区的经济效益分析

2004年10月18日至20日,中国与东盟贸易谈判委员会在北京举行会议,就自由贸易区谈判中最重要的内容—货物贸易协议达成一致,并于11月签署了货物贸易协议及争端解决机制协议。这为如期启动中国与东盟自由贸易区建设进程铺平了道路,使研究自由贸易区建成后所带来的经济效益问题的任务迫在眉睫。本文对建立中国-东盟自由贸易区后可预期的贸易效益、投资效益及规模经济效益进行了探讨。     

Cost structure and productivity growth of the Taiwanese international tourist hotels

This study investigates the cost structure and economic implications of the Taiwanese international tourist hotel industry. A multi-product translog cost function with three inputs and three outputs is estimated using seemingly unrelated regression estimation and three-stage least squares. A balanced panel dataset consisting of 47 international tourist hotels in Taiwan over the period 1997–2001 was obtained from Taiwanese Tourism Bureau and used to estimate the cost function. The results show that both scale and scope economies exist in the Taiwanese international tourist hotel industry. In addition, productivity growth is positive over the study period. Managerial and policy implications for the Taiwanese international tourist hotel industry are also discussed.     

Internal Versus External R&D: A Study of R&D Choice with Sample Selection

This paper extends previous analyses of the choice between internal and external R&D to consider the costs of internal R&D. The Heckman two-stage estimator is used to estimate the determinants of internal R&D unit cost (i.e. cost per product innovation) allowing for sample selection effects. Theory indicates that R&D unit cost will be influenced by scale issues and by the technological opportunities faced by the firm. Transaction costs encountered in research activities are allowed for and, in addition, consideration is given to issues of market structure which influence the choice of R&D mode without affecting the unit cost of internal or external R&D. The model is tested on data from a sample of over 500 UK manufacturing plants which have engaged in product innovation. The key determinants of R&D mode are the scale of plant and R&D input, and market structure conditions. In terms of the R&D cost equation, scale factors are again important and have a non-linear relationship with R&D unit cost. Specificities in physical and human capital also affect unit cost, but have no clear impact on the choice of R&D mode. There is no evidence of technological opportunity affecting either R&D cost or the internal/external decision.     

Unveiling ways to reach organic purchase: Green perceived value,perceived knowledge,attitude, subjective norm,and trust

This paper aims to investigate organic food consumption based on the perspectives of an extended research model by integrating the theory of consumption value (TCV) and the theory of reasoned action (TRA). First, we tried to find out how five consumption values of functional, social, emotional, conditional, and epistemic in classic TCV influence consumption choice especially in the sustainable consumption domain of organic food, interpreted as green perceived value (GPV) in the reflective-reflective second-order latent. Second, as an attempt to extend the classic TRA, this study included trust and perceived knowledge in the research model in addition to the subjective norm, attitude, and behavioral intention. A partial least square structural equation method (PLS-SEM) was adopted to examine our research model with 251 samples. Our results revealed that GPV significantly affects consumer attitudes. Consumer attitudes and subjective norms also have a significantly positive effect on purchase intention. As an extended TRA, GPV has a significantly positive effect on trust while trust significantly impacts purchase intention. Further, perceived knowledge positively influences attitude and trust. By jointly considering TCV and TRA, this study proposes several implications emphasizing how GPV and perceived knowledge affects consumers’ organic food consumption choice based on the role of increased trust.     

互联网金融企业资产证券化研究

近年来我国互联网金融迅猛发展,拥有广阔的前景,互联网金融与资产证券化(下文简称ABS)更是有着与生俱来的契合度。得益于互联网企业特性以及背后庞大的市场,仅数年间互联网金融就拥有了庞大的ABS市场。然而在学术领域,对于互联网金融ABS方面的研究相对不多,存在一定的滞后性,故而本文通过对15家互联网金融企业近4年(2017-2020)来的各项财务数据与ABS相关数据研究,探究互联网金融企业开展ABS的动因,研究影响发行ABS的规模决策因素。通过数据研究发现规模越大、信用越高、贷款业务量越大、增速越快的互联网金融企业越有发行互联网金融ABS的偏向并发行量越大,同时ABS的发行能降低企业风险,加快资产流动,极大的增加贷款业务量从而加强盈利能力,但却对风险有着明显的反作用力。所以互联网金融企业应加快合作转型,加强风险管控,社会政府应完善相应法规,加强监管。     

长三角地区银行中介发展：特征与态势

银行中介在长三角地区金融体系中居主导地位,其发展规模总的来看领先于全国其他地区,但在区域内也呈现出较严重的非平衡性。长三角地区银行业市场结构与全国其他地区相比并不存在明显差异,但其信贷配置市场化程度居于全国前列。部分得益于区域良好的法治水平,长三角地区银行中介具有较高的效率。     

关系利益影响顾客满意和忠诚的机制研究--中介与调节效应检验

文章通过检验感知价值的中介效应和转移成本的调节效应,分析了关系利益影响顾客满意和忠诚的作用机制,结论如下：信任利益和社会利益两个维度显著正向影响顾客满意和忠诚,但特殊待遇利益维度对顾客满意和忠诚的影响不显著;感知价值在信任利益维度对顾客满意的影响以及社会利益维度对顾客满意和忠诚的影响中起到部分中介作用,在信任利益维度对顾客忠诚的影响中起到完全中介作用;转移成本正向调节信任利益维度对顾客满意和忠诚的影响以及社会利益维度对顾客忠诚的影响。即当顾客感知到较高的转移成本时,他们更倾向于对现有的关系状况感到满意,也更倾向于继续与企业维系现有关系,对企业更加忠诚。     

To Go Or Not To Go? Ethical Perspectives on Tourism in an ‘Outpost of Tyranny’

For many years, the actions of Myanmar’s military government have provoked domestic discontent and strong condemnation overseas. The government is encouraging tourism in an attempt to legitimize its actions whilst generating valuable foreign currency. However, a number of organizations are urging people to avoid travel to Myanmar and thus prevent the military junta from obtaining the hard currency and global legitimacy it needs to survive. In this article, the ethical arguments for and against tourism in Myanmar are discussed, and for the first time the ethical perceptions of tourists themselves are explored. The study applied the Multidimensional Ethics Scale to a group of 376 Myanmar visitors, finding that respondents were generally in favor of tourism in Myanmar, but were uncomfortable with the ethical implications of their visit. Simon Hudson is an Associate Professor in the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. He has a marketing degree from Brighton, England, an MBA from California, and a PhD from Surrey, England. Prior to working in academia, he spent several years working in the tourism industry in Europe, and six years running his own business. Dr Hudson has published numerous journal articles and book chapters from his work, and has three books to his name; Snow Business, Sport & Adventure Tourism and Tourism & Hospitality Marketing.