Competition‐driven repositioning

We study competition as an impetus for firms to reposition—to abandon their current positioning strategy and adopt a new one. We predict that as a strong firm moves closer, competition erodes the profitability of situated firms and prompts them to reposition. We expect this effect is pronounced the greater difference in competitive strength. However, we expect that countervailing forces exist such that the viability of alternative positions and the opportunity cost of abandoning a current position mitigate this effect. Evidence from a natural experiment in China's satellite television industry supports our hypotheses. This research adds to the existing literature on repositioning, which emphasizes the phenomenon as opportunity‐driven, and to the competitive interaction literature, which typically does not distinguish between noncounterattack strategies. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Demand for ecolabeled seafood in the Japanese market: A conjoint analysis of the impact of information and interaction with other labels

The use of seafood ecolabels is expanding in the world marketplace, but so are labels indicating other product attributes, such as country of origin and wild vs. farmed. The interactive effects of these labels and attributes in evaluating consumers’ preferences for ecolabeled seafood are relatively unexplored. In this paper we investigate (1) the direct and interactive effects of seafood ecolabels with other common fish labels, and (2) how consumers’ perceptions about the state of marine stocks and the valuation of ecolabels may be affected by different information. We find moderate interactive effects between ecolabels and country of origin labels, whereas the valuation for seafood ecolabels is fairly high. In terms of information, we find that consumers’ perceptions about fish stock levels changed (negatively) after receiving information on declining stock levels, and more sensationalized information led to increased change. However, valuation for a seafood ecolabel increases only when the information was perceived positively (credible/interesting); whereas exaggerated information (which was also perceived less credible) had insignificant effects on WTP.     

Computing the finite-time expected discounted penalty function for a family of Lévy risk processes

Ever since the first introduction of the expected discounted penalty function (EDPF), it has been widely acknowledged that it contains information that is relevant from a risk management perspective. Expressions for the EDPF are now available for a wide range of models, in particular for a general class of Lévy risk processes. Yet, in order to capitalize on this potential for applications, these expressions must be computationally tractable enough as to allow for the evaluation of associated risk measures such as Value at Risk (VaR) or Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR). Most of the models studied so far offer few interesting examples for which computation of the associated EDPF can be carried out to the last instances where evaluation of risk measures is possible. Another drawback of existing examples is that the expressions are available for an infinite-time horizon EDPF only. Yet, realistic applications would require the computation of an EDPF over a finite-time horizon. In this paper we address these two issues by studying examples of risk processes for which numerical evaluation of the EDPF can be readily implemented. These examples are based on the recently introduced meromorphic processes, including the beta and theta families of Lévy processes, whose construction is tailor-made for computational ease. We provide expressions for the EDPF associated with these processes and we discuss in detail how a finite-time horizon EDPF can be computed for these families. We also provide numerical examples for different choices of parameters in order to illustrate how ruin-based risk measures can be computed for these families of Lévy risk processes.     

Economic corollaries of personalized recommendations

The impact of recommendation systems (RSs) on the diversity of consumption is not transparent or well understood. Available studies, whether experimental or theoretical, show inconsistent and even opposite results, which manifests as debate in the literature. In this paper, we investigate the impact of two main recommender systems, neural collaborative filtering and deep content filtering, on sales diversity via a randomized field experiment. Our results confirm the capability of recommender engines in increasing or decreasing aggregate sales diversity. Nonetheless, they amplify homogenization and reduce individual-level consumption diversity. In conclusion, our research reconciles seemingly contradict previous findings and illustrates that the design of the RS is the decisive factor in homogenizing or diversifying product sales.     

基于桌面云的实验教学平台的构建

本科实验教学课程是本科教学的重要组成部分,传统实验教学中心的模式已不能适应计算机软件专业的发展和需求。本文针对传统实验教学平台存在的问题,充分利用桌面云技术的优势,构建基于桌面云的实验教学平台。该平台面向实验教学过程的各个环节,涉及到实验室的管理、学生上机实验的考勤和管理、实验教学镜像的制作、服务器集群的监控等过程。学生可通过本文构建的桌面云实验教学平台按需自助的通过云终端获取实验资源,从而最大化满足学生对学习资源的需求。同时该平台有利于教师教学资源及教学成果的共享,从而提高实验教学的质量,促进学院学科建设的发展。     

Modelling Risk Perceptions of Stakeholders in Public–Private Partnership Toll Road Contracts

This paper investigates the risk perceptions of key stakeholder groups typically involved in public–private partnership (PPP) toll roads. Risk perceptions have an important impact on these PPP schemes for investing in public infrastructure. However, the nature and extent of risk associated with the specification of a PPP contract that commits contracting parties to deliver on their obligations remain unclear. In the context of major transport infrastructure, such as a new toll road, the often‐cited key risk to investors is the traffic (and hence demand) risk. There are, however, other risks, including political risk and media risk, the latter often causing untold harm resulting in modifications to the planned infrastructure. This paper develops a method to capture evidence on how public sector and private sector partners involved in previous PPPs perceive the levels of risk associated with each risk attribute, as a way of identifying the ex ante risk setting brought to negotiations in PPP toll road investments. Using a sample of 101 experts with contract experience in 32 countries, we develop a stated choice experiment and estimate a discrete choice model to quantify a risk profile index (RPI) to capture the perceived (relative) influence of each dimension of risk, and then identify sources of systematic differences in the RPI as a way of understanding the influence of personal traits and contextual and contractual factors.     

Tradeoffs between sensory attributes and organic labels: the case of orange juice

Researchers have investigated the role of sensory attributes and organic labels on consumers’ preferences and perceptions of food, but few has examined whether sensory attributes are relevant for consumers who prefer organic food and the extent to which sensory attributes influence consumer's marginal willingness to pay for organic food. The objective of this study is to determine how sensory attributes and organic label work together to influence consumer's stated preference and marginal willingness to pay for orange juice. To achieve this, we conducted a blind sensory evaluation of two orange juices followed by a discrete choice experiment to determine the extent to which consumer's stated preference for orange juice labelled as organic is affected by sensory experience preceding the choice experiment. Random parameter logit models and latent class conditional logit models are used to explain stated preference. Results indicate that the effect of sensory attributes on consumer's marginal willingness to pay differed by organic juice and conventional juice.     

Predicting multi-faceted activity-travel adjustment strategies in response to possible congestion pricing scenarios using an Internet-based stated adaptation experiment

This paper reports the estimation of several discrete choice models describing reactions of individuals to congestion pricing scenarios. The models were estimated on data obtained in a stated adaptation experiment that was administered through the Internet and designed to examine how individuals adjust their activity-travel patterns. An activity-based approach is used meaning that all choice facets of activity patterns are taken into account as well as a complete set of activities. Estimates of price elasticities of travel demand are in line with other findings reported in the literature. Results of the stated adaptation experiment suggest that changing route or departure time is the most important way of adapting work trips, whereas public transport and working at home play a more limited role. For non-work activities changing route and switching to bike are the dominant responses.     

普通物理教学之我见

加强普通物理学的教学研究 ,不断提升教师的认识和学识是至关重要的。在教学中应注意基本概念和规律 ,研究数学与物理的关联 ,重视实验教学 ,培养学生观察能力、思维能力和动手能力。     

高校模拟银行实验课程建设探析

在当前金融院校模拟银行实验课程中,存在着课程内容没有充分反映银行业务发展变化、业务操作种类单一且有失偏颇、业务操作系统性与整体性不足等问题。应采取针对性措施,以有效促进课程建设;加强师资队伍建设和软硬件环境建设;建立内外部联络机制;改进教学方法,完善实验制度和考核办法;建立系统性、特色化的实验教学体系;增强课程的可选择性和超前性等。