Analysis of Consumer Preferences for Quality and Safety Attributes in Artisanal Fruit Juices in Kenya

This study used choice experiment survey data from a random sample of 374 respondents to analyze consumer preferences for quality and safety attributes of artisanal fruit juices in Kenya. Results show that consumers had a positive and significant preference for single fruit juices compared to fruit mixtures, private rather than public inspection of the juices, traceability of fruit origin, and vendor’s health. Additives such as colorants, flavors, and preservatives were not preferred. Consumers were willing to pay premiums of up to 200% for artisanal juices that contain single fruits, lack additives, and are inspected by private agencies. These insights should be incorporated in ensuring that artisanal fruit juice designs comply with food quality and safety requirements. Further, there is a need to license and regulate the artisanal juice preparation and handling and to provide training to the handlers on safety and quality requirements.     

A policy analysis to promote conservation and use of small millet underutilized species in India

Despite the important role of Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS) in diversifying agriculture, supporting traditional farming systems and improving food and nutritional security particularly in marginal lands, very little attention is being paid to their mainstreaming in national policies and institutions. Based on a detailed review of the regulatory frameworks governing the conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of plant genetic resources and the circulation and registration of seeds and improved varieties, this paper discusses the extent to which the measures in place in India may favour or affect the conservation and use of NUS. In addition to these frameworks, in view of the major change realized by the 2013 National Food Security Act which has included coarse cereals in the country’s Public Distribution System (PDS), the paper also incorporates this latest policy in its analyses. A special focus is given to small millets, a group of species with unexploited economic and nutritional potential but extremely important for marginal communities’ food security and livelihoods. A set of policy recommendations and opportunities to explore are proposed to address the identified constraints with the purpose of creating a more supportive policy environment and enhancing the national capacity to promote NUS.     

THE GENERAL STRUCTURE OF OPTIMAL INVESTMENT AND CONSUMPTION WITH SMALL TRANSACTION COSTS

We investigate the general structure of optimal investment and consumption with small proportional transaction costs. For a safe asset and a risky asset with general continuous dynamics, traded with random and time‐varying but small transaction costs, we derive simple formal asymptotics for the optimal policy and welfare. These reveal the roles of the investors' preferences as well as the market and cost dynamics, and also lead to a fully dynamic model for the implied trading volume. In frictionless models that can be solved in closed form, explicit formulas for the leading‐order corrections due to small transaction costs are obtained.     

Examining Tourists’ Push and Pull Travel Motivations and Behavioral Intentions: The Case of British Outbound Tourists to Phuket,Thailand

This research aimed specifically to (1) determine the socio-demographic characteristics and travel patterns of British tourists visiting Phuket; (2) identify the main “push” and “pull” travel motivations of British tourists visiting Phuket; and (3) examine the relationship between British tourists’ main “push/pull” motivations and future travel intention to Phuket. Findings revealed that British tourists’ main push motivations were: “to have fun,” “to rest and relax,” and “to escape from daily routine and environment”; while the main pull motivations were: “natural sceneries and landscapes,” “beaches,” and “hospitality and friendliness of the people.” There was also a relationship found between “push/pull” motivations and future travel intention to Phuket.     

反腐倡廉环境下创新国有企业领导人员经济责任审计内容探讨

反腐倡廉环境下创新国有企业领导人员经济责任审计内容是一项新的课题。本文对探索创新国有企业领导人员经济责任审计内容的必要性和我国法律规定的国有企业领导人员经济责任审计内容进行了综述，并根据审计实践，提出了“探索开展国有企业绩效审计”等5项审计内容，对创新国有企业领导人员经济责任审计内容进行了探讨，并针对目前创新国有企业领导人员经济责任审计内容面临的困难提出了健全绩效审计法律法规和评价指标、完善企业增资扩股行为的法律法规、加强对基层审计人员的培训学习等3条对策。     

行业报刊市场化经营之管见

在非时政类报刊陆续走向市场的大环境下,行业报刊的市场化势在必行。行业报刊的市场化经营,必须建立一支既懂行业报刊新闻业务,更懂行业报刊经营管理的人才队伍;必须建立与行业报刊市场化相适应的运作机制;必须注重实施行业报刊产业链发展战略。     

Global financial crisis and dependence risk analysis of sector portfolios: a vine copula approach

We use regular vine (r-vine), canonical vine (c-vine) and drawable vine (d-vine) copulas to examine the dependence risk characteristics of three 20-stock portfolios from the retail, manufacturing and gold-mining equity sectors of the Australian market in periods before, during and after the 2008–2009 global financial crisis (GFC). Our results indicate that the retail portfolio is less risky than the manufacturing counterpart in the crisis period, while the gold-mining portfolio is less risky than both the retail and manufacturing sector portfolios. Both the retail and gold stocks display a higher propensity to yield positively skewed returns in the crisis periods, contrary to the manufacturing stocks. The r-vine is found to best capture the multivariate dependence structure of the stocks in the retail and gold-mining portfolios, while the d-vine does it for the manufacturing stock portfolio. These findings could be used to develop dependence risk- and investment risk-adjusted strategies for investment, rebalancing and hedging which more adequately account for the downside risk in various market conditions.     

商界小说研究的力作——评杨虹的《叛逆与超越——近二十年中国商界小说的文化阐释》

《叛逆与超越》对近20年商界小说的成就与局限,从发生学、本体论、谱系学尤其是文化诗学的角度,通过挖掘与梳理大量的史料来透视商界小说的现代性品格。作者跳出传统审美批评的窠臼,立足文化批评,对商界小说进行多维度的研讨与透视,为我们带来了商界小说研究的重大进展。     

株洲市农村养老保障情况调查及思考

中国已步入“未富先老”的老龄化社会,农村养老保障问题日趋凸显,株洲市更是进入了非常重要而又十分特殊的社会转型时期.本文分析了株洲市农村养老保障的现状、存在的主要问题以及产生问题的根源,针对这些问题提出了相应的对策建议.