Socially Responsible Investing and Climate Change: Contradictions and Challenges

This article explores the contradiction between the articulated investment policies, screening criteria or ethical charters of socially responsible investment funds and their actions demonstrated by their portfolio selection practice. The paper provides a background to socially responsible investment and Australia's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. A discussion of renewable energy options lays the foundation for our main assertion: that this set of possible alternatives provides some new and more environmentally robust options that will better complement the underlying philosophy of funds in the socially responsible investment sector.     

Airbus versus Boeing revisited: international competition in the aircraft market

This paper examines international competition in the commercial aircraft industry. We estimate a discrete choice, differentiated products demand system for wide-body aircraft and examine the Airbus-Boeing rivalry under various assumptions on firm conduct. We then use this structure to evaluate two trade disputes between the United States and European Union. Our results suggest that aircraft prices increased by about 3.7% after the 1992 US-EU agreement on trade in civil aircraft that limits subsidies. This price hike is consistent with a 5% increase in firms' marginal costs after the subsidy cuts. We also simulate the impact of the future entry of the Airbus A-380 super-jumbo aircraft on the demand for other wide-bodied aircraft, notably the Boeing 747. We find that the A-380 could reduce the market share of the 747 by up to 14.8 percentage points in the long-range wide-body market segment (depending upon the discounts offered on the A-380), but would reduce the market for Airbus's existing wide-bodies by an even greater margin.     

Price as a signal of quality: Canada in the international context

Studies have shown that price is very poorly correlated with quality. This paper discusses the methodological criticisms of the earlier work, concluding that the original results remain robust. Examination of 91 sets of Canadian products containing 1020 items reinforces the conclusions of earlier work for the United States and Japan. These international studies contradict the conventional wisdom that price is an adequate signal of quality. We also test the hypotheses that price is a better signal of quality (a) after product tests have been published, and (b) for higher priced items which presumably justify larger investments in search. Canadian data do not support either hypothesis. Some theoretical explanations are outlined and a conclusion briefly presents implications for policy.

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Der Preis als Qualitätsindikator: Kanadische und internationale Befunde

Zusammenfassung Zahlreiche Untersuchungsergebnisse haben gezeigt, daß Preis und Qualität in einem nur sehr dürftigen Zusammenhang stehen. Diese Befunde sind unter methodischem Gesichtspunkt kritisiert worden, der vorliegende Beitrag versucht jedoch zu zeigen, daß die Befunde robust sind und der Kritik standhalten können. Eine Untersuchung der Autoren anhand von 91 kanadischen Warentests mit 1,020 Artikeln bestätigt darüberhinaus die früheren Ergebnisse aus den Vereinigten Staaten und Japan. Insgesamt widersprechen diese internationalen Untersuchungen der herkömmlichen Ansicht, daß der Preis eines Gutes ein angemessener Qualitätsindikator sei.Darüber hinaus prüft die Studie der Autoren die Hypothese, daß der Preis ein besserer Qualitätsindikator ist, (a) nachdem Warentests durchgeführt und die Ergebnisse publiziert wurden, und (b) wenn es sich um teurere Produkte handelt, die vermutlich einen höheren Suchaufwand rechtfertigen. Beide Hypothesen werden durch kanadische Daten nicht gestützt. Abschließend werden einige verbraucherpolitische Implikationen dieser Befunde behandelt.The authors are grateful to referees for important assistance.

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Richard W. Bodell is Assistant Professor and Robert R. Kerton is Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1. Richard W. Schuster is an economist with the Economics Department of the Bank of Nova Scotia in Toronto.     

关于会计理论体系逻辑起点问题的研究

本文在回顾我国关于会计理论体系逻辑起点研究成果的基础上,分析了以会计假设、会计本质、会计环境、会计目标作为逻辑起点的缺陷及新的研究趋向--双起点论的不足,认为应将会计对象作为会计理论体系的逻辑起点。对于同样以会计对象作为逻辑起点的观点,由于各学者对会计对象内涵定义的不同,其构建的理论体系是存在偏差的。笔者认为以价值增值运动为会计对象是合理的选择,并以此作为逻辑起点构建了会计理论体系的粗略框架。     

斯图加特的经济：在未来也要领先

新千年伊始 ,斯图加特市面临新的挑战。经济全球化的迅速到来正影响我们所有人在２１世纪的生活。对这种挑战必须要充分地说明 ,要保持领先 ,最迫切需要的是行动。斯图加特市和斯图加特地区有优越的条件来迎接挑战 ,其明显的潜力需要挖掘和调动。斯图加特不仅是多国著名公司的所在地 ,同时还是它们的家园。例如 :戴姆勒———克莱斯勒、Ｐｏｒｓｃｈｅ、Ｂｏｓｃｈ、ＩＢＭ和ＡｌｃａｔｅｌＳＥＬ。斯图加特地区传统的实力是ＳＭＥｓ ,他众多的产品能迅速而灵活地适应全球市场需求。虽然斯图加特地区经济主要集中在动力和机械工程上 ,但他仍…     

Benefits of Cross‐sector Partnerships in Markets at the Base of the Pyramid

In this paper we analyze whether cross‐sector partnerships enable companies to respond to the specific conditions at the base of the pyramid (BOP). We develop three hypotheses in which we argue how cross‐sector partnerships support companies to face unfamiliar conditions in these markets. We test the developed hypotheses against the data of 103 companies operating in BOP‐markets. The results show that companies rely on organizations from the civil society sector in order to meet customer needs. Partners from the business sector are supportive when responding to restrictive market conditions. Institutional partnerships should be considered when companies aim at responding to the regulatory environment. We outline theoretical and managerial implications and reflect some limitations of the study. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Introduction to the Special Thematic Symposium on the Ethics of Controversial Online Advertising

The field of marketing and consumer ethics has evolved considerably over the past 20 years, yet research on specific areas of advertising ethics remains limited. This limitation persists despite developments in digital technologies, and the impact they have had on advertising practice generally and online advertising more specifically. Online media are becoming increasingly populated by advertising content, as consumers continuously navigate ever-evolving mediascapes. Thus, there is a need to examine the ethical issues associated with the use of controversial advertising online, as well as consumers’ responses to such ads. This special thematic symposium addresses this literature gap, which is at the intersection of consumer ethics, e-marketing, and controversial advertising. The two papers in the special thematic symposium present new research in this area, along with some initial ethical implications as well as potential for future research.     

Employment and absenteeism in working-age persons with multiple sclerosis

Aims: To better understand the impact of the clinical course of multiple sclerosis (MS) and disability on employment, absenteeism, and related factors.

Materials and methods: This study included respondents to the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis Registry spring 2015 update survey who were US or Canadian residents, aged 18–65 years and reported having relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), secondary progressive MS (SPMS), or primary progressive MS (PPMS). The RRMS and SPMS participants were combined to form the relapsing-onset MS (RMS) group and compared with the PPMS group regarding employment status, absenteeism, and disability. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between employment-related outcomes and factors that may affect these relationships.

Results: Of the 8004 survey respondents, 5887 (73.6%) were 18–65 years of age. The PPMS group (n?=?344) had a higher proportion of males and older mean age at the time of the survey and at time of diagnosis than the RMS group (n?=?4829). Female sex, age, age at diagnosis, cognitive and hand function impairment, fatigue, higher disability levels, ≥3 comorbidities, and a diagnosis of PPMS were associated with not working. After adjustment for disability, the employed PPMS sub-group reported similar levels of absenteeism to the employed RMS sub-group.

Limitations: Limitations of the study include self-report of information and the possibility that participants may not fully represent the working-age MS population.

Conclusions: In MS, employment status and absenteeism are negatively affected by disability, cognitive impairment, and fatigue. These findings underscore the need for therapies that prevent disability progression and other symptoms that negatively affect productivity in persons with MS to enable them to persist in the workforce.     

Resource Dependency,Innovative Strategies,and Firm Performance in BOP Markets

Low‐income markets have attracted the interest of academics, politicians, and business leaders alike. In recent years, numerous companies such as Unilever, Cemex, Tetrapak, and Vodafone have provided evidence that low‐income markets offer commercial business opportunities and that private companies can realize profitable business activities while simultaneously contributing to the alleviation of poverty. However, companies are challenged by constraining conditions such as poor infrastructure, nonexistent distribution channels, illiteracy, corruption, lack of enforceable legal frameworks, and violent conflicts when entering those markets. In order to succeed, companies develop new strategies, introduce innovative business models, and develop novel capabilities. Three innovative practices are commonly named in the literature that should enable companies to operate successfully in low‐income markets: (1) integrating the local population and local entrepreneurs to cocreate products; (2) cooperating with nontraditional or fringe stakeholders; and (3) building local capacity, which means improving the market conditions of low‐income markets. This study applies a resource dependence perspective as it provides valuable explanations on the interaction between companies and their environment, how companies cope with environmental constraints, and how the environment and different strategies affect business outcomes. By integrating a resource dependence perspective, the study theoretically frames the strategic recommendations of the literature and answers the underlying research question of whether environmental conditions of low‐income markets cause the execution of innovative practices and whether such practices influence the outcome of companies operating in low‐income markets. The research hypotheses are tested in a structural equation model against data of 103 firms operating in low‐income markets. The study reveals that companies integrate local actors to cocreate products and cooperate with nontraditional and fringe stakeholders to reduce resource dependency. Local capacity building, which means improving the local environment, is only applied by companies when strong partnerships with nontraditional and fringe stakeholders are established. Finally, the study shows that partnerships with nontraditional and fringe stakeholders as well as local capacity building have a positive effect on organizational performance. Thus, when companies aim to enter low‐income markets, they should not follow the recommendation of the transaction cost theory and internalize resources, but rather cooperate with nontraditional partners and invest in the local environment. Moreover, the study shows that market entries into low‐income markets require long‐term commitments to engage in partnerships with regional authorities, local community groups, and nongovernmental organizations. Without these partnerships, it is not possible to reduce high resource dependencies and to establish successful businesses in low‐income markets. Thus, governments should create general conditions that facilitate the creation of partnerships between nontraditional actors and companies, and assist them to improve environmental conditions in these markets.