The impact of adopting customization policy and sustainability for improving consumer service in a dual-channel retailing

In recent decades sustainability and dual-route retailing have been adopted by many big industries. Companies are now bound to maintain such strategies that fulfill the sustainable goals developed by the United Nations. Industries face a huge penalty if carbon emissions exceed a certain boundary. Moreover, factories should maintain sufficient flow in retail chains and product quality. This paper demonstrates 3-pillar sustainability in dual channel retailing, empowering firms to integrate the financial-economic pillar with the non-financial (environmental, social, and ethical) pillar. The core product is made available through the traditional channel and customized products are through online channels. The model is enabling the customers with customization provisions where they can influence the products. Thus, as a novel approach, the article incorporates a presumed threshold limit on the product's (standard and customized) selling price difference. Due to customization, a new product is developed which needs extensive quality checks. The study introduces an investment in checking the quality of the customized product which reduces the probability of customization defects exponentially. Additionally, current research adapts the carbon emission cost, penalties charged to a firm for overshooting the limit, and social costs in a smart supply chain. It also exemplifies that production is directly proportional to financial investments in meeting sustainability objectives. The numerical analysis reflects that as production increases, penalty costs decrease at a significant rate but after reaching optimal production penalty cost again starts to increase. It is observed that the downfall of penalty is 20% more for the single-channel than dual. Adaptation of the customization policy makes the retailing strategy more cost-effective. The model exemplifies that it is more economical to adopt dual-channel retailing compared to single-channel as there is approximately a 14.0625% reduction in total cost in dual-channel retailing. Moreover, an 80% improved quality is observed with a financial investment, which improves consumer satisfaction.     

Cryptocurrencies and Cagan’s model of hyperinflation

The drivers of the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum are studied within a framework based on Cagan’s model of hyperinflation. In the model, the prices of the cryptocurrencies are driven by stochastic adoption and velocity shocks as well as endogenous expectations of future prices. The model is estimated with data for prices, transaction volumes, and money supplies. A majority of price fluctuations in both currencies can be attributed to shocks in adoption, velocity shocks are much less important. The money demand sensitivity to expected price changes is estimated to be larger for Bitcoin than for Ethereum, and both have higher sensitivity than fiat currencies during episodes of hyperinflation.     

智慧居家养老服务协同供给的优化路径研究——以广西钦州市智慧居家养老项目的实践经验为例

智慧居家养老服务的协同供给可以形成社会联动效应，降低公共服务成本。运用公共服务协同供给分析框架，通过交叉分类方法从协同主体的利益与目标两个变量的耦合性出发分析广西钦州市智慧居家养老项目中养老服务主体间不同种类的协同关系，可以从加强政府领导、形成合作联盟、建立市场标准、创新扶持政策4个方面完善政府、企业、社会组织之间不同类型的协同供给，实现社会资源的高效利用以及向智慧居家养老服务的发展和转变。     

基于区块链技术的建筑材料供应链质量数据安全共享方法

传统方法在建筑材料供应链质量数据安全共享中应用效果不佳，不仅数据误码率比较高，而且数据共享时延比较长，无法达到预期的数据安全共享效果。为此提出基于区块链技术的建筑材料供应链质量数据安全共享方法。利用区块链技术对建筑材料供应链质量数据属性加密，建立建筑材料供应链质量数据安全共享链，整合建筑材料供应链质量数据加密、解密程序，通过对用户身份验证实现对质量数据安全共享，以此完成基于区块链技术的建筑材料供应链质量数据安全共享。实验证明，设计方法的数据误码率在1%以内，数据共享时延在1s以内，具有良好的数据安全共享效果。     

The role of socially rich photos in generating favorable donation behavior on charity websites

While online retail sites succeed in reinforcing perceptions of human warmth on their websites thanks to more and more interactive technologies, the charitable sector cannot, for lack of human, technical and financial resources, make use of such technologies. This research paper demonstrates the potential of a simple tool: the socially rich photo. Although the literature has extensively documented how photos impact visitor behavior in online environments, research in the context of donations through charity websites is rare and has provided contradictory results. By focusing more closely on the role of the individual represented in such photos (the recipient of a donation versus the donor), our studies, conducted in France, offer additional insights on the subject as well as managerial advice for organizations.     

基于SD模型的装配式建筑供应链脆弱性研究

装配式建筑供应链的运作存在很多不确定性。为提高供应链管理效率，促进建筑业的发展，运用供应链运作参考(SCOR)模型对装配式建筑供应链脆弱因子进行识别，将装配式供应链系统划分为6个子系统；通过系统动力学（SD）模型对供应链脆弱性进行仿真。结果表明，装配制造流程是脆弱性最大的子系统，整个供应链的脆弱性随着建筑项目的推进而增大。     

Change within purchasing and supply management organisations – Assessing the claims from maturity models

It is a wide-held assumption that professional development and change within purchasing and supply management (PSM) organisations can be explained and guided by a maturity model. In this paper the guidance which the maturity model concept offers to understand a PSM organisation's performance is assessed. The methodology is based on the outcomes of a literature review of PSM maturity models, development of an organisational change framework and the learning from three qualitative case studies. An alternative understanding of the development of the PSM organisation is offered through an organisational change framework, composing 1) movement transitions, 2) scalability of change, 3) acceptability of change, and 4) the substantive element of change. The research found that extant PSM maturity models are too rigid for PSM managers to apply, and although maturity models are commonly accepted in PSM literature, in practice, they may produce the opposite effect of what is promised. The PSM maturity models suggest that their application will lead to increased status and influence of PSM within the organisation; expectations that may not be met. PSM organisations’ change processes are subjected to a range of situational and contextual power relations which must be considered in order to advance the specific PSM organisation roles and responsibilities.     

On credit and output: Is the supply of credit relevant?

The consensus that changes in the supply of credit were irrelevant to making monetary policy decisions existed among macroeconomists during the second half of the twentieth century. Transmission of shocks to the real economy through changes in the supply of credit, however, played an important role in the recent U.S. financial crisis. This paper explores the extent to which policymakers should consider changes in the supply of credit when making forecasts and monetary policy decisions. More specifically, it considers whether a measure of real credit balances offers consistent and stable information, beyond that of a real interest rate and real money balances, about future output gaps during the U.S. post-war era. Results yield evidence that changes in real credit balances are the only variable, among those considered, to provide consistent and stable information about future output gaps over the entire sample period. Each information variable, however, provides relatively little value added for forecasting future output gaps, beyond a simple autoregressive model. To improve upon forecasts and monetary policy decisions, policymakers therefore should consider a broader range of information variables and occasionally reassess the relative weightings assigned to each.     

Stuck in the Middle: Off-Farm Employment and Caregiving Among Middle-Aged Rural Chinese

ABSTRACT

Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2011–12 baseline data, this contribution explores to what extent taking care of grandchildren and frail parents influences rural middle-aged Chinese adults’ off-farm employment. The findings show that, conditional on socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, taking care of grandchildren has a negative effect on rural middle-aged men's and women's off-farm job participation and hours worked. Caregiving for parents does not have the same negative effects on off-farm employment and hours worked. Furthermore, the study finds that annual earnings are also negatively affected by caregiving responsibilities, especially for women and men taking care of grandchildren.     

Tax-benefit systems and differences in aggregate labour force participation: Comparative evidence from the Czech Republic and Hungary

This paper investigates the extent to which cross-country differences in aggregate participation rates can be explained by differences in tax-benefit systems. We take the example of two countries, the Czech Republic and Hungary, which – despite a lot of similarities – differ markedly in labour force participation rates. Using comparable individual-level labour supply estimates, we simulate how the aggregate participation rate would change in one country if the other country’s tax and social welfare system were adopted. The estimation results for the two countries are quite similar, suggesting that individual preferences are essentially identical in the two countries. The simulation results show that about one-third of the difference in the participation rates of the 15–74 year-old population and more than two-thirds of the participation of the prime-age population can be explained by differences in the tax-benefit systems.