Validating a customer well-being index related to natural wildlife tourism

This study reports an attempt to validate a customer well-being (CWB) index related to natural wildlife tourism. It was hypothesized that the CWB index related to wildlife tourism has a positive influence on travel outcomes (length of stay, number of visits, and total expenses), mediated by perceived value and customer loyalty. These hypotheses were tested using four waves of surveys of customers (overnight visitors) intercepted at the park in a two-year period. The survey data provided support for the hypotheses, which, in turn, lend validation support to the CWB index. Managerial implications of the customer well-being index are also discussed.     

Valuing customers for social network services

In the current Internet environment, many online service companies based on community factors (networks) produce and sell new types of digital products. For example, SNS (social network service) companies now sell customers digital decorative products for the adornment of online avatars. Not only do individual customers consume these digital products, but they also exchange them as gifts in their local neighborhoods. While previous studies on customer valuation (e.g. CLTV, RFM, etc.) focus on some important issues for identifying valuable customers, the literature does not resolve issues related to the effects on customer value of products purchased as gifts for another person. This study attempts to verify empirically the effects of two representative social network properties (tie strength and the number of ties) on customer monetary value.This study selects 2615 customers from a South Korean SNS website who enrolled on the site on the same day. Data include diverse purchase-related information, social network properties in terms of gift-giving for six months, and demographic information. The primary results of this study are as follows. First, the proposed model, which includes social network properties, has a great deal more explanatory power than the baseline model — the RFM-based customer value model. Second, tie strength and the number of ties in a gift-giving network increase customer value. Third, tie strength has a more profound impact on customer value than does the number of ties. The results of this study theoretically expand the domain of customer valuation studies due to the inclusion of social network properties, and suggest important practical implications for some online SNS companies in their efforts to find valuable customers and improve customer value.     

Quasiconcavity and the kernel of a separable utility

Summary. In this paper I prove that a quasiconcave separable utility function defined on an atomless space is concave. Received: August 11, 1997; revised version: October 2, 1997     

Analysis on supply chain risks in Indian apparel retail chains and proposal of risk prioritization model using Interpretive structural modeling

Indian apparel retail industry is on a complete transformation journey and trying to evolve as an organized industry. It is very common to find the disruption factors in every business and the ways to mitigate and manage them is of current research interest. The paper discusses the selective risks associated with the apparel retail supply chains in India by structural analysis of the controllable risks that are identified. The work also reveals the use of Interpretative Structural Modeling (ISM) to establish the interdependencies between these risks spread across various supply chain functions of retail industry. The relationships are established based on expert opinions using Delphi technique followed by ISM modeling technique and Fuzzy MICMAC analysis. It also classifies the risk factors based on their driving and dependence power. ISM is proved to be a useful tool to help understand the impact of risks at stages of retail supply chain. Globalization, labor issues and security and safety of resources turns out to be the strong drivers of other supply chain uncertainties. The domino effect of these risks leads to financial crises for the organization.The paper also proposes a new model for the Risk Priority Number (RPN) calculation using ISM and Fuzzy MICMAC methodology for the applications in retail and various other domain risk studies. The sample size of experts is small and to remove the biasness of opinion, the model can be further validated using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in the future. The outcome would help practicing managers to analyze and to take actions for managing the factors by improving the bottom line of the organization by proper utilization of resources.     

宋代牡丹品种和数目研究之三

我国现存7种宋代牡丹谱录中所记载的牡丹品种，经综合整理统计其数目有191个（陈平平，1999）。此外，一些宋人著作中还记载有若干上述诸谱录中未曾收入的宋代牡丹品种，经综合整理统计、较可靠者其数目有55个。两项合计宋代牡丹品种数目有246个。这一数字更加充分的证实我国是牡丹栽培和育种的古老中心。     

矿床经济合理勘探网度及最佳施工钻机台数的灰色局势决策

本文在求取不同勘探网度及施工钻机台数的矿床探采经济评价指标值的基础上,用灰色局势决策方法确定了某铁矿床经济合理的勘探网度及最佳施工钻机台数。     

The moderating effect of average wage and number of stores on private label market share: A hierarchical linear model analysis

Existing research on private label market share is primarily in the context of the Western market. The Chinese market context research is scarce, although private labels are developing rapidly in the past several years. This study investigates how the average wage and number of stores affect the Chinese market's private label market share. More importantly, this paper examines the moderating effect of the average wage and the number of stores on the relationship between the private label market share and product assortment as well as the relationship between the private label market share and pricing. Data collected from a Chinese supply chain dyad is analyzed to study category management using hierarchical linear models. The results reveal that the average wage and the number of stores positively affect the private label market share. Furthermore, the average wage enhances the negative effect of the number of brands, weakens the negative effect of the private label price, weakens the positive effect of national brand price. Meanwhile, the number of stores enhances the positive effect of the SKU proliferation of private label, enhances the negative effects of the number of brands, and enhances the negative effect of the private label price. This study contributes to category management. Furthermore, the findings will be valuable to domestic and international grocery marketers and retailers operating private labels in China.     

董事会规模与公司价值关系的进一步检验——基于公司规模门槛效应的分析

对于董事会规模与公司价值之间的关系,以往的研究得出了完全不同的两种结论,分析原因可能是因为公司在确定董事会规模时很大程度上取决于公司规模大小。本研究通过检验发现,公司规模对董事会规模具有门槛效果,通过使用门槛自回归模型可以更好地解释董事会规模和公司价值之间的关系,实证研究的结果表明,在公司规模相对较小的门槛区间,董事会规模和公司价值之间存在显著的正相关关系,而在公司规模较大的门槛区间,董事会规模与公司价值之间的关系在统计上不显著,但符号上表现为负相关关系。     

Open core and quasi-equilibria with lower semi-continuous preferences

Summary. This note introduces a new concept of core –open core, using which it shows a quasi-equilibrium existence result in an economy where consumers' preference relations are assumed to be lower semi-continuous, but not necessarily to have open lower sections nor to be open valued, such as the lexicographic ordering. As an application, a competitive equilibrium existence result without non-satiation assumption is proved. Received: October 28, 1996; revised version: November 4, 1997     

A two-stage core with applications to asset market and differential information economies

Summary. We introduce a new core concept, called the two-stage core, which is appropriate for economies with sequential trade. We prove a general existence theorem and present two applications of the two-stage core: (i) In asset markets economies where we extend our existence proof to the case of consumption sets with no lower bound, in order to capture the case of arbitrary short sales of assets. Further, we show that the two-stage core is non empty in the Hart (1975) example where a rational expectations equilibrium fails to exist. (ii) In differential information economies where we provide sufficient conditions for the incentive compatibility of trades. Namely, that no coalition of agents can misreport the true state and provide improvements to all its members, even by redistributing the benefits from misreporting. Received: December 20, 1995; revised version: December 6, 1996