Coordination Costs,Market Size,and the Choice of Technology

Impact of coordination costs and market size on a firm's choice of technology is studied in a general equilibrium model in which finns engage in oligopolistic competition. A firm establishes an organizational hierarchy to coordinate its production. First, it is shown that an increase in market size leads a firm to choose a more specialized technology. Second, surprisingly, a robust result is that an increase in the level of coordination efficiency leads a firm to choose a less specialized technology.     

An Exploration of the Economic Significance of Social Security

The modem social security carries some elements of humanitarianism or social stability, but it is more an economic means. It can reduce overproduction, increase effective demand and facilitate the balance between the demand and supply, and prevent the frequent occurrence of economic crisis. All the creatures of the God are there for a reason. The amount of production is based on the amount of currency. But some parts of currency are transformed into savings, and savings cannot be turned into investment immediately. The entailing overproduction breaks the balance between the demand and supply, and results in economic crisis. In modem society, it is the social security or those ＂lazy bones＂ that represses and eliminates the overproduction, which can be expressed by the equation： Savings = Investment ＋ Social security （consumption）. In this way, the balance between the demand and supply is realized.and the social production and life can continue in a normal way.     

The Evolutionary Rules of Production System

The competition among modem enterprises has been converted from products to capability. As the basis of competition, production system can＇t win the market unless it takes advantage of its capability in competition. Here in this article, the evolutionary rules of production system contributing to the establishment, renovation, reform, invention and promotion of the production of modem enterprises are observed.     

Empirical Examination of the Effects of Competition and Regulation on Public Universities and Colleges＇ Performance in China

Competition and regulation are indispensable entities for a university＇s improved performance. Using university rating as an index to performance, empirical analyses with the data from 145 public universities and colleges in China show that increased competition in the education service market is associated with higher university＇s （college＇s） performance. And increased competition in R＆D may make a quadratic effect on university＇s （college＇s） performance. University＇s performance improves when a university is directed as a branch of the central government because they enjoy some degree of management flexibility more than the local government controlled ones. A major implication of the study is the need to reform competition and regulation for improving universities and colleges＇ operating performance in China.     

Regulation Issues for the Internet Market

Regulation of Internet market attracts more and more scholars and governments＇ attention as the Internet＇s commercial potential is displayed worldwide. Key characteristics of Internet market prove there are also market failures in Internet market, so regulation is an avoidable issue for the Internet market. Policy approaches relating to competition, intellectual property, and information privacy are three key areas of regulation that the paper emphasizes. The paper also analyzes the current regulation practices carried by some developed countries and calls for countries to cooperate and coordinate thus build a legal and fair environment for the Internet market.     

Strategic group theory： A customer-oriented view

Barney and Hoskisson （1990） argue that the strategic group research has neither established the existence of strategic groups, nor their relationship to firm performance. The primary reason behind the unsatisfactory results is the lack of a theoretical framework： what strategic variables to include in the analysis and their relative importance; the definition of an industry, and how to make competitive strategy operational. First, the author presents a customer-oriented theory of management which submits that, like Procter and Gamble, understanding customers should be the primary focus of a business. Second, the author proposes an integrated approach to competitive strategy. Because customer-perceived quality is far more critical to long-term success than any other factor, it should be the centerpiece of competitive strategy. The author suggests that competitive strategy should be divided in two interdependent dimensions： external and internal. It is the external strategy that should be considered the primary dimension because it reflects the customers＇ perspective, and provides a sense of direction regarding how the internal resources should be used. Next, the author presents an operational framework of competitive strategy which proposes that the best route to market share leadership in consumer markets is competing in the mid-price segment, offering superior quality compared to competition at a somewhat higher price： （1） to maintain an image of quality, and （2） to ensure that the strategy is profitable and sustainable. Finally, the author offers a framework of business or industry definition that extends Abell＇s （1980） three dimensions to seven. He suggests that an integrated approach to market segmentation provides the foundation for conducting strategic group analysis in consumer markets. So, in strategic group research, we need a bottom-up approach that begins with a product-market segment. In each product market, real competition occurs at the brand level. This is the ground where actual competitive wars are fought, and this is where the rich dynamics of competition often come to light.     

Opportunities of manufacture under global economic crisis： The case of Estonia

Because of the smallness of Estonia, its main source of economic growth is export, i.e. successful sales in the world market. It is necessary to shift from branches, activities and value chains where it is difficult to increase value added, to more profitable and promising ones. The present economic situation provides for this an exceptionally good chance. All kinds of development, international relocation of production and reallocation of economic power in the world are gathering speed. It is necessary to rapidly find an opportunity in the ＂declining＂ market, a profitable niche. Manufacturing entrepreneurs and executive managers have for several years already been complaining of shortage of workforce that hinders them carrying out new business plans, increasing production and exports. Increased supply of workforce dismissed from construction is an opportunity for the forced development of the manufacturing export sector and sharp increase in exports.     

Sustainable development of resource-based industrial clusters in Yunnan, China

The resources-oriented industry cluster is geographically close to natural resources development and processing industry.The knowledge-intensive,technology-intensive,capital-intensive,and labor-intensive is a relatively aggregate associated with natural resources and will structure commonality and complementary coupling so that economic and social development play a leading role in the complex adaptive systems closely related to ecological environment.A resources-oriented industry cluster in Yunnan has general common characteristics of industrial clusters and will form the characteristics of the enterprise spatial aggregation of innovative network of the industrial chain and value chain.According to the market structure of resources and resources market behavior in Yunnan,the particularity of resources commodity production has conduced resources market structure and general merchandise market structure many differences.Optimizing the cluster structure and extending the industrial chain have improved the productivity of the cluster and extension the lifecycle of the cluster to achieve sustainable development.     

Competition and monopoly of Chinese rural groundwater market：structure and determinants

China is facing severe problem of water scarcity.Agricultural sector,the main consumer of water resource,has remarkably changed its institutions on water resource deployment,due to heavy environmental pressure.As a new and spontaneous institution,groundwater market has developed rapidly in northern China,and has impacts on waterusing behaviors and benefits of farmers.Using household survey data from Hebei and Henan in 2007,this paper attempts to pin down the development and operating of groundwater market in rural China.We focus on the monopoly and competition in the market.Empirical analysis reveals that Chinese farmers are trying to make rational decision when they compete with others in groundwater market.In general,monopoly is not fierce in Chinese rural groundwater market,with great variations among different villages and even different tubewells within one village.Tubewell costs,regulation and the density of tubewells are the main determinants that affect monopoly level of groundwater market.To make water market benefit more and more farmers of low income,corresponding policies are needed to modify its development in the future.     

A critique of Porter＇s cost leadership and differentiation strategies

Porter identifies high market share with cost leadership, citing GM as a successful practitioner of this strategy. However, GM became a market share leader in the American automobile industry due to a strategy of market segmentation, differentiation and a broad scope shaped during the 1920s. Porter argues that cost leadership and differentiation offer an equally viable path to competitive success. Nevertheless, a differentiation strategy based on superior quality compared to competition is more profitable than cost leadership strategy. It can lead a business to become a market share leader, and consequently even a low-cost leader. Research indicates that differentiation and cost leadership can co-exist. However, Porter insists that each generic strategy requires a different culture and a totally different philosophy. The problem is that Porter＇s generic strategies are too broad. It is not his logic that is flawed, but his basic premise that prescribes cost leadership strategy as the only route to market share leadership, and presents a narrow view of differentiation with a unique product--sold at a premium price--on the one hand, and a ＂standard, or no-frills＂ product on the other. Mintzburg （1988） says Porter＇s cost leadership strategy should be called ＂price differentiation＂： a strategy that is based on a lower price than that of the competition. He suggests that business strategy has two dimensions： differentiation and scope. Thus, setting scope aside, competitive strategy has only one component： differentiation. So, the key question is not whether to differentiate, but how？ First, make customer-perceived quality as the foundation of competitive strategy because it is far more critical to long-term success than any other factor. Second, serve the middle class by competing in the mid-price segment, offering better quality than the competition at a somewhat higher price. It is this path that can lead to market share leadership--a strategy that can be both profitable--and sustainable.     

International Trade with Increasing Returns in the Transportation Sector

In this general equilibrium framework, the transportation sector is modeled as a distinct sector with increasing returns. A more advanced technology has a higher fixed cost but a lower marginal cost of production. Even with both manufacturing finns and transportation firms engaged in oligopolistic competition and optimally choosing their technologies, the model is tractable and results are derived analytically. Technology adoptions in the manufacturing sector and transportation sector are reinforcing, and multiple equilibria may exist. Firms choose more advanced technologies and the prices decrease when the size of the population is larger.     

Interest and profit

This paper argues that it is important to distinguish between the real rate of interest on money and the profitability of business enterprise. The former is a purely financial or monetary phenomenon （as claimed by Keynes） and the latter is in the nature of a surplus over and above the costs of production, including financing costs. There is an inverse relationship between the real rate of interest on money and the average mark-up or profit share. A synthetic theory of profit illustrates these points.     

International Development Strategies of Luxury-goods Players in China

The aim of this paper is to study and analyse the intemationalisation strategies chosen by the main luxury-goods players in the Chinese market, demonstrating the business intemationalisation processes. The research questions are： ttow luxury companies have developed distribution strategies in the Chinese markets？ What are the main formats of distribution for the Chinese markets？ Are there any differences in the internationalization process between the main players of the luxury markets and the smaller ones？ The methodology is based on the analysis on multiple-case ~.nalysis on a sample of luxury-goods companies and identifies and compares the different strategies used by the players analysed. The research process starts from identifying and selecting the most well-known companies operating in the luxury branded sector, which have established a presence in the Chinese market with their own brand, collecting secondary data for the selected companies （website, corporate profile, articles on websites and in trade magazines and interviews with the management）, analysing the data collected and interpreting the main results to have emerged from the research. The main findings and conclusions are that the route to development in the Chinese market taken by the players in the luxury-goods sector, historically undertaken by delocalising production operations, has in recent years begun to accelerate with new forms in play, principally linked to distribution. The Chinese market tbr luxury brands is ever more an outlet market rather than a production hub. The ability to create brand awareness will become a key factor for successful consolidation of the competitive position in this market, an operation that can only be performed through distribution. Moreover, Chinese high-end consumers are becoming ever more demanding, seeking out an ever more sophisticated shopping experience. Just as happening in other markets, opening directly operated stores is a strategic choice for reaching and convincing end-consumers, sinc     

Development of disadvantaged position of the farmer in the construction of the new socialist countryside in China

Though the farmer is the group with the biggest population in China,they are a disadvantaged group.In the construction of new socialist countryside in China.there are also causes for the disadvantaged group status,which are embodied in many aspects.The status is the important root of many problems of agriculture and countryside in China.Changing the farmers status of the disadvantaged group is the key to constructing the new socialist countryside,deepening the reform in the countryside and realizing the benign social and econontic development in the countryside in China.     

Study on the clustering of a typical industry：a case of apple industry in Shaanxi Province, China

The apple industry in Shaanxi Province is a resource-based industry; compared to the best productiveregions at home and abroad, it is advantageous in high quality as well as geographical and natural resources. Currently,big changes have occurred in the apple market supply-demand relations; long-term and comprehensive shortage haspassed; the buyer＇s market has come into being; competitions in the domestic market are fierce. At the same time, theforeign apple will impact on the domestic market, increasing competitive pressure. Foreign anti-dumping measures,green barriers and technologies restrict the exportation of the domestic apple. Based on successful experience of otherindustrial clusters, this paper analyzes the existing problems in the development of Shaanxi apple industrial cluster,combining empirical analysis, qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis, proposes specific policy recommendationsand get the conclusions. First, the characteristics of the agricultural industrial cluster are analyzed; Shaanxi appleindustry is characterized by cluster. Second, the rapid development of Shaanxi apple industrial cluster exposes someproblems. Third, we need the government to control the disorderly competition of Shaanxi apple industry.     

The Research and Application of the Multi-regression Technique in the Course of Enterprises＇ Marketing Decision-making

The reformation of the economy system has led the functional departments and status of the enterprises into the variance state. Under the condition of the market economy, the kernel of the enterprises＇ functional department has diverted to that of marketing decision-making, which faces to market and meets with the need of consumption. Assuredly, the kernel of marketing decision-making is to prognosticate the future market requirement quantity of the production of enterprises accurately, so that it can ensure and realize the maximum of the enterprises＇ profit to increase. Applying the proof to test demonstration analytical method of economics and adopting the multi-regression technique, this paper analyzes the enterprises＇ production requirement quantity decision-making of the GMC （Global Management Challenge） and changes a great many of uncontrollable factors to the controllable ones of the enterprises. So, it can make the forecast order form closer to the actual prices of the future market requirement quantity in the production marketing decision-making of the enterprises and realize the optimizing combination and the working object with the minimum of the cost and the maximum of the profit. And it can insure the realization of the profit increase of the enterorises mostly in the life-cvcle of the production.     

The Analysis of High Exchange Reserve and High National Saving in China

High resident saving and high foreign exchange reserve are the inevitable products in China during the period from planned economy to market economy, and there is high correlation between them. On the one hand, this kind of economic phenomenon can＇t persist in a long time; on the other hand, to implement relevant fiscal and monetary policy, foreign trade policy, and foreign exchange management policy to change them in view of their negative effects to present economy is one of the present economic tasks.     

An Analysis on Hilton International Hotel Group ’s Operating Strategies in China

Since the 1980s, international hotel groups began to en?ter the Chinese market. One of them is Hilton Hotel--- it has been trying to adapt to changes of the external environment, at the same time taking more efficient use of local resources, in order to en?hance its advantage in the competition. Through access to a large amount of readings, this paper analyzes Hilton Hotel’s operating strategies in four aspects, from the expansion of the franchise market, the brand diversified development model, smiling brand image, to the innovation and personalized services.     

The Status Quo of Reverse Logistics in China and Countermeasures

With the market competition becoming more and more fierce, awareness in the art and science of logistics is continuing to increase, and the field of Reverse Logistics is experiencing great interest. The purpose of this paper is to describe what Reverse Logistics is, what is it benefits, the status quo of Reverse Logistics in china and its difficulties, and give some suggestions and countermeasures on how to manage Reverse Logistics successfully under China＇s current situation.     

The Impact of Climate Change on China＇s Grain Market and Food Security-- A CGE Model Approach

This paper examines the impact of climate change on China＇s grain production and food security. The research is one of the four studies on future conditions of China＇s food production system under the influence of climate change using numerical simulation methods, carried out under a national 973 project entitled ＂impacts of climate change on food systems in China and its adaptation＂. The other three studies focus on changes in cultivated land area and food production, while this study incorporates their grain yield results into a general equilibrium model to simulate future conditions of the grain market. Our simulation analysis arrives at the impact of climate change by comparing such economic variables as grain production, consumption, and GDP growth rate between a baseline scenario and two climate change scenarios. Our results are summarized as follows： （1） In 2050, the total grain production will reach 689.683 million tons--584.264 million tons of total grain consumption and 42.808 million tons of exports. Without considering losses and inventory demand, in 2050 China＇s grain supply and demand will remain well balanced, with a slight surplus expected. （2） Climate change is expected to benefit China＇s macro economy and individual sectors. In comparison with the baseline scenario of no climate change, real wage, real GDP, investment, household consumption, exports, and other macroeconomic indicators will rise under the climate change scenarios. As far as the agricultural, manufacturing, and service sectors are concerned, production, consumption, imports, and exports will each be favorably affected by climate change. （3） The favorable impact of climate change on China＇s macroeconomy and individual sectors under the high emissions scenario （A2） is stronger than that under the low emissions scenario （B2）. （4） In the grain market, climate change is expected to increase supply, reduce imports, increase supply, and demand; and supply will increase more than demand does. All in