Trade Intermediaries and the Tariff Pass-through

This paper aims at improving our understanding of the price effects of trade policies following two perspectives. First, we wish to study how the role of intermediaries in international trade affects the transmission of tariff changes to domestic prices. Second, we explore how our results are influenced by the degree of competition in the distribution-service market. In a Cournot oligopoly-oligopsony model, we show how the pass-through of tariff cuts to domestic prices is limited by the market power of intermediaries producing distribution services. Our long-run equilibrium is characterized by a larger number of firms selling at a higher mark-up. Market access barriers in distribution services determine to what extent tariff cuts are transferred to domestic consumers and foreign producers, affecting the size of their welfare effects. The benefits of trade liberalization policies can be better achieved if they are complemented by competition enhancing measures in the intermediation sector.     

Filter and Broker: An Integrated Architecture for Information Mediation of Dynamic Sources

When making decisions, access to information and proactive provision of information have become a business imperative. It can be expected that a tremendous amount of information needs can be satisfied much better today by what is offered in information networks, be it the Internet or a corporate intranet for knowledge management purposes. Yet there is also a fair chance that someone issuing a search request (e.g., on the Web) will get drowned in a flood of useless information and thus may miss the only useful tidbit that comes along with it. Likewise, producers of information may not be able to identify suitable customers. Various approaches have been suggested to cope with these problems, for instance, databases containing meta-information or data-warehouse systems. The most promising approach is the use of electronic marketplaces, where consumers and producers of information virtually meet for interaction. A special blend of information traders strives to satisfy the needs of both. In this article we propose an architecture that implements a new consumer-producer interaction and discuss the major components in detail: (a) brokers, who play the role of intermediaries between producers and consumers, and (b) filters, which try to reduce the load of information on either of the participants.     

The effects of producers’ trademark strategies on the structure of the cognac brandy supply chain during the second half of the 19th century. The reconfiguration of commercial trust by the use of brands

Abstract

The role of intermediaries in the distribution system of the cognac brandy trade changed with the choice of brand strategies by producers, thanks to the development of favorable legislation for property rights. Prior to the enforcement of trademark laws, consumers relied heavily upon the personal reputations of retailers in order to choose the spirits they drank. The recognition of producers’ trademarks in the second half of the nineteenth century reconfigured the issue of trust by allowing producers to integrate forward into distribution and marketing and by allowing consumers to trust an entity that they did not know personally: producers’ brands. They took over part of retailers’ work and tried to monitor intermediaries so as to enhance their own name as a sign of quality.     

The role of intermediaries in facilitating trade

This paper documents that intermediaries play an important role in facilitating international trade. We modify a heterogeneous firm model to allow for an intermediary sector. The model predicts that firms will endogenously select their mode of export - either directly or indirectly through an intermediary - based on productivity. The model also predicts that intermediaries will be relatively more important in markets that are more difficult to penetrate. We provide empirical confirmation for these predictions using the firm-level census of China's trade, and generate new facts regarding the activity of intermediaries. We also provide evidence that firms begin to export directly after exporting through intermediaries.     

Technology and intermediation: do banks pass the gains to their customers?

A key function of the banking system is to facilitate intermediation between borrowers and lenders. In this paper we single out for attention the money transmission function of banks to test whether intermediation costs have been reduced by technology and passed on to consumers. Using data for the commercial banking sector in Ireland over the period January 1986 to August 1996, we find that the gains from technology in the provision of banking services, provided they exist, have not been passed on to the bank customers in the form of a lower bank interest rate spread.     

基于移动互联网的跨境电子商务商业模式研究

基于移动互联网的跨境电子商务是移动互联网与国际贸易的全新组合,是突破当前国际贸易形势低迷现状的新途径。基于移动互联网的跨境电子商务的商业模式,将现有的商业模式归纳为跨境大额B2B、跨境垂直B2C以及跨境C2C等3种模式,比较分析了不同模式的运行机制,发现物流仓储与质量控制是制约移动跨境电商发展的主要因素。由于跨境大额B2B和跨境垂直B2C有较为完善的物流和售后解决方案,因此二者将成为未来移动跨境电商发展的主要模式,而跨境C2C将通过提供差异化商品与服务以填补二者之间存在的商业空隙。移动跨境电商既是传统国际贸易在互联网时代的变革,又是电子商务进一步发展的必然趋势。     

Banking is essential,banks are not. The future of financial intermediation in the age of the Internet

This paper examines the question how the future of financial intermediaries and banks as special financial intermediaries may look like in the age of the Internet. The reduction of transaction costs caused by the Internet will reduce the barriers to enter the market for financial products, because there may be no longer a need to run a large system of cost-intensive branches. But as closer examination of the functions of financial intermediaries shows, not everybody can sell and distribute financial products. This is true because of asymmetric information problems in financial business which require an intermediary with a good reputation and because of the need to keep large funds of capital to transform the risk of assets. Both requirements represent an important barrier to enter the market for financial intermediation. Not every financial product will be exposed to more competition due to the rise of the Internet but only products which are standardized and have a low risk. Moreover, large firms with high amounts of capital and a good reputation can be considered as new competitors for banks.     

Equilibrium in supply chain network with competition and service level between channels considering consumers' channel preferences

This paper considers a dual-channel supply chain network consisting of multiple competing manufacturers, multiple competing retailers and multiple demand markets. Each manufacturer produces and distributes his products via direct e-commerce channel along with traditional physical channel. The manufacturers also provide services for the consumers in both channels, while the retailers only offer offline services to the consumers. On this basis, a dual-channel supply chain network equilibrium model with pricing and service decisions are established based on variational inequality theory. Nash equilibrium solutions are obtained by modified projection and contraction method. Combined with numerical examples, we analyze the impact of three critical factors on the equilibrium states and profits. Some interesting managerial insights are derived. We find that the profits of the manufacturers decrease (increase) in the raw material conversion ratio under single channel case (dual-channel case), while the increase of the raw material conversion ratio always benefits the retailers and the whole dual-channel supply chain network; the service level in each channel is positively correlated with its transaction volume. There are significant inconsistencies among the best combinations of cross-channel price coefficients between two channels for the manufacturers, the retailers and the whole dual-channel supply chain network. The same equilibrium decision (service level, price) or profit may exhibit the opposite changing trend with respect to cross-channel price coefficients under two cases of active e-commerce transaction and inactive e-commerce transaction. When the introduction of e-commerce channel can bring more profits for the whole dual-channel supply chain network, the manufacturers should provide reasonable allocation schemes of profit increment for the retailers to satisfy their participation constraints.     

共享服务系统体验价值共创行为的影响因素

由于共享经济的发展和信息技术的进步,共享服务系统中的共创行为变得越来越容易实现,消费者与企业协作共创价值成为新的发展趋势。在消费者需求和共享行为都不断变化的情况下,如果共享服务供应商不清楚何种因素能够加速消费者价值共创行为的生成,则会影响共创价值实现。基于服务主导逻辑的理论,构建共享服务系统体验价值共创行为及其影响因素的理论模型。依据收集的450份有效问卷,对数据进行分析后发现,共享服务系统中感知利益、感知信任和社会可持续性通过互动协作(价值共创过程)对顾客体验价值产生影响,顾客体验价值对顾客的价值共创行为意向产生影响。研究结果表明,顾客参与共创动机中的效益动机和信任动机显著正向影响互动协作,互动协作显著正向影响体验价值和共创行为意向,而体验价值在互动协作和共创行为意向之间起到显著部分中介作用。共享服务提供方和产品制造方应多从顾客视角考虑其效益需求和信任需求,定位顾客需求和偏好,提供更有吸引力和说服力的商品与服务,使顾客感知到更多的收益,并形成较高信任度;提升与顾客的互动水平,建立顾客对服务方的好感,激发顾客更多的主动交互行为、参与行为和个人创新行为;重视资源的整合、分配和调动,实行以顾客驱动为核心的开放创新模式;招募优质用户,通过倾听和观察了解其价值主张,促进价值共创行为的生成,改善共享服务系统的整体服务质量。     

电子商务信用建立的中介机制设计

本文认为,电子商务作为信息社会的重要交易模式,极大地拓展了人类商务活动的空间,增加了交易的灵活性与实时性,但在线信用的缺失一直困扰着电子商务,信用机制的建立成为其进一步发展的关键。文章提出,中介组织作为信用信息的收集者和提供者,在参与电子商务之后,将重新配置电子商务的信用风险,影响电子商务交易决策和步骤,改变在线交易者的行为模式和博弈结果,提升电子商务信用,形成电子商务信用建立的新机制。     

Consumer protection in Switzerland: Strengthening countervailing power or competition?

Intervention by pressure groups overshadows the discussion of the extension and revision of legislation in the field of competition. The result is increasing codification of political interpretations of the rules underlying a market oriented economy. This tendency is not only illustrated by the draft law on the monitoring of prices but also by the one on consumer protection. In both cases, two guiding principles are at stake, namely the strengthening of rules of competition and the improvement of the position of consumers. The article emphasizes the economic implications of these two principles and shows how difficult it is to reconcile them in the new law. Measures designed to provide more transparent market structures may have adverse effects. Measures designed to reinforce the position of consumers create imperfect conditions on the demand side. In both cases it is unclear how their explicit and social costs will be divided between producers and consumers and what will be their impact on prices.     

批发市场中电子中间商问题的分析

随着网络经济的迅速发展 ,出现了许多基于网络基础的提供信息服务的具有中介功能的电子中间商。批发市场中产品的质量存在不确定性 ,电子中间商能提高市场交易的效率 ,但物流和市场交易的分离也给市场的买卖双方带来了新的交易风险。电子中间商可以采用拍卖交易方式 ,并建立一个能降低交易风险的信用机制。信用机制的建立会促使电子市场的交易集中于高质量的产品 ,且产品的价格要高于传统市场产品价格。     

跨境电子商务存在问题与发展对策

跨境电子商务具有全球性、无形性、匿名性、即时性、无纸化和快速演进等特征,已成为我国国际贸易的新方式和新手段。目前,跨境电子商务随着政府扶持利好频出,市场增长前景可期,行业助力发展迅速,拉内需促就业效果明显,市场竞争日趋激烈。面对发展跨境电子商务面临的消费者不信任、服务体系不完善以及语言、地理环境因素等问题,发展跨境电子商务的措施是:认清消费者信任的网上购物者和付款者的最佳组合商业模式;熟悉语言文化环境,整合资源链;熟知通转关、商检、保险、物流配送、金融结算流程,推动跨境电商跨领域跨经营环节合作。     

Entrepreneurs as intermediaries

This paper sketches the contours of a theory of entrepreneurship focusing on the nature of entrepreneurship as intermediation under information asymmetries. While entrepreneurship, strategy, and finance researchers have studied the relationship between entrepreneurs and intermediaries, they tend to treat intermediaries, such as venture capitalists, as a separate organizational form that is parallel with (start-up) entrepreneurs. In this paper, we consider entrepreneurs as intermediaries who discover, create, and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities by bearing uncertainties stemming from intermediation between potential buyers and sellers under information asymmetries. Specifically, we focus on two key questions in entrepreneurship research: (1) Why do entrepreneurs arise and exist at all? (2) Why do some entrepreneurs perform better than others in creating entrepreneurial opportunities and ultimately creating wealth? Our discussion culminates in a new research agenda with four testable propositions.     

电子商务环境下中间商作用的转变

电子商务给中间商的生存与发展带来了巨大的冲击,从市场功能的角度出发,对中间商在传统市场和电子商务市场中发挥的作用进行分析,从无中介化、重新中介化和网络中介化三个角度对中间商的发展趋势进行探讨。电子商务环境下,生产者与消费者之间的直接沟通,买卖双方的直接交易完全可以靠网络搭建的虚拟市场来完成。     

Consumer Support Networks: improving consumer advice in the UK

In 1999, Central Government launched an initiative to establish Consumer Support Networks (CSNs) throughout Scotland, England and Wales. The purpose of the networks is to improve access to high quality consumer advice services. Information and advice agencies will join together to provide expert, accurate and timely advice for consumers. By April 2002, 191 networks had been established covering in excess of 99% of the population. Only one local authority area in England has yet to establish a network. This paper reviews the development of consumer information and advice provision in the UK and considers the context for establishing CSNs. It also examines the need for consumer advice, the role of Central Government and the quality framework. Each CSN will conduct a gap analysis and assess the need for consumer advice in the local area. This will enable the network to develop a good understanding of consumers in the area and to take a more strategic approach in planning service developments to meet the identified needs. Consumer Support Networks aim to improve the provision of consumer information, education and advice. The literature suggests that consumers who are well educated regarding their rights are empowered through an increased ability to exercise them. Clearly branded advice services, marketed effectively to the public should result in higher levels of consumer awareness and, consequently, improve access to services. It is also expected that better flows of information between agencies will result in greater protection for consumers. Sharing ‘best practice’ nationwide should stimulate service improvements throughout.     

Modelling consumers’ acceptance for the click and collect service

This study investigates possibilities for developing a click and collect service in the context of e-commerce and attempts to identify the consumer characteristics that determine the acceptance of this service. Data of 285 e-commerce consumers were collected through an online questionnaire using banners uploaded in seven online retailers' sites. Binary logit models are developed to analyze the data and relate consumer characteristics to their intention to use and pay for the click and collect service. Perceived environmental contribution of the click and collect service, perceived time pressure, car use in the city center and frequency of online shopping significantly affect consumers’ intention to use the service. The model results provide information that can be used to choose location points and design marketing and pricing policies that will make the click and collect service attractive to customers.     

Time to Do the Job Properly—The Case for a New Approach to EU Consumer Legislation

Following 25 years of legislative activity in the field of consumer law, the EU has proposed major reforms to the consumer law acquis. Existing legislation is largely based on directives harmonizing aspects of national consumer laws. This paper argues that a more appropriate approach for EU consumer law would be legislation in the form of a regulation which is applicable to cross-border transactions only. This argument will consider the constitutional constraints of the EU Treaties, before examining the case for a cross-border-only measure. It will be argued that the cross-border approach is preferable, because it would provide clearer benefits for consumers seeking to buy goods/services across borders, while not upsetting domestic law unnecessarily, in particular in the context of e-commerce.     

Testen der Tester? Grundsätze ordnungsgemäßen Testens!

Tests and comparisons of products can provide useful information on both quality and value of goods and services for consumers, suppliers, and for consumer policy, for example watchdogs. In a market economy like Germany, where consumer markets are not fully transparent and functioning, testing organisations act as information intermediaries. They provide information at the meta-level so that not everyone has to test and compare all goods and services individually. This is why the reliability of testers and testing organisations is of particular importance. This article examines the principles or minimum standards for proper testing and discusses how to control them.     

Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce: Some Remarks on the Jordanian Electronic Transactions Law

It has become increasingly certain that the success of e-commerce in any country depends mainly on the predictability and suitability of the legal framework and whether such framework copes sensibly with the needs of online consumers. For e-commerce to reach its full potential, consumers must have effective protection when shopping online, and their primary rights must be adequately protected. This paper thus explores the way in which the Electronic Transactions Law deals with such rights and determine whether or not this law gives due attention to consumer protection in an online environment. Furthermore, this paper encourages debate of what such law should be in order to enhance legal certainty as well as increase trust in e-commerce in Jordan. This paper, however, is not intended to provide the final answer to all questions and challenges in this regard, but to identify the main components, and provide perspectives on how to deal with such issue.