Should I Stay or Should I Go? Geographic Entrepreneurial Choices in Brazilian Franchising

In the broad empirical literature on franchising, performance outcomes of location decisions appear to be a largely forgotten issue. Yet franchising represents a rich context to study the impact of geographic entrepreneurial choices. Addressing this “blank spot” in the literature, we deal with the following question: Is it better for a chain to stay in the same geographic area, or to expand via distant franchised units? Our econometric estimations on new and unique Brazilian panel data show that spatial agglomeration of chain outlets leads to higher performance, suggesting that agglomeration gains outweigh cannibalization and spatial monopoly effects.     

Should I invest with my conscience?

This paper discusses the idea that investors have moral reasons to avoid investing in certain business areas based on their own moral views towards these areas. Some have referred to this as 'conscience investing', and it is a central part of the conception of ethical investing within the socially responsible investment (SRI) movement. The paper presents what is taken to be the main arguments for this kind of investing as they are given by those who have defended it, and discusses the plausibility of these arguments from the point of view of moral philosophy. The paper argues that focusing on the moral views of individual investors is not very fruitful – there are strong reasons to think that investors do not have moral reasons to invest 'with their consciences', or, to the extent that such reasons are allowed, that they are very weak compared with other sorts of moral reasons pertaining to ethical investing.     

Should I advertise on the interstate?

The highway logo signing program has existed for over 20 years. Since its inception, most motorists have become accustomed to relying on these blue signs to provide information on services available at each highway exit. However, there is little, if any, literature that examines the program as an advertising source, and no formal literature that addresses the signing program from the perspective of the independent business owner. This paper provides service business owners with information about the highway logo signing program, and is directed toward independent owners who are considering the signing program as an advertising source. A five step process is described that owners can follow to first determine if the venue is viable, and then if the investment is value-added for them.     

Should I stay or should I go now? Understanding terrorism as a driver of institutional escapism

Prior empirical research has examined the effects of terrorism on foreign direct investment. These studies reveal the negative impact of terrorism on national economies, but neglect to theorize and examine how terrorism drives institutional escapism by promoting outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) to countries with lower risk levels. This study proposes and tests a rationalist explanation that builds on the concept of institutional escapism for how terrorism encourages increased levels of OFDI, particularly to countries with reduced risk. Drawing on the resilience, political violence, and international business literatures, we demonstrate through a unique global dataset of 22,873 observations, 5584 home-host country pairs, and 153 countries over 16 years (1995–2010) that terrorism induces institutional escapism in terms of OFDI.     

‘Should I Buy,Hoard, or Hide?’- Consumers’ responses to perceived scarcity

Scarce shopping situations often seem to have a greater value for consumers and trigger extreme behaviors. This study examines the effects of scarcity that is strategically created by the marketer in influencing consumer behavior. Drawing from reactance theory, it is suggested that, when scarcity is perceived to be strategically created by the retailer, consumers tend to exhibit deviant and competitive behaviors. The mediating role of emotions like anticipated regret is also examined. Further, the role of human traits like competitiveness and hedonic motivations in moderating the relationships between perceived scarcity and behaviors is also examined. The results of the study suggest that, under the conditions of perceived scarcity, consumers tend to exhibit behaviors like in-store hoarding, and in-store hiding, due in part to the increased urgency to buy. Also, the findings suggest a pertinent role of emotions and human traits in influencing the decision making under the condition of strategically-created scarcity.     

幸福不能独占--再说"君子爱财,取之有道"

前次,陆先生约我为他主持的“咖啡吧闲话”写篇文章,因怕写不好,一再推辞,最后勉强为之,写了一篇千字文《君子爱财,取之有道》。这次,陆兄未约我写稿,我却主动写了一篇,而且主题还是谈“君子爱财”。     

There Should Be More Advertising

A world without advertising would be a world in which economic choices were made as rationally and efficiently as solicitors, for example, are chosen by the general public—with a pin. The best way to appreciate the benefits of advertising, argues the author, is to follow through the impact that advertising would have on a market in which it is not, at present, allowed, such as the market for legal advice in the UK.     

Should You Buy Local?

Journal of Business Ethics - This paper introduces the concept of business-related conspiracy theories (BrCTs). Drawing on Aristotelian virtue ethics and undertaking a narratological and ethical...     

化壁垒为通途的绿色营销

全球的经济与产业体系正在进行一场史无前例的"绿色革命".保护生态和环境是这场革命的中心内容.依靠科技成果开发的绿色产品迅速地抓住了当前市场的一部分并即将抓住未来市场的大部分.同时,由环境技术、环境服务、环境标志产品等更大范围的有笪环境的产品所构成的"大绿色产品市场"将蕴含无限的商机.     

我国应停止外国废物进口业务

<正> 我国有12.5亿人口,产生的生活和生产废物源源不断,每年产生生活垃圾数亿吨,且以每年约9％的速度增长。另据不完全统计,到2000年10月,我国有数百个品种,约数千亿元商品不符合环境保护要求,伴随产生的废弃物危害更大。在尚未处理利用好国内废物的情况下,应禁止境外废物入境,以保护我国环境不受境外废物污染。 一、国家的政策法规,为禁止境外废物入境提供了法律依据 《中华人民共和国固体废物污染环境防治法》第24条规定:“禁止中国境外的固体废物进境倾倒、堆放、处置。”如果按此条法规执法,就应该坚决禁止外国废物入境。第     

应受重视的绿色税务制度

推动可持续发展及循环型经济的关键在于,社会是否能将现有的高能耗、高污染生产及消费方式,转向一个高效率、更节约的运行模式。我们必须减小经济活动所带来的资源消耗及环境污染,但是,达成该目标也必须依赖社会中各种主体的调整及创新,而且必须加大投资,支持在科学技术上取得突破。     

“占领华尔街”的落脚点

任何一个行业，一种服务，当其增加了人类的福祉的时候才有意义。现代金融业已相当程度上偏离了本义，成为少数人牟利的工具。这个意义上，华尔街真应该被占领。     

塑胶运动场不应该立即叫停

近年来,由于塑胶运动场地环境污染的相关因素而导致人们对塑胶健身环境的安全和卫生开始担忧.有些专家提出对塑胶运动场应立即叫停,本文对我国塑胶运动场目前存在的一些问题进行了全面分析研究.探讨了是否应该立即叫停塑胶运动场的问题.     

企业应及早“入市”

截至2013年11月底,深圳排放权交易所正式启动已近半年。自首批七省市碳交易试点计划实施以来,除深圳提出强制性的约束指标外,其余仍以企业自愿参与为主。     

货币政策盯住目标应该考虑不平等吗

基于技能差异的角度,本文构建了一个包含消费不平等与收入不平等的动态随机一般均衡模型,并考虑了技术冲击对于不同技能劳动力群体以及不平等产生的动态影响.研究表明,技术进步导致了不平等的恶化.在此基础上,本文进一步考察了不同货币政策机制对于不平等的动态影响.研究发现:(1)与未考虑不平等的泰勒规则相比,考虑不平等因素的简单规则部分牺牲了产出的增长;(2)相比考虑失业的简单规则,考虑不平等因素的简单规则所带来的产出损失相对较小,并且能够相对较好地缓解不平等;(3)相对于未考虑不平等因素的政策机制而言,考虑不平等因素的简单规则显著降低了政策引致的社会福利损失.最后,通过社会福利损失比较,考虑收入不平等因素的简单规则所引致的社会福利损失与最优货币政策最为接近,而考虑消费不平等因素的简单规则所引致的社会福利损失则相对较大.因此,存在不平等的背景下,我国货币政策应该考虑收入不平等.     

中国应建设绿色的粮食储备体系

论述了建设具有中国特色的粮食储备体系的重要性，分析了研究影响我国粮食储备安全的因素，研究建设粮食储备体系的内容以及提出了为保证中国粮食储备安全应该研究开发和推广绿色储粮技术。