Poverty, Place or Race: Causes of the Retail Gap in Smaller U.S. Cities

In this study we explore the possibility that any or all of three dimensions of the U.S. inner city, central location, relatively low income, and a relatively high percentage of minority residents, correlate with a relative lack of neighborhood retail services, the so-called retail gap. Our empirical analysis is based on zip code level data for 39 U.S. cities with populations from 50 to 225 thousand people. After specifying an empirical model based on hypotheses drawn from the urban economics, urban studies, and urban development literature, we test access to retail services using both geographical density and per capita retail measures. While several results from this study are worthy of discussion, our primary empirical finding is that neighborhoods with high percentages of African-Americans are systematically under-served by retail, all else equal, while Latino, low income, or otherwise centrally located neighborhoods are not. We then test a selection of product categories for retail density, finding some differing results by product category but verifying our more general conclusions for most products. Finally, we find that grocery stores have significantly smaller scale in African-American communities, a finding that provides partial support for the urban “food desert” hypothesis. These findings suggest that the inner city retail gap may be more of a racial than geographic issue, and that increased emphasis on racial composition is warranted in the retail development policies applied to smaller U.S. cities.     

International Trade Policy Preferences: The Impact of Patriotism and Nationalism Pre- and Post-9/11

This paper provides new evidence supporting the hypothesis that patriotism and nationalism influence personal trade policy preferences in addition to the typical economic determinants. It also examines the interaction of the 9/11 terrorist attacks along with patriotism and nationalism on policy preferences. Using the Heckscher-Ohlin model as a theoretical framework, ordered probit estimations were applied to survey responses from an International Social Survey Program survey question about preferences towards limiting imports. Extensions of the model were sequentially estimated to investigate the impact of national identity on policy preferences. The model was augmented to test how feelings of nationalism and patriotism influenced personal trade policy preferences. Data from the International Social Survey Program surveys administered in 1995/1996 and 2003/2004 also allowed us to reflect on the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on trade preferences in the U.S. We found that prior to the 9/11 attacks, nationalism was associated with increased inclinations towards limiting imports while patriotism had no statistically significant impact on trade preferences. The 9/11 attacks made U.S. survey respondents less open to imports. Further, the 9/11 attacks served to reduce the impact of nationalism on the tendency to limit imports while it enhanced the desire to do so through patriotism.

     

The British ‘failure’ that never was? The Anglo‐American ‘productivity gap’ in large‐scale interwar retailing—evidence from the department store sector1

Interwar British retailing has been characterized as having lower productivity, less developed managerial hierarchies and methods, and weaker scale economies than its US counterpart. This article examines comparative productivity for one major segment of large‐scale retailing in both countries—the department store sector. Drawing on exceptionally detailed contemporary survey data, we show that British department stores in fact achieved superior performance in terms of operating costs, margins, profits, and stock‐turn. While smaller British stores had lower labour productivity than US stores of equivalent size, TFP was generally higher for British stores, which also enjoyed stronger scale economies. We also examine the reasons behind Britain's surprisingly strong relative performance, using surviving original returns from the British surveys. Contrary to arguments that British retailers faced major barriers to the development of large‐scale enterprises, that could reap economies of scale and scope and invest in machinery and marketing to support the growth of their primary sales functions, we find that British department stores enthusiastically embraced the retail ‘managerial revolution’—and reaped substantial benefits from this investment.     

小型零售业经营者意识现代化的中日比较研究

与20世纪的日本一样,我国的小型零售业也面临着现代化的问题。依循田村正纪的研究框架,本研究以长春市食杂店的抽样数据,再次证实小型零售商不完全具备企业家精神的假设,并指出零售商经营意识包含"守业精神"、"组织化精神"和"创业精神"3个层面,其中"创业精神"代表了企业家精神内涵,是经营者意识现代化的发展方向,"组织化精神"则是其与"守业精神"之间的桥梁。通过中日研究数据的比较,本文分析了两者的差异之处及其原因,为我国零售商经营意识的现代化提供了更好的理论支持。     

Economic Effect of Zoning Regulations on Korea's Small and Medium‐Sized Retailers*

In this paper, we investigated the economic effects of zoning regulations on the retail industry in Korea. We estimated the changes in the number of sales for retail stores using a panel regression analysis for stores in traditional markets. This analysis was conducted to examine the benefit of zoning regulations on retail stores. Our results show that the zoning regulations (called Traditional Commercial Activity Protection Zones) have contributed to an improvement in the actual business performance of small independent retailers. We found that the amount of sales for each store clearly increased on average in the areas designated as Traditional Commercial Activity Protection Zones where there was no market entry of mega supermarket chains (called SSM in Korea). We also present evidence that the effects of this policy differ geographically: the effects were stronger for small and medium cities than for large metropolitan cities. These results suggest that zoning regulations enacted by the government to protect traditional markets and small retailers should also consider regional differences when assessing policy effectiveness.     

Why do people oppose foreign acquisitions? Evidence from Japanese individual-level data

This study empirically examines the determinants of individuals’ attitudes about inward foreign direct investment (FDI) using responses from questionnaire surveys that were originally designed. Individuals’ preferences for inward FDI differ between greenfield investments and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and people are more likely to have a negative attitude toward M&A than greenfield investments. People with a negative image of the so-called “vulture fund” for foreign capital tend to oppose inward FDI, and this is more pronounced for M&A than greenfield investments. Moreover, loss aversion and high time preference rates are strongly related to opposition to inward FDI, and people with such behavioral biases tend to refuse indigenous firms to be acquired by foreign capital, even if they agree to accept greenfield investment. These results indicate that people’s preferences for inward FDI depend more on non-economic attributes than economic attributes. Our results also suggest that a lack of economic literacy is associated with unconscious biases against accepting inward FDI.     

Retail price concentration, transaction costs, and price flexibility circa 1900

This paper studies a unique 1901 data set containing prices of three products obtained from grocery stores in over 1400 cities nationwide. A striking characteristic is a high concentration of retail prices at relatively few “even” numbers. I propose a novel transactions cost explanation for this phenomenon on which existing theory is silent. In particular, grocers selected prices that simplified the task of toting up customer bills by hand and reduced related costs. As stores independently adopted this strategy across the country, prices converged to a few even numbers. Several empirical regularities for all three products are consistent with this explanation. An important implication is that preferences for computationally convenient prices would have made prices “sticky.” An independent study of price flexibility circa 1890 supports this hypothesis. The underlying data show price concentration patterns similar to the 1901 data, suggesting that the phenomenon covered a wide range of products.     

The Contribution of the School Environment to the Overall Food Environment Experienced by Children

Despite the important role of schools in the food environment faced by children, most research examining access to healthy food has focused on the retail sector. We create a database of school menus and the nutritional information about each item on the menu from nearly all school districts in the United States to examine the influence of the school‐based food environment on the nutritional choices of children. Using the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS), we find that, holding constant the neighborhood retail food environment, exposure to healthier meals at school increases the healthfulness of foods acquired by children throughout the day.     

北京市西瓜销售市场和典型零售商调查研究

从北京市西瓜价格走势、销售产地、品种等情况对北京市西瓜销售情况进行分析,并以北京市各区的西瓜批发零售点作为销售环节的调研对象,对零售商抽样调研进行成本效益分析。结果显示,从销售量上,农贸市场＞超市＞便利店,而在销售价格上,超市＞农贸市场＞便利店,三种零售商的利润率在10%～12%之间。最后提出对零售商进行基础建设升级改造、采用差异化战略和加大促销力度等方面的建议。     

Where Are They Now? Tracking the Ph.D. Class of 1997

We report early career outcomes of economics Ph.D.s by tracking the U.S. class of 1996-1997. We examine employment outcomes, work activities, salaries, and graduates' attitudes toward their jobs. By 2003, all of the respondents were employed, although almost half changed employers during the six years. Salaries of the cohort increased at an average annual rate of 8.2% from 1997 through 2003. Academic-year salaries rose about 5.7% per year, whereas private sector salaries skyrocketed at 15% per year. Finally, the median salaries of first-year full-time permanent 9- to 10-month academic economists hired in 2002-2003 actually exceed the median 2003 salaries of their counterparts initially hired in 1997-1998. Some of this apparent salary inversion reflects a different mix of employers and departments between the two cohorts, with the younger group securing relatively more jobs at higher-paying institutions.     

从市场绩效看日本"大店法"的作用

"大店法"是日本特有的对大型店铺进行阶段性规制的法律,该法的设置旨在协调各种规模流通企业之间的利益冲突.虽然"大店法"增加了中小零售企业的生存空间;但也给日本零售业发展带来了很多负面影响,导致其发展速度缓慢,市场绩效较差,国际竞争力相对较弱.给我们的启示是我国目前不应设立"大店法".     

Marketing Channels and Retail Store Density in East Asia*

By measuring retail store density with regard to population, several studies have indicated that marketing channels in Asia are different from those in the USA and European countries. The present paper investigates to what extent a model similar to Flath and Nariu (1996) can empirically predict retail densities in Japan and China. The results suggest that the secular decline in the number of retail stores in Japan primarily results from the proliferation of car ownership and the expansion in the average size of a dwelling. We also demonstrate that the model accounts for the large variations in China's retail density.     

Individual characteristics,behavioral biases,and attitudes toward foreign workers: Evidence from a survey in Japan

This study examines individual attitudes toward foreign workers jointly with their trade policy preferences based on a survey of more than 10,000 respondents in Japan. Our bivariate probit estimation results show that people influenced by status-quo bias or risk aversion tend to have significantly lower probability of supporting both foreign workers and imports. Individuals opposing foreign workers tend to have pessimistic views of the national economy's prospects and no personal acquaintance with foreigners. We also confirm the effects of standard variables, such as education and occupation. These findings suggest that wide-ranging measures are required for expanding support for foreign workers.     

Consumption, retailing, and medicine in early-modern London

This article examines the early development of specialized retail shops in early modern London. It argues that apothecaries' shops were sites of innovative shop design and display. These practices were responses to attitudes to consumption, the problematic nature of the medical commodities which apothecaries sold, and, particularly, contemporary concerns about their reliability, trustworthiness, and honesty. The article concludes that analyses of the rise of the shop need to be revised to incorporate early developments by producer-retailers, such as apothecaries and goldsmiths, and suggests that investments in retailing were driven more by worries about commodities than enticing customers.     

基于云POS的中小零售企业互联网融合营销探索与实践

基于云POS平台采集的零售市场消费数据对零售户和消费者进行初步画像，确定店铺零售行为、消费者购买力及品牌偏好，在用户画像的基础上与工业企业建立品牌营销策略及数据传输通道。以云POS平台及微信公众平台为媒介实现将目标消费者从线下往线上引流，推动构建工业企业、商业企业和零售户共同服务消费者的营销新模式，以实践助力品牌营销精准化、数字化。     

内需不振背景下苏果促销策略研究

苏果是江苏省最大的快消品连锁零售企业,在国内有着较高的影响力,2012年继续迅速扩张规模,同时陷入经营困境：竞争压力增大、销售增幅变小、利润下滑、连锁门店亏损面加大。这些问题同样困扰着国内其他的零售企业。从促销策略甚至战略的角度分析苏果经营困境的成因,探寻解决问题的策略,对国内零售企业而言具有一定的借鉴意义。     

Automobile Seatbelt Usage and the Value of Statistical Life

This article uses several within-sample tests to assess whether current seatbelt usage decisions are consistent with the stated preferences of survey respondents. The expressed survey values of statistical life are positively associated with the probability of seatbelt usage and are not statistically different from the values of statistical life implied by seatbelt usage decisions, which are in the $1.9 million to $8.4 million range. Seatbelt usage also varies in the expected manner with individual measures of heterogeneous attitudes toward risk, such as smoking status and education. Our evidence on seatbelt usage supports the view that consumers consistently balance expected safety benefits against the time and discomfort costs of seatbelt use.     

Consumer preferences for western-style convenience foods in China

The demand for western-style convenience foods is growing around the world, especially in the People's Republic of China, a likely result of the modernization of food consumption patterns. Proper targeting of consumers who exhibit preferences for western foods will be essential to companies wishing to successfully enter the Chinese market. Data from a 2002 survey of consumers in Beijing is evaluated using an ordered logit model to determine which consumer characteristics and attitudes influence the probability of consuming three processed potato products. Results show that female gender, higher income levels, younger adults, the existence of children in the home, and positive opinions concerning the taste of western foods have a significant influence on processed potato consumption.     

Retail profit margins in Japan and Germany

Retail Profit Margins in Japan and Germany. — This study compares the determinants of retail profit margins in Japan and Germany. Although several studies consider the peculiarities of the Japanese society and its economic structure, the comparison in this study is the first systematic, empirical analysis of the consequences of these characteristics for Japanese retail profit margins. For this purpose, two extensive data sets are used and a mark-up relationship is tailored to examine differences in Japanese and German retail profit margins. The empirical outcomes indicate that small firms can survive more easily in Japan than in Germany. This explains the abundance of small stores in Japan.     

门店在服装SPA企业中的战略作用

指出积极发挥门店的战略作用是提高服装企业竞争力的有效途径，通过对日本知名服装企业Honeys公司的实地调研，发现结合门店的非数字化信息开发新产品可以实现产品差异化，满足商圈消费者的需求偏好；运用灵活的门店分权管理可以形成适合商圈特性的商品组合，同时实现快速销售，降低库存风险。案例分析结果可为中国本土的服装企业提出相应的建议。