Consumer Insolvency in the European Legal Context

Consumer credit, as an important aspect of the free movement of capital, has for a long time now been subject to European Union regulations. However, one important aspect of consumer credit, over-indebtedness, has not been acknowledged in the Consumer Credit directives of 1978 and 2009, nor is there any other European Union law instrument that addresses over-indebtedness or insolvency of consumers. The only European-level document addressing the problem of over-indebtedness of ordinary people is the Council of Europe Recommendation of 2007. In European Union law, over-indebtedness can and should be approached from several angles. The Insolvency Regulation (2000) does not directly address situations facing the consumer debtor and leaves it up to the discretion of the Member States to include or exclude insolvency proceedings for consumer debtors regarding the scope of the Regulation. There can be little doubt that the European Union has a legal basis for action in this field, and it has also used its competence in a number of related issues, such as general insolvency law and enforcement of judgments. Case C-461/11, in which Advocate General delivered her opinion on Sept 13^th, 2012 shows that national insolvency procedures for natural persons may constitute a restriction on the freedom of movement. This article argues that, even in the absence of a European Union law instrument, the Member States should recognize debt adjustment judgments made in another Member State and that there is a need for a regulation in the European Union law in this field.     

Debt developments and fiscal adjustment in the EU

Since the financial crisis in 2008–09, concern over the sustainability of some EU countries’ sovereign debt has continued to mount higher and higher. This paper explores the ways in which the financial crisis caused the deterioration of European debt-to-GDP ratios, examines which countries are on sustainable debt paths and quantifies the fiscal adjustment required per country for debt sustainability.     

Adjustment in Eastern Europe to EU environmental requirements

The economic reforms taking place in Eastern Europe have in many respects an unfavourable influence on environmental protection. The adjustment of Eastern Europe to the environmental requirements of the European Union necessitates far-reaching changes in the very philosophy of transition, towards more balanced and reasonable approaches and adequate environmental taxation.     

Purchasing Power: Consumer Empowerment and Adaptation to the Free Market in Russia

Summary This article explores adaptations in Russian consumer behavior to market capitalism, impediments to that process, and the effects citizens survival strategies may have on Russias continued political and social evolution. Capitalism not only brought Russians a market economy of unenforced legislation, insufficient regulatory institutions, and widespread corruption, but also new ideas including individual rights, self-reliance, and increased expectations for market transactions, which contribute to public mobilization and legal reform designed to protect and empower consumers. Despite the ambivalence many citizens feel toward the market and the difficulties associated with the struggling economy and widespread mafia influence, emerging consumer advocacy groups have begun holding businesses and the government accountable. Evidence suggests that consumer concerns are serving as a vehicle for public mobilization in areas that are broadly significant to Russias lingering problems. Finally, though the focus of this paper is on Russian consumers, it is believed that many of the conclusions generated could be extended to other countries with emerging markets.     

Building Trust Between Consumers and Corporations: The Role of Consumer Perceptions of Transparency and Social Responsibility

Developing trust in a company is a significant part of building the company-consumer relationship. Previous studies have sought to identify the positive consequences of trust such as loyalty and repurchase, but the question of what builds trust remains largely unanswered. To answer the question, we developed a model that depicts the relationships among transparency, social responsibility, trust, attitude, word-of-mouth (WOM) intention, and purchase intention. An online survey was conducted with a US nationwide sample of 303 consumers, and the data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling method. The results indicated that consumers’ perceptions of a corporation’s efforts to be transparent in the production and labor conditions and to be socially responsible by giving back to the local community directly affected these consumers’ trust and attitudes toward the corporation, and indirectly affected their intentions to purchase from and spread positive WOM about the corporation. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

EU Consumer Law Outside the European Union: The Case of Albania

The article examines the emergence of Albanian Consumer Law as an example of the application of the EU consumer acquis beyond the European Union. The argument is that Albanian Consumer Law was established and developed principally as a result of external pressures, whereby as part of the pre-accession process Albania has undertaken an obligation to harmonize its consumer law with EU law. In turn, the weakness of domestic pressures and factors, including a genuine commitment on the part of Albanian policy makers to develop consumer law so as to protect their citizens as consumers, resulted in a fairly slow evolution of consumer law in Albania and the lack of implementation of the initial enactments in practice. However, the empowering of a dedicated Consumer Protection Commission as the main institution in charge of enforcement of consumer law in Albania has led to some enforcement activity and a significant number of consumer protection cases. An analysis of the cases suggests the Commission is using, and upgrading, its powers so as to intervene in a number of different sectors in the economy, including against quite powerful market players.     

美国消费信贷的经验分析与我国消费信贷市场的发展

本文通过对美国和我国消费信贷市场的比较分析,归纳我国消费信贷市场发展的经验得失,在此基础上,提出发展我国消费信贷市场的政策建议。     

Reforming the EU Emissions Trading System: An Alternative to the Market Stability Reserve

Prices for emission allowances in Europe’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) have remained low for many years. This has given rise to controversies on whether there is a need for a fundamental reform of the ETS. Potential reform proposals include the introduction of a price fl oor for certifi cates and a market stability reserve, which is a rule-based mechanism for steering the market volume of allowances and is the preferred approach of the European Commission. In this article, we instead recommend retaining the ETS and suggest correcting past mistakes by a single intervention.     

The Missing Link Between Corporate Social Responsibility and Consumer Trust: The Case of Fair Trade Products

This paper investigates the link between the consumer perception that a company is socially oriented and the consumer intention to buy products marketed by that company. We suggest that this link exists when at least two conditions prevail: (1) the products sold by that company comply with ethical and social requirements; (2) the company has an acknowledged commitment to protect consumer rights and interests. To test these hypotheses, we conducted a survey among the clients of retail chains offering Fair Trade products. The results show that socially oriented companies can successfully leverage their reputation to market products with high symbolic values.     

Consumer Ethnocentrism and Country-of-Origin Effects in the Moroccan Market

ABSTRACT

Differences in consumer values exert a powerful impact on product acceptance. Morocco is no stranger to this phenomenon. While this country's consumers have easy access to world markets, consumer ethnocentrism can restrict choice. The objective of this research has been to investigate ethnocentric behavior of Moroccan consumers and the extent to which domestic products might be preferred to foreign products or vice versa. Data were collected via face-to-face interviews with 400 consumers in four major Moroccan cities. A questionnaire was developed for this purpose using a version of the Consumer Ethnocentrism Scale (CETSCALE). Opinions about four products were solicited. The four products were jeans, cars, shampoo, and juice. The interviewees were asked their opinions about product attributes and about various countries-of-origin. Their responses were analyzed also on the basis of their most essential demographic characteristics. Logistic regression models were developed to analyze the data.     

Dissemination of Consumer Law and Policy in Brazil: The Impact of EU Law

Journal of Consumer Policy - This paper analyses the influence of European Law on Brazilian Consumer Law. It starts by describing the general features of Brazilian Consumer Protection law,...     

Consumer Response to Package Downsizing: Evidence from the Chicago Ice Cream Market

It is common among producers of consumer packaged goods to reduce the volume of product per package such that the new size replaces the old one. This tactic is commonly referred to as package downsizing. In this article, we investigate the extent to which consumers have different sensitivities to package price and package size in order to shed light on the managerial implications of package downsizing. To do so, we estimate a random utility model of demand to measure consumer response to price and package size using household scanner panel data on bulk ice cream purchases in Chicago. The estimation framework involves modeling household heterogeneity, addressing price endogeneity and accounting for unbalanced choice alternatives. Our main finding is that consumers are less responsive to package size than to price; the demand elasticity with respect to package size is approximately one-fourth the magnitude of the demand elasticity with respect to price. This result implies that marketing managers can use downsizing as a hidden price increase in order to pass through increases in production costs, that is, cost of raw materials, and maintain, or increase, their profits.     

Modelling EU FDI Deflection Between the New EU Member States and Chinese Provinces

The issue of regionalism and how it affects FDI allocation within and between regions has not yet been dealt with satisfactorily by the voluminous literature on FDI. The issue of FDI dispersion, or of how traditional recipients of FDI flows can be affected by rising competitive advantages in countries of the same region as well as in countries of other regions, has received little attention. This article introduces the concept of EU FDI deflection across regions and measures it for 14 chosen locations in the new EU member states and Chinese provinces against the background of the fifth EU enlargement.     

Consumer Law and the Environment: From Consumer to Citizen

This paper addresses the question of the relationship between consumer law and the protection of the environment. In contradiction to those who see the goals of consumer protection and environmental protection as being close to each other, this paper presents the relationship as one of conflict rather than one of harmony. Consumer law as an expression of the consumer society promotes goals which sometimes run counter to the environmental interest. This clearly comes to the fore when analysing the main consumer rights and their relationship to environmental issues. However, despite this basic incompatibility, the book of consumer law also contains some small stories of environmentally constructive behaviour. The telling of these good stories would require us to transcend the boundaries of traditional consumer law and to replace "the consumer" by "the citizen" who is interested not only in his own consumption but in all aspects of social life. In support of this development certain consumer law measures can be used to raise the awareness of consumers regarding environmental issues.     

对股票市场效率问题的四种理论分析方法

股票市场效率问题研究是金融经济学中的一个热点课题 ,很多学者对此进行了深入的研究。解释股市效率问题主要有 :有效率市场假说理论、微观信息经济学理论、行为金融学理论、以及股市内在效率和外在效率分析等四种理论分析方法。     

Erratum to: Determinants of Consumer Attributions of Corporate Social Responsibility

Philanthropic giving among leaders is often assumed to be an expression of ethical leadership in both academic and media discourses; however, this assumption can overlook the ways in which philanthropy produces and is underpinned by inequality. In order to extend current understandings of ethical leadership, this study employs a critical discourse analytic approach to examine how the link between philanthropy and ethical forms of leadership is verbally and visually constructed in the media. Based on the analysis, the article demonstrates how the construction of Australian philanthropists as ethical leaders is achieved through their representation via three paradoxical identities: Aristocratic Battlers; Caring Controllers; and Publicity-Shy Celebrities. These discourses are mediated by Australian cultural norms and serve to conceal yet ultimately reinforce social and economic inequality. The article proposes that a critical discursive approach to understanding leadership ethics can help to explore the hidden or adverse effects of ostensibly ethical practices.     

论国债市场与利率市场化

中国金融体制改革已进入新的深化时期,利率市场化开始进入实施阶段.目前,中央银行对利率市场化改革,已经作出了先农村后城市、先贷款后存款、先外币后本币的顺序安排,这无疑是一个具有历史意义的举措.那么,在利率放开之后,中央银行又靠什么办法来引导市场利率呢?这是一个具有理论和重大现实意义的问题.本文从利率--利率结构--基准利率--国债利率--国债市场--金融市场的理论逻辑出发,分析论证了基准利率是利率结构的中心,国债利率是有效的基准利率,在发展一个成熟的国债市场促进利率市场化过程中,中央银行引导市场利率是最有效的市场机制和手段.