China's wheat import programme

China is the world's largest foodgrain producer. It is also the world's major grain trader. China's participation in the world's grain market is unique because of its importance as both a grain importer and exporter, unlike other grain trading nations. This article considers the reasons for China's wheat import programme by following the controversy among Chinese academics, and attempts a more systematic appraisal by the application of regression analysis.     

A diagnostic study of sales managers' efficiency

The importance of the sales manager to industrial marketing organizations has long been recognized. Consequently, much attention has been directed to alternative approaches for evaluating his performance. Yet, effective evaluation requires being able to suggest approaches to improve one's performance. In order to recommend corrective actions and diagnose performance problems, an understanding of the operating environment is necessary. Little understanding exists, however, on how variables in the sales manager's environment are interrelated. The focus of this study is an empirical identification of the interrelationships of variables in the sales manager's environment. This approach leads to diagnostic models of the sales manager's role along three dimensions: (1) Over-all performance; (2) administrative responsibilities; and (3) personal selling. Data from one division of a large industrial chemical company are utilized in this investigation. Information was gathered from internal records and questionnaires to the sales managers. Significant empirical results are found along the three dimensions of the sales manager's job. The managerial implications of the findings are reviewed in depth.     

Marketing research by a small industrial firm: A case study

There is a growing need today for industrial marketers to conduct marketing research and use the results in making profitable business decisions. This paper describes a marketing research study conducted by a small industrial firm and discusses the nature and extent of its impact on the firm's operations. Several implications and practical guidelines are derived for industrial marketers in general, based on the firm's marketing research experience.     

Reforming the lifeline program: Regulatory federalism in action?

This paper considers whether common national standards for determining participants' eligibility and designating service providers in the Lifeline program are preferable to a decentralized system where state utility commissions have greater influence over these program parameters. Two recent decisions of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a 2016 Order and its reversal in March 2017, on the designation of Eligible Telecommunications Carriers to provide broadband Lifeline service, centered on this question. Statistical analysis of program data demonstrates that state-by-state variations in enrollment may be attributed to state-level policy actions, after controlling for alternative demographic and economic explanations. This paper concludes that national standards may reduce state-by-state variations in program participation rates.     

商业环境和集群优势：探析新西兰木材产业

通过四组新西兰木材产业集群的分析来验证集群可持续发展的特性所在。两组集群通过企业业主的支持获得了可持续发展,另外两组集群命运正好相反。主要是采用结构和半结构问题来调查四组企业的经营者。调查发现,一个成功的产业集群主要有如下特性：企业类型混合性：企业经营者对参与集群的期望值;企业集群内部关系的紧密程度。这些特性导致了两种不同企业活动模式来促使集群的形成。调查结果严重质疑一味鼓吹通过集群式发展来提高企业的竞争力的论断。     

外资参与对企业研发投入的影响研究——基于中国上市企业的实证分析

本文利用中国2009～2014年外资参与的318家上市公司的样本数据,实证分析了外资持股和外资控股两种情况对企业研发投入的影响。研究结果显示：外资参与对中国企业研发活动存在积极影响,但该影响在外资持股和外资控股两种情形下存在显著差异,当外资持股股东不是第一大股东时,外资持股比例对企业研发投入虽然具有促进作用,但该作用十分微弱,当外资持股股东为第一大股东时,即存在外资控股情况时,对企业研发投入的促进作用十分显著。     

Teledemocracy from the top

Teledemocracy, the use of new communications and information technology to widen the scope of the public's political participation, is a hot topic. Over the past few years a number of wide-scale teledemocratic experiments have taken place, for example in New Zealand, the State of Washington, and Hawaii, and the idea is being increasingly discussed in the scholarly as well as popular literature.¹ The reasoning behind, and justification for, teledemocracy has been expounded before.² This Comment, however, attacks the problem from a new perspective - where do politicians fit into such a system, and why should they nurture its development?     

A marketing simulation model across household and industrial goods

The purpose of this paper is to build a marketing simulation game with a semblance of reality. The decision-maker's goal is to maximize revenues for each decision period. Budgets for the four P's marketing mix variables are left to discretion, but are rejected by the model if they are outside reasonable guidelines.     

Salespeople satisfaction and performance feedback

A model of the relationship between sales supervision and salesforce job satisfaction is developed and tested. The model hypothesizes that salespeople will experience greater job satisfaction when they receive more performance feedback and more opportunity to participate in their supervisor's decision making processes and when they have supervisors who are high on consideration and initiation of structure. In addition, because of recent empirical evidence suggesting a possible consideration/initiation of structure interaction effect on job satisfaction, a hypothesized interaction effect was examined in this study. The results suggest that performance feedback is an important predictor of job satisfaction. Furthermore, they indicate that the sales supervisor's consideration and initiation of structure are related to the salesperson's satisfaction with certain aspects of the job. Participation and consideration/initiation of structure interaction were not found to be significant predictors of salesforce job satisfaction.     

Enterprise modeling and integration: A stochastic management approach

Recently, my book by Matsui has been published in Japanese, and the title is “Management of Manufacturing Enterprise: Profit Maximization and Factory Science.” Enterprise/Factory Science means the system science of the 3M & I, in which is the complex of huMan, Material/Machine, Money and Information, and would contribute to enterprise modeling and integration issues. This paper presents the problem of enterprise/factory science, and discusses a class of 3M & I system by a stochastic management approach. First, the 3M & I system is defined, and a variety vs. structure is introduced. Next, the two structures of management are distinguished, and the demand-to-supply and process-cycle management are discussed by structural modeling.     

Has Europe missed the endgame of telecommunications policy?

The European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) is a major milestone in the EU's telecommunications policy. But is it such a step forward and are the technical and market developments such that the EECC is the endgame? An endgame would mean that sustainable competition is reached in all telecommunications markets. The current paper argues that the EECC's new policy goal of investment in very high capacity connectivity could actually lead to policies that end in sustainable infrastructure competition. The EECC's policies, however, are not courageous enough to reach this goal. This lack of courage also characterizes the EU's gatekeeper policies on call terminations and net neutrality. In both these areas an endgame with sustainable competition is possible.     

Agriculture in the EEC taking stock

The focus of this assessment is the European Community's ‘Stocktaking of the Common Agricultural Policy’. While the CAP has attracted considerable scrutiny and controversy, the Stocktaking represents the most authoritative review of agricultural policy from within the EEC bureaucracy. The authors evaluate first the extent to which the Stocktaking's own analysis is a fair reflection of achievements under the objectives which the CAP has set for itself. Second, they ask whether the proposals for policy reform advocated in the Stocktaking are appropriate. They conclude that the Stocktaking's proposals — and their subsequent interpretation within the EEC — are not adequate to tackle the problems facing EEC agriculture.     

The Soviet burden on the world food system : Challenge and response

Through its disruptive entry into western food markets and its non —participation in global efforts at food policy management the Soviet Union has placed a burden upon the world food system. Dr Paarlberg examines this burden and the US response which has been to seek better information on Soviet agriculture, impose ad hoc controls on food sales and to enter a bilateral agreement in 1975. Three other suggested responses —grain reserves held without Soviet participation, a US wheat board, and a North American export cartel —are discussed. The author concludes that the Soviet burden is decreasing and is best lifted by increasing the free supply available for export. In future. Soviet reliance on food imports may draw it into a greater dependence on the non-socialist world.     

Research resource allocation: Determining regional priorities

The paper presents a methodology to assist in the determination of an appropriate regional allocation of research resources to mandate crops in mandate regions of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Adrid Tropics (ICRISAT). Priority indices are developed on the basis of 10 criteria chosen for equity and/or efficiency considerations. Applying alternative weights to these criteria yields alternative priority indices, which are compared with the Institute's present research resource allocation. The approach helps to make explicit criteria which may have implicity been followed in past resource allocation and the results indicate that a more regionally-spread focus for ICRISAT's future activities would seem appropriate.     

基尼系数与企业内部薪酬分配合理性研究

本文试图把基尼系数从宏观引向微观，探讨用基尼系数来反映企业内部收入分配的合理性问题。论文先从理论上分析了企业内部影响基尼系数的因素，企业分配政策对基尼系数的影响：然后根据实际数据对三个组织的内部收入分配的基尼系数进行计算，证明了在企业应用基尼系数的可行性：最后得出结论：目前社会上存在的不公平，并不是工资差别引起的，而是由灰色收入、城乡差别、行业差别等其他因素引起的。     

SAM — a baby with many faces

In the last issue of Food Policy, two articles appeared on the subject of the Mexican Food System, or the Sistema Alimenticio Mexicano (SAM). The first article by Frank Meissner¹ reviewed the background to SAM, the proposed strategies, intended targets, its funding and put forward a strong case for considering SAM as a constructive policy for alleviating Mexico's food and nutrition problems. However, Michael Redclift commented in his article that:² ‘There are three principal points to be made of Dr Meissner's article: its interpretation of Mexico's recent agrarian development is questionable; it does not distinguish between the analysis provided in the SAM documents and the policy measures to which they give rise; and, it glosses over serious problems of implementation, giving too little weight to the participatory element without which SAM is doomed to failure’. This rejoinder is Frank Meissner's response to Michael Redclift's comments.     

Estimating demand from eBay prices

This paper presents results for identification and estimation of the value distribution from eBay auction prices. The paper presents results for eBay type auctions with independent private values and unobserved participation. It is first shown that the distribution of values is identified from observing the distribution of prices and knowing the distribution of potential bidders. The main identification result presents conditions for which the distribution of values and the distribution of potential bidders are simultaneously identified. Not surprisingly, the intuition is similar to the standard results for identifying demand from observed equilibrium prices. The estimation method suggested by the identification results is used to estimate the value distribution for the “C5” Chevrolet Corvette sold on eBay. The results suggest that a simple OLS model on prices will over estimate the mean value of the item. The estimation results are then used to calculate the optimal reserve price for these cars. The estimated optimal reserves are compared to the actual reserves. Actual hidden reserves are set much higher than actual non-hidden reserves. The evidence suggests sellers set Buy-It-Nows and hidden reserves optimally to account for re-listing opportunities.     

Plant breeders' rights and international agricultural research

Enactment of plant breeders' rights legislation has recently been a contentious political issue in several countries. An economic perspective to the issue is presented through consideration of the structure of the plant breeding and seed industries. A theoretical account is given of the probable economic effects of plant breeders' rights legislation in developing countries. Aspects which might be usefully considered when examining whether a particular developing country should enact plant breeders' rights legislation are also discussed. Finally, general issues faced by the international agricultural research centres with respect to plant breeders' rights are also outlined and some particular issues discussed.     

Personal inducement of industrial buyers

There has been extremely little previous research done on the use of personal inducements as a form of sales promotion in industrial marketing. An exploratory study was conducted in this area and the results are reported in this article. Buyers' attitudes about inducements and vendors' use of inducements were measured. Profiles of relatively more receptive buyers were derived from the study data. Implications for managing the buying and selling functions and for further research are discussed.