中国输欧儿童用品形势严峻须引起高度重视

中国是欧盟第一大进口来源地,2013年,中国出口欧盟总额达3702．7亿美元,其中,儿童用品是拳头产品,主要包括童装、玩具、童车等。但近年来,中国输欧儿童用品频因不同形式的贸易保护措施而受限,产业安全已遭受不利影响,三大现象须引起高度重视。     

Consumer willingness to pay for redundant food labels

Previous studies, as well as market sales data, show some consumers are willing to pay a premium for redundant or superfluous food labels that carry no additional information for the informed consumer. Some advocacy groups have argued that the use of such redundant labels is misleading or unethical. To determine whether premiums for redundant labels stem from misunderstanding or other factors, this study seeks to determine whether greater knowledge of the claims - in the form of expertise in food production and scientific literacy - decreases willingness to pay for redundant labels. We also explore whether de-biasing information influences consumers’ valuations of redundant labels. An online survey of 1122 U.S. consumers elicited preferences for three redundantly labeled products: non-GMO sea salt, gluten-free orange juice, and no-hormone-added chicken breast. Respondents with farm experience report lower premiums for non-GMO salt and no-hormone-added chicken. Those with higher scientific literacy state lower premiums for gluten-free orange juice. However, after providing information about the redundancy of the claims, less than half of respondents who were initially willing to pay extra for the label are convinced otherwise. Over 30% of respondents counter-intuitively increase their premiums, behavior that is associated with less a priori scientific knowledge. The likelihood of “overpricing” redundant labels is associated with willingness-to-pay premiums for organic food, suggesting at least some of the premium for organic is a result of misinformation.     

Consumer willingness to pay for traditional food products

Reflecting the growing interest from both consumers and policymakers, and building on recent developments in Willingness to Pay (WTP) methodologies, we evaluate consumer preferences for an archetypal traditional food product. Specifically we draw on stated preference data from a discrete choice experiment, considering the traditional Hungarian mangalitza salami. A WTP space specification of the generalized multinomial logit model is employed, which accounts for not only heterogeneity in preferences but also differences in the scale of the idiosyncratic error term. Results indicate that traditional food products can command a substantial premium, albeit contingent on effective quality certification, authentic product composition and effective choice of retail outlet. Promising consumer segments and policy implications are identified.     

Does it pay to acquire technological firms?

Abstract The paper focuses on several research questions: How do the firms differ in terms of their strategic objectives for foreign acquisitions? What are the determinants of ‘success’ of acquisition? What are the differences between the American and German firms in terms of their acquisition strategies and successes? Our special interest was to get a closer look into the technological motive of the foreign acquisitions. This made a two-step procedure necessary. A first survey of 86 firms had to identify those acquisitions which were motivated by technological interests through a questionnaire. Findings: There are four classes of companies with different motives for acquisitions: Market oriented entrepreneurs, Short-term profit seekers, Technological acquirers, Preemptive market protectors. The second survey investigated the process and the results of acquisitions with a special view on the role of research and development through 60 interviews in 30 acquisition cases in both acquiring and acquired units. Findings: A network of variables explains the success. The most important are context variables (uncertainty, cultural differences), size of both firms, low degree of formalization, expertise, and lack of conflicts about technological philosophy.     

谁愿为农业用纺织品"买单"?

国外农业生产过程中，使用农业先进设施己非常普遍。优质农用纺织品在生产中的辅助作用越来越大。但我国利用现代化农业设施改善技术推广差强人意。     

The real threat to GM crops in poor countries: consumer and policy resistance to GM foods in rich countries

In most poor countries today, farmers still plant no GM food or feed crops at all. Some are now planting GM cotton, but GM food and feed crops have not yet been grown commercially anywhere in developing Asia or the Middle East, and in only one African country (South Africa). Government authorities in most of these countries have not yet given farmers official permission to plant any GM food or feed crops—superficially in most cases because of precautionary concerns about biological safety. The more fundamental reason is now a fear that consumers in high-income importing regions, such as Europe and Japan, will shun imports from any country that begins planting GM varieties. The new EU regulation calling for strict labelling and traceability on all GM-derived foods and feeds (requiring a costly physical segregation of GM from non-GM all the way up the marketing chain) will further discourage the planting of GM crops in poor countries.     

切勿望文生义 玩具企业需关注欧REACH法规

欧盟REACH法规全称为“关于化学品注册、评估、许可和限制法案”,目前国内不少企业望文生义,以为REACH法规仅与石油、化工、医药等行业有关。而机电、家电、电子、玩具、服装等国内企业则漠然视之。从记者在珠三角地区玩具企业的调查来看,时至9月,大部分玩具出口企业仍然没有完成REACH法规的注册。不少企业认为REACH法规是政府的事，指望政府来完成，与玩具企业瓜葛不多。还有一些企业则认为距离截止日仍有一段时间，可以继续观望。     

Assessing consumer willingness to pay for Arctic food products

The food industry increasingly seeks to differentiate food products based on sustainability assurances, the use of traditional or ‘authentic’ production methods, a unique origin, or an association with a distinct cultural identity, often relying on certification to enhance the credibility of a quality claim. The natural conditions of the Arctic circumpolar region, its pristine environment, and the relational tie to Indigenous cultures in many circumpolar Arctic nations, distinguish Arctic foods from other commercially available foods, however, little is known about how consumers respond to foods from the Arctic. This paper examines consumers’ perceptions of and willingness to pay (WTP) for foods originating from the Canadian Arctic, and their receptivity to certification for sustainability, authenticity, and origin in the presence of multiple credence attributes. Data from an online survey of 1342 Canadian consumers show that preferences for Arctic foods are driven by the unique geographic origin and a connection with Indigenous cultures and traditions, as well as a desire to improve social and economic conditions in northern Canada. A discrete choice experiment featuring Arctic char elicits consumers’ WTP for attributes related to origin, certification, wild vs farmed fish, and Indigenous vs non-Indigenous fishers. Random parameters logit and generalized mixed logit models allow for both preference and scale heterogeneity. The analysis informs strategies to promote the Arctic food system, both from a Canadian regional economic development context and across the broader Arctic circumpolar region. Limitations imposed by the current seafood labelling regulatory environment in Canada are noted.     

小玩具，也要关注大世界

一年之计在于春。这是所有卷首语的“习惯用语”,只是,今年的这个春天很特别,是“多事之春”,玩具业者不知“计从何来”？经济的全球化使玩具“非同小可”：小玩具,也要关注大世界。     

玩具电动车安全问题,您关注了吗?

编前语:据近日《重庆商报》报道,在重庆永川区泸州街上出现惊险的一幕。"像电动玩具车一样的车上面,居然坐了两个人,并且还开上公路"目击者告诉记者说,记者从网友拍摄的现场图片中看到,车子前面一块牌子上写有"残疾人专用代步车"字样。记者就此事致电附近的永川区火车站广场交巡警平台,值班民警告诉记者,残疾人代步车不允许载人,如果看到类似危险场景,市民可以向就近的交巡警平台反映。     

央视《行进中国》关注澄海玩具

近日,中央电视台《共同关注》栏目专题报道《行进中国》节目组莅汕采访,对澄海玩具知名企业进行参观采访,深入了解澄海玩具产业转型升级情况,介绍澄海玩具产业发展先进经验和做法。据了解,《行进中国》是央视为献礼十八大推出的系列报道,重点反映近5年中国产业转型升级的显著成果。近年来,澄海区以打造"国际玩具名城"为目标,     

Willingness to pay for over-the-top services in China and Korea

The increasing penetration of broadband and multiscreen availability has encouraged the development of premium video consumption through over-the-top (OTT) services. Netflix, the leading global OTT provider, is aggressively expanding its international operations and has ambitiously entered the Asian market. To prepare for the shift that the streaming service giant will bring, a proper understanding of consumer acceptance and intent to pay for OTT services is crucial. Therefore, this empirical study uses conjoint analysis to investigate the key attributes and to examine consumers’ marginal willingness to pay (WTP) for OTT services. We identified recommendation systems, resolution, and viewing options as important product attributes of OTT services that influence the WTP of Chinese and Korean consumers. The most important attribute for Chinese consumers of OTT services was resolution, followed by the recommendation system and viewing options. For Korean consumers, the recommendation system was ranked as the most valuable attribute, followed by viewing options and resolution. The overall WTP of Chinese consumers was 22.6 yuan (3.4 USD) per month, while Korean consumers’ intent to pay amounted to a total of 3530 won (3.1 USD) for OTT services.     

Information,branding, certification,and consumer willingness to pay for high-iron pearl millet: Evidence from experimental auctions in Maharashtra,India

In this paper we use hedonic testing methods adopted from food science literature and the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanism adopted from economic valuation literature to estimate consumer demand for biofortified high-iron pearl millet (HIPM) in Maharashtra, India. Unlike biofortification with provitamin A, biofortification with minerals, such as iron and zinc, does not change the color or the appearance of the biofortified crop. Therefore, we test the impact of both nutrition information, and branding and certification, as well as the nature of the brand and of the certifying authority (state level versus international), on consumer demand for HIPM. We find that even in the absence of nutrition information, consumers assign a small but significant premium to the HIPM variety relative to the local variety. This is consistent with consumers’ more favorable rating of the sensory characteristics of the high-iron variety. Nutrition information on the health benefits of HIPM increases this premium substantially, and regression analysis reveals that consumers prefer international branding and international certification authority to their state-level counterparts.     

中国家长关注童车安全 缺乏相关知识

“六·一”国际儿童节前夕,中国国家质检总局发布的一项最新调查结果显示,中国家长对童车产品质量安全的关注度较高,但相关的知识比较缺乏。为落实中国国务院发布的《中国儿童发展纲要（2011-2020）》关于在中小学校、     

中国和秘鲁签署自由贸易协定

4月28日,中国与秘鲁两国政府在北京签署了《中国一秘鲁自由贸易协定》。中秘自贸协定是我国与拉美国家签署的第一个一揽子自贸协定,是两国关系发展史上新的里程碑。     

Putting their money where their mouths are: Consumer willingness to pay for multi-ingredient,processed organic food products

In response to dramatically increasing adoption in consumer markets, the National Organic Program (NOP) initiated novel labeling standards for food products in the US in 2002. This program is a particularly relevant standardization effort for multi-ingredient processed foods. Rather than a simple binary message (organic or not), gradations of organic content are now codified. No existing published study evaluates consumer willingness to pay or motivation to purchase in response to such a rich organic label. This article presents evidence of the impact of the NOP through analysis of data collected in seven central Ohio, USA grocery stores. Results suggest that consumers are willing to pay premium prices for organic foods, even those with less than 100% organic ingredients. The magnitudes of WTP premia varied significantly among consumer groups, suggesting that targeted marketing may be effective for organic merchandisers.     

Estimating consumer preferences and willingness to pay for the underutilised indigenous chicken products

Indigenous chicken serves many functions, which include the provision of meat and eggs for home consumption and income from sales. The purpose of this study was to estimate the consumers’ responsiveness to an increase in prices of the indigenous chicken products and how much they are willing to pay for them in the market. The survey was conducted in the selected three regions of Kenya. A total of 930 respondents were interviewed both in the urban and rural areas. Contingent valuation experiment was used in empirical data collection. The two-step Heckman selection model was utilised to analyse consumers decisions and the amount they were willing to pay. The study results revealed that consumers are willing to pay 23.26% per kg more for indigenous chicken meat and 41.53% for eggs. Socioeconomic factors like age, income, education and family size significantly determines consumers’ willingness to pay. Other important factors include the indigenous chicken meat substitutes’ prices, attributes like taste/flavour and the product’s form on purchase. The yolk colour and size of eggs determined the consumers’ willingness to pay. Preferences for indigenous chicken products were found to be high. This information will assist in understanding both the urban and rural consumer’s behaviour. Therefore, useful for the indigenous chicken producers, breeders, marketers and policy makers in developing efficient production and marketing strategies. This would also provide a means of improving food security and livelihoods of the rural poor indigenous chicken farmers.     

加强企业思想政治工作应注重"四个结合"

社会主义市场经济体制的日益完善和现代企业制度的逐步确立,使企业思想政治工作面临许多新情况和新问题,同时对企业思想政治工作提出了新的要求。如何适应新形势的发展,深入研究国企职工思想活动新情况、新特点,探索新形势下做好思想政治工作的规律和办法,促进企业取得最佳经济     

The effect of CEO pay deviations on CEO withdrawal,firm size,and firm profits

We build upon previous work on the effects of deviations in CEO pay from labor markets to assess how overcompensation or undercompensation affects subsequent voluntary CEO withdrawal, firm size, and firm profitability, taking into account the moderating effect of firm ownership structure. We find that CEO underpayment is related to changes in firm size and CEO withdrawal, and that the relationship between CEO underpayment and CEO withdrawal is stronger in owner‐controlled firms. We also show that when CEOs are overpaid, there is higher firm profitability; a relationship that is weaker among manager‐controlled firms. We then discuss the implications that these findings have for future research. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.