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.     

购后情境下促销类型对顾客购买的影响

随着移动电子商务的发展,商家的促销方式越来越多,消费者也每时每刻都在接触到各种促销信息,现有研究大多关注促销对潜在顾客的影响,较少关注新的促销活动对已购顾客态度的影响。本文试图探讨不同的促销类型对于已购顾客的购后后悔的形成有何差异以及其形成的内在机制。研究发现促销类型对已购顾客后悔产生影响,相比于非货币型促销,货币型促销能够使已购顾客产生更为强烈的后悔,交易效用损失起到中介作用。心理折旧对促销类型与交易效用损失之间的关系起到调节作用。在较低的心理折旧水平内,不同促销类型对已购顾客的后悔程度影响显著。在较高的心理折旧水平内,不同的促销类型对已购顾客的后悔程度影响较低。促销频率对交易效用损失和顾客后悔之间起到调节作用。当促销频率较高时,不同的促销类型对已购用户的后悔程度影响显著。当促销频率较低时,不同的促销类型对已购用户的后悔程度影响较低。     

Absorptive Capacity,International Business Knowledge Transfer,and Local Adaptation: Establishing Discount Department Stores in Australia

This article examines the ways that Australia's largest retail firms accessed and adapted external knowledge flows, largely from the USA, to develop discount department store chains from the late‐1960s onwards. In doing so, it extends work on retail internationalisation by focusing on the importation, rather than the exportation of business models. The three firms – Coles, Myer and Woolworths – exhibited differing degrees of absorptive capacity in identifying and commercialising knowledge flows. This was reflected in fluctuating levels of success, the scope of store networks and relative positioning in the Australian market. Further, the role played by informal associations between managers in non‐competing firms in different markets during the development of discount department stores in Australia advances the case for socialising analyses of business knowledge transfer more broadly.     

关于我国利用外资的几个问题的探讨

百货零售业要在日益困难的市场环境中求生存、求发展 ,除内部条件外 ,还必须重视市场容量的调研 ,注意同行运作态势 ,研究本业态的发展前景。     

The Indirect Displacement Hypothesis: a Case Study in Washington,D.C.

Stereotypes abound about the clash between newcomers to urban neighborhoods and their longstanding residents. In a case study of Columbia Heights in the District of Columbia, the preferences and attitudes of newcomers and longstanding residents are compared. The comparison will help assess the extent to which indirect displacement pressures in the domain of retail activity might be occurring in Columbia Heights. Data from surveys conducted in 2008 by the Howard University Center for Urban Progress (HUCUP) form the empirical base of this study. A total of 217 completed surveys were received, 116 from an Internet survey and 101 one-on-one street interviews. The sample was split into thirds (according to length of time that the participant lived in the neighborhood) leading to break points at two years and eight years of residency. All respondents who lived in the neighborhood two years or less or eight years or more were kept in the final sample. The former were defined as “newcomers” and the latter were defined as “longstanding residents”. There were 77 newcomers and 74 longstanding residents in the final sample. The survey instrument inquired about respondents’ opinions about the availability and quality of stores by type, the variety of stores, and what types of stores they would like to see added to the neighborhood. Respondents were then asked their assessment of the new commercial developments and of the previously existing businesses in the corridor. Chi-square tests were used to test the hypotheses that there were differences between the two populations -- newcomers and long-standing residents -- in terms of preferences and attitudes. The findings demonstrated significant differences between the two groups in terms of their opinions about the commercial corridor, although both groups were generally pleased with the new retail developments. The analysis of these data weakly supports the hypothesis that indirect factors could heighten pressures for displacement of longstanding residents, but it is argued that the main focus of gentrification studies should continue to be on the direct economic factors affecting longstanding residents during neighborhood revitalization.     

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.     

The Dynamic Linkages between Foreign Direct Investment and Domestic Investment in ECOWAS Countries: A Panel Cointegration Analysis

Abstract: This paper examines the crowding out or crowding in effect of foreign direct investment inflow on domestic investment in Africa. Data for the period 1970–2008 were extracted from the UN statistical online database and the World Development Indicator 2009 online database and the study employed a recent panel cointegration estimation technique. The study revealed that foreign direct investment inflow crowds out domestic investment in the ECOWAS region. The study therefore recommends that policy makers in the ECOWAS countries focus on promotional resources to attract some types of foreign direct investment and regulate others. Policies should also be directed at putting in place a better targeted approach to screen foreign direct investment applications to ascertain their productive base before allowing them.     

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.     

Profit margins in Japanese retailing

Using a rich data source, we explain differences and developments in profit margins of medium-sized stores in Japan. We conclude that the protected environment enables the retailer to pass on all operating costs to the customers and to obtain a relatively high basic income. High service levels are positively related with high profit margins, illuminating the importance of service in Japan. Small store competition does not affect performance of medium-sized stores, because small stores operate under circumstances different from those of medium and large stores.     

基于熵权法的航空公司维修部门安全性能评估

运用MMEM模型和核心风险分析方法构建航空公司维修部门安全性能指标体系,建立维修误差、飞机状况、安全基础和安全管理4类安全性能指标。为了考虑主客观权重的不同影响,建立基于主客观组合权重法的航空公司维修部门安全性能综合评价模型。分别采用层次分析法和熵权法计算指标的主观权重和客观权重,采用优化理论计算指标的组合权重。以九元航空有限公司维修部门2015—2020年的数据为例进行应用,并对评价结果进行分析。结果表明,所提出的安全性能评价模型能够定量反映维修部门的安全状态,评价结果是合理的。     

Foreign aid as a promotional strategy

Developed countries are motivated by several forces when allocating aid to developing countries. The forces could be humanitarian in one country, and commercial self-interests in another. The principal objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of aid as a promotional strategy for trade, and to investigate whether major donor countries are optimally allocating their aid resources to increase their export and total trade. Models were developed to explore the effectiveness of aid as a promotional instrument for exports and total trade. Donor exports and total trade were expressed as functions of aid, per capita GNP of the recipient country, and aid from competing donors. The study showed that exports and total trade responded to total expected aid contributions and per capita GNP of the recipient countries. Also, all donors, but one, were maximizing the returns to aid, given the level of trade with recipient countries and will be reluctant to increase aid flows, given the current trade level.     

Dynamic Spillovers in the United States: Stock Market,Housing, Uncertainty,and the Macroeconomy

In this study, we examine dynamic spillovers among the housing market, stock market, and economic policy uncertainty (EPU) in the United States in a unified empirical framework. Applying the Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) methodology on monthly data over the period 1987M1–2014M11, our findings reveal the following features. First, the transmission of various types of shocks contributes significantly to economic fluctuations in the United States. Second, spillovers show large variations over time. Third, in the wake of the global financial crisis, spillovers have been exceptionally high in historical perspective. In particular, we find large spillovers from EPU, as well as stock market and housing returns to other variables, in particular inflation, industrial production and the federal funds rate. These results illustrate the contagion from the housing and financial crisis to the real economy and the strong policy reaction to stabilize the economy.     

Black capitalism

Summary and Conclusion What then has the government’s promotional effort and the increasing economic efforts of black entrepreneurs wrought? Three years is too short a span to really expect the establishment of long term trends. The most we could expect is fissures and cracks in a system that has kept Blacks out of the mainstream of American economic development.     

中国开征碳税对价格、福利及公平影响的测度

本文利用投入产出和线性需求模型分析了碳税的价格影响、福利成本、以及再分配效应。征税导致占中低收入居民支出比重较大的基本消费品价格大幅上涨,如电热水气、房屋、公共交通、食品等;从等价性变化、补偿性变化的角度看,城镇居民的福利损失随收入降低而上升,而农村居民中中等收入家庭损失最大;Atkinson公平指数显示碳税前后贫富差距有所扩大。因此,碳税具有一定累退性。但是,碳税边际福利成本及其收入差距影响并不大,因此政府可以通过转移支付手段缓解其负面冲击。     

中国开征碳税对价格、福利及公平影响的测度

本文利用投入产出和线性需求模型分析了碳税的价格影响、福利成本以及再分配效应。征税导致占中低收入居民支出比重较大的基本消费品价格大幅上涨,如电热水气、房屋、公共交通、食品等;从等价性变化、补偿性变化的角度看,城镇居民的福利损失随收入降低而上升,而农村居民中中等收入家庭损失最大;Atkinson公平指数显示碳税前后贫富差距有所扩大。因此,碳税具有一定累退性。但是,碳税边际福利成本及其收入差距影响并不大,因此政府可以通过转移支付手段缓解其负面冲击。     

我国现阶段电子商务B2C类型物流配送模式的经济学分析:以B2C网上书城为例

本文尝试以现阶段制约B2C电子商务发展的约束条件作为假设构造模型理解电子商务企业在此之下的优化选择,并且结合案例进行分析,进而提出相关的政策建议。由于现阶段信用体制的缺失,选择送货上门的配送模式是B2C电子商务网站通过把违约的风险转嫁到自己身上从而赢取消费者信任的产物。然而由此引发的较高的成本问题使得网站不得不通过设立配送费用这种价格歧视方式舍弃利润微薄的部分,在需求最为密集的小范围内进行集中经营,同时引导消费者把多单消费转为单单消费。另外,由配送体制本身的时间问题导致了整个B2C电子商务市场的现状;网上商店和传统商店的比较优势只能体现在价格上。在此基础上对电子商务企业和政府提出相关建议。     

我国农村连锁超市发展现状、问题及趋势研究

以2005年"万村千乡市场工程"的启动为标志,我国农村连锁超市进入了快速发展的新阶段,至今已取得较大进展。但无论从发展数量还是质量看,仍有很大提升空间。本文分析了其发展现状、发展中的问题,并就其未来发展趋势进行了探寻。     

Promoting Wool Internationally: The Formation of the International Wool Secretariat

Over the past 60 years the International Wool Secretariat has conducted scientific research into aspects of the wool industry, and promotional campaigns designed to boost demand for wool. The Secretariat dates its origins back to the 1930s, a time when a number of cooperative agricultural marketing programs were first initiated. In this paper the origins of the Secretariat are investigated in order to determine the precise reasons why it was founded and why it took the form that it did.     

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。     

Informal moneylenders in the Limpopo,Gauteng and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa

The article provides a critical analysis of the informal (unregistered) money-lending business and how it has served as a survival strategy for black South Africans. Using data obtained from 657 informal (unregistered) micro-moneylenders in three South African provinces, namely the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Limpopo, an analysis is undertaken to highlight how the business is organised, conducted and marketed, and how income generated from it. Provincial spatial variations and similarities relating to this economic activity are noted. Finally, the article aims at highlighting of the informal microlenders' responses to affiliation to the Micro Lenders Association and registration with the Micro Finance Regulatory Council.