The Intergenerational Transmission of Automobile Brand Preferences

We document a strong correlation in the brand of automobile chosen by parents and their adult children, using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. This correlation could represent transmission of brand preferences across generations, or it could result from correlation in family characteristics that determine brand choice. We present a variety of empirical specifications that lend support to the former interpretation and to a mechanism that relies at least in part on state dependence. We then discuss implications of intergenerational brand preference transmission for automakers’ product‐line strategies and for the strategic pricing of vehicles to different age groups.     

Workers' Preferences in Concession Bargaining

Prior to recent contract negotiations, members of a very large United Steelworkers of America local union were asked to fill out a contract questionnaire regarding their preferences for various benefits and their willingness to strike to avoid making concessions. This paper reports the survey results and compares the members' pre-contractual preferences with the actual negotiated settlement.     

The Home Purchase Mortgage Preferences of Low- and Moderate-Income Households

Housing policy in the United States has long supported homeownership, yet variation persists across income groups. This article employs recent mortgage origination data to focus on the revealed preferences of low- and moderate-income (LMI) households in home purchase mortgage choice. I identify the factors associated with conventional conforming, FHA, nonprime and specially targeted programs. Empirical results show that individual credit characteristics and financial factors, including pricing, generally drive product choice, with some variation evident when loans are originated through brokers. Results also indicate that targeted conventional programs effectively compete with government-insured products in the LMI segment.     

The Diversity of R&D Consortia and Firm Behavior: Evidence from Japanese Data

An empirical analysis of Japanese government-sponsored R&D consortia involving 213 firms over 13 years shows that the diversity of a consortium is associated with greater R&D expenditure by participating firms. Diversity is alternatively measured by the Montgomery [1982] index, based on 3-digit SIC codes, and Branstetter and Sakakibara's [1998] modification of the Jaffe [1986] patent portfolio based index.     

Japanese Research Consortia: A Microeconometric Analysis of Industrial Policy

Despite the existence of much theoretical research analyzing the potential benefits and costs of R&D consortia, there has been little corresponding empirical work on their efficacy. In this paper, we undertake a large-sample econometric study of Japanese government-sponsored research consortia. We find evidence that frequent participation in these consortia has a positive impact on research expenditure and research productivity. These results hold after controlling for the potential endogeneity of intensity of participation in consortia to participating firms' research productivity. Furthermore, we find evidence that part of this impact arises from the increased knowledge spillovers that take place within these consortia.     

The Spatial Distribution of Housing-Related Ordinary Income Tax Benefits

We estimate how tax subsidies to owner-occupied housing are distributed spatially across the United States and find striking skewness. At the state level, the mean tax benefit per owned unit in 1990 ranged from $917 in South Dakota to $10,718 in Hawaii. The dispersion is slightly greater when benefit flows are measured at the metropolitan-area level. Even assuming the subsidies are funded in an income progressivity-neutral manner, a relatively few metro areas, primarily in California and the New York–Boston corridor, are shown to gain considerably while the vast majority of areas have relatively small gains or losses.     

The Variation of Homeowner Tax Preferences by Income, Age and Leverage

It is well known that owner-occupied housing has long received favorable tax treatment in the U.S. federal income tax system relative to a system in which all income, regardless of its source, is subject to taxation. As a result, many economists have argued that the United States overinvests in owner-occupied housing relative to the investment that would result from a neutral income tax system. In addition, the distribution of the subsidy is often viewed as inequitable because high-income households receive the largest subsidy per dollar of housing. This article uses the 2005 American Housing Survey, conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, to perform a microlevel analysis of the current magnitude and distribution of homeowner tax preferences. We then assess how the magnitude and distribution of tax preferences would be altered by replacement of the mortgage interest deduction with a 15% credit.     

The Role of Supplemental Disability Benefits in Income Security for Injured Workers

Using a stratified random sample from the Michigan Bureua of Workers' Disabilitys Compensation claims files, the author examined the distribution of disability benefits across injured workers to detemine which workers have access to disability benefits in addition to workers' compensation. Using a ligit model, the result indicate that low-income workers employed by smaller, less financially stable firms are more likely to depend exclusively on workers' compensation for income while disabled The policy implication is that the burden of the problems with workers' compensation is more likely to fall on those workers who are least able to bear it.     

优质服务最终体现在让用户受惠

一、优质服务最终体现在优质电能的供给上，否则一切都无从谈起，因此搞好优质服务也需要一定的条件乌盟电业局下属１１个旗县市，以农用电为主。其特点是管理范围大、用户散、用电量低、贫困地区多。这里线路大多是６０年代安装的，以后由于财力有限，很少维修，许多电力设施破烂不堪，因此常常发生事故时有停电、限电线损高，电价高，有的一度电高达３元多。虽然电力职工尽心尽力，但用户还是怨声载道。１９９８年国家搞农网改造，乌盟电业局抓住这一机遇，先后投资４．５亿元，对农网进行了改造。改造后的电网供电半径趋于合理，末端电压…     

图书馆建设“企业文化”——以人为本理念

党的十六大要求建设社会主义和谐社会,强调以人为本。本文结合管理学中的企业文化建设,完善图书馆的人本管理。     

应用信息技术也要算成本效益账

供电企业是资金技术密集型企业，近年来在应用信息技术改造传统产业方面始终走在前列，在管理层面的电网调度管理、变电站管理、安全管理，以及市场营销、财务管理、计划管理、人力资源管理、办公事务管理等等都在应用信息技术，对于提高供电安全可靠性和工作效率发挥了不可替代的作用。但在信息技术应用的成本管理中存在不容忽视的问题，极易形成企业成本管理中的黑洞，有必要对此进行深入研究，以较低的成本推动企业的现代化。 　　供电企业信息技术应用成本管理中存在的主要问题，首先是忽视机会成本。目前许多供电企业经营管理中面临的…     

The Nature and Benefits of National Brand/Private Label Competition

The article highlights the history of national brand/private label competition. Itargues that the private labels of large retail chains possess unique competitiveweapons to constrain the market power of powerful national brands that are notavailable to rival manufacturers' brands. Consumer welfare is maximized whenprivate labels and national brands compete vigorously rather than when eitherone is too dominant. There is some ominous recent evidence that the vigor ofnational brand/private label competition is sometimes being diminished bycollusion between the two kinds of brands.     

The lasting qualities of PERT: Preferences and perceptions of R&D project managers

This survey was conducted on the perceived popularity of PERT and PERT-type management systems; whether PERT'S applications were static, increasing, or decreasing, and whether its use was by choice or imposition. The extent of applications of PERT for managing various types of research and development (R&D) was examined with the view to ascertaining its individual popularity when applied to (a) basic research, (b) applied research, or (c) development projects. In addition, an inquiry was made into the estimated expense of PERT systems to plan and control projects as a percentage of the budget. The results of the survey are presented and discussed relative to various sizes of R&D organizations.     

The Influence of Temporal Distance on Consumer Preferences for Technology‐Based Innovations*

Rapid technological developments in the computer and the telecommunications industries have spurred the introduction of technology‐based products. An important feature of these products is that they can be characterized based on improvements in the functionality and the interface. When consumers evaluate a technology‐based product, they face a trade‐off: How should they choose between a product that offers a superior functionality and another product that offers a superior interface? The present research focuses on how temporal distance (i.e., time) from the purchase or use occasion of a technology‐based innovation influences consumers' evaluations of the new product. Specifically, the present study examines how temporal distance affects the trade‐offs consumers make between improvements in the interface and improvements in the functionality of a new product. This research demonstrates that the weight consumers place on the functionality and the interface of a new product is a function of the temporal distance. Specifically, the functionality of the product is valued more in distant future events. In contrast, the interface of the product is more important in the near future. This research has direct implications for various aspects of the new product development process such as customer‐product research methods used, communication strategies, and product preannouncements.     

Photoshop中自定义图案库在旗袍设计中的应用

利用平面设计软件Photoshop进行自定义图案库的设计与应用,绘制比手绘效果更加逼真、形式更加多样、表现技法更加丰富的图案,使旗袍设计师从最大程度上摆脱重复、繁杂的手工操作,有更多的时间去做创造性工作。图案库的研究也为服装企业生产提供随手可用的、可以灵活更改的图库,对于推动旗袍设计、生产、经营,促进中国民族服装行业的发展也具有极其重要的作用。