Culture and consumption expenditure patterns: comparison between Korean and United States households

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify household consumption expenditure patterns in the US and to determine if these patterns are different from those of Korean households. Data were cluster analysed, and the results revealed four different consumption expenditure patterns for US and Korean households. Logit analysis showed that consumption expenditure patterns of households in both countries are likely to vary depending on socioeconomic factors. Similarities and differences in consumption expenditure patterns between cultures are discussed, and implications are provided.     

Understanding household consumption patterns in Pakistan

This study analyzes the household consumption patterns in urban and rural regions using Household Integrated Expenditure Survey of Pakistan for the year 2001–2002. Engel curves are estimated by spline quadratic expenditure system for expenditures on 18 commodity groups. The breakdown of the household size into demographic groups by age and sex has proved to be a successful exercise in explaining consumption patterns. This study shows that consumption of food and non-food items is significantly affected by changes in total expenditure and household size. According to the findings of the current study, grains, dairy, housing and health appear as luxury commodities in urban areas while poultry, fruit, electricity, entertainment and durables are treated as luxuries in the rural area. Moreover, poverty has proved to be a main cause of illiteracy because education appears as a luxury commodity for the poor.     

Functional equivalence in cross-cultural consumer behavior: Gift giving in Japan and the United States

The functional equivalence of products and consumer activities across cultures is a largely unexplored area. Yet, the lack of functional equivalence that exists may suggest the need for modification of some concepts and theories of consumer behavior. The study reported in this paper explores the functional equivalence that exists between U.S. and Japanese consumers in an important consumer activity—gift giving. The results suggest a lack of functional equivalence of this activity and illustrate how researchers should give explicit consideration to this issue in the development and testing of consumer concepts and models.     

Consumption levels of households based on expenditure and household production

The distribution of consumption is the relative ranking of households with regard to their consumption level. This article discusses the possibilities and some of the problems in measuring consumption levels by combining expenditure and household production into one total figure. The feasibility of our approach is illustrated by using data from the Dutch 1980 budget survey and the 1980 time use study. The findings show that this total figure differs more between households of different size than between households by stage of life cycle or by income level.     

Industrial Policy in the United States

Does US government policy purposefully benefit particular industries or is industrial policy absent in the USA? Based on a review of recent US policies this paper argues that the USA applies many policies with an industry-specific impact. But these policies do not differ significantly from those in other countries and the process in which US industrial policies emerge severely limits their consistency. What differentiates the USA is a microeconomic business environment that enables a high degree of regional specialization, benefits especially knowledge-driven industries, and raises the impact of innovation and entrepreneurship policies.     

中国律师美国之行

熟悉WTO规则的八都知道这一点:WTO表面上看起来是政府间的协议,实际上在很大程度上体现的是各成员方企业和行业的利益,很多WTO纠纷实质就是成员方的企业之间对市场的争夺。所以,关于中国入世的话题,不应再停留在挑战、机遇及应对这些宏观层面的探讨上,而应进入指导企业如何实际操作中。而企业,尤其是大中型企业,有进出口业务的企业,在中国入世之后更需要WTO法律专家或律师的帮助。鉴于此,国家司法部、国家外国专家局于年前在10多万律师从业大军中,选拔出10名律师和7名法学院教师,首次赴美研修WTO争端解决机制。中国律师此行情况如何,他们给中国企业带来了哪些实质性东西成了业界关注焦点。     

Corporate Community Contributions in the United Kingdom and the United States

We address the issue of UK firms relatively poor record of corporate community contributions (CCCs) by subjecting them to formal comparison with those of US firms. To this end, we employ data on the top 100 UK, and top 100 US, contributors in 2001. Cross-country differences are described and discussed with reference to a stakeholder perspective on corporate social responsibility, and CCCs in particular. In this connection, we evaluate the role played by the sectoral composition of activities, as well as national, cultural and institutional factors. Our findings highlight a number of significant cross-country differences in the pattern of CCCs and suggest that UK and US firms operate within significantly different stakeholder environments.JEL Classification: M14Stephen Brammer is a Lecturer in Business Economics at University of Bath, with research interests in the area of corporate social responsibility. Much of his recent research has examined the stimuli for corporate socially responsive behaviour, the management of business social responsibilities, and the relationships between firm social performance and other dimensions of corporate performance. Recent publications include articles in the Journal of Management Studies, the European Management Journal and Business Ethics: A European Review.Stephen Pavelin is a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Reading, with research interests in foreign direct investment and corporate social responsibility. His current research agenda seeks to address: the effect of corporate social performance on the reputations and financial performance of firms; the incidence and quality of social and environmental reporting; demographic diversity (regarding gender and ethnicity) among corporate boards; and the effect of firms geographical diversification on their social performance. Recent publications include articles in the International Journal of Industrial Organisation, the Open Economies Review, the European Management Journal and Business Ethics: A European Review.     

Supermarket self-checkout usage in the United States

While some retailers have installed more self-service checkouts, others have removed them. A possible explanation is that their customer profiles differ. Previous research provides an incomplete or inconsistent picture of self-checkout users. This study uses an Internet survey of 605 adults to explore sociodemographic and attitude linkages with supermarket self-checkout interest. Interest in self-checkouts was negatively linked with age and with technological anxiety. Risk tolerance may also influence interest. Retailers should examine their current and future customer ages when considering self-checkout installations. Technology upgrades that reduce customer anxiety and decrease potential embarrassment about using self-checkouts may increase use.     

Child-resistant cigarette lighters in the United States

Abstract

On July 12,1993, the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published a mandatory safety standard requiring disposable and novelty cigarette lighters to be child-resistant. Annually in the United States, children under 5 years of age playing with lighters cause more than 5,000 residential fires, resulting in approximately 150 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries. The standard is expected to prevent about 100 of those fire-related deaths each year. The standard includes labeling, testing, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements for manufacturers and importers. The standard applies to lighters manufactured in the United States or imported after July 11, 1994.

A study of actual child-play fire incidents was conducted as part of the initial work on the project to develop a safety standard. The major objectives of the study were:

1) to determine the age and sex of the children starting the fires, 2) to establish the methods the children used to operate the lighters, and 3) to identify the types of lighters involved. The study was conducted by CPSC field staff with the help of fire departments around the United States. Two hundred seventy-seven fires were investigated. Major findings of the study included

? Disposable butane lighters were involved in the majority of the fires.

? The children starting the fires were primarily 3 and 4 years old.

? Male children starting the fires outnumbered female children by a ratio of 4 to 1.

? Most children used two hands to operate the lighters.

Based on the analysis of the study results, the CPSC staff concluded that child-resistant lighters could be an effective means of addressing the risk of injury and death associated with child-play fires.     

Economics in Europe and the United States

Abstract

Business disciplines, including international business, are influenced by economics. This paper examines the facilitating role played by the English language in the dissemination of works in economics and attempts to show that authors who use English gain significant advantage over others. A look into the backgrounds of Nobel Prize winning economists and the predominance of American and British journals lend support to this view. Also, the overwhelming influence of quantitative neo-classical economics, which has gained great strength in the United States, seems to spread to the rest of the world. Still, international business is markedly different from economics not only in content but also in its relationship with other social sciences.     

Socially Responsible Investing in the United States

Socially responsible investing (SRI) has emerged in recent years as a dynamic and quickly growing segment of the U.S. financial services industry involving over $2 trillion in professionally managed assets. Its conceptual origins can be found in the early history of civilization, with it's modern roots in the 1960s. This paper provides an overview of the breadth and depth of the concept and practice of socially and environmentally responsible investing, describes the investment strategies that together define SRI as currently practiced in the U.S., offers several observations about some of the factors fueling its dramatic growth, and presents data showing that investors who choose to invest in a socially and environmentally responsible manner can do so without giving up investment returns. SRI has matured to a point where virtually any investment need can be met through portfolio design that integrates an investor's personal values, institutional mission, and/or social priorities.The socially responsible investment industry in the UnitedStates is a young phenomenon. Even referring to it as an "industry" ten years ago may have been a bit of a stretch. While it has grown dramatically in recent years, it is an area of work, of study and of practical application that continues to evolve in many significant ways.One intriguing example of the ongoing development of the field can be found in the analysis of the language used to describe it. The terms social investing, socially responsible investing, ethical investing, socially aware investing, socially conscious investing, green investing, values-based investing, and mission-based or mission-related investing all refer to the same general process and are often used interchangeably.     

Proprietorship and unemployment in the United States

Unemployment and proprietorship can be related in several ways. As unemployment increases, individuals with fewer job alternatives may choose to start their own business resulting in an increase in proprietorship. Alternatively, if an increase in unemployment is the result of a depressed economy, higher unemployment may lead to less demand for the products and services of proprietors, thus reducing proprietorship. Finally, greater proprietorship may lead to future increases in employment as these businesses grow. This can potentially reduce unemployment in the long run. We apply a panel vector autoregressive model to unemployment and proprietorship data from the U.S. states for the years 1976 to 2009 to examine if these effects are apparent in the data. We find that unemployment Granger causes proprietorship, but proprietorship does not Granger cause unemployment.