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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Analysis of tenure choice and housing expenditure patterns

This study employs a selectivity model to account for the simultaneity existing between determinations of tenure status and level of spending. Important socio-economic characteristics affecting housing tenure were identified. Results indicate that income had a more important effect on the housing expenditures of renters than owners at a lower household income level. The race of the household head had a significant effect on variations in housing expenditures for owners but not for renters, suggesting that race may be a more important factor in owner-occupant than in renter-occupant housing. While household size may be an important factor in a family's decision-making in terms of buying a home, it is suggested that once tenure status is selected family size had no significant impacts on housing expenditures. Similarly, married couples were most likely to own their own homes than were other household types; however, married households did not spend more or less than other types of households on either owned or rented accommodation. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that in assessing empirical results, attention should be given to meaningful interpretation of estimated selectivity effects as well as to testing for occurrence of selectivity bias.     

浅谈美国司法审查制

司法审查制即美国法院特别是联邦最高法院有权审查联邦和各州的立法是否符合联邦宪法的制度.这一制度的产生源于美国独特的政治和历史背景.它的形成不是以宪法条文形式规定而是以判例形式确立,与美国的司法判例制度和司法实践密不可分.司法审查制的创立及其司法实践对世界很多国家,尤其是与美国实行相同或相似政体的国家产生了重大影响.     

Residential smoke detector performance in the United States

Abstract

The National Smoke Detector Project is a large public/private partnership sponsored by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the United States Fire Administration, National Fire Protection Association, and the Congressional Fire Services Institute. The major goal of the Project is to decrease the number of residential fire deaths in the US by increasing the number of working smoke detectors in homes.

In support of this effort, in 1992 the CPSC conducted a national survey of the operability of smoke detectors in homes. The purpose of the Smoke Detector Operability Survey was to determine the extent of and reasons for non-working detectors in the general population of households. Detectors that did not respond to a test with standard aerosol smoke (initially or after power was restored) along with those with no power source and with which consumers experienced problems were collected and analyzed in the CPSC Engineering Laboratory.

The data gathered from this survey (and a similar study of homes experiencing fires) will define smoke detector inoperability problems so that solutions can be developed and implemented in the form of updated consumer safety messages and changes in smoke detector design or performance standards and code requirements.     

United States Trade in Consumer Products

The United States has experienced a large trade deficit in consumer products. This paper argues that the deficit is due in part to the institutional and behavioral frameworks in which consumer products are marketed. The existence of an effective mass distribution system, a large market relative to promotion expenditures and the change-orientation of the consumer can influence greatly the ability of nations to expand markets and stimulate sales of consumer products. These factors prevalent in the American economy have attracted imports. In contrast, their absence in the economies of our trading partners has limited our access to foreign markets. Policy implications of this situation and areas for further research are identified and discussed.     

Market Distribution of Potato Products in the United States

Abstract

Potatoes are the most important vegetable crop in the United States, accounting for 16 percent of all vegetable and melon farm cash receipts in 1998. However, little is known about the distribution of potato consumption across different marketing sectors, geographic regions, or population groups. Using data from USDA's 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals, this study examines the consumption distribution of six potato products in the United States. The analysis indicates that fast-food establishments and restaurants dominate the french fries market. There are distinct regional variations in the use of potato use. African Americans consume more potato chips and french fries, on a per capita basis, than other Americans. Senior Americans favor consumption of fresh and canned potatoes, while teenagers consume more chips and french fries than others.