“皮凯蒂税”：世界收入差距趋势研判与我国的政策选择

从“巴菲特税”到斯蒂格利茨“不平等的代价”,从“皮凯蒂税”到2015年诺贝尔经济学奖获得者迪顿因对收入差距问题的关注而获奖,收入差距问题是始终伴随人类社会发展长期存在、无法回避的“痼疾”,具有很强的现实研究价值。本文从《21世纪资本论》的争论分析入手,探讨了对高收入者征收“皮凯蒂税”命题提出的背景及征收的可行性。本文分别对欧洲国家、美国、东亚地区及拉美国家的收入差距状况、社会保障体系的现状与困境进行了分析,探讨了“皮凯蒂税”的现实根源;分析了中国收入差距状况及社会保障体系的情况,认为应实施“包容性增长”的财税政策作为“皮凯蒂税”发挥作用的配套措施。     

How emotional,politically civil and local aspects affect young adults’ sustainable consumption in transition economies

Sustainable consumption manifolds and mobilizes one’s conscious choice to express a politically implied stance on environmental/cultural/social issues, to address social and/or ecological injustices, to reproduce or restore order and justice, as well as to fulfill responsibilities of a citizen consumer. Based on this premise, this paper attempts to explore what sustainable consumption means to young adults in Hong Kong. Findings from three focus groups and six follow-up interviews reveal that Hong Kong young adults’ sustainable consumption embeds their political ideals to construct collective civil power to fight against the structural inequalities, market hegemonies, imperial dominance and social/ecological injustice locally. The findings point to the need to further define and refine the unspecified concept of “reflexivity” in existing literature. The paper also unveils how the concept of “sustainable consumption” has evolved from the “individual,” “global,” “rational,” “remotely moral” and “ideological” to the “communal,” “local,” “emotional,” “politically civil” and “actional.”     

Further insights into perceived value and consumer loyalty: A “Green” perspective

“Green consumption” is an increasingly important topic in today's society. The effect of the ecological value provided by traditionally non‐green products, such as automobiles, on their consumer's post‐purchase behavior, such as brand or model loyalty, requires further clarification. The present study provides qualitative and quantitative insights from car users on how the ecological aspect of consumption integrates into the link between perceived value and consumer loyalty intentions (value–loyalty link). In general, car usage is accompanied by perceived functional, economic, emotional, and social value. Perceived ecological value is shown to have a significant impact on these four value dimensions. The relevance of “green to have quality,” “green to save money,” “green to feel good,” and “green to be seen” in relation to loyalty intention is discussed. Results of a structural equation model and multigroup analysis provide the opportunity to derive both theoretical and applied implications. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Trends in business thought and literature: International perspectives on managers in a dual society

New winds are blowing as the 20th century draws to a close. Globalization of markets, emerging technologies, and a green alliance are factors leading to drastic changes in the structure of business and indeed in humanity itself. Market globalization results from the shrinking of the planet under a transport and telecommunications revolution. Television has become a global mirror that reflects human society, albeit imperfectly. The image transmitted is of a multicultural, heterogeneous society with a growing gap between world socioeconomic realities. Management is and will increasingly be a critical resource for development. Considerable investment has been made in all countries of the world on the training and development of managers and emerging realities will pose unprecedented demands on management development. These new challenges include new work methods, energy constraints, ecological concerns, demographic growth, product shortages, and geo-social-political instability. A radical change can hardly be expected in management education in the short term. It is possible, however, to insert an “innovation gene” in management education institutions to provoke a lasting change process. To determine such a “gene” it is advisable to screen some of the assessments that were made recently and to propose a search for “islands of modernization” in management education and training. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Viewing Responsible Consumption as a Personal Project

Previous research on “responsible consumption” (RC) has focused on the inconsistencies of responsible consumers and has used the term “gap” to refer to these inconsistencies. Observable difficulties, such as a lack of available responsible products and their higher associated costs, have been given as explanations for this gap. A much more complex explanation emerges when RC is seen holistically, a long‐term perspective is adopted, when consumers are studied in their daily life, and consumption is seen as a social activity. The argument developed in this paper draws fundamentally on psychology, in particular on the literature on personal projects. By using an inductive methodology (grounded theory), a case is made for treating responsible consumption as one of many personal projects that an individual may undertake. Since consumers have a project network and projects are not always aligned with one another, there is frequently a clash between projects. This clash can be interpersonal (with other projects of the same individual) or intrapersonal (with the projects, beliefs, norms of his/her significant others). The main contribution of this paper is that it puts forward a holistic, dynamic, and socially embedded view of RC which leads to questioning the notion of “gap.”     

Understanding Customers' Intention to Seek for a Better Deal in Electronic Marketplace: The Role of Tolerance for Sacrifice Gap

ABSTRACT

Online consumers make frequent use of the Internet to search for product and price information. In this study, an online model is proposed and empirically tested in investigating the role of tolerance for sacrifice gap in understanding customers' intention to seek for a better deal. Data was collected through an online survey. Structural equation modeling was employed to test hypotheses. The results show that tolerance for sacrifice gap was not only a strong predictor of intention for continuing search but also itself being related to consumer product knowledge, perceived control, and consumer product involvement. Direct relationship between another construct “perceived reduction in sacrifice gap” and “intention to seek for a better deal” was also found. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

Self-Service Technologies and e-Services Risks in Social Commerce Era

In this paper we argue that greater attention must be given to peoples’ expression of “care” in relation to consumption. We suggest that “caring about” does not necessarily lead to “care-giving,” as conceptualising an attitude–behaviour gap might imply, but that a closer examination of the intensity, morality, and articulation of care can lead to a greater understanding of consumer narratives and, thus, behaviour. To examine this proposition, a purposive sample of self-identified ethical consumers was interviewed. Care is expressed by the study’s participants in a variety of ways and linked to behaviour through diverse patterns that includes consumption and abstention. We find significant correspondence between the academic literature on the ‘ethics of care’ and our participants’ articulation of their ethical consumption behaviours. We suggest, therefore, that a close understanding of an ethics of care among consumers is important both in providing insight into the attitude–behaviour gap challenge evident in the literature and to the continued development of an ethical consumption discourse.     

Reproducing “rhetrickery” in online fertility marketing: harnessing the “rhetoric of the possible”

ABSTRACT

This article addresses the gap in research on visual and narrative persuasion in online fertility marketing contexts and reveals their reliance on rhetorical ruses embedded in the language of “choice” and “empowerment”. We assess four websites targeting women and men who have experienced infertility and expose their “digirhetrickery”, or use of deceptive rhetoric in digital space which exploits gendered stereotypes of the female body in ways that ultimately mislead their target markets about assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) and the “liberatory” potential they offer. We advance digital rhetoric as an analytical method to the field of consumer research in order to engage in a reflexive analysis that reveals these underhand ideological operations. As “authorial voices” and narrative agents in digital advertising discourse are more cunningly subterranean, this study shows how the instrumentalization of “consumer empowerment” has become increasingly hyperbolic with particularly problematic consequences for infertile women consumers.     

Cooperation versus competition: do buyers and suppliers really see eye-to-eye?

Purchasers have used a variety of tools to help improve the performance of their suppliers’ processes and products. Results of two large-scale surveys that compare buyer and supplier perceptions of a common customer firm's supplier development and its supply base's adoption of total quality management are reported here. One customer, known for its cooperative (partnership-like) approach to supplier relations, is contrasted with another firm that uses supplier switching to meet its procurement needs. Analysis of the survey data indicates that buyers and suppliers have a better “shared understanding” (smaller satisfaction gap) within the “competitive” relationship than within the “cooperative” relationship.     

Developments in the international distribution of income

The question of income distribution played a very important role in practical and theoretical development policy during the seventies. World market conditions were blamed for the fact that the income gap between industrialised countries and developing countries was widening. The demands to which this has given rise range from calls for “greater reliance on market forces”, “modification of the market form” and “greater market intervention” to insistence on the complete abolition of free market relationships. How has the relative income position of various groups of developing countries evolved in the last few decades?     

Home and away: Why do consumers shy away from reporting negative experiences in the peer‐to‐peer realms?

This study investigates how customers use their construct of “home” in evaluating their experience in peer‐to‐peer rented accommodation, as opposed to traditional hotels. The literature has paid considerable attention to people's perceptions of destinations, but almost none to their perceptions of “home” and its complexities whilst visiting a destination. We examine the relationships between the concepts of “home” or “here” represented in peer‐to‐peer accommodation and the construct of “away” or “there” represented in traditional hotels. A mixed‐method approach determines the existence of bias in reporting behavior. Our findings indicate that there is a consistent review gap between institutional actors and peer‐to‐peer actors. Also, consumers of peer‐to‐peer accommodation prefer not to engage in negative reporting if a bond with the host is developed. This perception of a home shapes consumers' relationship with the host and leads to reporting bias. This study provides clear theoretical insights to advance our knowledge about the underlying motives behind reporting behavior of negative experiences. Furthermore, it offers practical implications for both institutional and peer‐to‐peer contexts.     

Understanding the Racial/Ethnic Gap in Bank Account Ownership among Older Adults

The observed racial/ethnic gap in bank account ownership among older adults is substantial. We investigate socioeconomic, cognitive, and cultural barriers underling it. As additional potential barriers are accounted for, the residual gaps in financial inclusion with respect to Whites are reduced by 19% for blacks and 46% for Hispanics. We find that citizenship and “taste for privacy” play a limited role for both minority groups, while real asset ownership, health, cognitive ability, and cultural hurdles contribute substantially to the gap. For Hispanics, language barriers explain most of the gap, while neighborhood‐level socioeconomic characteristics are more salient for blacks. We also examine how the racial/ethnic composition of couples influences financial decisions. We estimate a significantly smaller residual gap between “mixed” and white couples than between minority and white couples. We provide empirical evidence suggesting that, other things equal, mixed couples are less concerned with the cultural/psychological barriers facing minority couples.     

Knowledge,Skills, and Abilities for the Market Economy: An Investigation of Student Perceptions Before and After China's WTO Entry

This exploratory study conducted in the People's Republic of China sought to determine the managerial knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are perceived as important for the Chinese market economy. Questionnaire responses were collected from 145 business students in 2001 (before China's WTO entry) and 141 business students in 2006 (after China's WTO entry). The identified set of eight managerial knowledge, skills, and abilities included: business area knowledge and skills, communication skills, creativity/adaptability, ethics, leadership, problem solving, teamwork, and work habits. For each time period examined, the mean score for “importance” of each KSA was significantly higher than the mean score for “presence.” The differences between the importance mean and the presence mean for each KSA was denoted as a “gap.” This study revealed that five of the eight KSAs had a significantly smaller gap in 2006 than in 2001. This suggests that the business education system in China is enabling the development of more effective managers for the Chinese market economy.     

Account Planners' Views on How Their Work Is and Should Be Evaluated

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the nature of green advertising, thus demonstrating that the concept is far more complex than the extant marketing literature suggests. Green is characterized here as a two dimensional concept with political (reformism to radicalism) and human positional (anthropocentric to ecocentric) dimensions. It is argued here that there are at least five different types of green, including environmentalism, conservationism, human welfare ecology, preservationism, and ecologism. To understand the greenness of an advertisement, it is useful to position it within this framework; and each type suggests a different human position with respect to nature and a different political orientation. The proposed framework is useful for defining terms such as “green,” “environmental,” and “ecological” which are often used interchangeably in the marketing and advertising literature.     

Does International Trade Catch Up with National Trade of Countries? Yes

The article applies an index suggested by Jeffrey Frankel on how to measure the gap between the intensity of national versus international transactions of a country to more than 100 countries over four periods between 1990 and 2005. The gap stands for “incomplete” globalization. It is shown that the gap has steadily declined for most countries over the sample period, irrespective of income levels. While larger economies are still less globalized than small economies, differences in domestic market size have become less important as a dividing line between more and less globalized economies.     

Measuring Generation Y consumers’ perceptions of green practices at Starbucks: An IPA analysis

Following the trend of sustainability, many organizations in the restaurant industry have considered this movement as an opportunity and have started to “go green.” In this study, we analyzed Starbucks, the American global coffeehouse chain. Through an importance-performance analysis, we investigated the gap between the importance assigned by customers to a set of green practices that can be implemented by restaurants and their perception of Starbucks’ performance. The results suggest that, by making some green practices visible to their customers, Starbucks is creating the perception that the company is performing well in several other “green” areas.     

Cluster-Based Advantages in the Innovation Process: The Diffusion of Nanotechnology in Two Chinese Cities

Researchers have shown that “cluster” is a more useful unit of analysis than “nation” in innovation studies. Clusters are characterized by interconnected organizations, shared resources and frequent knowledge flows. Within national boundaries, multiple clusters with different relative advantages may coexist, and exhibit very different innovation patterns. Yet, in studies of innovation in emerging economies, there remains little attention on cluster-based advantages, and how these advantages generate distinct patterns of innovation. To bridge this gap, this study analyzes the diffusion patterns of nanotechnology in two Chinese clusters—Beijing and Shanghai. With different relative advantages, the diffusion of nanotechnology has been oriented by different levels of “imitation” and “innovation” forces in the two Chinese clusters. This study applies the Bass Model to quantify imitation and innovation forces, and compare the resultant diffusion patterns of nanotechnology in the two clusters with other technologies. Supplementary qualitative data is also provided to show how Chinese scientists perceive their relative advantages in different clusters. Among other things, the findings suggest that scientists of emerging economies favor the learning-by-doing principle while utilizing external networks.     

中国与“一带一路”沿线国家与地区机电产品贸易强度动态变化及其影响因素研究

“一带一路”倡议的提出和实施为中国与“一带一路”沿线国家与地区间机电贸易合作提供了新机遇。基于“一带一路”沿线60个国家与地区2010—2018年机电产品贸易数据,使用改进的双边显示性贸易偏好指数测度中国同“一带一路”沿线国家与地区机电产品贸易强度的动态变化,并采用扩展引力模型检验其主要影响因素。研究结果表明:中国同“一带一路”沿线国家与地区的机电产品贸易强度日益增加,且出口强度高于进口强度,周边邻国高于其他国家;技术差距、“一带一路”沿线国家与地区的市场需求、外贸开放度、政府规模、地缘优势等因素可以显著促进中国同“一带一路”沿线国家与地区双边机电产品贸易强度。     

企业生态系统社会责任互动的涵蕴与管理变革

传统的单向度、一元价值创造的企业社会责任研究范式需要向多向度、多元价值创造的企业社会责任研究范式演进和发展。文章在企业生态系统与企业社会责任的理论契合的基础上,提出和探究了企业生态系统社会责任互动的涵蕴与合理性表征,并提出企业生态系统社会责任互动的管理变革思路。企业生态系统社会责任互动的合理性表征为系统关联、复杂非线性、超系统的构建,其影响效应体现在缓解共生伙伴间的个体差异性冲突、降低信息不对称风险、更好地创造顾客价值、共创系统价值。互动视角下的企业生态系统社会责任研究会带来一场企业社会责任的管理变革,主要体现在生态共生、交互控制、价值拓展、互惠共赢、价值合一这五个方面。文章研究了拓展企业社会责任理论的研究领域和层面,有助于企业经营管理者摆脱战略近视,引导企业自觉地以生态学观点为指导去处理同其他企业与环境的社会责任关系,提升适应环境和改造环境的能力并实现企业可持续发展。     

Why Do We Read On‐Pack Nutrition Information so Differently? A Typology of Reading Heuristics Based on Food Consumption Goals

While prior research has extensively studied nutrition labeling use and consumer errors of judgment in the nutrition evaluation process, less attention has been paid to the consumer motivations that simplify the reading of on‐pack nutrition information. To address this gap, this study examines how food consumption goals affect consumer reading of this information. On the basis of a qualitative study, eight food consumption goals have been identified and classified into four types of motivations which impact reading behaviors: “Food Optimization,” “Food Regulation,” “Food Gratification,” and “Food as Mere Necessity.” From this typology, we derive eight on‐pack nutrition information reading heuristics as well as specific inference biases resulting from these simplifying reading strategies. This research also provides guidelines for policymakers so that nutritional messages given to consumers will be more targeted in order to promote better reading of on‐pack nutrition information at the point of sales.