Marketers’ use of alternative front-of-package nutrition symbols: An examination of effects on product evaluations

How front-of-package (FOP) nutrition icon systems affect product evaluations for more and less healthful objective nutrition profiles is a critical question facing food marketers, consumers, and the public health community. We propose a conceptually-based hierarchical continuum to guide predictions regarding the effectiveness of several FOP systems currently used in the marketplace. In Studies 1a and 1b, we compare the effects of a broad set of FOP icons on nutrition evaluations linked to health, accuracy of evaluations, and purchase intentions for a single product. Based on these findings, Studies 2 and 3 test the effects of two conceptually-different FOP icon systems in a retail laboratory in which consumers make comparative evaluations of multiple products at the retail shelf. While there are favorable effects of each system beyond control conditions with no FOP icons, results show that icons with an evaluative component that aid consumers’ interpretations generally provide greater benefits (particularly in product comparison contexts). We offer implications for consumer packaged goods marketers, retailers, and the public policy and consumer health communities.     

Audit education role in decreasing the expectation gap

The need for change in the accounting and audit profession is a topic discussed and accepted by both regulators and accounting professionals. The authors aimed to investigate whether audit education has an effect on the existence of the audit expectation gap. To achieve this objective, they administered a survey on students, used as proxies for different categories of stakeholders. The results highlight that audit education is impactful in covering the audit reasonableness gap, thus more action in this direction is necessary.     

Information Asymmetry Determinants of Sarbanes-Oxley Wealth Effects

We investigate the roles of information asymmetry and governance in the wealth effects associated with passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) for a sample of 1,158 firms. For events suggesting adoption of stringent reform legislation, we find more (less) favorable abnormal returns (ARs) for firms with high (low) information asymmetry and for firms with weak (strong) governance. More favorable effects could result from expected improvements for firms with high information asymmetry or weak governance. Firms with positive ARs experience information asymmetry reductions post-SOX, indicating the market was able to discern the firms that would most benefit from the legislation's passage.     

Trade liberalization and organizational change

We embed a simple incomplete-contracts model of organization design in a standard two-country perfectly-competitive trade model to examine how the liberalization of product and factor markets affects the ownership structure of firms. In our model, managers decide whether or not to integrate their firms, trading off the pecuniary benefits of coordinating production decisions with the private benefits of operating in their preferred ways. The price of output is a crucial determinant of this choice, since it affects the size of the pecuniary benefits. Organizational choices also depend on the terms of trade in supplier markets, which affect the division of surplus between managers. We show that, even when firms do not relocate across countries, the price changes triggered by the liberalization of product markets can lead to changes in ownership structures within countries. The removal of barriers to factor mobility can also induce widespread restructuring, which can lead to increases in product prices (or declines in quality), hurting consumers worldwide.     

Cultural production,place and politics on the South Bank of the Thames

The past decade has seen an increasing interest in the cultural economies of cities by public bodies keen to address issues of urban decline. This article documents recent developments on the South Bank of the Thames in central London where cultural investments appear to be clustered and where attempts have been made to give spatial and policy coherence to a range of new development projects. The local authority promotes the South Bank as London’s new cultural quarter. However, this strategy is an opportunist and image‐based response to dominant property speculation interests. The management of cultural production in this part of London reveals limits to local coalition building and the limited influence of local strategies on the development process. The article questions whether the cultural quarter is an appropriate scale for managing the development of cultural industries as a motor for economic development in particular. Depuis une dizaine d’années, les autorités publiques qui s’occupent du déclin urbain s’intéressent de plus en plus à la dimension économique de la culture dans les villes. Cet article présente ce qui s’est passé sur la rive sud de la Tamise au centre de Londres où une tentative a été faite pour donner une cohérence spatiale à une série de nouveaux projets. L’autorité locale vend la South Bank comme un nouveau centre culturel. Cependant, cette stratégie constitue une réponse opportuniste en termes d’image aux intérêts immobiliers spéculatifs dominants. La gestion de la production culturelle dans ce quartier de Londres révèle les limites de la construction de la coalition locale et l’influence limitée des stratégies locales dans les processus de développement. Les auteurs de l’article se demandent si le quartier culturel est une échelle appropriée pour la gestion du développement des industries culturelles comme centre moteur du développement économique en particulier.     

Local democracy

Pratchett, L. and Wilson, D. (eds) 1996: LOCAL DEMOCRACY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press Ltd, £12.99 paper.

King, D. and Stoker, G. (eds) 1996: RETHINKING LOCAL DEMOCRACY. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press Ltd, £40.00 cased £12.99 paper.

Kuper, R. 1996: CITIZENS JURIES: THE HERTFORDSHIRE EXPERIENCE. Hertford: University of Hertfordshire Business School, Politics Paper 3.

Coote, A. and Mattinson, D. 1997: TWELVE GOOD NEIGHBOURS: THE CITIZEN AS JUROR. London: Fabian Society, £5.00 paper.

Hodge, M., Leach, S. and Stoker, G. 1997: MORE THAN THE FLOWER SHOW: ELECTED MAYORS AND DEMOCRACY. London: Fabian Society, £10.00 paper.

Hambleton, R. and Bullock, S. 1996: REVITALISING LOCAL DEMOCRACY. THE LEADERSHIP OPTION. Report of the Association of District Councils and Local Government Management Board. London: Association of District Councils, £10.00 paper.

LGIU. 1996: AGENDA FOR CHANGE. London: LGIU.

INLOGOV

— University of Birmingham, 1997: MAKING LOCAL GOVERNANCE WORK. Findings from the Local Governance Research Programme of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Findings Paper 1 Changing Nature of Local Governance. Findings Paper 2 Citizenship and Participation. Findings Paper 3 Partnership and Networks. Findings Paper 4 Developing Community Leadership. Findings Paper 5 Managing Change. For copies contact John Raine, INLOGOV, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT.     

Evaluating the Productivity Performance of Agricultural Enterprises in Ireland using a Multiple Output Distance Function Approach

This paper uses a distance function approach to measure and decompose productivity growth of Irish agriculture between 1984 and 2000 for four principal farming systems. The technology used by each system is found to be sufficiently different as to warrant a system‐by‐system approach. The overall rate of productivity growth in Irish agriculture is found to be just over 1% for this period, but there are significant differences between systems. Sheep systems had the highest rate of productivity growth followed by dairy and tillage. Productivity in cattle farms fell during this period although there is evidence that this trend has been reversed in more recent years.     

The depression of 1920–1921: a credit induced boom and a market based recovery?

This paper examines the American post-WW1 boom and bust. It argues that the Federal Reserve’s monetary easing from 1919 to 1920 created an Austrian Business Cycle (ABC), or an unsustainable credit boom. The collapse of the boom initiated the Depression of 1920–1921. The subsequent laissez faire policy promoted a swift recovery. In particular, the natural recovery began following a severe liquidation of firms, reallocation of resources, and wage cuts stimulated by fiscal and monetary contraction. Contrary to some other accounts, we find that significant recovery began before the Federal Reserve’s 1921–1922 monetary easing affected the economy. We also address other criticisms of the credit-cycle interpretation.