The Economic Effects of New Jersey's Self-Serve Operations Ban on Retail Gasoline Markets

This paper tests the effect of the self-service ban on retail gasoline sales using a random sample of gas stations from Mercer County New Jersey. The paper finds that the self-service ban reduces the number of pumps and islands. Gas stations are smaller because the ban reduces the ability of gas stations to substitute capital for labor in the production process. In addition, the paper finds evidence that the self-serve ban decreases the rate of refiner ownership, changes the mix of ancillary services that stations offer, and prevents price discrimination. Because capital-labor ratios are lower, labor-intensive ancillary services (i.e., auto repair) are more cost effective than capital-intensive ancillary services (i.e., convenience stores). Because convenience stores are easier to monitor from a central location, the ban causes a reduction in the rate of refiner ownership.     

The Influence of Personality Traits on the Processing of Visual and Verbal Information

The purpose of this research is to investigate individuals' preferences for visual as opposed to verbal information and to explore how those preferences relate to processing style personality traits. In comparison to individuals with other processing style personality traits, individuals with a high need for cognition prefer to process verbal information while individuals with a high need for affect prefer to process visual information. Linking processing style personality traits with preferences for visual/verbal information increases our theoretical understanding and practical applicability of personality traits.     

Trade in International Transport Services: The Role of Competition

The paper is concerned with trade in transport services (not cabotage but rather international shipping, transport, and related logistical services) and the importance of competition and market structure in the sector. It examines implications of liberalization for profits, trade, and national gains from trade. Though past GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) maritime negotiations involved the maritime nations, this paper also flags interests of consuming nations (particularly poorer developing countries). Issues raised in the analytical section are illustrated through a computational example, to provide a rough sense of orders of magnitude and the importance of the issues raised for basic gains from improved market access.     

变革中的能源格局：21世纪的最大挑战

世界能源的地缘结构发生着转变,沙特-里海-西伯利亚-加拿大轴心将成为21世纪“地缘政治中的能源”驱动力量。以往的“石油博弈”正在变为“石油、天然气博弈”,更有可能成为“天然气、石油博弈”。如果抓住这次机会,就可能开创市场推动的替代能源、节能、可持续发展和国际合作创新的新时代。“能源安全”的定义已不仅是能源供应的安全,而是包含了政治、环境、基础设施甚至反恐怖主义的安全,同时涉及可持续发展和气候变化。世界即将进入新能源时代,美国必须发挥带头作用。任何有效的解决方案都应在推动供给的同时改善需求。我们需要面向不同市场和各种供需终端的一系列技术,以满足在实现更广泛目标过程中的经济和社会需求。无论是发展中国家还是发达国家必须首先达成需要新技术的共识。他们必须围绕关键问题建立某种形式的国际合作,并制定必要政策推进变革。新的能源竞技场将由政策设置界限,监管创建规则,政府充当裁判,市场决定价格以及输家和赢家。     

Producer Services, Manufacturing Linkages, and Trade

Working with a mix of panel data on goods and services trade for the OECD for 1994–2004, combined with social accounts data (i.e. data on intermediate linkages) for 78 countries benchmarked to the panel midpoint, we examine the role of services as inputs in manufacturing, with a particular focus on indirect exports of services through merchandise exports, and also on the related interaction between service sector openness and the overall pattern of manufacturing exports. From the cross-section, we also develop a set of stylized facts linking services to the level of development and the density of intermediate linkages. We find significant and strong positive effects from increased business service openness (i.e. greater levels of imports) on industries like machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals and electric equipment, supporting the notion that off-shoring of business services may promote the competitiveness of the most skill and technology intensive industries in the OECD. Conversely, we find evidence of negative general equilibrium effects for sectors that are less service intensive.     

Embracing realism and recognizing choice in IT offshoring initiatives

As more and more firms move activities offshore to countries that are distantly located from their home base of operations, the initial advantages of making this move are increasingly tempered by realities on the ground. For firms contemplating offshoring today, it is important to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of undertaking or extending this strategy in light of what we now know. Broadly speaking, successful offshoring must begin with an understanding of the market and competitive pressures that encourage offshoring, and then build on recognition of how these pressures can be addressed using or modifying the offshoring options currently practiced. Our discussion of these issues is based on analysis of offshoring of IT-enabled services by Fortune Global 500 firms in such areas as software development and business processes that support customer interaction.     

Internal Resource Allocation and External Alliance Activity of Diversified Firms

Prior research suggests that diversified firms are often unable to match resources to the market needs and opportunities of their divisions due to factors such as influence activities. In this research, we propose that when such internal inefficiencies arise, diversified firms may form alliances to access resources externally to support their divisions in their industries and operations. Using a sample of US firms between 1997 and 2006, we find that, on average, diversified firms form more alliances within industries that they currently operate in when compared to single business firms. The alliancing activity in related industries increases when businesses with diverse growth opportunities exist within the same firm, and it decreases with the intensity of internal control and coordination mechanisms. Our study suggests a link between internal resource allocation processes and external alliancing activity, while highlighting that alliances may play an important role in how diversified firms manage the inefficiencies that arise within their boundaries.     

Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modeling in the Journal of Advertising: Review and Recommendations

In this article, we review applications of covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) in the Journal of Advertising (JA) starting with the first issue in 1972. We identify 111 articles from the earliest application of SEM in 1983 through 2015, and discuss important methodological issues related to the following aspects: confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), causal modeling, multiple group analysis, reporting, and guidelines for interpretation of results. Moreover, we summarize some issues related to varying terminology associated with different SEM methods. Findings indicate that the use of SEM in the JA contributes greatly to conceptual, empirical, and methodological advances in advertising research. The assessment contributes to the literature by offering advertising researchers a summary guide to best practices and a reminder of the basics that distinguish the powerful and unique approach involving structural analysis of covariances.