Eco‐innovation motivations and ecodesign tool implementation in companies in the Nordic textile and information technology sectors

The current sustainability challenges and the required systemic transformation highlight the need for innovations on multiple levels. Ecodesign integrates environmental aspects into product and process design to reduce environmental impacts, whereas eco‐innovation also concerns nontechnological solutions. In this paper, we formulate a model that combines eco‐innovation targets ad mechanisms with sustainability maturity, which also concerns stimuli and barriers faced by companies and ecodesign tools used. The results are based on a questionnaire sent to 902 textile and information technology (IT) companies (N = 104) in the Nordic countries. The tools that Nordic textile and IT companies use in particular are life cycle assessment, type I ecolabel, and carbon footprint. Internal stimuli, especially general willingness, were important for eco‐innovativeness, while legislation and customer demand also pushed companies forward. Specific no‐go barriers were not identified, although increase in costs was a common barrier. The respondents focus often on technological product innovations, but rarely on functional innovation, renting of products, and so forth. This highlights the need to address the availability of the right kind of tools to support a broader suite of innovation that can drive toward the circular economy.     

The ecological transparency of the information society

A de-linking of pollution from economic growth and de-materialisation can probably be seen as the most important single characteristic of sustainable development. With regard to this, ecological transparency means understanding all human activities, processes and patterns that have an impact on the potential for sustainable development. Closely linked with this is the idea that the ecological footprint of the information society should be concerned with the environmental implications of its generations, applications and the disposability of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This paper aims at developing scenarios, and a set of criteria, plus indicators as tools for identifying various environmental impacts inherent in the information society. Furthermore, it aims for the successful unification of the positive factors of the information society with ecologically sustainable development. It is concluded that policy plans for the information society would benefit from the enhanced level of ecological transparency the information society can provide, as presented via the indicators mentioned later in the text. Further, it is suggested that prerequisites should be created for evaluating the implications of the information society and for the application of related information society technologies. Such an approach could be labelled an Information Society Assessment.     

Survey data and Bayesian analysis: a cost-efficient way to estimate customer equity

We present a Bayesian framework for estimating the customer lifetime value (CLV) and the customer equity (CE) based on the purchasing behavior deducible from the market surveys on customer purchasing behavior. The proposed framework systematically addresses the challenges faced when the future value of customers is estimated based on survey data. The scarcity of the survey data and the sampling variance are countered by utilizing the prior information and quantifying the uncertainty of the CE and CLV estimates by posterior distributions. Furthermore, information on the purchase behavior of the customers of competitors available in the survey data is integrated to the framework. The introduced approach is directly applicable in the domains where a customer relationship can be thought to be monogamous. As an example on the use of the framework, we analyze a consumer survey on mobile phones carried out in Finland in February 2013. The survey data contains consumer given information on the current and previous brand of the phone and the times of the last two purchases.     

Innovation and internationalization as growth strategies: The role of technological capabilities and appropriability

Firms grow either by launching new products (innovation) or by attracting new customers (internationalization) or by using a mixed strategy. An interesting question is whether innovation and internationalization activities are complementary or substitutive. The paper discusses the connections between technological capabilities, their appropriability, innovation activities, and internationalization, and derives hypotheses from the knowledge-based view of the firm. The hypotheses are empirically analyzed using survey data from 300 Finnish firms clustered as follows: (i) domestic replicators, (ii) domestic innovators, (iii) international replicators, and (iv) international innovators. The performance of the clusters is empirically analyzed, the success criteria being actual growth rate and profitability. We conclude that a profitable firm needs to have unused technological capabilities in order to exploit economies of scope through innovation. A strong appropriability regime strengthens growth. Internationalization and innovation combined is the most advisable option when domestic markets are limited.     

Industrial Centralization in Indonesia

In certain situations, economic liberalization policies canincrease the degree of spatial centralization of resources andspatial concentration of manufacturing in large metropolitanareas. In addition, historical patterns of location make itdifficult to alter the degree of centralization. This articleexplores these issues by specifying and estimating a nestedlogit model of industrial location of manufacturing activityin Java, focusing on the unincorporated sector. The resultsindicate that plants strongly prefer locations with mature plantsin related industries, which offer a built-up stock of localknowledge. In addition, the 1983 liberalization in Indonesiawas associated with increased centralization of the unincorporatedsector. Although the liberalization gave unincorporated firmsbetter access to government and other centralized services,firms needed to centralize to take advantage of these opportunitiesbecause the bureaucratic process is centralized and communicationsare poor. The relative increased growth of the corporate sectorfollowing liberalization may also have helped to further drawunincorporated plants into centralized locations.     

Critical reading in accounting

The wave of postmodernism has reached accounting studies. With it that wave has brought new thought provoking and inspiring ideas such as: the local determination of meaning and the proposition that meaning of signs comes from other signs, not from reality. However, if these ideas are left abstract, they may not inspire accounting education with their full potential. Hence, this paper offers a three-stage framework of analysis, the so-called strategy of critical reading, which draws upon ideas of postmodernism and hermeneutics. The framework suggests how the reading of accounting texts could find new insights from postmodern ideas, without lapsing into a linguistic idealism that would deny the world any external reality independent of language.     

Environmental value chain management of laundry detergents in the use phase

Environmental value chain management is concerned with the environmental aspects of products and services along the whole value chain, from raw material and energy acquisition to waste management. The use phase in the value chain remains an understudied subject, despite considerable consumption‐related environmental impacts. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the use phase of laundry detergents in households. Our empirical data consist of interviews in the laundry rooms of 299 Finnish households. Consumers’ environmental awareness, use of dosage measuring devices and actual doses of laundry detergents are studied in the empirical part of the study. The results show that consumers do not perceive households as significant polluters, the measuring devices they use are diverse and the number of ‘heavy users’ is high in all detergent brands. It is concluded that in the consumption of laundry detergents, consumers do not perceive environmental issues as specific value criteria in relation to the use of laundry detergents. Manufacturers, marketers and other actors in the value chain of laundry detergents could contribute to alleviating the harmful environmental impacts of the use phase by more effective consumer education and better product design. For consumers, it might be beneficial to adopt eco‐efficiency thinking in their daily consumption.     

Economics of venue selection for special sporting events: With special reference to the 1996 Melbourne grand prix

Venue selection for major sporting attractions can be a highly politicized decision making process. Due to the sometimes controversial nature of venue selection, politicians can be circumspect on related issues including potential economic impacts. This was the case with the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix held at Albert Park, Melbourne in March 1996. Comments provided by the authorities on matters associated with the venue selection referred to both the opportunity to showcase Melbourne on international and national television due to the proximity of Albert Park to the Melbourne skyline as well as referring to the fact that the Australian Grand Prix had been conducted at Albert Park in the 1950s and therefore the race could be said to be returning home! However, limited details have been made public regarding the financial aspects of the event. A real challenge was to estimate expenditure by the visitor and the indirect economic benefits on regional economies in the absence of formal data. In the aftermath of the event, however, the media amply reported estimated figures for gross economic gains attributable to the Grand Prix. This paper argues that it is possible to use these estimates of gross economic gains, as reported by the media, to derive the direct contribution of this event This paper investigates the comparative benefits of an alternative venue, such as Sandown Park in the Eastern region and concludes that the higher multiplier effects evident in the Melbourne Metropolitan Region ensured that any decision made on economic grounds would favor Albert Park over outlying regions.     

Income Inequality and Technology Diffusion: Evidence from Developing Countries*

We study the effect of within‐country income inequality on the diffusion of mobile phones using data on market penetration in a sample of developing countries from 1985 to 1998. Mobile phones are an example of international technology, originating in industrialized countries and diffusing worldwide. We find that income inequality, as measured by the income share of the highest earning deciles, has a positive effect on the early diffusion of mobile phones and that the estimated effect becomes greater when a measure of agricultural endowments is used as an instrument. The instrumental variable results are robust to weak instruments. Our findings suggest that the diffusion of new technologies originating from industrialized countries may generate yet another channel that links inequality and development.