Water–milk nexus in India: a path to a sustainable water future?

This paper examines the nexus between milk production and water use in India. The nexus is examined in the context of extended consumptive water use (CWU) of milk production beyond drinking water. It includes the real CWU (evapotranspiration (ETa) that occurs during the production of green fodder and feed grains) and the virtual CWU (ETa embedded in by-products for animal feed). The real CWU appears as large as that of sugarcane, and the real and virtual CWU combined is as large as that of rice. However, milk production generates more value than the outputs of rice and sugarcane combined. Sustainable water use and agricultural growth in major milk-producing areas require a drastic reduction in groundwater CWU, which, at present, exceeds natural recharge. It is suggested that diversifying to a mix of milk and high-value (but low water consuming) crops can reduce groundwater CWU while ensuring higher total output.     

‘Someone else’s blood’: directed blood donation for neonatal transfusion and parental perceptions of risk

In Canada, parents can give blood exclusively for their child’s transfusion, a process known as directed donation. This qualitative study aimed to understand parents’ perceptions in seeking to provide blood for their newborn. Ten parents whose preterm children were cared for in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of one Canadian hospital were interviewed. The beliefs and experiences of parents with regard to directed donation were analyzed with reference to their understanding of the risks and benefits of this form of transfusion. Interview data revealed that parents had little knowledge or understanding of the medical benefits and risks of directed donation and based their decision to seek this type of transfusion largely on emotional grounds. In addition, despite their preference for directed donation, most infants whose parents were interviewed in this study, for practical reasons could not be given this type of transfusion. This may have magnified risk perceptions of non‐directed transfusions. Parents need to be better informed about the medical risks and benefits of directed donation and the actual likelihood that their child will be able to receive this type of transfusion.     

Freight rates and productivity gains in British tramp shipping 1869-1950

The standard source for pre-WWII global freight rate trends is the Isserliss index. We think it is time for a new look at his British tramp shipping index, especially given his sources offer vastly more information than Isserliss used. Our new estimates confirm the precipitous decline in real freight rates before World War I, but we also extend them to 1997, a long period of relative stability. In an effort to identify the contribution of transport revolutions to global commodity price convergence, we create route-specific deflators, rather than relying on the Sauerbeck index. Finally, using the price-dual and new factor price indices, we calculate total factor productivity growth for five global routes, and then identify the sources of productivity growth along them.     

Dual-Class Firms: Evidence from IPOs of Chinese Firms Cross-Listed on US Exchanges

We compare Chinese single with dual-class firms cross-listed on US exchanges. We find that dual-class firms are larger in terms of assets and sales, possess ownership concentration, and have higher institutional ownership. Chinese firms in IT industry are especially likely to use dual-class structure. We find that, contrary to the literature, dual-class firms underprice 30.42% more and firm underprices less when governance practices are adequate. Insiders need to bear underpricing cost for retaining control. Interestingly, we find that dual-class firms hire more independent directors to show commitment toward shareholder’s rights but control them through CEO Chairman Duality and superior voting rights.     

On the Natural and Economic Difficulties to Fulfilling the Human Right to Water Within a Neoclassical Economics Framework

We present a neoclassical economic model of the human right to water using a nonrenewable resource model inclusive of a backstop technology. The right is interpreted as a minimum consumption requirement the government is obligated to fulfill in the event that any one household cannot do so independently. Differing by income levels, households maximize utility by purchasing a composite consumption good and water from two distinct, government-owned sources. Facing physical and financial constraints, the government uses fiscal policy to address potential human rights violations. Reducing the analysis to two periods, we develop a novel approach to compare total welfare levels from a joint human rights and neoclassical economics perspective. We define a human rights welfare standard and discuss cases in which traditional social welfare measures would exceed, violate, or meet this standard. We thus offer a unique way to merge economic analysis with human rights research.     

Organizational Legitimacy and the Strategic Bridging Ability of Green Alliances

Alliances with environmental non‐governmental organizations may benefit multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in developing countries where uncertain socio‐cultural and institutional conditions present higher investment risks. Such ‘green alliances’ can provide strategic bridging services by interceding between MNCs and distant, yet important, stakeholders. From an institutional perspective, strategic bridging success may depend on stakeholder perceptions of alliance legitimacy. In this study the relationship between alliance legitimacy and strategic bridging ability is explored through the case of the Turtle Village Trust in Trinidad and Tobago. Findings suggest that bridging success occurs when organizational legitimacy peaks; that new alliance partners temporarily weaken legitimacy; and bridging with every new targeted stakeholder requires continued acquisition of legitimacy based on their respective values. MNC decisions to form alliances that bridge targeted stakeholders on their behalf should therefore consider the potential of the alliance to acquire and accumulate organizational legitimacy without which strategic bridging efforts may be futile. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Willingness to Pay for Pesticide Free Fruits: Evidence from Pakistan

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes factors influencing consumption decision of pesticide free fruits (PFF) and estimates the willingness to pay (WTP) price premium for PFF in Pakistan. A contingent valuation survey of 200 households was conducted using face to face interview and payment card method. Results suggested that 93.5% respondents were WTP higher prices for PFF. Remarkably, around 35% respondents were WTP 16–20% higher prices and 24% respondents were WTP 6–10% higher prices for PFF than the existed conventional price. In addition, our ordered logit regression suggests that demographic and socio-economic variables such as age, education, income, household’s size and perception about health benefits are significantly associated with higher WTP for PFF.     

Visitor Loyalty in Sport Tourism: An Empirical Investigation

This paper reports research regarding the relationship between consumer loyalty, satisfaction, and novelty seeking, including an analysis of these constructs as reflected in the published literature. A telephone survey was conducted of 500 city residents, focusing on their visitation of special events, including sporting events. It was found that satisfaction was somewhat positively related to interest in attending the same sporting event, and the intention to actually visit the sporting event again. However, novelty seeking was virtually unrelated to both interest in attending the same sporting event, and the intention to actually visit the sporting event, and unrelated to satisfaction. Novelty seeking in general, or in relation to special events particularly, performed similarly as a predictor. Further research is needed to clarify the role of other moderating variables, such as the feeling of involvement in sporting events, and to investigate segmentation aspects which might be operating in relation to specific sporting events and tourists.     

Why is Assortment Planning so Difficult for Retailers? A Framework and Research Agenda

When retailers conduct product assortment planning (PAP), they determine (1) The variety of merchandise, (2) The depth of merchandise, and (3) Service level or the amount of inventory to allocate to each stock-keeping unit (SKU). Despite longstanding recognition of its importance, no dominant PAP solution exists, and theoretical and decision support models address only some of the factors that complicate assortment planning. This article simultaneously addresses the variety, depth, and service level aspects of PAP to provide a more thorough understanding. A review of current academic literature and best trade practices identifies open questions and directions for further research and applications.     

Optimal combination of pollution prevention and abatement policies: The case of agricultural drainage

The adoption of pollution prevention and abatement practices is examined in the context of a model of exhaustible resource use with a backstop technology. For the sake of concreteness, the paper focuses on the problem of water-logging caused by the subsurface accumulation of agricultural drainwater. In modelling this problem, a region's underground capacity to store drainwater is considered an exhaustible resource, while the installation of subsurface drainage is viewed as the corresponding backstop technology (or abatement practice). The exhaustible resource is typically over-exploited due to common access problems, which forces a suboptimally fast adoption of the abatement practice. Conservationist irrigation technologies, such as drip and sprinkler systems, tend to reduce drainwater generation, and their adoption could increase social welfare by delaying the abatement stage. Public policies are suggested to increase the adoption of such conservationist technologies. Data from California is used to illustrate the results and to demonstrate the efficacy of the model for policy purposes. While the setting used for the analysis in this paper is quite specific (i.e., water-logging), the same general modelling ideas may be applied to many other problems of environmental degradation.