Global marketing effectiveness via alliances and electronic commerce in business-to-business markets

Numerous changes in the global business climate have intensified global competition through new forms of competition as well as the addition of new competitors. As a result, domestic and international firms have to develop and implement marketing strategies that are aligned with the current global competitive realities. This study explores the influence of three overarching developments that stand out as having a dominating role in the shifting international competitive landscape: (1) the rapid growth of global business activities by existing firms and new entrants, for example, through increased international outsourcing (i.e., the intensification of importing activities); (2) the transition to managing supply chain systems through greater coordination of entire distribution channels, alliances, and relational exchanges; and (3) the emergence and increased strategic deployment of electronic forms of exchange, particularly with respect to information access, storage, and retrieval, as means of more efficient management of domestic and global network of operations and market intelligence. Managerial and research implications of these trends are discussed.     

An attempt to determine criteria for sensible rates of use of material resources

This article uses a systems framework to search for criteria for determining the rates of use of material resources. The existing criteria, which are found in the neoclassical economic theory and the environmental movement, are reexamined, and their limitations are discussed. The criteria for material resource use identified by this article emphasize that resources be selected from the environment on the basis of their regeneration time constant and consumed in a way that should maintain adequate organizational slack in the system. Based on these criteria, geological information about material resources appears to take precedence as the basis for determining their rates of use over their economic feasibility and efficiency of use.     

Segmenting corporate exporting activities: Sporadic versus regular exporters

The primary focus of this study is an examination of differences between characteristics and activities ofsporadic andregular exporters. This mode of classifying exporting firms, which has not previously been studied in a rigorous fashion is shown to be valid and has important policy implications. This classification is robust, with a high degree of convergent and internal validity. The two groups are shown to be similar along several key dimensions of exporting behavior such as size, age, and size of export orders. However, there are distinct differences with regard to such factors as initial market entry influences, export profit margins, export distribution channels, and information use. These critical differences relate to dynamism and level of exportmarketing activities undertaken. Conceptual, practical, and policy implications are discussed.     

全球化与国家间的收入差距：来自81个国家面板数据的实证分析

本文运用面板数据通过基于回归的不均等分解框架，研究了全球化对国家间收入差距的影响。这一框架不但可以帮助识别决定不均等的因素，还能量化这些因素对总的不均等的贡献。实证结果表明，用贸易和外商直接投资代表的全球化带来了不均等的上升，而贸易对不均等的贡献要大于外商直接投资。另外，全球化指标的绝对和相对贡献一直在持续增加。有趣的是，当我们根据收入水平对样本进行分组研究时发现，在过去二十多年中，高收入组国家间的不均等基本保持稳定，而低收入组国家间的收入差距则扩大了。在贸易方式上的巨大差别可以解释低收入国家间的收入发散。     

A comparison of six sampling schemes for price index construction in a COICOP food group

This article compares the behaviour of sampling techniques for price indices using a scanner data set as a model population. Indices produced by two purposive deterministic cut-off designs and four probabilistic sampling schemes are compared with each other and with the ‘true’ population index from the whole data set. We found that the two deterministic cut-off sampling schemes show much different behaviour from the probabilistic sampling schemes. This is not unexpected, as the former schemes have a very restricted focus with respect to the variety of products. We also found that the probabilistic schemes are generally closer to each other and the ‘true’ value than the deterministic cut-off designs. The jackknife resampling technique is also explored as a means of estimating the SE of the index and compared with the actual results from repeated sampling.     

Estimation of the effects of price on apartment water demand using cointegration and error correction techniques

Water price is a key instrument in regulating water demand in the residential sector. Many empirical studies have assessed the effects of price through quantifying the price elasticity of water demand. However, most of these studies have mainly focused on the single-family housing rather the multifamily housing. An in-depth understanding of the price elasticity of multifamily housing water demand is paramount for water planners in order to properly manage water use in the fast growing intensive housing developments in urban areas. This study investigates both the long-term and short-term price elasticities of water demand in the residential apartments in Auckland central city. Using 6 years of monthly time series data, the price elasticities were estimated through cointegration and error correction methods. The results showed that the price elasticities of water demand were ?0.14 and ?0.12 in the short term and the long term, respectively. The price is inelastic yet negative and statistically significant, thus it can play a role in demand management.