Guidelines issued by the consumer board: The Swedish experience

The Scandinavian countries have been concerned with the question of self-regulation over the past twenty years and their experiences demonstrate a fluid approach to the question of government intervention in the relations between consumer and business.This report highlights the movement which has taken place in Sweden from quasi private regulation by business in the sixties to the Ombudsman institution as a government supervisory agency in the seventies. Sweden itself has a very marked system of guidelines which serve as non-binding rules in informal negotiations between consumers and suppliers. Their impact is as great as that of formal rules, and examples of their use are illustrated in the article. The guidelines themselves are constantly being revised by the Consumer Board after discussion with the business community. Breach of the guidelines themselves, although not per se an offence, will probably justify an action being brought against the offending firm by the Consumer Ombudsman. The guidelines also appear to differ in their scope and number, and although severely criticized, appear to have fulfilled an important function.The report further shows that the means of negotiation and regulation are still not static: a further move towards self-regulation is being mooted, partly as a result of economic cut-backs. These proposals are, however, not yet fully developed.

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Richtlinien der Verbraucherbehörde — das schwedische Beispiel

Zusammenfassung Schweden hat als Vorreiter der Nordischen Staaten seit Anfang der siebziger Jahre sein System des Konsumentenschutzes von der Selbstkontrolle auf eines der staatlichen Kontrolle umgestellt. Dadurch ist allerdings die Selbstregulierung durch Verhaltenskodices, z.B. im Direktvertrieb, nicht gänzlich beseitigt worden. Eine größere Rolle spielen allerdings die vom Ombudsmann bzw. der Verbraucherbehörde erlassenen Verhaltensrichtlinien. Deren Funktion ist kürzlich von einer staatlichen Kommission untersucht worden, an der der Autor mitgewirkt hat. Die Kommission kommt zu einer im Prinzip positiven Einschätzung des Systems, fordert aber stärkere Berücksichtigung von Selbstregulierungsmaßnahmen auch unter budgetären Gesichtspunkten. Richtlinien werden zwischen der Behörde und den Unternehmensverbänden ausgehandelt. Rechtlich stellen sie sich nur als Empfehlungen dar, und sie binden die Unternehmen ebensowenig, wie sie den Konsumenten Rechte geben. Faktisch beinhalten sie eine Konkretisierung der generalklauselartigen Informationsgebote, Lauterkeitsregeln und Sicherheitsbestimmungen des Handelspraktikenrechts. Die Unternehmen befolgen sie meistens freiwillig. Verstöße werden vom Marktgericht in der Regel als unlauter angesehen. Inhaltlich befassen sich die Hälfte der 36 bisher erlassenen Richtlinien mit Informationsfragen, die andere Hälfte mit der Produktsicherheit. Die Regelungsdichte variiert. Nach anfänglicher Kritik vor allem von Unternehmensseite hat das System inzwischen hohe Akzeptanz gefunden.

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Ulf Bernitz is Professor of Private Law, especially Consumer and Market Law, Institute for Intellectual Property and Market Law, University of Stockholm, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.     

Towards a brain-to-society systems model of individual choice

Canonical models of rational choice fail to account for many forms of motivated adaptive behaviors, specifically in domains such as food selections. To describe behavior in such emotion- and reward-laden scenarios, researchers have proposed dual-process models that posit competition between a slower, analytic faculty and a fast, impulsive, emotional faculty. In this paper, we examine the assumptions and limitations of these approaches to modeling motivated choice. We argue that models of this form, though intuitively attractive, are biologically implausible. We describe an approach to motivated choice based on sequential sampling process models that can form a solid theoretical bridge between what is known about brain function and environmental influences upon choice. We further suggest that the complex and dynamic relationships between biology, behavior, and environment affecting choice at the individual level must inform aggregate models of consumer choice. Models using agent-based complex systems may further provide a principled way to relate individual and aggregate consumer choices to the aggregate choices made by businesses and social institutions. We coin the term “brain-to-society systems” choice model for this broad integrative approach.     

New Findings on Firm Investment and Monetary Transmission in the Euro Area

In this paper we present comparative results on the determinantsof firms' investment and their link to monetary policy. Theresults have been obtained by the Eurosystem Monetary TransmissionNetwork. This network has produced a series of papers in whichthe use of micro data permits estimating and quantifying therelevance of two channels of monetary policy transmission: theinterest-rate and the broad-credit channels. The research findingsprovide evidence of an operative interest-rate channel in allcountries examined. Moreover, the results indicate that variableswhich proxy firms' financial conditions play a role. Firms characterizedby weaker balance sheets show higher liquidity sensitivity.     

Exploring store format development and its influence on store image and store clientele – the case of IKEA’s development of an inner-city store format

Abstract

A changed technological landscape and radically changed consumer behavior are forcing retailers to rethink their business models, retail formats, and retail offerings. The global retailer IKEA is no exception in this development. Recently, the traditional IKEA format, which has been so successfully duplicated across the world over the years, has been complemented with other formats that are new and innovative for IKEA. Based on an empirical investigation of consumer perceptions of the store format development in Hamburg-Altona, Germany, the present study explores format development and its influence on store image and clientele, considering also the purpose of visiting IKEA and how this seems to have changed with the introduction of the new format. We also discuss the core aspects of the IKEA formats, and the fact that although some things have changed, others have stayed the same to preserve the IKEA image.     

EFFECTS OF WORKFARE SATURATION ON AFDC CASELOADS

The Family Support Act (FSA) requires states to raise welfare/work program participation rates to unprecedented levels in the 1990s. This study analyzes Ohio's welfare/work demonstration to estimate the impact of mandated high participation on welfare caseloads. The estimated caseload reductions are larger than earlier estimates due to high participation rates, an emphasis on workfare, and a multi-year observation period.     

Versicherungsbetrug als ökonomisches Problem: Eine vertragstheoretische Analyse

Fraudulent claims are a well-known phenomenon and a serious problem in some insurance markets. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First of all, it explains why insurance fraud can be considered as a contractual problem. Consequently, selected instruments to fight insurance fraud and problems concerning the punishment of detected defrauders are analyzed by using existing results of contract theory.     

Implementation of EU initiatives on gender diversity and executive directors’ pay in municipally-owned enterprises in Germany and The Netherlands

A popular topic in the assessment of the functioning of municipally-owned enterprises is the corporate governance (CG) of such organizations. The results of the comparative study presented in this paper indicate that European Union initiatives on gender diversity and executive directors’ pay are often not implemented in public CG codes and in practice in municipally-owned enterprises in Germany and The Netherlands. The paper proposes that EU initiatives should specifically target municipally-owned enterprises and shows concrete hard and soft regulation options for national and international policy-makers and future research perspectives.