Culture,consumption and choice: towards a conceptual relationship

Abstract Manufacturers and retailers are continually extending the geographical scope of their activities, and the degree of acceptance by local consumer cultures is integral to the success or failure of their operations. It is, therefore, important that cultural influences on consumption behaviour are fully conceptualized and understood. Central to this understanding is a need to address how consumers prioritize their own principles and set them against other criteria, bringing these to bear in the process of choosing particular products. This paper attempts to address the paucity of research in this respect by attempting to integrate areas of literature on culture, consumption and product choice. These relationships are explored through a simple conceptual framework, which is then used to discuss the influence of culture on one particular type of behaviour —‘ethical consumption’— the degree to which consumers prioritize their own ethical concerns when making product choices. The paper concludes by highlighting the general implications of the framework for research.     

Loglinear model for analysis of cross-tabulated coal mine injury data

Mine accidents/injuries can be cross-classified against the variables of interest in a contingency table and their associations can be assessed through aggregate statistics. However, there is a need to develop a coherent and structured procedure for analysis of accident data, which will allow one to identify associations between two or more variables multivariately. In this study, the loglinear model, which has been proposed as a mathematical representation of the contingency table, was applied to accident data from a group of coal mines to assess the associations/interactions between two or more variables multivariately through their main and interaction effects. The case study results revealed that the variables ‘occupation’ and ‘workplace location’ were highly associated with degree of injury. It was also clearly indicated that the workers with more than 20 years of experience exhibited high injury rate patterns. While designing training programs for miners, focused attention should be given to specific categories of workers to reduce accident/injuries at the case study mines.     

Strategies to prevent economic recessions from causing business failure

An average of more than 500,000 businesses failed in the United States during each of the 10 recessions that have occurred since the end of World War II. Yet, scholar and practitioner understanding of how to prepare for and respond to the challenges of an economic downturn remains extremely limited. This article analyzes and synthesizes the information from academic theory and business experience on managing through an economic recession. To assist firms in successfully navigating economic recessions, we suggest a program that involves positioning by investing in multiple markets and geographies, planning by developing a turnaround plan for facing sharply declining sales, promoting by maintaining marketing initiatives, and preparing by acting in anticipation of economic recovery.     

The Russian Tax System and Its International Competitiveness

The last several years were very favourable to the development of the Russian economy. While this has partly been the consequence of favourable conditions on the international markets for raw materials, the economic policy of President Vladimir Putin, including the tax reforms initiated at the end of the 1990s, also played a major role. Our authors examine in detail the effects of the tax reforms to date and point out the room for further improvements under Putin’s successor, Medvedev.     

Correction: Social Accountability,Ethics, and the Occupy Wall Street Protests

Journal of Business Ethics -     

Long-term mortality following injury in working-age adults: a systematic review

Priorities for prevention activities and planning for services depend on comprehensive knowledge of the distribution of the injury-related burden in the community. The aim of this systematic review was to quantify the effect of being injured, compared with not being injured, on long-term mortality in working age adults. Cohort studies were selected that were population-based, measured mortality post-discharge from inpatient treatment, included a non-injured comparison group and related to working-age adults. Data synthesis was in tabular and text form with a meta-analysis not being possible because of the heterogeneity between studies. Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. All studies found an overall positive association between injury and increased mortality. While the greatest excess mortality was evident during the initial period post-injury, increased mortality was shown in some studies to persist for up to 40 years after injury. Due to the limited number of injury types studied and heterogeneity between studies, there is insufficient published evidence on which to calculate population estimates of long-term mortality, where injury is a component cause. The review does suggest there is considerable excess mortality following injury that is not accounted for in current methods of quantifying injury burden, and is not used to assess quality and effectiveness of trauma care.