Entertainment in retailing: The influences of advanced technologies

In recent years, the importance of an enjoyable experience during the shopping activity increased. As a consequence, many researchers are focusing on the best application of enjoyable elements in the points of sale in order to maintain existing consumers and attract new ones.The aim of this paper is to analyze how the introduction of advanced technologies modifies the retailing context and affects consumers shopping experience. In particular, three aspects of our results emerge from a theoretical standpoint: new advantages for retailers (the possibility to achieve fast information on consumer behavior and preferences); the improvement of the point of sale; and the positive influences on consumers shopping experience.     

Chinese FDI to Africa: What Is the Nexus with Foreign Economic Cooperation?*

Abstract: China, once a major recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI), has recently become one of the main ‘emerging’ investors, especially in developing countries. Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) plays a very prominent role in economic interaction with many African countries. This paper empirically investigates the determinants of Chinese OFDI versus 41 African countries over the period 1998–2007. The analysis is novel because it provides empirical support to the existing, so far purely anecdotic, evidence describing Chinese FDI to Africa as driven by natural resources endowments and market potential. The econometric analysis highlights strong interrelationships between Chinese FDI and economic cooperation, which make standard models of investments unfit when assessing the role of China in Africa. It also suggests some new lines of research, exploiting the strong links between these different sources of financing.     

The Determinants of Technology Adoption in Italian Manufacturing Industries

The adoption of new technologies in Italian manufacturing industries is analysed using data for 13,334 firms selected from the 1990–92 Community Innovation Survey. The determinants of technology adoption are analysed in an econometric framework (logit model) which is a general test of different theoretical explanations of technological diffusion. We particularly refer to the rank, epidemic and information effects which significantly affect the use of new technology in Italian manufacturing industries. We use a set of explanatory variables which enables us to set up a well specified empirical model and to use odds ratios to determine the effect of their changes on the adoption probability, thus giving a more precise picture of the determinants of technology adoption.     

Futures studies in Italy and The limits to growth

This article describes the introduction of futures studies to Italy and especially the contribution of Aurelio Peccei, the founder of the Club of Rome and an inspiration behind The limits to growth. To set the scene, the author shows how Italian futures studies absorbed technocratic and visionary ideas from prospective studies in France, particularly those of Bertrand de Jouvenel and Gaston Berger. The author explains Aurelio Peccei's role in promoting Limits and the Club of Rome. She reflects also on her own personal involvement with Peccei, as a friend, as member of the Club of Rome, and as a long-standing participant in the Italian and worldwide futures movement.     

A routing and location model for food waste recovery in the retail and distribution phase

This paper presents a routing and location (R&L) model able to help design an efficient reverse logistics channel for food waste, with particular attention to the waste generated at the retail stage of a food supply chain (FSC). The model, developed in Microsoft Excel^TM, is detailed along with its application in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, which is currently the location of a research project aimed at finding alternative ways to recover food waste rather than disposing of it in landfill sites. Several analyses are carried out exploiting the model, to derive some findings about the economic profitability of setting up a reverse logistics channel to recover food waste in the targeted region, and divert it to alternative use. As there are currently no studies that examine the problem of recovering food waste in Italy, this paper is expected to represent an interesting addition to the literature on this issue.