The effects of product knowledge on the evaluation of warranteed brands

This study explores the effects of consumer knowledge on respondents' evaluations of both known and unknown brands that include either a 2-year or a 20-year warranty. Both experts and nonexperts evaluated warranty as more important than brand name in their product quality decision. Warranty length was positively correlated with product quality perceptions for both known and unknown brands. With the unknown brand, nonexperts perceived significant improvement in product quality when the warranty length was increased from 2 to 20 years. For the known brand, nonexperts perceived little difference in quality for the two warranty lengths. Experts indicated no significant differences in perceived quality, given the four brand/warranty-length conditions. The results indicate that warranty length is most heavily weighted as a cue to product quality when consumers are not highly knowledgeable, and the brand name is not well known. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

From greening to sustaining: Transformational challenges for the firm – a case study of pollution abatement from tanneries in Kasur,Pakistan

This case study of tanneries in Kasur presents an account of industrial transformation of an agrarian society in a developing country, Pakistan, with its effects, efforts to rehabilitate and the difficulties faced in abatement of pollution. The research attempts to respond to the question of the social and economic cost of achieving pollution abatement in Kasur and develop a viable model. The research methods adopted include reviews of secondary data, personal interview and sample survey of tanneries in the study area. The results reveal how people have grappled with the problem of pollution abatement from the tanneries in Kasur and in creating decisive awareness at the local, national and international levels. The transformation of the city from a commercial centre to a semi-industrial tanning centre has led to a loss of 30% cultivable area due to contamination. It is reported that crop yield has dropped by 50% over the past 10 years. The total loss of agricultural income is estimated to be $450 thousand US per annum. The environmental impact of tanneries is highly pronounced in the urban areas around the leather tanning industrial units. Strong protest by the affected population has to some extent forced industrialists to rehabilitate the environment. NGO and the Government are also contributing to this effort. The case study of Kasur presents an example of the community's efforts to mobilize its local, financial and political resources to overcome the environmental hazards, with the associated problems and dilemmas.     

Warranties: Continued Readability Problems After the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act

A major thrust of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act (MMWA) passed by Congress in 1975 is to make warranties “easy to read and understand.” This study examines readability levels for 121 warranties in ten categories of consumer durables. The warranties analyzed are found to require readability levels beyond what most Americans have attained. Limited warranties require significantly higher readability levels than full warranties. Results suggest the MMWA, since passage in 1975, may have increased the number of limited warranties and the difficulty of reading level.     

INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS: SURVEYING THE ‘OLD’ AND THE ‘NEW’

This paper surveys and compares the literature on the ‘new’ institutionalism (North, Williamson, etc.) with that of the ‘old’(Veblen, Commons, Mitchell). A criterion for distinguishing these two schools is suggested, along with criticisms of the limitations of each. The ‘new’ institutionalism is associated with methodological individualism and the idea that the individual should be taken as given. Particular attention is paid to ‘new’ institutionalist treatments of markets and firms. The paper moves on to examine some ‘old’ institutionalist criticisms of ‘economic man’ as well as some negative features of the ‘old’ institutionalism. On the positive side, the latter is seen to have an ‘evolutionary’ dimension, related to modern work in the area of technological change.     

The process safety impact of distributed control systems

Experience has shown that a Distributed Control System (DCS) can provide enhanced process monitoring and control capabilities, as well as system self-diagnostics, that permit increased safety of process operations. However, this enhanced safety does not come about automatically with the installation of a DCS. The complexity and versatility of the DCS can introduce new failure scenarios leading to process upset and potential relization of process hazards. This paper reviews some novel considerations that should be taken into account when conducting process hazards reviews on facilities controlled by a DCS.     

美国地方政府创新的影响因素分析

本文研究了促进或妨碍地方政府管理创新的各项因素。研究结果表明,领导公信力既对地方政府创新的发起和实施起到了重要的作用,也是决定具体政府改革成败的重要因素;议会冲突对地方政府改革的成败不起关键作用;议会—行政机关关系的融洽有利于地方政府创新的成功开展。