Overcoming barriers to sustainability: an explanation of residential builders' reluctance to adopt clean technologies

The construction industry has great opportunities to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions by improving the energy efficiency of residential buildings. However, in this industry, diffusion of cost‐effective clean technologies has been notoriously slow and below potential. This paper sheds light on factors that explain why construction companies have been reluctant to adopt energy‐efficient technologies. It questions why some companies have intensified their investments in clean technologies, while others are lagging behind. Based on a multiple case study of four Dutch building contractors, the paper shows that contractors that actively gather information and build internal technical capacity are keener on adopting energy‐efficient technologies. Findings also reveal that it will be a major challenge for the construction industry to communicate the advantages of clean technologies to (potential) home buyers and create market demand. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

The dark side of discounts: An inaction inertia perspective on the post‐promotion dip

After a product has been on promotion, the sales of that product may temporarily decrease. This post‐promotion dip is normally explained in terms of forward buying or stockpiling. This article offers a third explanation in terms of brand switching. The results of two experiments show that after missing a discount on their regular brand, consumers may switch to another brand. Switching behavior is much more pronounced when a large discount is missed in comparison to when a small discount is missed. This finding is consistent with recent social psychological research on inaction inertia, and the results are discussed in relation to this phenomenon. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

AN INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATION TO REDUCE THE AGENCY COSTS OF PUBLIC CORPORATE BONDS

This paper proposes an institutional innovation in the structure of public bonds that is intended to provide some of the advantages of private loans- active monitoring, tight covenants, and ease of reorganization-while retaining the benefits of liquidity and ease of diversification provided by publicly traded securities. The authors propose that a publicly registered corporate bond provide for a "supertrustee" who will act on behalf of bondholders. The supertrustee will be charged with responsibility to monitor the compliance of the borrower with the terms of the bond covenants and given exclusive authority to negotiate amendments to the covenants and decide what action to take in the event of a breach of a covenant.     

A self‐regulatory model of consideration set formation

The goal of this article is to deepen the understanding of the consideration stage in choice processes. The basic questions are: Why do people consider different brands/products in the first place? What cognitive processes lead to the formation of consideration sets? Based on the notion that consumers are volitional decision makers capable of controlling their own behavior according to their goals, a self‐regulatory model of consideration‐set formation is developed. Goals at different levels of abstraction are hypothesized to determine considerationset formation. In contrast to the notion of congruence, which relates the ideal self to consumer choice, the authors focus on the motivational function of the self. Based on a self‐regulatory model, it is shown that the ideal self, as a macrolevel goal, determines desired benefits. Desired benefits, as more specific goals, then determine brand consideration. In contrast to stimulus‐based choice approaches, consideration‐set composition is investigated in a memory‐based, comparable‐choice context of real adult consumers considering the purchase of automobiles. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Deutschlands hohe Ungleichheit verursacht wirtschaftlichen Schaden

“Welfare for everyone”, according to former chancellor and economics minister Ludwig Erhard, has been the credo of Germany’s economic and social policy for the past 60 years. However, Germany is increasingly failing to achieve this objective.Germany is a country of enormous inequality – income, wealth and opportunities are distributed more unequally in Germany than in almost any other industrialised country. This inequality imposes huge economic costs for Germany, as evidenced by lower economic growth and declines in other indicators of well-being. And it has triggered a harmful fight among groups of society for public resources. This fight will further intensify with the dramatic changes Germany is currently undergoing, from demographic change to globalisation to the migration challenge. The main culprit for the high and rising inequality is not a lack of public redistribution of income and wealth, but rather the unusually high inequality of opportunity, through which an ever higher share of citizens is deprived of the chance to develop and use their talents and skills. Such barriers have become massive, beginning already in early childhood.     

Returns to social network capital among traders

Using data on agricultural traders in Madagascar, this papershows that social network capital has a large effect on firmproductivity. Better connected traders have significantly largersales and value added than less connected traders after controllingfor physical and human inputs as well as for entrepreneur characteristics.The analysis indicates that three dimensions of social networkcapital should be distinguished: relationships with other traders,which among other things help firms economize on transactionscosts; relationships with potential lenders; and family relationships.We find no evidence that social capital favors collusion.     

Selling at the Farmgate or Traveling to Market

Using detailed survey data from Uganda, this article examines whether coffee producers sell to itinerant traders or directly to markets, where they can get a higher price but must incur a transport cost. We find that selling to the market is more likely when the quantity sold is large and the market is close by. Wealthy farmers are less likely to sell to the market, possibly because the shadow value of their time is higher. But if they have a large quantity of coffee for sale, they are more likely to sell it to the market. They are also more likely to travel to a distant market. These findings are consistent with their better ability to pay for public transportation. We find no evidence that the decision to sell at the farmgate is driven by a self-control motive.     

Natural monopoly and differential pricing

Under uniform pricing a monopolist cannot make a positive profit in equilibrium. I analyze how differential pricing can be exploited by a natural monopolist to deter entry when entry is costless. In a two-stage game with price competition before quantity competition I show that the incumbent firm can deter entry and make a positive profit in equilibrium. The incumbent sets two different prices, the low price to deter entry and the high price to generate profit. Entry is not possible because of scale effects. If dumping is allowed for all firms no positive profits are realizable, but welfare is reduced. I show that for some parameter values the incumbent is forced to engage in a stunt (i.e., set a negative low price) to keep entrants out.     

The scope for national monetary policy in the face of globalised financial markets

Conclusion Experience has shown that German monetary policy is far from impotent There is consequently no call for passive resignation. The monetary authorities must send clear signals if the current turbulence on the currency markets is to be kept in check. The Bundesbank itself has clearly shown — during the period following German Unification — that an autonomous monetary policy is possible in spite of the high degree of integration on international financial markets. It is hard to see why this should not be the case today simply because it is no longer interest rate hikes but base rate cuts that are called for.If interest rates are not reduced, the interest rate on the German capital market will continue to follow the lead set by American monetary policy. But is it right that the American central bank, on the basis of data on the state of the US economy, indirectly helps to determine whether new jobs are created in Germany and whether existing jobs are made more secure? What is required in the medium term is greater independence on the part of German monetary policy. The globalisation of financial markets does not stand in the way of such a strategy.