Micro and macro socioeconomic changes in the USSR

The vast changes in the Soviet economic structure did not begin with the recent failed coup; they have been progressing for several years. Despite the fact that everyone agrees on the importance of economic reform, it has been a slow struggle—partly because of individual expectations.     

Instability in cointegration regressions: a brief review with an application to money demand in Portugal

This study addresses some modelling questions related to the possibility of structural change in models with nonstationary variables. Focusing on cointegration issues, some methodological aspects are discussed, attempting to integrate coherently the several steps of the modelling strategy. These range from unit root to cointegration testing and to testing for instability in the cointegration vector. An empirical example with Portuguese data tries to illustrate the usefulness of this approach, where a simple money demand function is estimated using an error-correction model (ECM). If a break is explicitly allowed in the cointegration vector the forecasting performance of the ECM improves.     

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE WINE TASTING: THE EFFECT OF A TASTING FEE ON OBLIGATION TO BUY

Building on reciprocity theory, the current study suggests that, at least to some extent, consumers purchase goods and services in response to sampling due to a perceived need to reciprocate for trying the products/services. In addition, the study explores the effect of charging for sampling (i.e., wine tasting) on tourist behavior. The sample (N = 357) was drawn from visitors to six wineries in an emerging wine region. Three of the sampled wineries charged a small fee for tasting, while the other three wineries offered complimentary wine tasting. The study examined whether differences exist in a perceived need to buy wine between visitors who paid a tasting fee and those who tasted wine for free. The results indicated that visitors who had complimentary wine tasting spent significantly more money at the wineries than visitors who paid a fee for tasting. Furthermore, visitors who tasted wine for free felt significantly more appreciative of the personnel than did visitors who paid a tasting fee. Also, visitors who had complimentary wine tasting reported significantly higher levels of obligation to make a purchase at the end of their visits to the wineries. Managerial implications are discussed.     

Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Integration in Mercosur: Argentina and Brazil

ABSTRACT

This article examines the relationship between economic integration and fiscal decentralization for Argentina and Brazil. Economic openness adds costs and benefits to fiscal decentralization, beyond those analyzed in closed economies. The relationships among variables with panel data for the period 1988–2005 are estimated. The innovation of the article lies in considering decentralization at the level of states/provinces. In Brazil, the effect of openness on decentralization is negative and significant, both for expenditures and revenues; in Argentina, the effect is negative or not significant. This difference between countries is based on the different structure of subnational government financing.     

Model-Based Decision Support in Manufacturing and Service Networks

In this paper, we sketch some of the challenges that should be addressed in future research efforts for model-based decision support in manufacturing and service networks. This includes integration issues, taking into account the autonomy of the decision-making entities in face of information asymmetry, the modeling of preferences of the decision makers, efficiently determining robust solutions, i.e. solutions that are insensitive with respect to changes in the problem data, and a reduction of the time needed for model building and usage. The problem solution cycle includes problem analysis, the design of appropriate algorithms and their performance assessment. We are interested in a prototypical integration of the proposed methods within application systems, which can be followed up with field tests of the extended application systems. We argue that the described research agenda requires the interdisciplinary collaboration of business and information systems engineering researchers with colleagues from management science, computer science, and operations research. In addition, we present some exemplifying, illustrative examples of relevant research results.     

Beef Credence Attributes: Implications of Substitution Effects on Consumers’ WTP

Consumers’ food choices are influenced by a wide variety of credence attributes, but the food industry faces problems assessing whether the price premiums that consumers are willing to pay for these attributes will be sufficient to offset higher production costs. In this context, consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for safer, cleaner and animal friendlier beef was investigated through a choice experiment. The relative importance of WTP for these attributes shows that consumers place the highest values on food safety, followed by animal welfare and finally environmental protection. WTP for different combinations of the three attributes cannot be obtained by independent valuation and summation due to the presence of significant substitution relationships. However, some suggestions for the relationships between these attributes can be proposed through an after‐survey analytical solution. The bias involved in separately valuing closely related attributes can potentially jeopardise the success of a differentiation strategy.     

Consumer perception of packaging: An eye‐tracking study of gluten‐free cookies

The growing interest in gluten‐free products makes it crucial to understand the mechanism of consumers' perception of gluten‐free claims. Due to the limited research measuring the influence of the type (verbal/nonverbal), number and location of gluten‐free statements on product labels on visual attention and consumers' purchase decisions, the main aim of this research was to evaluate the perception of gluten‐free claims and the Crossed Grain symbol on cookie packages of both consumers who are on a gluten‐free diet and those who are not. To that end, a questionnaire survey (600 respondents) and an eye‐tracking study (67 respondents) were carried out. The results showed that the respondents are aware of the basic rules of gluten‐free products' labelling, but 32% of those on the diet claimed that the products were not labelled properly. The analysis proved (p < .05) the significant relation between the number of gluten‐free claims and consumers' purchase intention. The respondents paid more attention to verbal gluten‐free claims than to nonverbal ones on packaging (p < .05). In the case of the Crossed Grain symbol, addition of verbal statement strengthened the information and decreased the respondents' level of uncertainty about a given product, which is important, especially for people newly adopting the diet. No difference in the visual attention to gluten‐free statements between the followers and non‐followers of the diet was found (p > .05), which allowed us to conclude that the perception of gluten‐free claims is an automatic process. These results suggest that designing product labels by considering the information architecture concerning gluten may help strengthen consumers' attitudes towards gluten‐free products and impact buying behaviour.     

Corporate governance performance ratings with machine learning

We use machine learning with a cross-sectional research design to predict governance controversies and to develop a measure of the governance component of the environmental, social, governance (ESG) metrics. Based on comprehensive governance data from 2,517 companies over a period of 10 years and investigating nine machine-learning algorithms, we find that governance controversies can be predicted with high predictive performance. Our proposed governance rating methodology has two unique advantages compared with traditional ESG ratings: it rates companies' compliance with governance responsibilities and it has predictive validity. Our study demonstrates a solution to what is likely the greatest challenge for the finance industry today: how to assess a company's sustainability with validity and accuracy. Prior to this study, the ESG rating industry and the literature have not provided evidence that widely adopted governance ratings are valid. This study describes the only methodology for developing governance performance ratings based on companies' compliance with governance responsibilities and for which there is evidence of predictive validity.     

Storing power: market structure matters

We assess how firms' incentives to operate and invest in energy storage depend on the market structure. For this purpose, we characterize equilibrium market outcomes allowing for market power in storage and/or production, as well as for vertical integration between storage and production. Market power reduces overall efficiency through two channels: It induces an inefficient use of the storage facilities, and it distorts investment incentives. The worst outcome for consumers and total welfare occurs under vertical integration. The results are key to understanding how to regulate energy storage, an issue which is critical for the deployment of renewable energies.     

Ethnic-specific infant care practices and infant mortality in late Imperial Russia

The Russian Empire had the highest infant mortality rate in Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century. Using a variety of official statistical sources and qualitative evidence, this paper documents uniquely high infant mortality among ethnic Russians. In contrast, among other ethnic groups of the empire, infant mortality rates did not exceed those of the European countries by much. The evidence suggests that the explanation for the Russian infant mortality pattern was ethnic-specific infant care practices, such as the early introduction of solid food, which increased the incidence of lethal gastrointestinal diseases. Our findings highlight the importance of traditional infant feeding practices in mortality in pre-industrial societies.