Does banner advertising affect browsing for brands? clickstream choice model says yes, for some

This paper investigates how exposure to Internet display advertising affects the subsequent choices users make of brand-specific pages to view within a website. Using individual-level clickstream data from a third-party automotive website, we tracked the web pages selected by users as they browsed the site and their exposures to premium placement display ads for different vehicle makes (e.g., Ford, Toyota). Pages on the site were classified into those that displayed information about a specific vehicle make (a ??make page??) versus those that did not (a ??non-make page??). For each ??make-page?? viewed, the specific automotive make selected (e.g., Ford, Toyota) was also recorded. We use these data to develop a model of users?? make-specific page choices as a function of prior banner ad exposure on the site. Consumer heterogeneity is captured using a Bayesian Mixture approach. We find that banner ads influence subsequent choices of which make-specific pages to view for ads, served during the current browsing session but not for ads served in previous sessions. The effect of banner ads is also segmented: users in one segment (54%) reacted positively, users in a second segment (46%) were not influenced. Using a standard continuous approach to heterogeneity, we would have concluded?Cincorrectly?Cthat banner advertising has no effect on the subsequent selection of make-specific pages. For the positively reacting segment, we estimate that the elasticity of make-page choice with respect to banner ad exposure is just under 0.2. Users in this segment appear less focused in their site browsing behavior and tend to stay longer than users in the non-reacting segment.     

基于企业与顾客关系的顾客价值提升策略研究

顾客关系是当今管理理论界与实践界的一个热点话题,对于很多行业的企业而言,能否与顾客维护良好的关系,从根本上决定了企业能否盈利。现有研究已经表明,顾客关系的核心本质是价值,即顾客和企业双方都能从关系的建立与维持中获得更大的价值。究竟企业该从什么角度出发,怎样基于顾客关系来寻求提升顾客价值的策略,从而提升企业的总体价值,是企业所急需探求的。文中在基于顾客关系的基础上,提出了顾客关系的涵义、顾客价值的涵义,并提炼出了实现顾客价值提升的行之有效的策略途径,从而实现顾客和企业的利益最大化。     

Can Banning Spatial Price Discrimination Improve Social Welfare?

We analyze a two-stage sequential-move model of location and pricing to identify firm’s location, output, and welfare. We consider two pricing regimes (mill pricing and spatial price discrimination) and, unlike previous literature, allow in each of them for a non-uniform population density, non-constant location costs (i.e., the setup costs, such rental costs and land prices, differ by firm’s location), and endogenous market boundaries. Under constant location costs, our results show the firm locates at the city center under both mill and discriminatory pricing, and that output is larger under spatial price discrimination. Welfare comparisons are, however, ambiguous. Under non-constant location costs, we find the optimal location can move away from the city center, and does not coincide across pricing regimes. Compared with mill pricing, spatial price discrimination generates a higher level of output. We also find that welfare is higher (lower) under mill than under discriminatory pricing when transportation rates are low (high, respectively).     

Impatience and Inconsistency in Intertemporal Choice: An Experimental Analysis

In this article the experiment carried out by Takahashi et al. [2009 Takahashi, T., T. Hadzibeganovic, S. A. Cannas, T. Makino, H. Fukui, and S. Kitayama. “Cultural Neuroeconomics of Intertemporal Choice.” Neuroendocrinology Letters, 30, (2009), pp. 185–191.[PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]] is replicated to analyze the influence of culture, gender, origin (urban or rural), and socioeconomic level on the impulsivity and consistency of decision-making processes concerning monetary gains and losses. The results indicate that Spanish students show inconsistency, and more impulsivity over gains (i.e., more impatience, as they discount delayed outcomes more rapidly) than do Japanese and American students. Additionally, participants from urban areas show more impatience over gains than do participants from rural ones, women are more impatient than men are over losses, and participants of different socioeconomic levels show differences in their impulsivity parameters.     

Aufschwung verliert an Fahrt – Weltwirtschaftliches Klima wird rauer

The economic upturn in Germany is entering its sixth year but is losing momentum due to both demand and supply side factors. On the one hand, Germany’s key sales markets have weakened in line with the slowdown in world trade. On the other hand, a growing number of firms face production side bottlenecks, especially in terms of labour and sourcing intermediate goods. This coincides with problems in the automotive industry related to the introduction of the new World Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP), which has affected gross domestic product (GDP) growth due to the branch’s economic weight. These adjustment problems, however, should be overcome over the course of the winter. Fiscal stimuli will also take effect as of the beginning of 2019. After 1.7 % growth this year, GDP will increase at rates of 1.9 % in 2019 and 1.8 % in 2020.     

Progressive Lending in Microfinance—What about the Farmers?

Dynamic incentives have become a common measure in microfinance institutions (MFI) to counteract the risk of default and to strengthen the borrower's identification with his micro‐lender. This article focuses on progressive lending over the course of the bank–borrower relationship. As the agricultural sector is increasingly important for Azerbaijan's economy, this study differentiates between the lending policies faced by farmers and non‐farmers, and matches the findings with the repayment performances of both client groups. By means of a rich data set spanning from 2007 through 2012 provided by an MFI in Azerbaijan, it can be demonstrated that farmers face a higher degree of loan volume rationing that cannot be justified by our findings on repayment performances. Moreover, we find that repeated borrowing increases the default probabilities of both client groups. In conclusion, we deduce that the MFI and borrowers could benefit from reconsidering the current lending policies.     

中国养老保险最优缴费率的实证分析——基于贴现因子和劳动增长率差异的分析

从个人效用和社会福利最大化的角度出发,养老保险制度存在着最优的缴费率。最优缴费率与资本产出弹性α、未来效用的贴现因子ρ、人口增长率n、有效劳动增长率g、个人工资与社会平均工资的比例λ等参数有关。结合中国现实,在其他参数不变的前提下,依据贴现因子和劳动增长率的变动能够形成四组组合模式。模拟结论表明,现行养老保险制度的社会统筹缴费率是符合福利最大化的最优缴费率;现行养老保险制度的个人账户缴费率与实现福利最大化的最优个人账户缴费率相比是偏低的;缴费期的长短与最优社会统筹缴费率的高低成正比而与最优个人账户缴费率的高低成反比;有效劳动增长率的高低与最优社会统筹缴费率成正比而与最优个人账户缴费率成反比。     

No momentum in the world economy

The upswing in the world economy has lost momentum surprisingly fast. A slowdown in growth in North America had been expected, but the budding hopes in Japan and Western Europe for a continued recovery in utilisation of capacity and employment were disappointed. Are there grounds for such hopes in 1996 or have the structural constraints on growth now become so powerful as to prevent a more significant economic revival?     

The world economy moves at a gentler pace

1989 was another highly satisfactory year for the industrialised countries, with real gross national product growing by an average of around 31/2%. Performance differed from one country to another, however, with the USA beginning to lag behind. Is this the harbinger of a general slowdown in growth?