How to pay for the war in times of imperfect commitment: Adam Smith and David Ricardo on the sinking fund

The paper proposes a comparative analysis of Smith's and Ricardo's views on the sinking fund. It shows that Smith and Ricardo agreed in stressing the ineffectiveness of the sinking fund as a policy instrument targeted at public debt repayment and tax-burden relief, pointing out that its actual workings had paradoxically helped to increase rather than reduce British total debt-load. Moreover, their explanation of the sinking fund paradox integrates a defective fiscal commitment technology with powerful politicians’ incentives to siphon off the money stored in the sinking fund to meet sudden increases of public expenditure whenever the occasion arose.     

Market Power of Domestic Marketers and its Influence on the Consequences of the Korea–US and Korea–Australia FTAs on the Beef Market

Domestic, US and Australian beef, which are differentiated by country of origin, are sold in Korea. In this differentiated product market, tariff reductions through Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are expected to strengthen the competitiveness of imported beef and, therefore, to mitigate the effects arising from the market power of domestic marketers. The present study develops a simulation model that evaluates this mitigating effect by explicitly reflecting the market structure that domestic beef marketers constitute. The simulation results indicate that the farm-retail marketing margin would decrease by 10.59% or 6.79% due to the Korea–US and Korea–Australia FTAs, respectively, if domestic beef marketers formed a cartel or an oligopoly market (i.e. the degree of market power is 0.5), while the marketing margin under a competitive market scenario is simulated to have no change. The value of beef production would decrease by 1009 million dollars if the marketers form a cartel and hence exercise monopoly power. The FTAs are simulated to reduce the value of beef production by 564 million dollars under the competitive market scenario.     

Sociodemographic factors associated with obesity in the USA

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of sociodemographic factors on the likelihood of an individual being obese using a cross-sectional survey of Americans and logit analysis. Results of the logit model indicate that those with children, black people, women, those with a lower education level, those from the Midwest, and those who have a lower level of physical activity during leisure time are more likely to be obese than others. Considering the extent of the obesity problem in the United States, these results should be used as a guide in the design of food policy and health education programmes concerning obesity. The results could also be used by marketers of health food and drug products in their marketing campaigns.     

Announcement

The paper focuses on Blaug's distinction between rational and historical reconstruction within the historiography of economics. Blaug's distinction is shown to be sterile and misleading and his definitions of no avail to clear thinking. Historical reconstruction (as defined by Blaug) is en empty box for reasons which are basically theoretical and not simply practical (as Blaug seems to hold). Moreover, Blaug's primary polemical target is Whig historiography and not rational reconstruction: the two concepts coincide only by means of an ad hoc definition. Blaug's criticism does not apply to other uses of the concept of rational reconstruction such as that proposed by Lakatos.     

Distribution Channel Relationships: The Conditions and Strategic Outcomes of Cooperation between Manufacturer and Distributor

The purpose of this paper is to carry out an empirical examination of the antecedents of cooperation between manufacturer and distributor. A further objective is to study the levels of satisfaction with the strategic outcomes of such cooperation. We analyze the extent to which cooperation requires not only complementary resources and capabilities of the partners but also goal congruence, trust and relational norms. Cooperation between manufacturer and distributor also involves reciprocal commitment and joint investment in specific assets. Finally, manufacturers and distributors should not only gain satisfaction from the economic, psychological or social benefits of cooperation, but should also gain competitive advantage, profits and strategic outcomes that help to compete in the market more efficiently.     

Trust as a key factor in successful relationships between consumers and retail service providers

Previous research has shown that trust plays a key role in the development of stable relationships between a service provider and its customers, and many authors have devoted considerable attention to identifying its antecedents and consequences. The aim of this study is to investigate these issues in the context of retail travel agencies, a service setting where new information technologies are questioning personal relationships and where the concepts of service quality and customer loyalty have become critical for differentiating from competitors.     

Willingness to Pay for Multiple Quantities of Animal Welfare Dairy Products: Results from Random Nth‐, Second‐Price,and Incremental Second‐Price Auctions

Nonhypothetical experimental auctions are used to elicit willingness to pay for humane animal care‐certified dairy products: cheese and ice cream. We use second‐price, random Nth‐price, and incremental second‐price auctions in multiproduct, multiquantity, and multiround contexts. The results contrast participants’ bids across different auction mechanisms and different products. Differences in bidding patterns are detected across auction mechanisms as well as products. Our results suggest that subjects on average are only willing to pay a premium price for one unit of humane animal case‐certified ice cream but not for multiple quantities.     

The Role of Market Orientation In Business Dyadic Relationships: Testing an Integrator Model

Over the last decade market orientation and relationship marketing have been huo of the most outstanding fields of research within Marketing discipline. However, little at tention has been devoted towards the investigation of the interface existing between both concepts. The aim of this study is to overcome this deficiency. Thus, the paper begins with a review of the existing literature into relationship marketing and market orientation as well as their main constructs. The result of this analysis is the proposal of a theoretical causal model in which the cultural market orientation that buyer firms show appears as a conditioning factor of their loyalty towards a supplier. Next, the methodology followed as well as the empirical contrast of the model proposed are thoroughly presented. R e empirical data was obtained from huo personal surveys conducted on the same sample of 141 industrial companies. Finally, results, conclusions and practical implications are discussed. In this way, the research proves that a buyer firm’s cultural market orientation acts as an indirect antecedent to the degree of loyalty shown to its main supplier.     

A variance equality test of the ICAPM on Philippine stocks: post-Asian financial crisis period

Analysis of the data generated from various residential time-of-day electricity pricing projects often involves estimation of a system of demand equations. Both ad hoc demand models and neoclassical demand models have been estimated, often resulting in considerably different estimates of price elasticities. In this paper, elasticity estimates are presented from each type of demand model using data from the Arizona and North Carolina rate demonstration projects. The relationship between the elasticities generated from ad hoc models and separable neoclassical models is explored and the divergent price elasticity estimates are reconciled.