The Effect of Web-Based Information Availability on Consumers' Processing and Attitudes

Most companies use their websites to promote themselves, their products, and their services; these sites provide ever-increasing amounts of information. This paper examines the effects of the amount of information provided on a website on consumers' processing and attitudes. We propose that the amount of information has differential effects on consumers' information processing and attitudes. The influence of need for cognition is also examined. In our study, we create an experimental website with three versions, with each version providing different amounts of information. Results indicate that while information processing diminishes under high levels of information, attitudes remain favorable. In addition, the individual's need for cognition moderates the influence of the amount of information on both consumer information processing and attitudes.     

The trolley problem: A social constructivist pedagogy approach

The trolley problem has been one of the more widely used thought experiments in business ethics education. However, the approaches used to integrate it in the classroom have not explicitly utilized individual reflection and interpersonal engagement, elements essential for cultivating moral development. Using social constructivist pedagogy, an instructional module integrating the trolley problem into the undergraduate business classroom is presented. The results of an instructional experiment assessing the effectiveness of the module indicate that while the module did not increase moral awareness among students, it had a positive influence on their prosocial intentions. Implications and limitations of the study, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.     

Voting by committees under constraints

We consider social choice problems where a society must choose a subset from a set of objects. Specifically, we characterize the families of strategy-proof voting procedures when not all possible subsets of objects are feasible, and voters’ preferences are separable or additively representable.     

Knowledge and Technology Transfer Relationship between a Research Center and the Production Sector: CIMAT Case Study

This article presents a study of the adoption of a knowledge and technology transfer model at the Center for Research in Mathematics in Guanajuato state, Mexico, in order to define the model that would produce the best outcomes for establishing a transfer relationship with industry, the government, and academia. The transfer of organizational models and practices is a phenomenon that occurs frequently in dynamic globalized organizational contexts that underpin ongoing quests for greater and faster development, while also adapting and exchanging innovative products and services. This article presents theoretical input from specialized entities and authors focused on knowledge and technology transfers at universities and research centers. The methodological strategy used in these research projects adopts a qualitative approach, with the study of an explanatory case study being the methodological tool, together with document analyses and semi-structured interviews. After the results have been obtained, the mechanisms used by the Center were identified for relating to the production sector, noting that this relationship involves high-level direct transfers. Positive outcomes were found that benefitted the Center and the company studied, underscoring the importance of government research centers having a knowledge and technology transfer model allowing identification of the contextual, technical and structural conditions that shape underlying transfer relationship at this Center, as well as the surrounding regions.     

Convergence in car prices among European countries

This article contributes to the literature on price convergence in Europe by investigating the existence of stochastic and deterministic convergence of car prices in the EU15 countries. We apply recently developed econometric techniques that allow for multiple structural breaks to an up-to-date dataset. We find considerable evidence of both types of convergence in our sample of countries and car models, therefore suggesting a tendency for relative prices to equalize over time. In addition, we find evidence regarding the importance in this convergence process of both legislative changes taking place in the years 1996 and 2002, and the implementation of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).     

The Financial Stability of Notional Account Pensions

A number of European countries are reforming their pension benefit formulas by adopting 'notional' accounts. These accounts are used to determine individual benefits, but pay-as-you-go financing is retained. This paper addresses the belief that by choosing adjustment rules cleverly, notional accounts can provide automatic financial equilibrium in the short run. If this were true, it would be a valuable advantage in terms of insulating the government budget from demographic pressures, while insulating the pension budget from fiscal pressures. It is shown that notional account benefit formulas cannot provide automatic financial equilibrium in the short run. The paper also suggests that if indexing rules are chosen in a particular way, and shocks revert rapidly to a mean, the pension institution may achieve financial stability in the long run. However, long-run stability is unlikely to be valuable because political interference occurs in the short run.     

康普腾斯大学——人民币升值：经济与政治的碰撞

当两股强大的力量在政治和经济交叉的领域出现正面冲突时，这种碰撞便带有巨响。而且令人不安。来看看目前美国和中国就中国货币元的分歧吧。布什政府为了避免参议院保护主义者的立法提案。公开对中国施加压力。要求中国提高人民币对美元的汇率。一些立法者为了回应生产企业和工会组织的担忧。声称廉价的中国出口产品——他们说。由于人民币对美元的汇率过低。令这些产品价格更低——使得中国企业和美国公司竞争时，取得了不公平的优势。这也是美国贸易赤字和经常项目赤字的主要原因。因此。美国在这一问题上公开高调地表达自己的立场。试图强制中国提高汇率。