Construction industry in developing countries

This paper provides a review of the construction capability available in the developing countries to meet the demand for shelter. It discusses the role of construction in the process of development and its importance to economic growth. It considers the issues facing the growth of a viable indigenous construction industry in the developing world within the context of the activities involved in the creation of constructed facilities – planning, design, construction and maintenance; it also examines the environment within which the industry has developed. For each construction activity the paper reviews available capabilities, the various resources needed for the development of an indigenous industry, and some possible means of accommodating these needs.     

TRENDS IN FOOD MARKETING IN THE UNITED STATES

This article discusses some major trends in food marketing in the United States, as revealed in a detailed study of food distribution undertaken by the National Commission on Food Marketing. Attention is focused on the growing industrialisation of farming and the consequent decline in terminal auction markets; the increasing role of new product development in ensuring profitability of food processors. Trends in the food retailing industry are also discussed and compared with conditions prevailing in Australia.     

Ethics in Small Minority Businesses

The management literature is replete with studies on business ethics. Unfortunately, most of these studies have dealt exclusively with ethics in large businesses. Although a handful of studies can be found on small business ethics, none has paid attention to the issue of ethics in small minority businesses. Similarly, several studies on ethics have utilized the Wood et al. (1988) 16-vignette ethics scale, although reliability and validity issues associated with the scale have never been fully addressed. In this study, a purification (via content analysis) of the above mentioned scale was performed. Three reliable factors were extracted from the purified scale. They were used to investigate the ethics in small minority businesses. The study found an association between business ethics and demographic and company-related variables. In the case of age of respondents, findings ran counter the usual relationship of age being positively related to ethical attitudes. The implications of these findings are also discussed.     

The Economic Benefits of Nutrition Labeling: A Case Study for Fresh Meat and Poultry Products

New rules issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture requiring provision of nutrition information on raw meat and poultry products may encourage consumers to make healthier food choices. Reduced intake of fat and cholesterol may prevent future cases of stroke, heart disease, and cancer. The benefits of these rules are estimated to be $62 to $125 million annually.     

Economics of Food Labeling

Federal intervention in food labeling is often proposed with the aim of achieving a social goal such as improving human health and safety, mitigating environmental hazards, averting international trade disputes, or supporting domestic agricultural and food manufacturing industries. Economic theory suggests, however, that mandatory food-labeling requirements are best suited to alleviating problems of asymmetric information and are rarely effective in redressing environmental or other spillovers associated with food production and consumption. Theory also suggests that the appropriate role for government in labeling depends on the type of information involved and the level and distribution of the costs and benefits of providing that information. This report traces the economic theory behind food labeling and presents three case studies in which the government has intervened in labeling and two examples in which government intervention has been proposed.     

Professionals' views of comparative advertising and the scholarly research literature: A review and synthesis

Comparative advertisements that contrast identifiable, competing products or services may be among advertising's most important tactical weapons. Despite nearly a century of use in the USA, growing use by advertisers in many other countries, and decades of scholarly research, some researchers continue to argue that the status of empirical knowledge regarding comparative advertising's effectiveness remains equivocal. This study addresses this equivocality with a review of the research literature and comparisons with the findings of a recent survey of US advertising creative executives. The findings reveal substantial agreement among the beliefs of academic researchers and advertising professionals in regard to when and how comparative advertising will likely be effective. In addition to offering confirming evidence that academic researchers and advertising professionals do sometimes arrive at the same destination in regard to their shared understandings of advertising effects, the findings also point the way toward important directions for future research on comparative advertising.     

Technological evolution and interdependence in China's emerging biofuel industry

This study uses the European Patent Office worldwide patent database and applies two-stage interactive data collection methods to reveal the evolving technological interdependence for China's emerging biofuel industry. Three findings are excerpted from our empirical results. First, due to dominant patterns of business ownership, China's biofuel technology is seen as largely based on the evolutionary strength of the foodstuff and chemical fields. Second, China's biofuel technology development has evolved in the mode of ‘forward engineering’, led by Chinese universities rather than initiated by the public research institutes as in the experience of other East Asian latecomers. Third, our patent map and technology trajectory analyses illustrate that China's biofuel technology tends to be application-oriented and highly intertwined with the pharmaceutical industry since the 2000s, which evidences the development of biofuel industry as reciprocally reinforcing China's innovation capability deriving from its prominent chemical sector. By examining endogenous technology capability embedded in the national innovation capacity, this study uncovers public implications for other technology latecomers attempting to build an emerging industry while facing technology uncertainty in a transitional society.