Environmental practices in the wine industry: An empirical application of the theory of reasoned action and stakeholder theory in the United States and New Zealand

Industry transformation related to environmental stewardship has received significant scholarly attention over the past decade. However, limited theoretical and empirical work examines the motivations for improving environmental performance in an industry in different countries. In this paper, we develop a set of hypotheses, based in the theory of reasoned action and stakeholder theory, regarding drivers of the adoption of environmental practices in the wine industries of New Zealand and the United States. We test our hypotheses using data from survey questionnaires collected in each country. Our findings suggest that subjective norms and internal stakeholder pressures are common drivers of the adoption of environmental practices in these two countries. However, managerial attitudes and external stakeholder pressures are not significant drivers. We also find that managerial attitudes and export dependence are stronger determinants of environmental practice adoption in New Zealand compared to the U.S.     

揭示一个真实的中国

大多数人对上述问题的回答,简直让人感到瞠目结舌。因为除了上海、北京、广州和重庆等几大城市外,他们对广阔的中国市场的潜力几乎一无所知。中国中小城市的整体发展现状,给大多数行销和传播人员提出了严峻的挑战。他们往往忽视中国特异的多民族特性和多种不同方言地区的显著文化差异,而盲目地将中国飞速发展和快速壮大的理念一股脑推行到所有地区中。“忽略地区——二三级城镇”市场必将呈现巨大的增长态势,为了验证上述趋势,奥美和传立中国开展了一项以揭示真实中国为主题的调查研究。     

Are EC-Japan-US Trade relations at the crossroads?

The Uruguay Round negotiations are currently passing through a critical phase after four years of strenuous bargaining. The ultimate success of the negotiations largely depends on the attitudes of the USA, the EC and Japan. What are the main contentious issues between these three and how are their trade relations likely to develop in future?     

Endogenous,Intra‐household Decision‐making and its Impact on the Labor Supply of Couples in Rural India*

Using data for rural India, this paper analyzes households' labor supply decision‐making, taking into consideration non‐participation, endogenous intrahousehold bargaining and nutritional status. Analyses of unitary and collective models suggest that bargaining between household members forms the basis of households' decisions, and these decisions alter households' internal power balance. Analysis of households' internal bargaining process suggests that women's bargaining power increases when their wages are higher and they are better educated. The results indicate that it is crucial to account for the mechanics of decision‐making within households when studying the effects of changing labor market conditions or designing development policies to improve individual well‐being or to empower women.     

On the differing pattern of corporate diversification across economies

Conglomerates, that is, firms which have diversified into industries having little in common in terms of markets, technologies, or skills, occupy only a relatively minor position among large firms in the U.S., but they dominate many other economies, particularly the developing ones in Asia. This paper describes a model which helps explain this difference in the observed pattern of corporate diversification across economies.The author is grateful to Gamal Atallah, participants at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, participants at the Forty-Third International Atlantic Economic Conference, October 8–11, 1998, Boston, Massachusetts, and an anonymous referee for helpful comments and suggestions. The author is responsible for all errors and omissions.     

China's Banking Reform

This article discusses the main problems facing the Chinese banking system and concludes that, despite serious problems, the risk seems small that, in the near future, a financial crisis will occur that will pose severe problems for the international financial system. An internal financial crisis, however, could occur. Without government support, the economic viability of many of China's banks is questionable. The government and central bank authorities acknowledge the situation and have taken some steps toward reform. The most serious threat to the banking system lies in the accumulation of non-performing loans (NPLs)--many of them policybased loans extended by state-owned banks to money-losing state-owned companies with little expectation that they would be completely repaid. China has been taking measures to keep the problem from worsening and has created four asset management companies to dispose of NPLs that still have value. Since the Chinese economic reforms began in 1978, Chinese authorities have made significant progress in modernising their banking system, although they still have a long way to go. However, there are several ameliorating factors that still keep its financial and foreign exchange system viable. China's continued high rate of growth and high savings rate have funneled deposits into the banking system, while a $20-30 billion annual trade surplus together with an inflow of foreign direct investment at about $40 billion per year have resulted in an accumulation of foreign exchange reserves exceeding $200 billion. China does not carry an unusually heavy debt burden, either domestic or international, although its short-term borrowing in foreign currencies has been increasing. China does not currently face a serious risk of either a domestic or international liquidity crisis--unless, of course, a severe and prolonged world recession occurs that adversely affects Chinese exports as well as the inflow of foreign direct investment.     

Economic Consequences of the Declining Relevance of Financial Reports

The proliferation of alternative information sources has reduced the relevance of corporate annual reports. This paper examines economic outcomes in an oligopolistic industry as investors become better informed but financial reports convey a smaller portion of the total information. Results show that an increase in alternate sources of information, and the resulting decline in relevance of financial reports, leads to a loss in economic efficiency despite the presence of additional information. Investors benefit, but at the expense of consumers and social welfare. Investors benefit not necessarily because the amount of information in the economy increases, but because there is a change in the channels through which the same information is communicated.