中国邮政品牌建设方案研究

邮政作为百年老店,具有较强的品牌影响力。但由于维护不力,品牌效应逐渐减弱。本文在分析中国邮政品牌建设现状的基础上,提出了中国邮政品牌建设的具体方案,并进一步阐述了方案的实施措施。     

专利动机演化对商业化决策模式的影响

从“商业化背离”现象入手,通过对人性假设与专利价值之间的关系分析,研究了专利动机保护动机、经济动机与战略动机的内容、类型与特点,并结合“契约人”假设,解释专利动机的形成机理。之后,通过对专利动机演化过程的剖析,指出了战略动机对专利行为的影响,提出了不同专利动机驱动的专利决策模式。研究发现：战略价值已经成为衡量专利价值的重要标准,对战略价值的追求也已成为一些企业实施专利战略的主要目标,战略专利对企业构建基于专利垄断性的竞争优势起着关键作用。     

国际货币体系演进的路径与动因分析

有效的国际货币体系较好地解决了国际清偿力的提供、国际收支不平衡的合理调整和国际经济主体对世界储备货币的信心三大问题。至今为止,国际货币体系的演进历经国际金本位制、布雷顿森林体系和牙买加体系三大阶段。体系的演进可从四大动因中得到相当程度的解释,分别是实力、信心、流动性和不对称性。国际货币体系作为动态化制度,其演进变迁展现出人们的无奈和智慧。     

The effect of the WIC program on consumption patterns in the cereal category

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a federally-funded food assistance program for low income participants who are at nutritional risk. Beneficiaries receive vouchers for specific foods and brands, selected for their nutritional value. While the program is designed to improve nutrition, it may also induce changes in consumption behavior that persist beyond participation in the program. In this paper, we study how participation in WIC impacts the consumption patterns and preferences during and after the program. Our analysis focuses on the cereal category, in which the subsidized brands must meet certain nutritional guidelines. As expected, during the program households increase cereal consumption volume and shift their choices towards the WIC-approved brands. More interesting is that once households exit the program, the higher category consumption rate and elevated share of WIC brands persist. To understand the behavioral mechanism underlying these consumption patterns, we estimate a choice model and find an increased preference for WIC brands after controlling for state dependence. The evidence suggests that this targeted food subsidy program is effective in creating behavior change that persists even after the incentive is withdrawn.     

消费者寻求多样化、拥塞效应和厂商歧视 定价竞争

在一些同时存在消费者寻求多样化购买和拥塞效应的行业,寡头厂商广泛使用基于消费者购买历史进行歧视定价的商业模式,文章建立了动态博弈模型针对这类行业和商业模式进行了深入研究.研究结果表明厂商实施歧视定价源于消费者寻求多样化购买,而且消费者寻求多样化和拥塞效应会导致厂商每一期产生"默契合谋".与统一定价相比,歧视定价会增加消费者福利,降低社会总福利.进一步的定价策略选择研究发现,寡头厂商都会选择获利较少的歧视性定价策略,陷入"囚徒困境"的境地.对于文章所研究的行业,厂商应该利用信息技术,积极使用这种定价策略,而公共政策不应过多地干预.     

不确定情形下的市场定价机制:基于心理-权力框架对新古典价格理论的审视

现实市场存在严重的不确定性,供给成本、消费效用以及质量信号等都是价格的函数,从而也就无法基于供求曲线交叉来获得均衡价格.因此,在不确定的现实市场中,人们往往需要借助一定的锚定值来预测产品和劳务的价格并促成契约和交易.同时,不同产品的价格锚定值往往依赖于基于一定规则所形成的等级序列,进而形成锦标赛制的市场定价体系,即不同产品的价格水平和不同劳务的工资水平往往依赖于其所属等级.进而,锦标赛制定价所遵循的不是生产成本原则或劳动投入原则,也不是客观功用原则或产出贡献原则,从而往往既不公平也无效率.锦标赛制定价体系之所以流行,根本原因在于市场经济中的权力结构是不对称的;尤其是,权力碎片化发展使得极少数强势者拥有了市场定价的权力,而定价原则是基于特定主权者的利益最大化和少数富人的效用最大化.正是基于锚定效应和权力分析框架的结合,我们才可以揭示出不确定市场中统一的锦标赛制定价体系及其嵌入的利益导向.显然,这将有助于我们深入审视新古典经济学价格理论,识别现实市场中的厂商定价策略,更好地解释各种市场行为和竞争形态,同时有助于我们更深刻地洞识市场机制的内在缺陷,进而为市场监管和收入分配等公共政策提供依据和方向.     

大学国际化提高了区域创新能力吗?

在三螺旋理论中,政府、产业和大学三者合作推动区域创新发展.全球化进一步拓展了创新主体参与合作的广度和深度,尤其是产业国际化水平对区域创新能力提高的影响越来越大.但大学国际化对区域创新能力的影响却没有被重视.文章以三螺旋算子为门槛值研究大学国际化水平、能力和不同类型对区域创新能力的影响.研究发现,我国区域创新合作环境整体上指向区域化,官、产、学三者合作水平较低,区域科研体系开放性和市场化程度不高,区域创新合作环境整体较差.官、产、学三者合作相对紧密的地区具有良性的创新合作环境,大学国际化水平对区域创新能力的影响较大;官、产、学三者合作不密切地区的创新能力则受大学国际化能力的影响较大.无论是"走出去"、"引进来"还是"面对面"形式的大学国际化,在创新合作环境好的地区,对创新能力都有着显著的正向影响.受代理变量选择的影响,"编码"形式大学国际化对区域创新的影响不明显;在创新合作环境差的地区,大学研发投入是影响区域创新能力的主要因素,同时需要"引进来"和"面对面"形式的大学国际化参与国际学习、交流和培训,以增加创新个体之间的直接交流,促进当地区域创新能力的提升.     

The effect of a wife’s retirement on her husband’s mental health

This article examines the effect of wives’ retirement on their husband’s mental health in Australia. By exploiting the exogenous variations in women’s retirement induced by the age pension qualifying ages, we find that spousal retirement status has a positive impact on the mental health of older men. This beneficial impact is found to strengthen with wives’ time spent in retirement. We show that wife’s retirement affects the constituents of her husband’s mental well-being in different ways. We also have identified four channels for the positive linkage between older women’s retirement and the mental health of their spouse.     

Association between provider specialty and healthcare costs and glycemic control for patients with diabetes

Aims: To analyze the association between provider, healthcare costs, and glycemic control for patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study identified adults with type 1 or 2?DM (T1D, T2D) in the Optum database. The main independent variable was provider (endocrinologist or primary care). Regression analysis compared total medical and pharmacy costs, adjusting for health status and other patient differences, by provider.

Results: For all patients, HbA1C improvement was greater, and medical costs significantly lower with an endocrinologist rather than a primary care provider. The largest HbA1C improvement (4%) occurred for insulin-dependent patients seen by endocrinologists. Significant medical savings with endocrinologist management occurred within the Medicare Advantage population in every sub-group of patients, with 14% lower costs ($4,767) for patients with T1D, 11% lower costs ($3,160) for patients with macro- and microvascular complications, and 10% lower costs ($2,237) for insulin-dependent patients. Within the commercial insurance population, medical costs were reduced by ≥9% in every sub-group of patients, with a 20% reduction ($8,450) for patients with micro- and macrovascular complications. Overall total costs (medical and pharmacy) were 8% ($1,541) higher for patients receiving endocrinologist rather than primary care, although endocrinologist care resulted in a 9% reduction (–$3,710) in costs for Medicare Advantage patients with T1D. Total medical costs (excluding pharmacy costs) may be a more accurate indicator of costs associated with patients in various stages of DM.

Limitations: There was insufficient data to develop risk-adjustment payments for pharmacy costs based on disease severity. The cross-sectional design identifies associations and not cause–effect relationships.

Conclusion: DM management by an endocrinologist was associated with greater HbA1C improvement and significantly lower medical costs. Total costs were higher with an endocrinologist, but for patients with T1D lower costs were seen, ranging from 2–9% regardless of insurance type.     

Upgrading in China’s apparel industry: international trade,local clusters and institutional contexts

This article focuses on the concept of upgrading, and seeks to move away from a firm-centred approach of industrial upgrading towards a framework that recognises not only a firm’s integration into global value chains, but also its embeddedness within local networks and the context of wider institutional arrangements. Based on one firm-level database, this article measures upgrading in China’s apparel industry at the firm level, which allows us not only to evaluate the extent of upgrading in the industry as a whole and to compare its extent among individual firms and selected groups of firms, but also to differentiate and measure different types of upgrading. Empirical results confirm that the heterogeneity of firms, global and local linkages and the wider historical, political, institutional and economic context have all played a critical role in the process of upgrading, suggesting that a focus on dynamics of firm upgrading alone is insufficient.