Advertising and the Department of Energy's Campaign for Energy Conservation

Abstract

Motivating consumers to conserve energy has proven to be a difficult task in the United States. One tactic that has been used on a limited basis by the Department of Energy is paid advertising. This paper examines the role of conservation within the country's broader energy problems, delineates several consumer issues that affect the success of government conservation programs, discusses the controversy surrounding the use of paid advertising to promote consumer conservation efforts, and describes those DOE programs that have used paid advertising as an integral component of conservation program strategy.     

美国是“负责任”的实力下降霸权吗?——兼论中国必须掌握国际关系理论研究的话语权

随着美国的可持续发展能力和经济总量的相对下降,巨大的军费开支、难以缩小的财政赤字、自我变革能力的弱化阻碍着其重新振兴,其政府的国内治理能力下降。相应地,美国的软实力不断下降和所主张的发展模式对其他国家的吸引力也在减弱。从中长期来看,美国实力的相对下降已是一个客观趋势。作为世界唯一霸权,处在实力下行过程中的美国是否是一个负责任的国家,这是一个关系到全局的问题。更重要的是,在西方国际关系理论的主导下,理论框架和议题设置完全由西方决定,这类问题往往被遮蔽掉了。处在国力上升中的中国,在国际关系理论中如不能设置自己的议题,而只顺着西方设置的议题研究,将无法有效维护自己的国家利益,也难以争取国际秩序变革中的主动权。     

Estimating the Heckscher–Ohlin model: Inverting the inverse matrix

This paper estimates the Heckscher–Ohlin model with annual US data from 1949 to 2006 for outputs of manufactures and services with inputs of fixed capital assets and the labor force. Difference equation and error correction regressions provide estimated coefficients for the comparative static system. Tariffs on manufactures primarily raise the capital return in the estimated Stolper–Samuelson results. Factor price equalization does not hold for labor and capital. Inverting the estimated system inverse matrix provides evidence on production. The suggestions are capital biased production of manufactures, strong substitution of capital for labor, and strong labor substitution in manufactures.     

Bequests,gifts, and education: links between intergenerational transfers

We study the channels parents use to make transfers to their children. First, we focus on the relationship between investments in education and property transfers. Second, we turn to how property transfers are divided between inter vivos gifts and bequests. We use a Swedish dataset that is superior to previously used data as it contains information on both gifts and inheritances received from parents. We estimate models for the probabilities of having university education, receiving gifts, and receiving inheritances. In addition, we estimate models for gift and inheritance amounts. We find that the more resources parents have, the higher the likelihood of transfers, and that the correlation between receiving inter vivos gifts and inheritances is very high. Finally, women are more likely to have university education and to receive gifts, and daughters receive gifts of larger amounts than sons, although there are no differences in terms of inheritance.     

Distinction or dichotomy: Rethinking the line between thymology and praxeology

The aim of this paper is to critically reexamine Ludwig Mises’ attempt to separate the psychological aspects of understanding (thymology) from the “science of action” (praxeology). There are, we contend, legitimate distinctions between theory, on the one hand, and, on the other, psychology or history. But, there is no need to dichotomize them from one another in the way Mises sometimes did.     

Member-organization connection impacts in affinity marketing

Affinity marketing collaboration is a growing practice in the marketplace, yet theories to explain its influence are scarce in the literature. This study suggests two complementary cause-related effects stemming from an organization's connection with its members to explain the underlying mechanism of affinity marketing. The convergent findings of a survey and an experiment reveal that the responses of consumers in affinity marketing are both empathetic and particularistic. These characteristics distinguish affinity marketing from general commercial co-branding and from cause-related strategies which call for sympathetic and altruistic responses. These effects are more pronounced among individuals with a high interdependent orientation in collectivistic cultures. The dual influence of these effects makes affinity marketing an ideal marketing strategy for improving customer loyalty in the more interdependent societies in Asia.     

如何应对创新大国:中国

中国刚刚取得一项举世瞩目的具有里程碑意义的成就:它已建成世界上最快的超级计算机——天河-1A号。该计算机比设在美国田纳西州橡树岭国家实验室的卫冕冠军快40%。这不是一个孤立的事件。多年来,其他能够反映中国科技能力在不断上升的常见指标,一直在不断涌现,比如,在世界领先的化学和物理学杂志上,来自中国的论文所占的比例在不断增加。     

亚洲工厂及关联度分析

依据亚洲零部件贸易数据,作者采用了依存比率的方法对亚洲工厂的规模、工厂内部以及同美国之间的相互依存关系进行了研究。研究结果发现,亚洲工厂的规模超过北美洲和欧洲工厂,成为了世界上最大的工厂。亚洲零部件内部贸易额及比重超过了欧盟,这说明亚洲生产的一体化程度更高。从零部件进出口规模角度看,亚洲地区的经济体均高度依赖亚洲工厂的活动,而亚洲工厂对中国的依存度则最高,对日本的依赖程度只排在第三位,这说明中国是亚洲工厂的核心平台。美国在亚洲贸易中的重要性主要体现为中国的最终产品出口对美国市场存在严重依赖,而亚洲主要经济体对中国市场的出口已经超过对美国的出口,亚洲工厂对于美国的依赖程度并不高,远远低于亚洲工厂对中国内地和中国香港的依赖。相反,美国对亚洲工厂的依赖程度则远高于亚洲工厂对美国的依赖。     

中国国家间道义思想探本溯源——基于先秦诸子国家间道义思想的对比分析

中国先秦时期的国家间道义思想具有整体性特征,其内在逻辑基点和现实支持即是人性中的道德。它有两个理论支点:一是国家间道义与国家利益具有统一性;二是国家间道义有助于形成国际权威。先秦国家间道义思想主张将国家间道义作为处理国家间关系的重要考虑因素,认为符合道义应该成为国家对外行为的最高追求,但其出发点和落脚点都是国家利益。先秦诸子(韩非子除外)均认为,在处理国家间关系时应遵循道之以德,不以强凌弱;和睦相处,不以战争方式扩大国家利益的原则;孔子、荀子和管子还强调遵循言而有信、讲求国际诚信的原则;儒家强调礼之用,和为贵以及遵守国际规范的原则。先秦诸子普遍认为,具备坚实的道义基础是一个国家成功崛起的必备条件。先秦国家间道义思想与西方主流国际道义思想的相同之处在于两者都承认道义因素在国际关系中具有的作用,其不同点在于:前者将道义视为在国际关系中发挥巨大作用的重要考虑因素,后者则将道义因素虚拟化处理。以孔子和老子等为代表的先秦杰出思想家,其思想对后世的中国文化以及世界文明都产生了巨大影响。