Accessibility to government resources for minority business development: A practicum

Summary This article highlights the problem of inaccessibility to available government resources designed to promote the development of minority-owned business enterprises. The problem involves an ironical situation in which an unintentionally, but artificially created, information scarcity exists which hinders minority-owned business development. Existing and prospective minority entrepreneurs are essentially unaware of the untapped resources available to them at the regional and neighborhood levels. Representatives of corporate firms are equally ignorant of available government resources that can suggest to them proper ways to “get involved” in minority business development. These individuals-the minority entrepreneur and the corporate representative-who are so in need of each other, can identify ways in which to link up. In this paper, we suggest that a scheme should be available through OMBE-supported organizations by which they are able to identify existing resources so that their ideas, intentions, and programs can be shaped into viable and profitable minority business enterprises.     

Infant feeding as a social marketing issue: A review

Despite universally recognized benefits to both mother and child, there is a worldwide decline in the incidence and duration of breastfeeding. This paper examines the choice of infant feeding method as a social marketing and consumer behavior issue by considering infant feeding (1) in the context of exchange, (2) as the first complex consumption decision that is made for a child, (3) in a socio-cultural context, (4) as a policy issue affecting the health care system, the workplace, and the law, and (5) as a methodological challenge to marketing and consumer behavior researchers.

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Zusammenfassung Die ErnÄhrung von SÄuglingen als ein Thema des sozialen Marketings: Ein überblick Obwohl seine Vorteile für Mutter und Kind allgemein anerkannt werden, nimmt das Stillen weltweit ab, sowohl was die HÄufigkeit als auch was die zeitliche Dauer betrifft. Der Beitrag prüft die Entscheidung über die SÄuglingsernÄhrung als Thema des sozialen Marketings und des Konsumentenverhaltens anhand der folgenden Gesichtspunkte: (1) Stillen als Beziehung und Austausch zwischen Mutter und Kind, (2) Stillen als erste komplexe Konsumentscheidung, die für das Kind getroffen wird, (3) Stillen im soziokulturellen Zusammenhang, (4) Stillen als ein Thema der Gesundheitspolitik, der Arbeits und der Rechtspolitik und schlie\lich (5) Stillen als methodische Herausforderung für Marketing- und Verbraucherforscher.

     

Who breaks the rules? The response of small businesses to external regulation

The impact of external regulation - such as taxation, wage and other regulations and employment legislation - on small businesses has recently attracted a good deal of academic and policy-making interest. Here the author presents the responses of some small businessmen, in retailing, to external regulation.     

INTEREST RATE PARITY AND THE BEHAVIOR OF THE BID-ASK SPREAD

We use a stochastic frontier regression model to test interest rate parity (IRP) with bid- ask spreads for the Belgian franc, the Deutschmark, and the Swiss franc. The forward markets tested have become efficient in the sense that IRP holds well. The bounds provided by IRP do not appear to be binding, however. We provide evidence that in spite of the overall goodness of fit of the model, the arbitrage margins are sometimes violated, implying possible arbitrage opportunities. The percentage bid-ask spread is consistently higher for the Belgian franc than for the Deutschmark and the Swiss franc. Spreads are increasing functions of the time to maturity and volatility. Spread-size clustering is more severe than price-level clustering and appears to be inversely related to volatility and positively related to the trading volume. We find no evidence of significant calendar-day effects on spread size.     

The demand for Mi’kmaw cultural tourism: Tourist perspectives

This paper examines survey findings of tourist interest in Mi’kmaw cultural tourism in Nova Scotia. The results indicate a high interest in Mi’kmaw cultural tourism activities even though most tourists had not participated in Aboriginal tourism before. Further results indicate that tourists’ age, education and place of origin influence their level of interest in particular Mi’kmaw cultural tourism activities. Older tourists had lower interest in activities that required more time and physical activity whereas more-educated tourists had higher interest in participating in particular Mi’kmaw cultural tourism activities. Also, international tourists had the greatest interest in Mi’kmaw cultural tourism, especially activities that involved greater contact with the Mi’kmaw hosts.