Young People Are the Front Lines of Financial Inclusion: A Review of 45 Years of Research

Amidst concerns about percentages of households that remain unbanked or underbanked, policy endeavors have emerged to promote financial inclusion by making financial products such as savings accounts readily available. While these endeavors have primarily concentrated on households, young people may be the front lines of financial inclusion because they may be more likely to be banked in young adulthood and beyond when they start off with savings accounts earlier in life. This article addresses young people's financial inclusion by comprehensively reviewing 60 research studies on young people's savings, discussing the role of the family in young people's financial inclusion, discussing financial inclusion from an institutional perspective, presenting policy implications, and identifying gaps in knowledge and opportunities for research. Policies that open savings accounts for young people early in life may be a promising strategy for extending financial inclusion and preventing unbanked or underbanked status later in life.     

长江三角洲承接设计离岸外包竞争力的实证研究——基于钻石模型的量表分析

利用波特的钻石模型理论框架,确定影响承接离岸外包设计产业竞争力的因素,在参考国外问卷设计的基础上,对承接设计离岸外包最集中的长三角地区的设计外包企业进行问卷调查,结果显示：长三角地区承接离岸外包设计产业钻石模型的强竞争力因素一个,中等竞争力因素三个,弱竞争力因素二个;我国长三角地区离岸外包设计产业的综合竞争力指数偏低,产业发展尚处于起步阶段,政府作用不足和文化差异是导致钻石模型综合竞争力不强的重要原因;提升承接离岸外包设计产业竞争力的有效方法是改善重要的弱竞争力因素.     

Consumers' selection of textile products made from recycled fibres

The purpose of this study was to evaluate consumers' selection patterns of textile products made from recycled fibres. A quasi-experimental design was used. The 125 undergraduate students who participated in the study evaluated six identical sweatshirts and six identical carpet samples that were labelled with two manipulated information cues, price and fibre content. Chi-square tests of independence were calculated to determine if there was a significant relationship between wearing apparel choice and home textile product choice when both price and fibre content were manipulated and when price was controlled and fibre content manipulated. The data indicated that when both price and fibre content were manipulated, over half of the subjects selected the lower priced sweatshirt and lower priced carpet regardless of fibre content. If a consumer selected a lower priced wearing apparel product s/he also selected a lower priced home textile product. When the price and fibre content were controlled, 66% of the respondents selected the sweatshirt labelled recycled polyester and 62% selected the recycled carpet. In addition, a consumer who selected a recycled wearing apparel product also selected a recycled home textile product. Results suggest that apparel and home textile products made from recycled fibres will be sellable if priced competitively with products made from virgin fibres.     

DOMESTIC ENERGY CONSERVATION AND THE CONSUMER*

This study identifies factors influencing the behaviour of the household in energy conservation, and reports on a survey carried out to investigate knowledge in the area of energy and its conservation and the extent to which knowledge is put into practice to save energy. The survey showed that, amongst working class women, the need to reduce the bill, or at least stop it rising so fast is the greatest incentive to conservation. Knowledge of how and where heat is lost from the house is poor and there is little awareness of the need for insulation. Conservation practices in cooking are poor and where money is less tight, women easily become careless users of hot water. Most women do not have the knowledge to choose between fuels and appliances. The knowledge of women over 60 is significantly lower than that of younger women.     

The significance of fragrance and olfactory acuity for the consumer household product market

The research for this paper evolved from fragrance investigations undertaken within the Product Evaluation Department at SC Johnson Research and Development Centre. It aims to assess the odour perception capabilities of consumers, to compare their odour perception levels and fragrance preferences and to determine whether gender or age affect differential sensitivity to odours. Research into olfaction is inconclusive, but it is valuable for establishing some of the factors which affect the sense of smell. Olfaction and the realm of fragrance are closely related and one cannot be fully understood without the other. Both concepts will be examined through this research and reference will be made to the ‘trickle-down effect’ which is of particular relevance to the household product market.     

EFFECT OF TEXTILE QUOTA RESTRICTIONS ON U.S. COTTON TEXTILE IMPORTS BETWEEN 1964 AND 1973

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of U.S. cotton textile quotas on cotton textiles imported into the U.S. between 1964 and 1973. The findings showed that cotton imports requiring more processing stages had significantly greater 10-year average prices than other groups. Changes in the dollar value of imported cotton textiles during the decade have mainly occurred because of an increase in the average prices rather than resulting from a redistribution of imports from low to high average price groups. The weakening correlation between changes in the dollar value and in the quantity of high unit value groups indicated that the control on quantity has not precluded increases in total dollar value of imports in higher processing stages, especially since 1970. Since fabrics with a relatively stable average price accounted for the major importation of cotton textiles during the 1964–1973 period, the overall control by quantity in this decade was still quite good, even though average prices of apparel were rising.     

Vitamin supplementation practices: health/nutrition education implications

A sample of 310 supplement users, 216 nonsupplement users and 247 inconsistent (user/nonuser) supplementers were followed for 18 months to examine the consistency of supplementation. Since supplementation is often not required for a healthy diet, factors associated with persistence or stability of supplement use have implications for appropriate health/nutrition education. Consistent supplementation (at least 18 months' duration) was associated (P < 0·01) with (i) female sex, (ii) health beliefs in the efficacy of supplementation, (iii) seeking health information from physicians, nurses, dietitians and nutritionists, (iv) using periodicals, TV/radio and books for sources of nutrition information, (v) older age, (vi) higher income and (vii) higher levels of education. Nonusers were more likely to attribute health to chance on the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control scale, and inconsistent users were more likely to have experienced a change in employment status, relocation to another town/city and a higher number of ‘change’ events in the previous 18 months. Based on the characteristics of the consistent supplement user, ‘academic controversy’ may be an effective educational strategy to employ, if changes in supplementation attitudes and beliefs are desired.     

THE IMPACT OF WIFE'S EMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS ON FAMILY NET WORTH ACCUMULATION

The major focus of this research was the relationship between wife's earnings and employment and family net worth accumulation. Multiple regression analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Surveys found that, for the total sample, family income had a much greater impact than wife's earnings on change in net worth during the 1967–1972 period. Wife's employment was not related to the dependent variable once the effects of other factors were taken into account When the sample was segmented into four groups on the basis of 1967 net worth, independent variables had differential impacts on net worth change. For each group the multiple regression model explained a much greater proportion of total variance than it did for the sample as a whole. Among the two groups in the mid ranges of 1967 net worth, wife's employment was positively related to net worth change even after taking wife's earnings and other factors into account.     

Improving Work Incentives and Incomes for Parents: The National and Geographic Impact of Liberalising the Family Tax Benefit Income Test*

The effective tax rates and possible work disincentives created by Australia’s tax and welfare systems have been receiving extensive policy attention in recent years. Family Tax Benefit‐Part A (FTB‐A) is one of the key causes of high effective marginal tax rates for many families. This study uses national and spatial microsimulation models to evaluate the national and local impacts of a possible FTB‐A reform option, which involves reducing the income test withdrawal rate associated with the FTB‐A income test. The modelling suggests that the option would be an effective way to reduce high effective marginal tax rates for around 415,000 parents of FTB‐A children, would benefit around 850,000 families, and would deliver additional assistance to middle income families living on the outskirts of our cities.