Decision aid reliance: Modeling the effects of decision aid reliability and pressures to perform on reliance behavior

We investigate the effects of decision aid reliability and pressure to perform on decision aid reliance. A total of 403 students took part in a four (pressures to perform: one through four) by five (decision aid reliability: 50%, 60%, 70%, 80% and 90%) between-participants experiment. We test two competing models of decision aid reliance behavior: pressure-induced rationality and pressure arousal theory. Additionally, we introduce a general model of reliance on a decision aid. We find that pressure arousal theory predominantly explains decision aid reliance behavior at all but the highest level of decision aid reliability tested in this study (90%). Our results indicate that there are reliance peaks across the reliability levels as more pressure to perform is applied, and that continually increasing pressures can eventually lead to decreased, rather than increased, reliance.     

The land cost of agrarian sustainability. An assessment

Improving the sustainability of farms often incurs additional costs for farmers. These costs come from allocating land to the maintenance of the ecological processes (energy and material flows, natural population regulation) required for the agroecosystem to function. Since these costs are not recovered on the markets, farmers see a fall in profits, the financial viability of their farms is compromised, and they suffer the consequences of the environmental services they are providing. All this makes it essential to implement government policies designed to compensate farmers for their efforts. The issue of how to assess sustainability has generated widespread debate within ecological economics, specifically as to whether it is possible to place a monetary value on it and if so, how this should be done. In a previous article we showed that agrarian sustainability involves a land cost, therefore this cost can be translated into monetary values. The purpose of this study is to develop this concept in practical terms by applying it to organic farming. We calculated the land cost of agrarian sustainability (LACAS) in order to compare organic versus conventional management in olive farming, as this crop is grown extensively in Spain and other Mediterranean countries. The results show that the agro-environmental subsidy is not enough to encourage olive growers to make the conversion from conventional to organic methods, because the land cost of sustainability is not adequately offset. They also show that improving agroecosystems can allow the land to take on more functions without increasing the land cost. In our case, encouraging the multifunctionality of the land has permitted a reduction in this cost. The LACAS could be a useful tool, not only for drawing up government policies designed to support organic farming, but also for improving the sustainability of the agrarian sector.     

Nonlinear income effects in random utility models: revisiting the accuracy of the representative consumer approximation

This article investigates the implications of nonlinear income effects in Random Utility Models (RUM) for measuring general equilibrium welfare impacts. A popular approach in applied welfare analysis is to approximate the expected compensating variation (cv) for an amenity change as the cv of a representative consumer whose indirect utility is given by the expected maximum utility. However, this approach can be misleading in the case of nonmarginal changes as it implies that changes in income do not affect the consumer's choice. In this case the true expected cv can be obtained via simulation. Empirical applications to recreational demand find that the bias from the representative approach is small. This article re-evaluates the accuracy of the representative consumer approximation in the context of measuring the general equilibrium welfare impacts of large environmental changes. Our findings suggest that, though the representative consumer approximation could lead to biased point estimates of the expected cv, this bias is overwhelmed by the size of the confidence intervals that result from the empirical estimation of household preferences.     

Two tales on human capital and knowledge spillovers: the case of the US and Brazil

This article uses a quasi-Mincerian approach to verify whether the concentration of college-educated individuals employed in the business support services sector and in the own sector contributes to increased productivity in other sectors of the economy. We estimate the returns to education using data from the 2008 US Current Population Survey (March supplement) and from the 2008 Brazilian household survey. This article finds evidence of a positive and significant human capital sectorial spillover effect, which is consistent with Acemoglu’s (1996) conjecture. The sectorial concentration of highly educated workers contributes to increase wages for all workers. This study also finds evidence of increasing returns to education in Brazil and diminishing returns to education in the United States. This finding may be explained by differences in supply of skilled workers in both economies. In addition, the short supply of highly skilled workers in Brazil likely explains the importance of the spillover effect from the business supporting sector.     

Determinants of Consumer’s Willingness to Purchase Gray-Market Smartphones

The study analyzes the influential factors of consumers’ willingness to purchase gray-market smartphones by considering the model of novelty seeking, status consumption, integrity, and perceived risk. Attitude toward counterfeit is used as mediation in the model. The causalities in the model of problematic willingness of consumer to purchase gray-market smartphones are hypothesized. A total sample of 350 respondents with 238 effective samples is collected by interviewing with questionnaires at the service counters of telecommunications operators. Structure equation modeling (SEM) is adopted in the analysis. Consumers’ attitude toward counterfeit goods is found to be positively related to the willingness of consumers to purchase gray-market smartphones, but perceived risk is negatively related to consumers’ willingness to purchase. As for personality constructs, integrity and status consumption are found to be negatively related to consumers’ attitude toward counterfeit goods, but novelty seeking is positively related to the attitude. Further, managerial implications for branded smartphone manufacturers and telecommunications regulators are provided by the research.     

Does innovativeness of knowledge-intensive business services differ from other industries?

This article seeks to determine whether the innovative capabilities of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) do actually differ from other industries through comparing the innovation capacities and financial performance of KIBS with firms operating in other sectors (non-KIBS). Based upon a 1000-firm sample, the results of our estimated econometric model demonstrate that non-KIBS firms are in possession of significantly greater innovation capacities than KIBS firms. These differences were observed across factors such as organisational process innovation, the launch of already existing products in new markets, branding and new product designs. Nevertheless, as regards the actual importance attributed to product/service innovation, KIBS firms place a greater comparative importance on innovation in comparison with their non-KIBS peers. In addition, the empirical evidences display a significantly different range of effects of innovation capacities on financial performance and concludes that non-KIBS firms turn in better comparative performances than specialist KIBS firms.     

The sustainability of ISO 9001 in a legal service organisation

This paper examines the sustainability and the changes experienced by a legal service organisation in the implementation of ISO 9001 in terms of reasons, benefits, and key success factors over an 8-year time interval. This exploratory study employs qualitative methods using a single case study approach. Data were collected through two phases of interviews, 1996 and 2004, with the same quality manager in the legal service organisation. Both interviews were based on a similar set of structured questions derived from the previous studies. Pattern matching was used to analyse and compare the 1996 and the 2004 findings. Three major findings are identified in this study. First, the internal reasons for implementing ISO 9001 are sustained, whereas the external reasons are diminished. Second, the benefits are mainly internal rather than external, and these are sustainable over time. Third, top management commitment and staff involvement are shown to be the critical factors of both the implementation and the maintenance of ISO 9001. The results contribute to a better understanding of the benefits of ISO 9001 as well as the level of commitment required to sustain these benefits. The results also show the learning process taken up by firms in better understanding the value of ISO 9001 implementation over time.     

Relationship Marketing,Knowledge Management Systems and E-Commerce Operations in Small UK Accountancy Practices

Some firms are using relationship marketing linked to knowledge management systems to achieve competitive advantage. Limited empirical evidence exists on the contribution that relationship marketing and knowledge management systems can make towards market success. E-commerce provides an opportunity to assess possible relationships that may exist between relationship marketing; knowledge management systems and market performance. A survey of small UK accounting practices suggests that adopting a relationship marketing orientation can enhance market performance. Those practices, which have adopted a relationship marketing orientation, tend to have established knowledge management systems and be involved in ecommerce. The implications of these findings are discussed and proposals made about further research needs.     

Climate adaptation imperatives: global sustainability trends and eco-efficiency metrics in four major crops – canola,cotton, maize,and soybeans

Supplying our world's growing nutrition needs in more sustainable ways has become an urgent global imperative, given the constraints of finite resources and the challenges of accelerating climate change. We present national-level eco-efficiency metrics in several representative production countries during the most recent decade (2000–2010) for four important crops: canola, cotton, maize, and soybeans. The metrics address greenhouse gas emissions and the utilization of land, water, and energy – all calculated per unit of production. We group countries based on their level of agricultural intensification and find that high-intensification countries are achieving the highest and yet still increasing levels of eco-efficiency, with these decadal gains: canola (26%), cotton (23%), maize (17%), and soybeans (18%). By stark contrast, low-intensification countries had no change in eco-efficiency during this same decade. Overall, our results suggest large opportunities for additional improvements in the developing world, and that cumulative resource savings through intensification have been significant. For instance, in the case of irrigated maize, if the high- and medium-intensification production countries had only achieved the same irrigation water-use efficiency as in the low-intensification countries, approximately 4 quadrillion (4×10¹⁵) more litres of irrigation water would have been consumed during the period 2000–2010.     

土地出让与房价的互动对居民消费影响研究

土地供给政策在房地产市场宏观调控中扮演了重要角色,对房价和居民消费产生了重要影响。基于1999--2011年全国31个省区市面板数据,本文运用面板联立方程模型研究了土地出让与房价波动对居民消费的影响。结果发现：土地出让与房价存在负向的互动关联,两者的相互作用抑制了房价对居民消费的促进作用;土地出让面积的增加通过房价的传导作用,对居民消费产生了挤出效应。进一步分析发现,房地产财富效应存在显著的区域差异,东部地区的房地产财富效应显著大于中西部地区。