Codes of Ethics,Orientation Programs,and the Perceived Importance of Employee Incorruptibility

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which the review of corporate ethics codes is associated with individuals’ perceptions of the importance of virtue ethics, or more specifically, employee incorruptibility. A convenience sample of individuals working for a university or one of several business organizations located in the Mountain West region of the United States was compiled with a self-report questionnaire. A usable sample of 143 persons representing both the public and private industries was secured for use in this study. The results of an analysis of covariance showed that reviewing ethics codes during employee orientation was positively related to individuals’ beliefs that incorruptibility is an important individual virtue. The managerial implications of the findings are discussed along with suggestions for future research.     

The ethics of smoking policies

Smoking has long been declared a health hazard. In 1964, the U.S. Surgeon General revealed that smoking was related to lung cancer. Subsequent reports linked smoking to numerous other health problems. Recent statements by the Surgeon General indicated smokers do have the right to decide to continue or quit; however, their choice to continue cannot interfere with the nonsmoker's right to breathe smoke-free air. The full impact of adverse health consequences of involuntary smoking may not be recognized yet. Smoke is now known to affect everyone who breathes it. Even when one doesn't smoke, the nonsmoker is susceptible to the ill effects because of inhaling smoke. Are smoking policies justified? Companies are discovering that smoking has a negative economic and ethical impact on business. Smoking has been linked to increased health care costs, reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, and lowered morale. Has the number of smokers decreased? About 1.3 million smokers quit annually, while about one million young people begin annually. Businesses can help educate young people of health hazards of smoking. What are the effects of legal and ethical success of smoking policies? Results of a survey of U.S. corporations in 1987 indicated that 54 percent (increased from 36 percent in 1986) had smoking policies. A Federal Appeals Court judge ruled recently that smoking is not protected by the constitutional right to privacy.     

A VOLUNTARY POLICY FOR REDUCING EEC MILK PRODUCTION

This paper describes and demonstrates a policy for reducing EEC milk production. The policy is a combination of (real) price pressure for all milk producers coupled with optional direct income support aimed at producers with small to medium herds. The method of calculating and paying the income aid encourages producers with small/medium-sized herds to reduce the size of their herds. If the majority of small-scale producers participate it is estimated that the policy would rapidly improve the balance between Community milk production and demand and lead to considerable budgetary savings.     

Do Ethical Consumers Care About Price? A Revealed Preference Analysis of Fair Trade Coffee Purchases

The existing literature on socially responsible purchasing relies heavily on stated preference measures elicited through surveys that utilize hypothetical market choices. This paper explores consumers' revealed purchasing behavior with regard to fair trade coffee and is apparently the first to do so in an actual market setting. In a series of experiments, we investigated differences in consumer responsiveness to relative price changes in fair trade and non‐fair trade brewed coffees. In order to minimize the hypothetical bias that may be present in some experimental settings, we conducted our experiments in cooperation with a vendor who allowed us to vary prices in an actual coffee shop. Using a choice model, we found that purchasers of fair trade coffee were much less price responsive than those of other coffee products. The demonstration of low sensitivity to price suggests that the market premiums identified by stated preference studies do indeed exist and are not merely artifacts of hypothetical settings. La littérature existante sur la consommation responsable repose fortement sur les mesures des préférences déclarées recueillies lors d'enquêtes utilisant des choix hypothétiques. Le présent article examine le comportement d'achat révélé des consommateurs concernant le cafééquitable et constitue apparemment le premier article du genre à le faire dans le contexte d'un marché réel. Au cours d'une série d'expériences, nous avons examiné les différentes réactions des consommateurs concernant les changements du prix relatif des cafés infusés équitables et classiques (non équitables). Pour minimiser le biais hypothétique qui pourrait exister dans certaines situations expérimentales, nous avons effectué nos expériences en collaboration avec un fournisseur qui nous a donné la permission de modifier les prix dans un véritable café‐restaurant. À l'aide d'un modèle de choix, nos résultats ont montré que les consommateurs de cafééquitable réagissaient beaucoup moins au prix que les consommateurs de café classique. Cette faible sensibilité au prix donne à penser que les primes de marché identifiées dans les études sur les préférences déclarées existent effectivement et qu'elles ne sont pas de simples phénomènes de situations hypothétiques.     

Productivity Impacts of Veil Nets on UK Crangon Vessels

As with many shrimp fisheries, the North Sea brown shrimp (Crangon crangon) fishery has been characterised by by‐catch and discarding of juvenile fish species that are of value to other fleet segments. To offset this externality, the mandatory use of veil nets or separator panels was introduced in 2003 for all vessels using an aggregate beam length of more than 8 m. Sea trials prior to this date suggested that retained catch might be reduced by between 8% and 35%, depending on the area and season. These studies, however, do not consider the behavioural response by fishers to reduce this impact. In this study, the actual impact of the restrictions on the productivity of UK Crangon vessels was estimated using a production frontier approach. The ex post analysis suggests that a productivity decline of around 14% has been experienced by UK vessels adopting this gear.     

Fat taxes and thin subsidies: Prices, diet, and health outcomes

“Fat taxes” have been proposed as a way of addressing food-related health concerns. In this paper, we investigate the possible effects of “thin subsidies”, consumption subsidies for healthier foods. Empirical simulations, based on data from the Continuing Study of Food Intake by Individuals, are used to calculate the potential health benefits of subsidies on certain classes of fruits and vegetables in the United States. Estimates of the cost per statistical life saved through such subsidies compare favorably with existing U.S. government programs.     

The effects of in-store themed events on consumer store choice decisions

Retailers are increasingly using in-store events to provide shoppers with unique experiences that will enhance shopping value and help differentiate their stores from competitors. However, relatively little is known about how consumers respond to experiential retail events in terms of their store choice decisions. The purpose of this research was to find out how in-store retail events affect consumers in terms of their store choice decisions. The paper presents findings from a discrete choice experiment that manipulated the presence of different types of in-store themed events in a do-it-yourself (DIY) category. Participants were 312 randomly recruited residents of Melbourne, Australia, who had recently shopped at a hardware store. The experiment was implemented as a mail-back survey. Using logit models the authors assess the effects of the in-store events along with those of various traditional store attributes, including store appearance, price image and distance, on consumer store choice decisions.     

Displaying things in common to encourage friendship formation: A large randomized field experiment

Quantitative Marketing and Economics - Friendship formation is of central importance to online social network sites and to society, but can suffer from significant and unequal frictions. In this...     

Comparing operationalizations of dual commitment and their relationships with turnover intentions

This study evaluates the meaning behind the different approaches to measuring dual commitment in a sample of 2568 unionized South Korean electronics employees. Results show that individuals can be simultaneously committed to both the union and the organization. We then examine the utility of dual commitment by examining its prediction of intention to stay. Analysis of variance provides support that individuals who are dually committed have significantly higher intentions to stay within the organization than those who are uncommitted or unilaterally committed. A new direction to reinvigorate the future of dual commitment research is offered.     

Establishing a modern cadastral system within a transition country: Consequences for the Republic of Moldova

This paper examines the current situation following from the implementation of a land cadastre in the Republic of Moldova, a transition country that is seeking to establish a market economy as a means of facilitating greater prosperity. After consolidating the concepts of the functions land property serve within a capitalist-based economy, we examine the current state of affairs as it exists on the ground within this former socialist state and examine the consequences of imposing western-derived views on land reform in terms of tenure security and credibility. This reveals an extensive problem of land fragmentation in the rural sector, which is in part being countered by the emergence of a land lease market that sees new individual landowners providing land for the use of commercial enterprises. However, given the unique political economy present within Moldova, this situation in many ways contradicts, if not constrains, many of the potential benefits that a formal property system is thought to allow for, and therefore the objectives behind the transition phase have yet to be fully achieved. This has forced a re-examination of theory versus the practice of land property privatisation and land market interactions.