Retail location: the post hierarchical challenge

Location, like every other element of the retailing mix, is in a constant state of change. Yet academic conceptualizations of retailing location have changed little in the last thirty years. Indeed, this conceptual stasis stands in marked contrast to the dramatic methodological developments that have recently taken place. This paper examines the traditional, hierarchical model of urban retail location and presents an alternative, post-hierarchical perspective. A distinction is drawn between the shape or form of retailing locations and the functions found therein. A classification of urban retail locations is also proposed and a synthesis with the hierarchical model recommended.     

Classical Swine Fever Changes the Way Farmers Value Pigs in South Africa

Although there is growing demand for animal products in Africa, production is stagnating. Appropriate management of livestock diversity could help reinvigorate production, contribute to food security and improve farmers’ livelihoods, particularly in subsistence‐oriented systems. We assess differences in farmers’ preferences and economic values for pig traits across different production systems and across areas that have been affected and unaffected by classical swine fever (CSF). Not surprisingly, market‐oriented farmers derived higher values from the productive traits such as heavy slaughter weight and large litter size found in exotic pig genotypes. Subsistence‐oriented farmers, particularly in swine fever affected areas, placed high value on tolerance to disease. We found that CSF changed farmers’ preferences for adaptive traits, and less so for productive traits. Therefore, indigenous breeds become more valuable for subsistence farmers and crossbreeds for market‐oriented farmers if CSF is a risk. Our results can have implications for breeding and conservation strategies and for compensation strategies after culling, and will become increasingly relevant if, as predicted, heat waves and disease outbreaks become more frequent in pig production systems in South Africa with climate change.     

SUBSTITUTION BETWEEN WOOLS OF DIFFERENT FIBRE DIAMETER1

The extent to which wools with different fibre characteristics can be substituted in textile production and consumption holds implications for Australia's international and domestic marketing policies. An analysis of price-induced substitution between Australian wools of different fibre diameters was conducted. Fibre diameter was used to parameterise cross-price relationships in order to estimate a system of demand equations for wools by diameter class. The results indicate that direct substitution takes place within a very limited range of fibre diameters. The use of product characteristics to parameterise price relationships may be extended to other graded commodities.     

AN EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS WITH APPLICATION TO THE KUWAITI POULTRY MARKET

Changes in exporter market shares in the Kuwaiti poultry import market over the period 1971–81 are analysed by three modelling procedures. Two traditional approaches, a first-order constant transition probability Markov model and a set of market share equations, are found to be of only limited use. As an alternative, a multinominal logit model of market share behaviour is estimated. The empirical results indicate that, in addition to relative price changes, domestic policy inducements for Brazilian and European Community exports are important in determining market share changes. A comparison of the explanatory abilities of the models suggests that the multinominal logit model is as least as good as traditional modelling alternatives with respect to econometric criteria. It is concluded that the multinominal logit model offers considerable promise as a tool for market share research.     

Endogenous market incompleteness without market frictions: Dynamic suboptimality of competitive equilibrium in multiperiod overlapping generations economies

In this paper, we show that within the set of stochastic three-period-lived OLG economies with productive assets (such as land), markets are necessarily sequentially incomplete, and agents in the model do not share risk optimally. We start by characterizing perfect risk-sharing and find that it requires state-dependent consumption claims which depend only on the exogenous shock realizations. We show then that the recursive competitive equilibrium of any overlapping generations economy with weakly more than three generations is not strongly stationary. This then allows us to show directly that there are short-run Pareto improvements possible in terms of risk-sharing and hence, that the recursive competitive equilibrium is not Pareto optimal. We then show that a financial reform which eliminates the equity asset and replaces it with zero net supply insurance contracts (Arrow securities) will implement to Pareto optimal stochastic steady-state known to exist in the model. Finally, we also show via numerical simulations that a system of government taxes and transfers can lead to a Pareto improvement over the competitive equilibrium in the model.     

Government Partisanship and Property Rights: Cross‐Country Firm‐Level Evidence

Property rights are essential to economic development but vary with the political environment. We develop and test the claim that government partisanship influences the security of business firms' property rights: the perceived security of property rights increases when right‐wing parties take power and declines with the election of left‐leaning parties. Unlike research that uses country‐level aggregates to draw inferences about the determinants of secure property rights, we analyze survey responses of over 7,400 firm owners from 73 countries using a novel difference‐in‐differences approach. We find that the political partisanship of the government in power strongly affects individual perceptions of property rights: firm owners are more likely to perceive that their property rights are secure under right‐leaning governments. Our results are robust to firm‐ and country‐level economic performance as well as controls for political institutions that might induce more stability to property rights, such as the number of checks and balances (veto players) in a system. Overall, our results indicate that business owners' beliefs about the security of property rights are highly responsive to changes in government partisanship.     

House Prices,Wealth and Consumption: New Evidence from Australia and Canada

Over the past two decades, a number of countries have experienced appreciation in house prices at the same time that aggregate consumption has increased. This paper tests alternative hypotheses for this phenomenon by using repeated household surveys from Australia and Canada to identify the transmission mechanism that links consumption and household wealth. The empirical analysis suggests that neither a direct wealth effect nor a common causal factor likely accounts for the observed correlation between wealth and consumption in these two countries. Rather, indirect factors such as collateral effects arising from relaxation of credit constraints are a more likely explanation.     

Expressive voting and two-dimensional political competition: an application to law and order policy by New Labour in the UK

There has been much debate regarding the electoral strategy adopted by New Labour in the lead-up to and then during their time in government. This paper addresses the issue from the perspective of left/right and liberal/authoritarian considerations by examining data on individual attitudes from the British Social Attitudes survey between 1986 and 2009. The analysis indicates that New Labour’s move towards the right on economic and public policy was the main driver towards attracting new centrist voters and could thus be labelled ‘broadly’ populist. The move towards a tougher stance on law and order was more ‘narrowly’ populist in that it was used more to minimise the reduction in support from Labour’s traditional base on the left than to attract new votes. The evidence presented provides support for an expressive theory of voting in that law and order policy was arguably used to counter alienation amongst traditional, left-wing Labour supporters.     

You should know better! Do health students have different risk attitudes to unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases?

Because healthcare professionals are in the best position to assess, assist and educate those participating in risky sexual behaviour, understanding if (and how) their risk attitudes differ from the wider population is of vital importance. In this study, we explore university health students’ risk attitudes towards unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). We examine whether university students pursuing health-related degrees, who hypothetically should have more exposure to and understanding of the risks associated with unplanned pregnancy and STD, have more risk averse attitudes to sexual behaviour. We find that health students’ sexual attitudes are significantly more risk averse than those of their nonhealth peers in relation to STDs but not unplanned pregnancy. In line with previous research, age and no previous sexual history (virginity) appear to increase risk-averse attitudes to both unplanned pregnancy and STDs. Moreover, males and singles are more risk seeking in their sexual attitudes. These findings suggest that, because unplanned pregnancy and STDs are ongoing global issues, further research is warranted into the risk attitudes of those healthcare professionals most able to provide education and support for individuals participating in risky sexual behaviour.     

Russian agriculture during Putin’s fourth term: a SWOT analysis

Russian agriculture is coming off a successful period under Minister Alexander Tkachev. Despite his successes, new agricultural leaders were named in May 2018 to guide agriculture during Putin’s fourth term. The article analyses the condition of and prospects for the agricultural sector during 2018–2024, using a SWOT framework (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). The analysis examines four strengths, six weaknesses, four opportunities and three threats.