Estimating marginal external costs of transport in Delhi

This paper develops the model and methodology to estimate the marginal external cost of urban road transport, which is necessary for analysing optimal urban transport prices. Four major marginal external costs analysed in this paper include the marginal external costs for congestion, air pollution, road accidents and noise. The paper estimates the marginal external costs for cars and buses in peak and off-peak periods for Delhi urban agglomeration for the year 2005.     

Impact of Crop Diversification on Rural Poverty in Nepal

Crop diversification into high‐value crops (HVCs) can be an important strategy to augment income, generate employment, and reduce poverty in developing countries. We study the impact of crop diversification (share of production value obtained from the HVCs) on household (HH) welfare measures in Nepal. We use three rounds of the nationally representative Nepal Living Standard Surveys: NLSS I (1994/95), NLSS II (2004/05), and NLSS III (2010/11). The dose–response function, propensity score matching, and instrumental variable techniques are used to estimate the impact of crop diversification. Results show the positive impact of HVCs on the monthly per capita consumption expenditure and poverty outcomes. Among HVCs growers, HHs growing vegetables have the better welfare outcomes. While establishing the relationship between degree of agricultural diversity and poverty measures, we find that the marginal farmers need to at least derive 35% of the share of revenue from HVCs to escape from poverty.     

Estimating loss of ecosystem services due to paddy straw burning in North-west India

Crop residue burning is severe in rice–wheat cropping system of North-western states (Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and western Uttar Pradesh) of India, where mechanized harvesting of rice using combine harvesters is a common practice, and management of leftover residue in the short window of 10–15 days for timely sowing of wheat is a formidable task. Moreover, there is a lack of user-friendly, cost-effective, and economically viable options and, around 23 million tonnes of rice residue is burnt annually in the region. Burning biomass not only pollutes environment but also results in loss of appreciable amount of plant’s essential nutrients. Straw burning releases soot particles, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, thus causing serious deterioration in atmospheric quality and human health hazards. We attempted to identify and quantify the environmental cost of paddy straw burning in North-west India. Using extant coefficients, it is estimated that cost of paddy residue burning is INR (Indian National Rupee) 8953?per?ha, and the social cost of burning is INR 3199 crores per annum in the region.     

Consumer decision‐making styles and post purchase behaviour of poor for Fast Moving Consumer Goods

More than half of the world's population is poor. Certainly, their purchasing power cannot be compared with that of the riches, but it is their collective purchase potential which makes them a substantial market. The fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs), on the other hand, are the fourth largest industry in the world. FMCGs are relatively low cost products and the poor, by necessity, spend a significant amount of their income on FMCGs. So, by virtue of being a large consumer base for FMCGs, the poor are a promising market for the FMCG marketers. But little is known about their buying behaviour for FMCGs as only a few studies have been conducted on them in this regard. This study aims to explore their shopping orientations towards price, quality and brand for FMCGs in the context of one of the largest developing countries like India by exploring their consumer decision‐making styles (CDMSs), especially their price consciousness, quality consciousness, brand consciousness and brand loyalty. Besides it, it also explores their post purchase behaviour and testifies its mechanism with the above mentioned CDMSs in the present context through structured equation modelling.     

Identifying Customer Loyalty Supporting Factors in the Retail Banking Context: An Empirical Examination

This article aims to identify factors which support customer loyalty, either through dedication or by imposing constraints, and subsequently empirically analyzes the relationship between identified factors and the attitudinal and behavioral component of loyalty in the context of retail banking. Data collected from a sample of 293 retail banking customers have been analyzed through structural equation modeling. The study results suggested two constraint promoting factors and one dedication promoting factor which supported loyalty. The study contributes to knowledge by empirically testing the qualitative model and coming out with empirically proven dedication-promoting and constraint-promoting loyalty supporting factors.     

Achieving destination advocacy and destination loyalty through destination brand identification

Brand identification enhances customer loyalty and develops long-term relationships between the customer and the brand. However, only a few studies have explored the role of identification in building long-term and favorable relationships between tourists and a tourism destination. In this study, we propose and empirically verify destination personality congruence and destination trust as the drivers of destination brand identification, and destination advocacy and destination loyalty as its outcomes. For assessing these proposed relationships, a sample of 342 respondents was collected from foreign tourists visiting Dharamsala, which is a famous tourist destination among visitors in northern India. The results of structural equation modeling reveal that destination personality congruence significantly influences the destination loyalty through destination brand identification. In addition, destination trust emerges as a significant predictor for both destination advocacy and destination loyalty. The study offers important implications for both acadmecians and practitioners.     

Experiencing the real village – a netnographic examination of perceived authenticity in rural tourism consumption

There is an upsurge of research interest regarding authenticity in contemporary tourism consumption as modern tourists have been found to prefer involve in real backstage experiences to participating in pseudo-events and mass congregations. This paper presents a netnographic analysis of tourists’ reviews on village destinations and explores how authenticity is experienced by tourists in a village setting and the indicators pertaining to it. Trip Advisor reviews of three Indian villages were downloaded and analysed. Findings reveal that tourists consider authenticity as a critical factor in rural village experience. The indicators of rural authentic experience and their implications are also highlighted.     

The design of coordination and control mechanisms for managing joint venture–parent relationships

Joint ventures (JVs), defined as independent organizations formed by the pooling of resources and sharing of equity by two or more firms, are being formed at an increasingly rapid pace. While much empirical research has examined the conditions which favor the formation of JVs, less attention has been paid to the equally important issues of control and implementation which are the focus of interest in this study. We identify two factors which are expected to influence the design of control mechanisms, i.e., (1) the strategic interdependence between the JV and each parent and (2) the environmental uncertainty faced by the JV. Our empirical examination confirms the importance of the degree of strategic interdependence and the moderating role of environmental uncertainty in explaining the design of control mechanisms. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Demand for fish in Asia: a cross‐country analysis*

Fish demand patterns in nine Asian countries were investigated using a multistage budgeting framework allowing a disaggregated approach to analysing fish consumption. This paper highlights the heterogeneity of fisheries products in terms of species, sources and cultural responses of consumers, factors that are important in fish demand under the Asian setting. Specifically, fish demand by income groups were compared to determine how the low‐ and high‐income households respond to price and income changes. Results showed that the estimated price and income elasticities of all fish types included in the study were relatively more elastic among the poorer households.