On Environmental Regulation of Oligopoly Markets: Emission versus Performance Standards

By specializing Montero’s (J Environ Econ Manag 44:23–44, 2002) model of environmental regulation under Cournot competition to an oligopoly with linear demand and quadratic abatement costs, we extend his comparison of firms incentives to invest in R&D under emission and performance standards by solving for a closed form solution of the underlying two-stage game. This allows for a full comparison of the two instruments in terms of their resulting propensity for R&D and equilibrium industry output. In addition, we incorporate an equilibrium welfare analysis. Finally, we investigate a three-stage game wherein a welfare-maximizing regulator sets a socially optimal emission cap under each policy instrument. For the latter game, while closed-form solutions for the subgame-perfect equilibrium are not possible, we establish numerically that the resulting welfare is always larger under a performance standard.     

On the Incentive Effects of Sample Size in Monitoring Agents – A Theoretical and Experimental Analysis

When agents compete for a bonus and their productivity in each of several possible occasions depends stochastically on (constant) effort, the number of times this is checked to assign the bonus affects the level of uncertainty in the selection process. Uncertainty, in turn, is expected to increase the effort made by competing agents (Cowen and Glazer, 1996; Dubey and Haimanko, 2003; Dubey and Wu, 2001). Theoretical predictions are derived and experimental evidence is collected for two competing agents, with the bonus awarded to that agent who outperforms the other. Sampling occasions (1 or 3), cost of production (high or low), cost symmetry (asymmetric or symmetric), and piece‐rate reward are manipulated factorially to test the robustness of the effects of uncertainty. For control, a single‐agent case is included. Results indicate that, for tournaments, greater uncertainty does indeed lead to greater than expected effort and lower average variable costs.     

360-Grad-Touchpoint-Management — Muss unsere Marke jetzt twittern?

Wie Entscheidungstr?ger im B2C und B2B den Marktbearbeitungs-Mix im dynamischen Umfeld ganzheitlich effizient und effektiv steuern k?nnen, um Investitionen im Markt- und Markenmanagement zu optimieren, erl?utert dieser Beitrag. Zentral ist die Messbarkeit der kundenseitigen Wirkung von Touchpoints zur Bestimmung des optimalen Marktbearbeitungs-Mix sowie zur Maximierung des ROI.     

Marketing sustainable tourism: the role of value orientation,well-being and credibility

Abstract

Marketing for sustainable tourism primarily attracts customers with a biospheric–altruistic value orientation. To reach a broader consumer group and also persuade people with a self-enhancement orientation to book sustainable hotels, the effectiveness of three different communication styles (emotionality levels, amount of sustainability information and inclusion of a label) is investigated, considering the consumer’s value orientation. An experiment with 337 participants was conducted to analyze the effects of communication on consumer perceptions of well-being and credibility. Multigroup structural equation modeling was used to compare the impacts of communication style on participant’s attitude toward booking a sustainable hotel, mediated by well-being and credibility. The results highlight significantly different communication effects among the two contrasting target groups. Consumers who are highly interested in sustainability (biospheric–altruistic value orientation) are persuaded by messages that include details about the hotel’s sustainability performance, in order to increase the social–environmental well-being, whereas for customers who are less interested in sustainability (self-enhancement value orientation), a self-referential emotionally communication is essential, as it increases the emotional well-being. Inconsistent findings regarding the role of communication in raising the perception of credibility were obtained.     

‘Thinking Before Acting’ or ‘Acting Before Thinking’: Antecedents of Individual Action Propensity in Work Situations

We introduce the concept of ‘individual action propensity’ to examine the approach of individuals towards solving situations for which they lack knowledge and/or experience about what to do. We focus on a naturally contrasting pair of responses: ‘thinking before acting’ or ‘acting before thinking’, and associate low action propensity with thinking one's way into understanding how to act, and high action propensity with acting one's way into understanding such situations. We build on regulatory mode theory – with its dimensions of locomotion and assessment and the trade‐off between speed and accuracy – to examine individual characteristics as predictors of individual action propensity. We find that individual action propensity is associated with being a woman, having fewer years of formal education, not relying on help‐seeking behaviours, and having a positive attitude towards spontaneity. Our findings shed light on why individuals take action, or not, and provide implications for research on organizational action propensity.     

Kurzarbeit — Sinnvoller Konjunkturpuffer oder verlängertes Arbeitslosengeld?

Zusammenfassung  Zur überwindung der aktuellen Krise wird nicht nur in Deutschland das Instrument der Kurzarbeit verwendet. Es ist in Deutschland im Vergleich zu anderen L?ndern jedoch sehr gro?zügig gestaltet und wurde kürzlich sogar noch ausgeweitet. Damit besteht die Gefahr, dass nicht nur — wie beabsichtigt — bei einem vorübergehenden Arbeitsausfall Entlassungen verhindert werden, sondern notwendige strukturelle Anpassungen verz?gert werden. Wie ist die Ausgestaltung der deutschen Kurzarbeit zu bewerten? Dr. Werner Eichhorst, 40, ist stellvertretender Direktor am Institut zur Zukunft der Arbeit, IZA in Bonn; Paul Marx, 26, Dipl.-Politologe, ist dort als Doktorand t?tig. Erweiterte und aktualisierte Fassung von W. Eichhorst, P. Marx: Le ch?mage partiel, ammortisateur social de la crise?, in: Regards sur l’Economie Allemande, H. 90, S. 23–30.     

Wie weit geht die Leistungspflicht der Krankenkasse?

Station?re Krankenhausbehandlung - Nicht immer sind sich die Sozialgerichte einig, wenn es um die Kostenübernahme einer Krankenhausbehandlung geht. In einem strittigen Fall wurde daher der Gro?e Senat des Bundessozialgerichts angerufen.     

Sturz mit Folgen

Verletzung der Obhutspflichten - Sturze sind bei Heimbewohnern ein haufiger Grund fur Haftungsklagen. Zeigt sich, dass die Sorgfaltspflichten verletzt wurden, kommt die Einrichtung um Schadenersatzzahlungen meist nicht herum.