Understanding consumption behaviours for fair trade non‐food products: focusing on self‐transcendence and openness to change values

Using the Schwartz value system, this study explored the personal values of consumers related to fair trade product consumption. This study further investigated how the values determine beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions associated with fair trade non‐food products. Data were collected using an online survey from a random sample of 1824 nationwide consumers. The results of this study revealed that fair trade purchasers show a higher level of self‐transcendence (universalism, benevolence) and openness to change values (self‐direction, stimulation) than non‐purchasers. These values also have positive effects on the formation of beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions pertaining to fair trade non‐food products. Fair trade purchasers were also found to possess distinctive socio‐demographic characteristics concerning age, education and income. Findings can offer marketers specific information regarding consumers' motivations to purchase fair trade goods, which can improve targeting of products and ultimately increase the business and benefits of fair trade.     

Crude oil prices and the balance of trade: Asymmetric evidence from selected OPEC member countries

The contribution of this article is to assess whether the effects of crude oil price fluctuations on the trade balance are symmetric or asymmetric in the context of an individual oil-exporting country, specifically four OPEC member countries – Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. To examine this subject thoroughly, we use three different measures of trade balances such as oil trade balance, non-oil trade balance, and total trade balance, and examine whether oil prices are asymmetrically passed on to the trade balances for those OPEC countries in the long- and short-run. After implementation of the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, we find that changes in oil prices indeed have asymmetric effects on the oil trade balance for all four OPEC countries in the long-run, though not in the short-run. In the case of the non-oil and total trade balance, however, the asymmetry of oil price changes is not detected in both the long- and short-run.     

Understanding college students' opinions on a smoking policy

Because of the negative aspects of smoking, the US National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse has recommended that university campuses should be smoke free. The purpose of this research was to learn students' opinions about the effectiveness of a smoking policy on campus. The policy simply stated there should be no smoking within 30 feet of a building. However, no areas were designated as smoking areas. Using phenomenological inquiry, the authors observed and interviewed both smoking and non‐smoking students. Findings suggest that the existing smoking policy was weak and often ignored. Students felt the purpose of the smoking policy should be clearly stated because they were not sure if the policy was intended to make smokers quit or prevent them from smoking in front of doors. This study demonstrates the utility of careful observation as a prelude to the design and implementation of qualitative data collection methods. The results indicate observation is a valuable part of a qualitative research strategy.     

Counting Care Work in Social Policy: Valuing Unpaid Child- and Eldercare in Korea

This study demonstrates the usefulness of quantifying and valuing time spent on unpaid care work and explores the links between social policies, unpaid care work, and gender equality in the context of recent social care reforms in the Republic of Korea. Using information provided by two nationally representative surveys, this article elaborates on the gendered organization of care provision and the total costs of care services for children and the elderly, including unpaid family care, family expenditures on care services, and state support in the form of public expenditures. The study finds that omitting the role of family care services overestimates the state's role in caring for children and elderly adults. A closer look at the impact of long-term care insurance reveals the need for integrated analyses of the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the social organization of care, especially in regard to gender equality.     

Buchanan on increasing returns and anticommons

This article discusses Buchanan’s work on increasing returns and anticommons. The two topics have externality as a common element. And size matters in both cases. Increasing returns is a case of positive externalities, the anti-commons is a case of negative externalities. Buchanan demonstrated that a work ethic generates economy-wide benefits in a setting of generalized increasing returns. In contrast, unanimity (in anticommons) can make it more difficult to address other externality problems in analyzing work ethic and moral community. This article provides an overview of both these areas of research.     

Exploring promising vacant technology areas in a technology-oriented company based on bibliometric analysis and visualisation*

Under technology convergence phenomenon and fast-changing social demands, it is inevitable to collect and analyze a large amount of information in order to determine a vacant technology area that can preempt the market. Thus, this research aims to propose a systematic approach to identifying vacant technology areas by reflecting the technological competitiveness of company. Vacant technology is identified as underdeveloped and undeveloped vacant areas for a firm in both macroscopic and microscopic view by generating a technology level map in a practical view. In addition, vacant technology can be identified as undiscovered vacant areas in a microscopic view by using generative topology mapping (GTM) and local outlier factor (LOF). In a respective view, the promising vacant areas are defined by developing various indicators that represent competitive strength, growth stage, and marketability in both macro and micro level, and novelty indicators that represent originality and marketability in the micro level. The proposed approach is applied to the information & communication technology (ICT) R&D technology classification to validate its usefulness. The results can be used to enhance the practical application of R&D technology planning, understand the current technology level, and perform future technology planning.     

The Role of Chonsei as a Price Protector in the Korean Housing Market

In this study, we investigate whether ‘Chonsei,’ the distinctive type of housing contract system in Korea, has a favorable impact on house prices during a market downturn. We show the mechanism in which Chonsei prevents a sharp drop in house prices based on sellers’ loss aversion behavior. Moreover, using data on the Seoul condominium (i.e. apartment) market during the 2006–2017 period, we find that Chonsei prices have a negative impact on the housing trade volume in a market recession. This finding is consistent with our argument that loss aversion behavior appears with regard to the rise in Chonsei prices and thereby Chonsei functions as a price protector in the Korean housing market.     

A regression model of the heteroscedastic error variance

We introduce a regression model of the heteroscedastic error variance. A repetitive use of the least squares method is shown to provide the best linear unbiased estimator of the parameter vector of the model.     

Characteristics of the Industrial Distributor's Innovation Activities

Recent trends in industrial distribution suggest that distributors may perform an important role in various stages of product innovation from idea generation, through product design, to product launch and subsequent marketing. In this article, Eunsang Yoon and Gary Lilien review the literature and discuss the potential role of the industrial distributor as an innovation participant. An exploratory study with an Australian data base suggests that the industrial distributor performs tasks associated with market-driven product innovation (reformulation and imitative new products in particular) as effectively as the industrial manufacturer.     

Determinants of the Rate of Return for Nonresidential Real Estate: Inflation Expectations and Market Adjustment Lags

This paper analyzes the economic forces that determine the real rate of return for nonresidential real estate. Our analysis shows that the intermarket variation in the real rate of return is statistically significant, and the rate of return differs by land use and market area, as well as over time in response to changes in macro-economic conditions. We use inflation variables as surrogates for changes in macroeconomic conditions over time. In contrast to earlier studies, we find that nonresidential real estate may not outperform expected inflation. We believe that the impact of expected inflation (and other macroeconomic variables) on real estate rates of return depends upon the interaction of the macro-environment and specific local real estate market conditions. Finally, our empirical evidence suggests that the effects of a given shock dissipate rather quickly in most markets when we take into account locational and property use differences.