Healthy Food: Determinants of Price Knowledge of Functional Dairy Products

Agri-food business pricing practices assume that consumers know about prices and that price is an impediment to healthy food purchase and consumption. The present article assesses functional dairy food shoppers’ price knowledge accuracy and its determinants. The data were gathered from 207 face-to-face interviews with shoppers at the point of sale and were analyzed with binary logistic regression testing a number of set hypotheses. Results show that healthy food price knowledge is higher than for conventional food but still low, and consumers tend to underestimate the price paid. Price knowledge accuracy increases with high purchase frequency, promotional products, hedonistic consumption, and for enhanced function products. Results provide a basis for higher sustainable pricing strategies. Consumers’ inability to distinguish misleading pricing strategies calls for regulators to ensure fair and ethical market practices, especially for healthy food.     

Wealth,Capital and the Theory of Distribution: Some Implications for Piketty’s Analysis

Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2014) has been spectacularly successful. One reason for this is that while it often challenges received views and supports a non-apologetic interpretation of capitalism, at the same time it relies on mainstream economics. This theoretical framework, however, is not always conducive to consistency and interpretative accuracy. This paper points out some of the book’s analytical weaknesses and shows that some empirical evidence, a clearer distinction between wealth and capital, and a different theoretical perspective, could lead to questioning some of the book’s claims. In particular, it argues that the increase in the wealth-to-output ratio (but not the capital-to-output ratio) cannot explain the observed changes in income shares. It also contends that non-mainstream perspectives on income distribution and growth suggest that changes in income distribution are due more to policy and power relations than to the factors Piketty identifies.     

The wage–employment relationship in Modigliani's 1944 article

Modigliani's 1944 “Econometrica” article is considered one of the most important efforts to reconcile Keynes with classical economic thinking through the wage rigidity hypothesis. The paper reconstructs the genesis of Modigliani's article and compares Modigliani's and Patinkin's interpretation of the wage–employment relationship. It also discusses Modigliani's contribution to the neoclassical synthesis, arguing that Modigliani's attention to the monetary origin of and solution to unemployment contrasts with the neoclassical synthesis neglecting of the monetary side of the system and its inclination towards fiscal policy.     

Synergies and tensions between and within domestic and international market activities of firms

The distinction between domestic and international market activities has an idiosyncratic meaning for international business research. This study examines the significant yet unclear role of domestic market activities for the internationalizing firm through the theoretical lens of exploitation and exploration. By means of five qualitative case studies, we show that both the dynamics between domestic–international market activities and the interplay between exploitation–exploration are intrinsically concerned with synergies and tensions. Our findings uncover how firms leverage these synergies and manage these tensions that manifest between and within their domestic and international markets. Synergies and tensions are found to revolve around ambidexterity, networks and organizational market information processes.     

The logic behind foreign market selection: Objective distance dimensions vs. strategic objectives and psychic distance

The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of the firm’s strategic objectives regarding the choice of countries for foreign expansion, complementing the existing literature on the internationalisation process. Through a multiple case study methodology, we conduct a comparative analysis of three Brazilian ventures that have internationalised in Italy, and three Italian firms that have internationalised in Brazil, seeking to investigate the firms’ decisions on the selection of foreign markets. We consider jointly the objective aspects of distance, the overall perceptions of the decision-makers in relation to the differences between the domestic and (potential) host countries, and the firm’s strategic objectives. This research contributes to International Business studies by revealing the role of firm-specific strategic objectives as determinants of foreign market selection, in addition to, or even on top of, the dimensions of objective distance and psychic distance.     

Urban sustainability and knowledge: Theoretical heterogeneity and the need of a transdisciplinary framework. A tale of four towns

The academic debate on «sustainable city» is like a large arena, where heterogeneous approaches and contributions, coming from different disciplines, flow into without converging on a common vision. The growing awareness that an increasing percentage of the world's population now lives in urban areas makes the organization of this space a crucial issue for global sustainable development. In order to acquire this challenge, urban studies need to overcome conceptual oppositions, seeking new integrated responses to implement the principle of sustainability at urban scale. This effort requires a new managerial approach of science and policy, which can be based on a transdisciplinary vision to knowledge production. The paper is divided into four different sections. The first and second sections review the theoretical literature on urban sustainability and explore the conceptual relations between knowledge and knowledge production in urban governance processes. The third section presents a comparative empirical analysis based on a survey of 2213 questionnaires carried out in four different urban contexts. The fourth and last section outlines the conclusion, suggesting a new approach to manage knowledge in urban governance, in a trans-disciplinary perspective.     

Does economic policy uncertainty matter for financial reporting quality? Evidence from the United States

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting - We examine the effect of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on the financial reporting quality of US firms over 1999–2015. We use accruals-based...