Trial and repeat buying—The case for separate consideration

Consumer panel purchase data for several new brands are anllyzed, focusing on macrobehavioral characteristics of two groups: triers and repeat buyers. Theoretical analysis and supporting empirical evidence suggest that the two groups differ markedly in purchasing behavior. Implications for product life cycle theory and marketing practice are discussed.     

Strategic Control of R&D Resource Allocations in Diversified Businesses

Proper allocation of R&D resources across strategic business units is a challenge that has long been faced by executives of diversified business enterprises. Igal Ayal and Robert Rothberg have chosen to address this issue, applying a distinction between effectiveness and efficiency of R&D spending. Most companies seem to overcontrol such allocations in terms of tactical detail or efficiency considerations, and undercontrol in terms of strategic significance or effectiveness. Attention to the effectiveness of allocations requires that management assess the linkage between R&D spending and the attainment of overall corporate goals. The article draws conclusions about the design of appropriate R&D proposal generation and evaluation procedures and project control systems in strategically decentralized companies.     

Retailer-manufacturer price and profit relationships along the advertising life cycle: An empirical examination

Competitive intra-channel forces are an important factor to the success (or failure) of newly introduced brands. The present study offers an extended theoretical framework of the advertising life-cycle concept, which illuminates the changes in the manufacturer-retailer balance of power within the marketing channel along the development path of new brands. The theoretical conclusions are then tested against a unique data set. The empirical findings confirm the prediction that dynamic competitive elements will change the intra-channel pricing balance.     

Simultaneous estimation of work choices and the level of farm activity using panel data

We analyse the simultaneous determination and evolution overtime of work choices and the level of farm activity, using apanel of Israeli farm households. We estimate jointly a multinomialchoice model of work activity and an endogenous switching regressionof farm size, accounting for unobserved heterogeneity and correctingfor simultaneity bias. Our results imply that some family farmstend to expand over time and specialise in farming, whereasother farm households downsize their farming operation and increasetheir engagement in the off-farm labour market. Therefore, thesize distribution of farms is converging towards a bimodal distribution.     

Farm work, off-farm work, and hired farm labour: estimating a discrete-choice model of French farm couples' labour decisions

We model jointly several types of discrete-choice labour decisionsof farm couples: farm work, off-farm work and hired farm labour.Rather than estimating a set of reduced-form participation equationsthat is subject to an internal inconsistency problem, we estimatea 16-choice multinomial model. We find that farm labour of operatorsand of spouses are substitutes. Hired farm labour increaseswith the farmer's qualifications, perhaps substituting for thecouple's labour inputs. Other adults in the household substitutefor the farm labour input of the farm couple and hired workers.We find that the organisation of work by French farm householdshas changed over time, in the direction of a more equal sharingof tasks and responsibilities between members of the farm family.     

Trade and the rate of income convergence

To the extent that trade policy affects trade flows between countries, the ramifications can be far-reaching from an economic growth perspective. This paper examines one aspect of these ramifications, namely the impact of changes in the extent of trade between countries on changes in the rate of reduction in the size of the income gap that exists between them. Export and import data are used as the criteria for determining bilateral trade between major trade partners, resulting in the creation of 127 pairs of countries on the basis of export data and 134 pairs on the basis of import data. An increase in trade between major trade partners - and, in particular, increased exports by poorer countries to their wealthier partners - is shown to be related to an increase in the rate of convergence between the countries.