Construction industry in developing countries

This paper provides a review of the construction capability available in the developing countries to meet the demand for shelter. It discusses the role of construction in the process of development and its importance to economic growth. It considers the issues facing the growth of a viable indigenous construction industry in the developing world within the context of the activities involved in the creation of constructed facilities – planning, design, construction and maintenance; it also examines the environment within which the industry has developed. For each construction activity the paper reviews available capabilities, the various resources needed for the development of an indigenous industry, and some possible means of accommodating these needs.     

Economics of Food Labeling

Federal intervention in food labeling is often proposed with the aim of achieving a social goal such as improving human health and safety, mitigating environmental hazards, averting international trade disputes, or supporting domestic agricultural and food manufacturing industries. Economic theory suggests, however, that mandatory food-labeling requirements are best suited to alleviating problems of asymmetric information and are rarely effective in redressing environmental or other spillovers associated with food production and consumption. Theory also suggests that the appropriate role for government in labeling depends on the type of information involved and the level and distribution of the costs and benefits of providing that information. This report traces the economic theory behind food labeling and presents three case studies in which the government has intervened in labeling and two examples in which government intervention has been proposed.     

How to communicate sustainable tourism products to customers: results from a choice experiment

This multiphase and empirical study explores the best communication style for reaching different international tourism markets and provides an understanding of how purchase decisions could be better influenced in travel brochures. A pre-test experiment evaluated the perceived emotionality and rationality of communication elements in a fictional travel brochure designed for a typical beach holiday but managed according to sustainability principles. In phase two, a choice experiment was conducted to test how Swiss, German, British and US travellers could be influenced by varying visual and textual communication elements in the fictional brochure (based on Mexico for US respondents and Menorca for all others). The choice experiment produced 3006 responses from an online survey in the four countries. Results confirm a general preference for emotionally laden communication styles for sustainable tourism products, while respondents were indifferent to the emotionality of standard product feature communications. Respondents did not show a preference for the inclusion of a graph explaining the product's sustainability attributes.     

Brand equity: extending brand awareness and liking with Signal Detection Theory

Brand equity, which is a central topic in modern marketing, may be assessed from three perspectives: customer mind set, product market outcomes and financial market outcomes. Brand awareness (memory) and brand liking are elements of customer mind set brand equity. The factors determining brand awareness and likeability are also determinants of the change in financial brand equity. In order to understand these factors, Signal Detection Theory is employed for finding the components of brand awareness and likeability. Signal Detection Theory has a strong tradition in psychology, but is under‐represented in marketing and consumer behaviour. This study extended the concept of brand awareness to ‘awareness sensitivity and bias’ and the concept of ‘brand likeability’ to ‘liking sensitivity and bias’ using Signal Detection Theory. The effect of divided attention on the extended components was investigated in three laboratory experiments. It was found that, in the attended mode compared with the unattended mode, consumers perform better in preserving a favourable brand awareness and have a conservative reaction tendency. This effect of attention occurs in building brand awareness for short presentations, but not for long presentations. These findings may serve as guidelines for a strategy formulation for enhancing customer mind set brand equity.     

Whither Foreign R&D in China: Some Concluding Thoughts on Chinese Innovation

The purpose of this article is to highlight the impact of a new range of field-work driven scholarly research regarding foreign R&D in China on the field of Chinese innovation studies. The field of China innovation studies is positioned for a major take-off with the opening up and broadening of the field to a new generation of scholars and experts, including the growing participation and contributions of Chinese nationals from the People's Republic of China (PRC). With the continued opening of China to the outside world has come also increased scholarly access which is allowing for research on issues that heretofore was constrained due to the limited availability of information as well as political and national security sensitivities. The field also is benefiting from the increased visibility being given to innovation matters by the Chinese government and the rise in the number of foreign R&D centres that have been established by foreign companies. New ‘internally-focused’ questions related to R&D spending, the cultural and historical setting for innovation, and the institutional structure are being addressed with some promising results. In addition, a whole new series of ‘externally-focused’ questions also are beginning to dominate the research agenda as more and more foreign firms seek to take advantage of China's improved climate for overseas business as well as the growing number of scientists and engineers at the higher end of the Chinese talent pool. The more we seem to find out, however, the more we realize we need to know to truly understand China's technological potential. That said, it is increasingly clear that foreign influence is having an important shaping effect on the nature of the PRC's R&D system, especially with respect to the strategic role played or potentially being played by returned scholars and experts whose more cosmopolitan perspectives serve as a real asset in building bridges between Chinese traditional attitudes and modes of behaviour towards new knowledge creation and the current institutional constraints on China's innovation trajectory since 1949.