Exchange Rate Volatility and Exports: Regional Differences between Developing and Industrialized Countries

This study uses a large panel of industrialized and developing countries to investigate the link between exchange rate volatility and exports. Although the empirical literature on this relationship is extensive, a clear consensus about its nature and importance is yet to emerge. Using fixed- and random-effects models to capture cross-country differences, pooled export equations are estimated for the entire panel and various subsets of countries. The results, which are robust across different volatility measures, indicate that negative effects exist for LDC exports, especially from Latin America and Africa, but not for exports from Asian LDCs or industrialized countries.     

Race effects on eBay

We investigate the impact of seller race in a field experiment involving baseball card auctions on eBay. Photographs showed the cards held by either a dark‐skinned/African‐American hand or a light‐skinned/Caucasian hand.  Cards held by African‐American sellers sold for approximately 20% ($0.90) less than cards held by Caucasian sellers. Our evidence of race differentials is important because the online environment is well controlled (with the absence of confounding tester effects) and because the results show that race effects can persist in a thick real‐world market such as eBay.     

Verbraucherpolitische Konzeptionen und Programme in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Zusammenfassung Die Notwendigkeit einer expliziten Verbraucherpolitik ist in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in den letzten Jahren zunehmend anerkannt worden. Dies dokumentiert sich zum einen in einigen Ansätzen zur Institutionalisierung der Verbraucherpolitik, zum anderen in einer programmatischen Diskussion, an der inzwischen die wichtigsten gesellschaftlich relevanten Gruppen teilnehmen. Analysiert und vergleicht man die verbraucherpolitischen Vorhaben amtlicher Stellen sowie die von Arbeitgeberverbänden, Gewerkschaften und politischen Parteien entwickelten Konzeptionen, so zeigt sich ein uniformes Denkschema, das dem Paradigma Markt und Wettbewerb verhaftet ist. Unterschiede offenbaren sich lediglich in den jeweils präferierten Maßnahmen. Alle Konzeptionen folgen — wenn auch mit unterschiedlicher Gewichtung — den beiden handlungsanleitenden Argumentationsschemata »Ergänzung der Wettbewerbspolitik durch Verbraucherschutz und -information« sowie »Gegenmachtbildung und Interessenvertretung«. Der Gedanke an direktere Kommunikationsformen sowie an eine frühzeitige Einflußnahme der Konsumenten auf das Güterangebot findet sich in keinem der Programme.

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Conceptions of consumer policy in the Federal Republic of Germany

The necessity for an explicit public consumer policy has found increased acceptance during the last couple of years. This is reflected both in attempts to institutionalize consumer policy and in a programmatic discussion in which many relevant social groups are participating. The analysis of consumer oriented plans and models of governmental agencies, employers' associations, trade unions, and political parties reveals uniform thought, rooted in the paradigm of market and competition. Differences can be detected only in the recommended measures. Basically all concepts fall under one of the following categories of argumentation: Competition policy needs completion by consumer protection and consumer information or There is a need for consumer countervailing power and consumer lobbyism. The existing plans are characterized by mere auxiliary means to stimulate consumers' reactions. The considerations of a direct communication between producers and consumers and of an early influence by consumers on manufacturers' product decisions are, however, not included in any of the programmes.

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Christine Czerwonka und Günter Schöppe sind Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter am Institut für Markt und Plan der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, 6000 Frankfurt/Main, Senckenberganlage 31.     

„Drum prüfe,wer sich bindet...” — eine empirische untersuchung zur wirkung von markenkooperationen

ZusammenfassungMarkenkooperationen sind en vogue, kaum ein Markenhersteller, der in der jüngsten Vergangenheit nicht an eine solche Form der Zusammenarbeit gedacht h?tte. Warum auch nicht? Die damit einhergehenden Nutzenm?glichkeiten sind vielseitig und reichen von der Halbierung der Marketingkosten, der Steigerung von Reichweite- und Bekanntheitsgrad bis hin zur übertragung von markenindividuellen Assoziationen. Das nachfolgende Fallbeispiel des FreshSurfer zeigt, dass man sich beim Aufbau von langfristigen Markenkooperationen jedoch nicht nur von kurzfristigen Opportunit?ten verleiten lassen sollte, sondern eine solche Zusammenarbeit vorab auf verschiedenen Dimensionen gewissenhaft abgekl?rt werden muss.     

Evolution of tourism in a flagship protected area of China

Nature-based tourism in protected areas, which is growing worldwide, offers much potential to enhance biodiversity conservation, poverty alleviation, and ultimately sustainable development. Understanding the evolution of protected areas as tourism destinations and the causes and consequences of changing supply and demand elements is an essential step toward sustainably managing tourism in these critical ecosystems. This research applied the Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) model to illustrate and analyze the 30-year evolution of tourism in Wolong Nature Reserve. Being inscribed in UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage programmes, Wolong is a flagship protected area in China. We showed that the Reserve experienced exploration, involvement, and development stages of the TALC before tourism growth was completely halted by the Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008. We systematically investigated the changes related to the evolution of tourism and identified various internal and external driving forces. We examined the dynamics of politics, economy, and tourism growth that might propel the Reserve through the life cycle and identified significant tourism governance structural changes through the stages. The results have implications for sustainable tourism development in China's protected areas and also contribute to a broader and general understanding of the complex relationships between protected areas, sustainable tourism, and community development.     

The Relation Between Market Liquidity and Anonymity in the Presence of Tick Size Constraints

In February 2004, the Sydney Futures Exchange removed broker identifiers from the electronic limit order book for interest rate futures contracts, with the stated objective of maintaining transparency and improving market participation and liquidity. We show how the Exchange's aims were generally met by documenting an increase in volume and frequency of trades and a decline in time‐weighted quoted spreads. Although daily effective spreads do not decline, intraday analysis demonstrates that there are improvements in effective spreads which are concentrated to those points in time where the bid–ask spread is not constrained by the size of the minimum tick, and where information asymmetries are present. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 34:56–73, 2014     

Measuring sustainability risks: A rational myth?

The objective of this paper is to investigate the rigorousness and reliability of sustainability rating agencies' evaluation of corporate sustainability risks. Using grounded theory, this study conducts a qualitative analysis of 32 semi‐structured interviews with practitioners involved in this activity and shows the trade‐offs and rational myths underlying this evaluation process. The image of rationality and rigorousness projected by sustainability risk measurements is mostly intended to address the increasing institutional pressures for reliable and comparable information, particularly from institutional investors and socially responsible investment decision makers. Nevertheless, risk analysts face serious challenges due to the lack of reliable information, the unpredictability of sustainability risks, the methodological issues related to the measurement process, and the complexity and context‐dependency of risk assessment. These challenges call into question the official and optimistic rhetoric of rating agencies. This study contributes to the literature on sustainability risks and rational myths in organizations. Managerial implications and avenues for future research are also discussed.     

What drives market construction for fair trade,organic, and GlobalGAP certification in the global citrus value chain? Evidence at the importer level in the Netherlands and the United States

Because national governments have limited power to regulate the conditions of production abroad, voluntary certification schemes have come to play a significant role in transnational regulation of many global supply chains, particularly in the food sector, where multiple regulatory issues are in play and different certification schemes compete. However, we still know relatively little about the political-economic factors that shape the construction of certified citrus markets for these competing standards. Based on an original dataset from a comparative survey of US and Dutch importers, this paper investigates factors that shape the construction of certification markets for citrus, focusing on the construction of markets for different kinds of certification schemes including Fair Trade, Organic, and GlobalGAP certification. The paper investigates from a comparative perspective whether the construction of markets differs across the US and Dutch political economies. The results show both the enduring effects of national political economies and the importance of global value chain dynamics. Across competing schemes, the industry-sponsored business-to-business certification systems have outcompeted consumer-facing label systems.