Consumer ethnocentrism,product necessity and quality perceptions of Russian consumers

Retail buyers in Russia have indicated that some customers have expressed a desire to purchase domestically produced products over imports. Consumer ethnocentrism has been proposed as a measure to provide retail buyers with the information necessary to market to these consumers. The purpose of this research is to determine if perceived product quality of products differs based on country of origin, product necessity and consumer ethnocentric tendency. A repeated measures ANOVA test indicates that perceived quality differs by necessity, by product, by country. A consumer ethnocentrism effect on the overall model, however, was not significant. We conclude that Russian consumers do perceive differences in product quality based on country of origin and product necessity, but that consumer ethnocentrism does not have an effect on perceived product quality.     

S&P Downgrade Positive for China's Stock Market in the Long Run

The Standard & Poor's(S&P) rating agency announced Friday night(August 5) that it has downgraded the U.S.debt from a stellar AAA rating by a notch to AA+,and lowered the outlook on the new U.S.credit rating to negative, indicating that another downgrade was possible within one year or two.After the downgrade,it was largely expected     

Chinese dietary culture influences consumers' intention to use imported soy‐based dietary supplements: an application of the theory of planned behaviour

The over‐saturated dietary supplement (DS) market in developed countries such as the US spurs the need for foreign market expansion, and the Chinese market provides a great potential for the foreign soy‐based DS industry. This study examined Chinese consumers' intention to use imported (US‐made US‐brand) soy‐based DS based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Two alternative models were also examined in which Chinese dietary culture variables, including soyfoods favourability and dining‐out sociability, as well as their interactions with attitudes, were integrated into the TPB model. A cross‐sectional, self‐administered survey was conducted with a sample of 215 subjects (137 females; 78 males) in Shanghai, China. The TPB variables attitude, subjective norm, perceived behaviour control and behavioural intention, as well as the Chinese dietary culture variables: soyfoods favourability and dine‐out sociability were measured. Multiple linear regressions were used to analyze the three models. The statistical results indicated that all three models were statistically significant to predict intention (Model 1: R² = 0.473, P < 0.001; Model 2: R² = 0.505, P < 0.001; Model 3: R² = 0.525, P < 0.001). The results also showed that attitude, perceived behavioural control, and dine‐out sociability were significant (positive) determinants of intention. Soyfoods favourability acted a significant (negative) moderator of the relationship between attitude and intention. Subjective norm had no significant impact on intention. In conclusion, the TPB model was useful to predict Chinese consumers' intention to use imported soy‐based DS, but not all the TPB components weighed significantly in exploring DS consumption in China. The selected Chinese dietary culture variables were much more important predictors than subjective norm. This study makes a significant contribution in the application of the TPB model and in market strategy development for imported dietary supplements in China.     

Globalization and the Corporations: The Case of the California Fortune 500

This article argues that there is a genuine process of globalization taking place among the Fortune Global 500 corporations domiciled in California. Globalization is assessed in terms of four criteria: (1) foreign direct investment; (2) benchmarking and world best practice; (3) global corporate citizenship; and (4) global vision. The study is based on interviews in ten of the fifteen Global 500 corporations in California, plus one private corporation with comparable revenues. The interviews focused on the uses and meanings of globalization in corporate vocabularies and practices, and the salience of these four criteria. The interview findings and company, business press and scholarly publications provide substantial support for the thesis that a genuine process of globalization is taking place, even if it is more advanced in some corporations than others, and that this globalization has important effects on local and regional economies. Cet article maintient qu'un processus réel de globalisation est en train de prendre place parmi les 500 compagnies globales Fortuneétablies en Californie. La globalisation est évaluée par quatre critères: (1) l'investis-sement étranger direct; (2) les points de repère et la meilleure pratique dans le monde; (3) la citoyenneté corporative globale; et (4) une vision globale. Cette étude est basée sur des entrevues conduites dans dix des quinze compagnies globales 500 en Californie et dans une compagnie privée ayant des revenus comparables. Les entrevues portaient sur l'utilisation et la signification de la globalisation dans le vocabulaire et les pratiques des compagnies et sur l'importance de ces quatre critères. Les résultats de ces entrevues, la presse commerciale et les publications académiques apportent un soutien considérable à la thèse qu'un processus réel de globalisation est en train de se produire – bien qu'il soit plus avancé dans certaines compagnies – et que cette globalisation a des effets important sur les économies locales et régionales.     

我国商业银行中间业务的发展对策

文章分析了我国由于政策、市场和银行自身等因素影响,导致了中、外资商业银行中间业务的巨大反差,这种反差在一定程度上正说明了我国商业银行中间业务发展中的问题所在,并提出制度创新、市场创新、管理创新等是解决这些问题的有效对策。     

关于资产证券化的资本计量

由于美国住房抵押贷款证券化产品的暴跌是次贷危机引爆器,因此,人们在研究加强资本监管时,会对证券化的资本计量给予特别关注。本文从理论结合实践的角度,对证券化产品各类市场参与者的相关资本计量问题进行了思考,梳理并归纳了资产证券化发起机构、投资机构和中介机构在各自资本计量过程中需遵循的原则及思路。     

Uncertainty and the theory of international trade in long-run equilibrium

We consider a country with two factors and two industries, each of which faces technical and price uncertainty. Entrepreneurs choose outputs in order to maximize the expected utility of profits. They also draw factor payments and purchase consumption goods after the uncertainty isresolved. They enter and exit from an industry according to whether participation there increases their expected utility. Within this model, the validity of the propositions of neoclassical trade theory depends on how the entrepreneurs' entry decisions are affected by parameter changes via their roles as risk bearers, consumers and factor owners.     

2011年上半年国际金融市场运行综述

2011年上半年,美元总体走弱;美元短期利率下降,欧元、英镑短期利率上升,日元短期利率基本走平;主要国家中长期国债收益率先升后降;欧美主要股指振荡走高。     

Coordinated Effects in the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines

Recent research has highlighted the quantitative contribution to merger analysis from extending unilateral effects models to understand the payoffs to future potential coordinated effects. Some of the emphasis of this research appears to have made its way into the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines. In this paper, we demonstrate the quantification of coordinated effects in an oligopoly and procurement model, and we show that screens that are based on upward pricing pressure are not adequate in mergers where coordinated effects are a potential concern.     

Energy in the Asian-Pacific Region

The Asian-Pacific region is undergoing massive development. Most of the nations in the area have growing populations and growing economies. Many nations in the region are changing from a low-energy, village-based agrarian lifestyle to one of high-energy usage which is manufacturing and urban-based. This paper discusses the impact of demographic and social change on the energy supply and demand patterns in the region, on global energy resources and on the trade in those resources.