Applying neutralization theory to fair trade buying behaviour

More and more consumers are willing to pay a premium for fair trade products. However, great potential remains as the market shares of these products are still low. In the present study, neutralization theory was applied to investigate the reasons for consumers hesitating to buy more fair trade products. A postal paper‐and‐pencil survey was sent out using random addresses from the telephone book in the German‐speaking part of Switzerland, resulting in a final sample size of n = 620. The results show that the techniques of neutralization are used to various degrees. A principal component analysis resulted in two strategies of neutralization: an internal strategy (focusing on the consumers themselves) and an external strategy (focusing on the farmers in developing countries). A regression analysis proved that the internal neutralization strategy was an important predictor for fair trade buying behaviour, even when controlling for attitudes towards fair trade.     

Environmental Analysis of Packaging for Soft Drinks Using the Life Cycle Assessment Methodology

The knowledge of a product＇s life cycle is the first step on the search of sustainable development. The life cycle assessment （LCA） is an important method because it allows an environment accounting, where the extraction of natural resources and energy of the nature are considered and the ＂returns＂ to the same one and allows in evaluating relative potential the environment impacts generated. The present work had as objective to make an analysis of material and energy flows of the life cycle of three types of packaging for soft drinks： glass bottles of 390 mL, aluminum cans of 350 mL, and bottles of PET of 2,000 mL. The study considered processes since the extraction of raw materials for production of the packaging until the stages of recycling, after the consumption of the soft drink. For the research, an inventory analysis followed the LCA methodology. The main critical points of generation of negative environmental impact during the life cycle of each packaging had been the identified and quantified data in this study. The consumption of natural resources like water and other raw materials and energy, the generation of atmospheric emissions, solid wastes and wastewaters had been the analyzed categories. The results showed that, in accordance with the scenes and defined variables, the most important conclusion was that the bottle of glass presented a less favorable scene to the environment in comparison with other packaging.     

Too-Big-To-Fail: Why Megabanks Have Not Become Smaller Since the Global Financial Crisis?

ABSTRACT

More than ten years after the global financial crisis, what has happened to the ‘too-big-to-fail’ (TBTF) banks whose reckless behavior was among its preconditions, but which received public support and guarantees in the midst of that crisis? Insofar as this too-big-to-fail status helped create the crisis and then imposed costs on the rest of society, we would expect these banks to have shrunk. We investigate the evolution of 31 global-TBTF banks and find that their overall size has hardly recorded any substantial change. However, there is no sense of urgency in the flourishing post-crisis literature on TBTF banks about the need to contain their size; the prevalent view therein is that if properly regulated, the risks that arise from a financial system dominated by TBTF banks are manageable. This view rests on the same overly narrow theoretical underpinnings whose flaws were exposed in the crisis. We argue that too-big-to-fail banking is embedded in a set of self-reinforcing policies—consolidation, balance-sheet support through quantitative easing, favorable regulations, bank lobbying, and geo-economic and geo-political considerations—which explain why these banks have not shrunk and why they remain a threat to financial stability, well after the lessons of the crisis should have been learned.     

基于图像分析光学伪装效果的定量评价系统

针对传统的伪装效果评价容易受到试验条件、时间、经费等多方面限制的问题,提出了一种基于图像定量评价光学伪装效果的方法。利用AHP对颜色和形状进行权重的分析,得出颜色和形状的权重系数W1和W2,通过颜色评价系数对伪装图案与背景的图像颜色相似度进行定量评价,利用横纵比差值来对伪装图案与背景的图像形状相似度进行评价,最终得出基于图像分析光学伪装评价效果的定量评价系统。实验结果表明,该评价系统可实现对伪装图案与背景的颜色和形状相似程度的定量评价。     

Fiscal and monetary interdependence

Where classical economics integrates the quantity theory of money with the concept of Ricardian equivalence, the tendency of recent macroeconomic presentations is to focus either upon money and inflation or upon taxation and debt. That neglect of classical monetary–fiscal integration is surprising, given an initiative by the International Monetary Fund that set credit, money, and fiscal policy within a single structure. This article places those ‘credit counterparts of broad money’ in the context of the Great Depression and the recent global financial crisis. The upshot is a set of conclusions: that, to counter the prospect of deflation, quantitative easing is a weak policy response; that fiscal deficits are better; and that cuts in taxation are preferable to increased government spending.     

The power of the pen: Handwritten fonts promote haptic engagement

Consumers are increasingly bombarded with merchandise and offers, making clear the need for visually distinctive and sensorially engaging product packaging design. The current research demonstrates that the use of handwritten fonts on product packaging elicits an approach tendency and enhances haptic engagement, which influences product evaluation and choice likelihood. A pilot study quantifies the use of handwritten fonts in four grocery product categories to establish that the study of handwritten fonts as a packaging design element is a worthy one with managerial significance. Four experiments are then presented. Studies 1 and 2 use real products to show that a product label with a handwritten (vs. typewritten) font elicits haptic engagement and, enhanced product evaluations (Study 2). Study 3 identifies a boundary condition such that the focal effect is observed only for benign (safe and enjoyable) product categories, but not for risky (unsafe and dangerous) ones. Study 4 relies on a simulated store setup with actual products to illustrate the differential preference for products with a handwritten (vs. typewritten) font when choosing between brands in a benign (vs. risky) product category.     

西藏国内贸易与本地经济增长关系的计量分析

基于2006～2015年时间序列数据,利用计量经济统计方法,考察了西藏国内贸易与本地经济增长之间的关系。经研究发现,西藏国内贸易与本地经济增长的关系是长期均衡的发展关系,且西藏国内贸易是本地经济增长的原因;同时,在影响西藏经济增长的三大需求中,国内贸易的占比最大,由此说明,在促进西藏经济增长的"三驾马车"中,消费比投资、净出口更为显著。     

冷清与坚持：改革开放30年来行政诉讼检察监督的研究回溯——以CNKI期刊数据库论文为分析素材

CNKI期刊数据库收录的相关文献表明,30多年（1979-2010）来,虽然只有少数理论界人士关注了行政诉讼检察监督的研究,但是已经涉及了行政诉讼检察监督的正当性、监督方式、监督范围、监督程序等多个方面。特别是在监督方式方面,涉及到了抗诉、参与诉讼、提起公诉、支持诉讼的探讨;在监督范围方面,有全面监督、有限监督、诉讼监督、审判监督的阐释。这些研究对于行政诉讼检察监督制度的完善具有重要启示。     

浅谈作业成本法在水泥包装机械中的应用

随着高新科技时代的到来和市场竞争的加剧,先进的生产制造技术和管理办法开始被广泛采用,制造环境发生了很大变化。随着企业生产方式的变化,导致产品成本结构的重大变化,直接材料、直接人工的成本所占比重下降,而制造费用的比例却大幅度的上升。传统的成本计算方法会导致产品成本的扭曲,这对企业的成本管理会产生很多的误区。文章针对水泥包装机产品进行作业成本法运用的探讨,为企业降低成本寻找一种新思路,改变传统方法带来的计算方法不适应性、成本核算内容的局限性和成本控制的无效性等问题,使产品成本发生的歪曲降低并为企业经营决策的正确性提供指导作用。     

甩挂运输经济效益的定量计算

从实现甩挂运输经济效益的概念理解、前提条件、定量计算和辩证思考四个方面对其进行探讨,其中重点是通过将甩挂运输与普通的公路运输组织形式进行比较来定量计算其经济效益,即甩挂运输所创造的相对高于普通公路运输的经济效益。具体将甩挂运输的经济效益分作车辆购置与运营固定成本效益、车辆运用效益、装卸转运与包装成本效益、运输站场成本效益、人力成本效益、其他效益六个方面,参照了集装化运输的经济效益计算方法,通过与普通公路运输经济效益作差算得。通过将甩挂运输的经济效益内容分类并进行定量计算,以达到对其更具体深入的认识,为进一步提高经济效益提供更有针对性的参考。