农村居民消费、流动性约束和消费信贷的实证研究

本文利用1978-2004年我国农村居民人均消费支出和人均可支配收入数据对农村居民消费和流动性约束之间的关系进行了实证研究。分析结果表明：我国农村居民受流动性约束的程度明显偏高；而自从我国大力发展居民个人消费信贷业以来，流动性约束水平有所下降，消费信贷的发展发挥了一定的作用。今后在我国农村地区进一步建立健全面向广大农民的消费信贷业务，对于缓解流动性约束，推动农村居民消费需求增长具有积极的意义。     

城乡居民消费行为及结构演化的差异研究

转变经济发展方式、实现经济内生增长是中国经济进入“新常态”阶段最迫切需要解决的问题,而实现这一目标,最为重要的则是居民消费水平的有效提升,尤其是农村居民消费困境的破解。基于此,本文采用非线性最小二乘法(NLS)对中国城乡居民消费行为及其演化规律进行了跨时期分析,结果发现城乡居民收入与消费之间表现为明显的非线性关系,并没有完全遵循边际消费倾向递减规律。“七五”时期和“八五”时期,城乡居民边际消费随收入的增加而递增;“九五”时期及以后,城镇居民边际消费随着收入的增加而递减,农村居民边际消费则仍随收入的增加而递增。从收入结构视角看,农民边际消费仅随工资性收入和家庭经营性收入的增加而递增,而城镇居民边际消费随工资性收入、家庭经营性收入和转移性收入的增加而递减。由于农民收入增长质量较低,而且收入结构不合理,从而直接导致农民消费水平低下且结构不合理,因此,提升农民消费水平,迫切需要优化农民收入结构和消费结构。     

Corporate social responsibility: attributions,loyalty, and the mediating role of trust

This study investigates whether consumers’ perceptions of motives influence their evaluation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. The study reveals the mediating role of consumer trust in CSR evaluation frameworks; managers should monitor consumer trust, which seems to be an important subprocess regulating the effect of consumer attributions on patronage and recommendation intentions. Further, managers may allay the negative effects of profit-motivated giving by doing well on service quality perceptions. On the other hand, appropriately motivated giving continues to positively affect trust regardless of the performance of the firm on service quality provision.     

The organic industry in Australia: Current and future trends

Accurate information is critical for investment, policy alignment and to support agricultural development. In Australia information relating to the size, growth, current and future value of the organic sector has been incoherent and, in some cases, contradictory. This study seeks to address this gap by synthesising industry and government data with the results of an online quantitative survey as well as a series of in-depth interviews to capture the value added component of the organic industry in Australia. By sub-dividing the total organic industry into thirteen categories which makes for meaningful analysis and interpretation, we aimed to estimate the compound average growth rate, the current value added and future trends in the Australian organic industry. This has resulted in some interesting findings, hence the methodology could potentially serve as a benchmark for the reporting of organic food growth globally. The findings also have important implications for various stakeholders including, growers of organic products, investors, land use policy makers and industry operators.     

Consumer Behavior Toward Eco-Labeled Minimally Processed Fruit Product

The authors proposed an analysis of the determinants of purchase intentions and willingness to pay for minimally processed fruit. For this purpose, on-field research was conducted that involved 589 consumers. A questionnaire, gathered in Italy and based on a Likert scale, was administered to investigate intentions to purchase minimally processed fruit from environmentally sustainable farms, simulating a minimally processed product with an eco-label. Via structural equation modeling, the authors develop propositions representing a theoretical approach in the context of purchasing food products. By analyzing two different types of consciousness (health and green), the deduced managerial implications make it possible to assess that the green consciousness influences the attitude and affects the choices and behaviors of consumers. The potential adoption of an eco-label on this kind of food product could be seen as a useful marketing tool for new markets.     

Adoption of Online Grocery Shopping: Personal or Household Characteristics?

This article analyzes how sociodemographic characteristics impact the adoption of online grocery shopping, and relies on the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) model to explore what these sociodemographics actually capture and how they are linked with consumer motivations. The researchers exploit a survey among 468 customers of Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt. Their logistic regression shows that while variables at the personal level do affect adoption of the online channel, consumers’ motivations to adopt in fact lie on the household level. In particular, the effect of age disappears or becomes less strong when it is combined with household characteristics. An examination of respondents’ self-reported motivations confirms that age does not only capture a person’s ability to use the technology but also its usefulness for that person’s household, in that age is correlated with the presence of young children and the working situation in the household.     

Pseudo panel data estimation technique and rational addiction model: an analysis of cigarette,alcohol and coffee demands

We use a pseudo‐panel data approach to analyze the relationship between the consumptions of cigarettes, alcohol, and coffee in a rational addiction framework. We find that while cigarette and coffee demands fit well with the rational addiction model, alcohol demand conforms to a model with inventory effects. The results suggest that alcohol consumption increases the marginal utility derived from consumption of cigarettes. Increasing alcohol prices would decrease not only the consumption of alcohol, but also the consumption of cigarettes. On the other hand, increasing cigarette prices do not have the same effect on consumption of alcohol. The cross‐price elasticity of coffee with respect to cigarette price is positive and significant which suggests that coffee substitutes for cigarettes when cigarette prices increase. The cross‐price elasticity of alcohol with respect to coffee price is found to be negative and significant. On the other hand, Morishima elasticities of substitution indicate that cigarette, alcohol and coffee substitute each other along the indifference curve when relative prices change.     

Consumer sorting and hedonic valuation of wine attributes: exploiting data from a field experiment

This article uses a novel experimental approach to measure consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for wine attributes. We invited customers of a local supermarket who had selected a bottle of wine to purchase to participate in a valuation experiment. Integrating their original wine choice into the experiment, each participant evaluated six alternative wines, generating a rich set of data on willingness to pay and consumer characteristics. The data from the experiment allow us to compare standard shelf price‐based wine attribute valuation estimates with estimates using WTP data and an increasing amount of information about individual consumers. The full model employs individual fixed effects to estimate WTP parameters without bias from consumer sorting or supply side influences. Our WTP estimates for wine attributes differ markedly from previous attribute value estimates. Consumers in our sample display clear and stable preferences for wine varieties, but less clear preferences for appellations. Our results suggest caution is needed in using market prices to estimate parameters of the consumer valuation function for product attributes.     

How perceived empowerment HR practices influence work engagement in social enterprises – a moderated mediation model

Abstract

Drawing insights from the group engagement model and self-determination theory, our research explored the role of perceived empowerment human resource (HR) practices in the hybrid organizational form of social enterprise in China. Based on two studies, this paper developed and examined a moderated mediation model, linking perceived empowerment HR practices, identification motivation, work engagement, and authority work value. Specifically, in Study 1 we found perceived empowerment HR practices increased employees’ work engagement through enhancing employees’ identification motivation. In Study 2, we adopted a two-wave design to duplicate and extend this mediation model. A moderator, employees’ authority work value, was found to weaken both the mediation relationship, and the positive relationship between perceived empowerment HR practices and identification motivation. This study broadens the understanding of what social enterprises look like in alternative contexts, while providing an opportunity to explore how a HRM mechanism and its boundary condition function in large social enterprises in China.     

Supplier Development Practices for Sustainability: A Multi‐Stakeholder Perspective

Supplier development for sustainability is a critical element of sustainable supply chain management and requires extensive multi‐stakeholder collaboration. This article establishes a conceptual four‐stage framework to analyse the collaborative mechanisms of supplier development practices, and presents an exploratory, qualitative analysis to identify the major contributors of sustainable supplier development practices, such as NGOs, industrial associations, consulting firms etc. Based on semi‐structured interviews about 63 organizations from different regions and industries, this article identifies three types of contributor: drivers, facilitators and inspectors. Instead of traditional stakeholder engagement processes, these contributors actively collaborate with buying firms and suppliers to design, implement and evaluate sustainable supplier development programs. The article then provides a matrix to describe the supply chain coverage and supplier performance of supplier development practices, given the absence or positive involvement of facilitators and inspectors. We conclude our study by suggesting future research directions as well as discussing managerial implications. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment