Assessing cost‐effectiveness when environmental benefits are bundled: agricultural water management in Great Barrier Reef catchments

Using economic analysis to prioritise improvements in environmental conditions is particularly difficult when multiple benefits are involved. This includes ‘bundling’ issues in agricultural pollution management, where a change in management action or farming systems generates multiple improvements, such as reductions in more than one pollutant. In this study, we conceptualise and compare two different approaches to analysing cost‐effectiveness when varying bundles of benefits are generated for a single project investment. Each approach requires data to be transformed in some way to allow the analysis to proceed. The index approach requires the transformation on the benefits side so that the effects of multiple pollutant changes can be combined into a measure for each project which can then be compared to costs. By comparison, the disaggregation approach requires the transformation on the costs side where costs for each project have to be apportioned across the different pollutants involved. The paper provides novel insights with an application to agricultural water quality improvements into the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, demonstrating that while both approaches are effective in prioritising projects by cost‐effectiveness, the disaggregation approach provides more insightful results and values that may be relevant for use as upper value guidelines in future project selection.     

A Retrospective View on Designation of Origin Labeled Foods in Europe

In the emergence of ethically conscious consumer segments across Europe, the expectation was that foods with a designation of origin–label (DOL) would make a production system of similar logic. Past analysis of the registration history of DOLs showed that the take-up of this European Union (EU) food quality scheme was concentrated in the south, which was attributed to specific food supply-and-demand conditions prevalent in that part of Europe. The authors shed light on DOL product distribution and examine its evolution during a 14-year period (2001–2014). DOLs remain a quality differentiation scheme predominantly for the southern EU agrifood industry. However, the less restrictive requirements for protected geographical indication certification make it a much more popular DOL in northern EU. To promote its food quality policy, the EU must approach the two DOL types differently, as they have a different growth potential among EU countries. DOLs’ specialization in categories with expertise accumulated in specific EU areas can become a DOL promoter across all of Europe.     

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.     

耕地质量影响因素区域差异分析及提升途径研究——以河南省新郑市为例

研究目的:分析研究影响耕地质量的主要障碍因素及其区域差异,明确不同区域耕地质量提升的主要途径和重点建设内容,以提高耕地质量提升工程建设的针对性和实效性。研究方法:相关分析法,主成分分析法,聚类分析法。研究结果:(1)土壤质地、有机质、全氮、速效磷、速效钾、灌溉率是影响耕地质量的主要因素,与粮食单产间均呈线性正相关关系,影响因素相互间也有影响,存在着显著的相关关系;(2)单产影响因素的重要性存在明显差异,其重要性序次为:灌溉率、速效磷、全氮、有机质、速效钾、土壤质地,重要性系数分别依次为0.188、0.179、0.173、0.167、0.156、0.136;(3)新郑市的耕地可划分为3种类型的整治区,不同类型区的耕地质量及其影响因素差异明显,丘岗地区的耕地质量最差,是农田整治的重点区,主要障碍因素是灌溉率低、土壤肥力差。研究结论:新郑市不同区域耕地质量提升的主要途径不同,丘岗地区和砂土平原区主要是提高农田灌溉率和培肥土壤,山前平原区主要是提高土壤磷肥肥力。     

高肥料投入条件下不同污泥用量对油菜生长及品质的影响

通过盆栽试验,研究高肥料投入条件下,不同污泥施用量对油菜生长及品质的影响。试验设计为不施肥空白对照（CK）、常规施肥（CF）、施用城市污泥减量替代磷肥（SL1）、施用城市污泥等量替代磷肥（SL2）、施用城市污泥高量替代磷肥（SL3）5个处理,重复4次。研究结果显示,适宜的污泥用量可以显著提高油菜产量和根重,并能降低植株体内硝酸盐含量,污泥处理较常规施肥处理产量增加10.12%~55.36%,地上部植株硝酸盐含量降低10.39%~20.57%。但在提高油菜还原型Vc、全氮、全钾含量方面效果不明显。     

服务质量的要素、测量及关系研究

服务质量概念是由对产品质量的定义逐渐延伸到服务中而产生的.基于对服务质量的相关研究文献的回顾,从服务质量要素、服务质量测量及服务质量与顾客满意、顾客忠诚、企业绩效之间的关系研究角度来展开论述,对服务质量的国内外相关研究做了一些总结与展望.服务质量的研究经历了一个由概念界定、测量维度的探索向服务质量与其他服务要素之间的关系及在不同行业的适用性逐步扩展的过程,对于服务行业及服务质量标准的制定都是一个不可缺少的参考要素.     

An investigation of service quality,customer satisfaction and loyalty in China's airline market

Customer loyalty is a source of competitive advantage and an important intangible asset to any organisations, but empirical evidence from China's airline market regarding the determinants of passenger satisfaction and loyalty is lacking. This paper investigates the service quality of four major airlines in China's domestic market and explores the links between their service quality and customer satisfaction, as well as the conditions under which airlines can retain existing passengers. In line with previous studies, service quality variables are significant factors influencing customer satisfaction levels. However, satisfactory service was not found to result in higher customer loyalty among business travellers. In comparison to Hainan Airlines, passengers who travelled with Air China, China Southern and China Eastern were more likely to switch to an alternate carrier, indicating lower levels of brand loyalty. In addition, the frequent flyer programs (FFPs) have been largely a failure for the four major airlines in terms of increasing customer loyalty, as revealed in this study. It is necessary to draw distinctions between business and leisure travellers when studying the determinants of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Ticket pricing had a positive and significant effect on passengers' overall satisfaction and in turn strengthened customer loyalty among leisure travellers, but achieved no impact on the satisfaction and loyalty of business passengers. Some demographic variables such as gender, income and education are statistically significant for one group of passengers but not for another in the probit models estimated. It is suggested that different marketing strategies may be used to target different market segments to improve customer loyalty.     

The impact of an aircraft's service environment on perceptions of in-flight food quality

Airlines are currently striving to improve the quality and quantity of in-flight food, because research has shown that catering is a key attribute for a customer's satisfaction with airline service quality. But the role of an airline's service environment in forming customer perceptions about food quality has not yet been properly investigated. Using electronic word-of-mouth data from N = 3996 airline passengers, this study deploys a linear regression model at multiple levels to relate perceived in-flight food quality with both the overall service environment and its formative components. The results clearly unveil the importance of an aircraft's service environment on perceived in-flight catering quality; perceptions of food quality are primarily influenced by the quality of cabin staff service, followed by entertainment and seat quality. Instead of continuing with the current practice of signing up top chefs to improve menus, airlines may instead consider putting their management focus on service improvements.     

Country of origin labeling for complex supply chains: the case for labeling the location of different supply chain links

We investigate the value of a country of origin label (COOL) that separately identifies the geographic location of different stages in a food product's supply chain. We estimate the willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) of U.S. consumers for a packaged cereal product where the key grain ingredient may be grown in one country and processed in a second country (multicountry supply chain) and compare it to equivalent products that have both stages located in a single country. We find consumer WTP for products with single‐country and multicountry supply chains are statistically different, meaning that simplifying a multicountry label by listing only the country where the ingredients are grown or only the country where the ingredients are processed can result in different consumer values. We also find that for countries with a poor quality reputation, consumers respond more negatively when that country has the “last touch” than when that country's involvement is limited to upstream supply chain links.     

我国服务业发展水平评价及对其出口竞争力影响研究

在构建"产业发展水平评价"理论模型的基础上,本文从产业的竞争能力、创新能力和载体支撑能力"三力"视角设计了我国服务业发展水平的评价指标体系,实证我国服务业整体发展水平和"三力"的非均衡程度。借助"出口技术含量指数"计量我国服务贸易出口竞争力。之后,分别从整体和"三力"及部门视角实证检验两者关系。研究显示:(1)我国服务业发展水平、服务贸易出口竞争力均呈现逐年提升的发展趋势,但近年来增长幅度有所下降;(2)整体而言,我国服务业发展与服务贸易出口竞争力提升存在长期的均衡关系,前者是后者的格兰杰原因;(3)服务业"三力"中的"创新能力"对其出口竞争力的贡献度最小,这与我国服务业创新能力不强且科技成果转化成生产力效率不佳有关;不同的服务部门对服务贸易出口竞争力的影响程度存在着差异性,现代服务业相对传统服务业对服务贸易出口竞争力的作用更为明显。文章最后根据研究结论提出促进我国服务业发展和提升服务贸易出口竞争力的对策。