Marketing research by a small industrial firm: A case study

There is a growing need today for industrial marketers to conduct marketing research and use the results in making profitable business decisions. This paper describes a marketing research study conducted by a small industrial firm and discusses the nature and extent of its impact on the firm's operations. Several implications and practical guidelines are derived for industrial marketers in general, based on the firm's marketing research experience.     

Effective Rates of Sectoral Productivity Change

In effective rates of sectoral productivity change, some of the inputs are treated as produced. Here, this is extended to cover all the inputs. All the sectoral rates of productivity growth based on a static input–output (IO) framework are shown to be equal to the corresponding rates of decrease in the production price. For the direct rate, all the input prices are treated as exogenous constants. For the effective rates, prices of the inputs, which are treated as produced, are determined by production technology. The fully effective rate is derived from the price equations of the closed dynamic IO model. It is equal to the rate of decrease in the production price when the prices of all inputs, human capital and human time included, depend on production technology. The overall rate, obtained as a weighted sum of the fully effective sectoral rates, is equal to the rate of growth in the growth potential of the economy.     

Return to education in Finland

This study presents estimates of the return to education in Finland using an individual-level data set that also includes ability measures and information on family background. It is found that ability test scores have a strong effect on the choice of education and on subsequent earnings. Estimating the return to education with no information on ability leads to an upward bias in the estimates. However, this bias is more than offset by a downward bias caused by endogeneity or measurement error. Instrumental variables estimates that utilize family background variables as instruments produce estimates of the return to schooling that are approximately 60% higher than the least squares estimates.     

Quantile regression with sample selection: Estimating women's return to education in the U.S.

This study uses quantile regression techniques to analyze changes in the returns to education for women. The data used is the March Current Population Survey for the years 1968, 1973, 1979, 1986 and 1990. The first step in estimating the single (linear) index selection equation uses Ichimura's (1993) semiparametric procedure. To correct for an unknown form of a sample selection bias in the quantile regression, the second step incorporates a nonparametric method, using an idea similar to one developed by Heckman (1980) and Newey (1991) for mean regression, and Buchinsky (1998) for quantile regression.  The results show that: (a) the returns to education increased enormously for the younger cohorts, but very little for the older cohorts; (b) in general the returns are higher at the lower quantiles in the beginning of the sample period and higher at the higher quantiles by the end of the sample period; (c) there is a significant sample selection bias for all age groups at almost all quantiles; (d) toward the end of the sample period there is a significant convergence of the returns at the various quantiles, especially for the younger cohorts and age groups; and (e) the semiparametric estimates of the selection equation are considerably different from those obtained for a parametric probit model.     

Tree farms: Driving forces and regional patterns in the global expansion of forest plantations

People have planted trees in rural places with increasing frequency during the past two decades, but the circumstances in which they plant and the social forces inducing them to plant remain unclear. While forests that produce wood for industrial uses comprise an increasing number of the plantations, most of the growth has occurred in Asia where plantations that produce wood for local consumption remain important. Explanations for these trends take economic, political, and human ecological forms. Growth in urban and global markets for forest products, coupled with rural to urban migration, may spur the conversion of fields into tree farms. Government programs also stimulate tree planting. These programs occur frequently in nations with high population densities. Quantitative, cross-national analyses suggest that these forces combine in regionally distinctive ways to promote the expansion of forest plantations. In Africa and Asia plantations have expanded most rapidly in nations with densely populated rural districts, rural to urban migration, and government policies that promote tree planting. In the Americas and Oceania plantations have expanded rapidly in countries with relatively stable rural populations, low densities, and extensive tracts of land in pasture. If, as anticipated, the growing concern with global warming spurs further expansion in forest plantations in an effort to sequester carbon, questions about their social and ecological effects should become more pressing.     

路面病害处理的土工格栅施工监理总结

土工格栅的应用很广泛,在水利工程、工民建工程和公路工程均有着大量应用。在路网改建项目,利用土工格栅进行路面病害处理,有效地减少反射裂缝、提高抗车辙能力和增加抗疲劳性能,防止基层产生过大的永久变形和疲劳破坏有着重要的作用。通过在世行贷款恢复类工程项目施工监理实践,对路面病害处理土工格栅施工进行总结。     

论我国农业经营体制的创新

联产承包责任制实行二十多年来,对我国农业及整个国民经济的贡献十分巨大.但联产承包责任也有自身无法克服的缺陷,因此应进行适当的体制创新.体制创新的有效途径是以农场替代联产承包责任制.考虑到我国人多地少等客观条件,这个转制过程应是渐进的.     

试论按劳分配与按劳动力价值分配

随着市场经济体制改革的深入，解决旧的问题的同时又不断地产生一些新的问题。这些问题的产生是体制转轨过程中的必然现象，如果不及时解决，必将影响我们改革成果的巩固和改革的进程。因此，必须对这些问题给予重视并从理论上使其得到合理的解释。例如：现阶段我国的劳动力是否为商品 ?生活资料的分配是否仍坚持按劳分配 ?按劳分配与按劳动力分配的关系又是如何 ?这些问题都将在本文中得到阐释，以为我国的改革进程廓清迷雾。     

高新区与经开区的趋同趋势及两区合一的管理模式研究

本文从地理位置、发展方向、产业结构、管理模式等4个方面分别论述了经济技术开发区和高新技术产业开发区的趋同趋势,并从它们的历史根源、宏观环境和理论基础3个方面深入地分析了产生这种趋势的原由,以及对地区经济发展的负面影响。最后,在对广州、佛山和济南等国家级开发区管理体制改革经验的基础上提出了“两区合一”的解决方案。