区域产业投资策略与区域产业结构趋同：锦标赛机制的视角

通过对地方官员晋升锦标赛进行建模,分析了各地区产业结构趋同的深层次原因。以经济绩效为主要标准的地方官员晋升选拔机制,直接影响各个互为竞争地区的地方官员的产业投资策略选择,进而导致区域产业结构趋同。模型结果显示,当两地区初始绩效无差异时,产业结构必然趋同。当初始绩效存在差异时,以两地区高利润产业绩效之间相关系数的临界值1/2为分界点：小于等于1/2时,区域产业结构必然趋同;大于1/2时,产业结构是否趋同则受初始绩效差异、高利润产业期望绩效与落后区域比较优势产业绩效差值以及两区域选择高利润产业的绩效相关系数三者间关系的影响。该相关系数可能代表着两区域所投资的同一产业内不同产品间的替代或互补关系。不能仅因产业投资方向上的趋同就认为产业结构存在严重趋同,还需要对产品结构是否趋同进行分析研判。     

Sampling,discounts or pay-what-you-want: Two field experiments

Free sampling and price discounts are important, popular promotional tools used to attract new customers by reducing their risk of trial. The authors investigate pay-what-you-want (PWYW) as an alternative promotional tool to free sampling and price discounts in two field experiments. The authors find significant differences in perceived promotional characteristics and relevant performance measures, such as trial and repeat purchases by new customers. The entertaining and innovative character of PWYW induces many people to try it. PWYW may yield a higher repeat purchase rate of new customers, and sellers using PWYW benefit from higher word-of-mouth behavior. Finally, PWYW yields the highest promotional revenues.     

日本企业社会责任研究

2003年是日本的CSR元年,日本大企业开始群体推进企业社会责任,探索出一条独特的企业社会责任发展之路。本文回顾了日本企业社会责任的历史背景和主要进展,重点研究日本企业推进社会责任的动机、模式和特点,并对中国的企业社会责任实践提出意见和建议。与先行一步的日本相比,中国仍处于企业社会责任的初级阶段,要建设企业社会责任推动体系和基本制度,并着力抓好社会责任培训工作。     

中国企业社会责任实践的现状及成因分析

企业社会责任是企业和社会各界共同关注的话题,也是企业管理的重要内容之一。文章认为,中国企业高度认同企业应有社会责任,并以多种形式承担社会责任,也开始注重企业社会责任信息披露。但同时,中国企业社会责任实践存在着社会责任意识淡薄,把承担社会责任看作是公关手段,甚至等同于慈善捐赠,社会责任实践的动力具有明显的政府驱动特征等问题。因此,文章提出了强化企业社会责任意识,加强企业商业道德建设,正确处理企业发展和自然环境保护的关系等改善我国企业社会责任实践的措施和建议。     

Innovation and antibiotic use within antibiotic classes: Market incentives and economic instruments

We analyze a monopolist's incentive to innovate a new antibiotic which is connected to the same pool of antibiotic treatment efficacy as is another drug produced by a generic industry. We outline the differences of antibiotic use under market conditions and in the social optimum. A time- and state-dependent tax-subsidy mechanism is proposed to induce the monopolist and generic industry to exploit antibiotic efficacy optimally.     

An economic evaluation of market development programmes for US dairy products

‘This study measured the effectiveness of US dairy export promotion programmes on increasing foreign demand and enhancing producers’ revenues. An import demand equation based on panel data was used to test whether export promotion has a positive and significant impact on US dairy exports. The effects of various promotion scenarios on the dairy market were then simulated, and benefit–cost ratios (BCRs) for these programmes were estimated. There were three key findings. First, the combined effort of public and private dairy export promotion expenditures had a positive and statistically significant impact on demand for US dairy products in the world market. The findings indicated that export promotion stimulated total dairy exports by 4.14 billion pounds, on average, per year, which represented 55.8% of total exports. Second, US dairy export promotion has been highly profitable for the nation’s dairy farmers. The calculated BCRs, based on assumed elasticity of supply, ranged from a low of 8.54 for the most elastic assumption to a high of 30.12. Third, from an optimality standpoint, dairy farmers are underinvesting in export promotion. The marginal BCRs ranged from a low of 3.79 to a high of 15.22, which means that, at the margin, increasing export promotion expenditures would be profitable for dairy farmers.     

The Hong Kong Umbrella Movement as a non-profit organization: An empirical study on the use of visual branding practices for social change

In this article, we draw our attention to the growth of a new social movement, as a non-profit organization which aims to effectively communicate its collective identity and messages to larger audiences. Initially, we provide a critical discussion on the interrelationships between marketing theory/practice and protest groups' promotional tactics. Afterwards, we focus on the interface between visual branding practices and new social movement's strategies to create a visual branding identity around their protest symbols and aims. In order to do so, we adopted a moderate participant observation approach to explore how the 2014 Hong Kong Umbrella Movement employed forms of visual branding to engage local and global audiences and induce social change. Drawing on a close examination of field notes and a visual analysis of digital archives and images from the protest sites, we identify and discuss the presence of several visual branding techniques for the imaginative promotion of the movement's demands and causes. Our findings suggest that the 2014 Umbrella Movement protesters coordinated and acted as non-profit organization which employed innovative and creative visual branding methods to enhance the movement's unity and trigger emotional responses from diverse audiences. We conclude the article with suggestions for future research around the interrelationships between social movements' protest symbols, transnational visual branding practices and non-profit organizational practices.     

Duration of price promotion and product profit: An in-depth study based on point-of-sale data

Anecdotal evidence has shown that retail price promotions can help small and medium-sized retailers enhance their sales, and thus profits. However, most marketing managers usually stop a promotion after a certain duration. This study aims to explain why these retailers discontinue their price promotion. Our approach posits that overall contributions of a price promotion to the product profit progressively diminish with time. In this study, we present a theoretical framework to explain the relationship between duration and profit effects of price promotion and propose statistical models to empirically examine this framework using point-of-sale (POS) data. Our findings provide empirical support that the effect of price promotion on the product profit has a downward trend with elapsed time. The results are helpful for marketers to understand how price promotions dynamically influence product profit and when the promotion should be terminated.     

The distinct contribution of investment promotion agencies’ branch offices in bringing Chinese multinationals to Europe

This study uncovers the distinct contribution of investment promotion agencies’ (IPAs) overseas branch offices in advancing and even creating foreign direct investment. It offers a novel categorisation of IPAs depending on location and headquarter/branch status, and conceptually connects the known functions of IPAs with the advantages set out by the OLI paradigm. Empirical examination of longitudinal data from 29 European IPAs finds that the activities of their branches in China instilled greater awareness and confidence in Chinese multinational enterprises about their ownership- and European location-specific advantages. This contribution of IPA branches is especially salient in emerging economies with newcomer investors.     

The pressure of economic growth and the issuance of Urban Investment Bonds: Based on panel data from 2005 to 2011 in China

This paper explores the motivations behind the issuance of Urban Investment Bonds (UIBs) to stimulate local economies in China after the 2008 global financial crisis. Based on panel data from 2005 to 2011, we find that pressure to achieve economic growth has a positive effect on the issuance of UIBs, while fiscal pressure has the opposite effect on UIB issuance. We also find that the tenure of municipal party secretary, the revenue of land-use right transfer and fiscal pressure will change the impact of economic growth pressure on UIB issuance. These results are consistent with a pattern in which China's local government officials are influenced by the central government's assessment of local economic growth performance and have promotion-related incentives to maintain and develop the local economy.