The Price-Quality Relationship—Revisited

Using price data collected in Indianapolis and Lafayette, Indiana, rank order correlations between price and quality were computed. These were compared to correlations based on price data obtained from the publications of consumer product testing organizations. It was found that price-quality correlations based on the price data furnished by consumer product testing organizations may not reflect price-quality correlations for specific markets. A second finding of the study suggests the existence of variability across store types with respect to price-quality correlations.     

Types and Amounts of Information Used by Efficient Consumers

This paper describes a research methodology which assesses the efficiency of consumer decision-making based on the types and amounts of informational cues used. A simple operational method is used to classify consumers into three levels of consumer efficiency based on how well they perform in assessing the optimal choice. The information chosen by perfectly efficient consumers, or those scoring at the maximum level of efficiency, is examined for indicators of optimal information seeking and decision-making techniques.     

Consumer Economics and Family Economics: The Charge,the Response

A “Timeless” charge to consumer economics and family economics is identified. In light of the charge, the area is examined with particular emphasis on scholarly activity. It is suggested that scholarship in the area is diffuse and often addresses parts of issues. This creates concerns as to whether the historical charge is being met.     

ACCI Memorial Paper: The Scholarly Legacy of E. Scott Maynes

This paper honors E. Scott Maynes, who died on June 24, 2007 and had been a professor emeritus in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University. The paper describes Scott's scholarly legacy in research, highlighting four areas: survey research methods, research using data from Surveys of Consumer Finances, Scott's studies of local consumer markets, and two significant books Scott Maynes authored. The author of this memorial paper concludes that Scott's scholarly legacy is neither a new theory nor a new statistical technique but the importance of vision, passion, perseverance, commitment, and creativity for the applied social science researcher.     

THE USEFULNESS OF IMPERFECT ELECTIONS: THE CASE OF VILLAGE ELECTIONS IN RURAL CHINA

Using a sample of rural Chinese villages, which have recently been the subject of democratic reforms, we look for relationships between marginal changes in the democratic process and marginal changes in economic outcomes. We find that even very poorly conducted elections can have large incentive effects. That is, even corruptible elections provide leaders with strong incentives to act in the interests of their constituents. Our findings also allow us to rank the importance of four possible election reforms, which have attracted the attention of international observers and academic researchers.     

DWELLING ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND HOME ENERGY CONSERVATION POLICIES: A WESTERN U.S. PERSPECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to examine the energy beliefs of western U.S. residents. Data from the Western Regional Project W-159, ‘Consequences of Energy Conservation Policies for Western Region Households' were analysed. Using a sample of 5,471, respondents' beliefs about the energy efficiency of their current dwelling and actual energy saving features were compared. A significant Kendall correlation was found and these two measures were then used to divide the sample into two groups, respondents with energy efficient dwellings and respondents with energy inefficient dwellings. Chi-square analyses yielded significant differences between the two subsamples' beliefs about the seriousness of the U.S. energy problem and whether to solve it by conserving energy or increasing production. The two sub-samples' beliefs about a series of mandatory and incentive energy conservation policies were compared. For all policies except requiring home energy audits, significant differences were found between the two subsamples' beliefs. Overall, the incentive energy conservation policies were favoured over the mandatory policies. Sample respondents with energy efficient dwellings were more often opposed or strongly opposed to the incentive policies than were the respondents with energy inefficient dwellings.     

An Analysis of Third Party Consumer Complaint Handling Mechanisms: The Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of third party complaint handling mechanisms, based on data obtained from the Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection. Specifically, the study focuses on the types of complaints processed by the Agency, the factors which affect the redress received by consumers and the length of investigation time.     

Optimal Decentralized Investment Management

We study an institutional investment problem in which a centralized decision maker, the Chief Investment Officer (CIO), for example, employs multiple asset managers to implement investment strategies in separate asset classes. The CIO allocates capital to the managers who, in turn, allocate these funds to the assets in their asset class. This two-step investment process causes several misalignments of objectives between the CIO and his managers and can lead to large utility costs for the CIO. We focus on (1) loss of diversification, (2) unobservable managerial appetite for risk, and (3) different investment horizons. We derive an optimal unconditional linear performance benchmark and show that this benchmark can be used to better align incentives within the firm. We find that the CIO's uncertainty about the managers' risk appetites increases both the costs of decentralized investment management and the value of an optimally designed benchmark.     

中国的土地使用权和转移权:现状评价

本文对中国耕地资源的组织和利用现状进行了系统描述。中国农村的村级土地制度存在巨大差异。但是,迄今还没有评估土地制度对农业效率、公平和总体发展影响的牢固的经验证据。在过去的二十多年中.村干部进行的土地再分配可能方便了人们获得土地,增加了粮食产量,并克服了土地租赁市场的某些不完全性。但是,在许多地区,当前土地制度的成本是显著的,并且持续增加,而且不能被较低程度的收入不均所抵消。