Price Changes and Some Underlying Aspects of Measurement of Poverty

The paper deals with effects of price changes on measurement of poverty. It is shown that there are situations, when prices and nominal incomes change, a higher nutritional intake or an increase in commodity consumption of the poor can be associated with higher poverty gaps and a higher poverty index of the society. A positive relationship of this kind is quite counter-intuitive in the context of poverty measurement. This is caused by the adjustment of the poverty line and/or incomes of one situation by the prices of the other for the purpose of comparison.

     

How supply chain architecture and product architecture impact firm performance: An empirical examination

In order to enhance performance, manufacturing firms are building various capabilities and utilizing supply chain networks that are geographically dispersed around the globe. This study examines how decisions related to supply chain architecture and product architecture influence organizational competitiveness. Building on the co-specialization perspective, we evaluate the performance implications of product modularity and supply chain agility. While, product modularity constitutes a product configuration related to sourcing and assembling of products, supply chain agility is a supply chain configuration related to velocity (sensing, comprehending, and responding) and visibility (supplier network, internal operations, and external environment). Both the product and supply chain architectural decisions can impact performance, individually and in conjunction with each other. We empirically test the hypothesized relationships using data collected from 103 manufacturing firms. Results show that supply chain agility and product modularity directly enhance responsiveness and enable organizations to reduce cost. Furthermore, supply chain agility partially mediates the relationship between product modularity and both responsiveness and cost reduction. We elaborate on the key contributions of this study for both research and practice, discuss limitations, and also offer various avenues for further research.     

Pointing Out Differences: Consumer Evaluations of Comparative Information Across Product Types

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impacts of comparative claims across search and experience product types. Data was obtained from 159 Taiwanese college students. Results reveal that comparative claims used in blogs (compared to those in print ads) produce lower counterarguments and consumers more easily accept claims made on a blog. Comparative claims lead to higher brand attitude and purchase intention for search products on the blog; however, noncomparative ads lead to higher brand attitude and purchase intention for experience products on the blog. For both search and experience products, there is no significant difference.     

Building the BoP Producer Ecosystem: The Evolving Engagement of Fabindia with Indian Handloom Artisans

Recent research on the base of the pyramid (BoP) has called on firms to initiate market‐driven interventions directed at the BoP population with the objective of identifying and pursuing mutually profitable means of attaining meaningful poverty alleviation outcomes. In response, firms as well as scholars have engaged at length with the creation of new products and services for the BoP consumer but paid far less attention to the BoP producer—a member of the BoP population who creates value by producing goods and services for sale in nonlocal markets. Additionally, extant studies have largely focused on snapshot views of BoP interventions by firms, thereby limiting our understanding of the emergence of meaningful poverty‐alleviating outcomes over time from these interventions. This paper seeks to redirect attention toward the dynamic of the long‐term engagement between the firm and the BoP producer. Using rich qualitative data from Fabindia—an Indian handloom retailer—this paper examines how the engagement between Fabindia and communities of handloom artisans in India has persisted over a period of five decades. We found that, even as it encountered changes in the external environment and pursued newer organizational goals, Fabindia repeatedly renewed its engagement with handloom artisans and facilitated progression in poverty‐alleviation outcomes. Building on the insights from the case study, this paper presents a process model that highlights the role of innovative management practices in sustaining engagements between firms and BoP producers over time. Additionally, this paper proposes the concept of the “bridging enterprise”—a business enterprise that originates at the intersection of specific BoP communities and the corresponding nonlocal markets—as an interpreter and innovator reconciling the interests of stakeholders across the pyramid.     

Balancing the scales: recovering from service failures depends on the psychological distance of consumers

The purpose of this research is to enhance knowledge about service recovery by investigating the feelings of psychological distance in the relationship between customers' perceptions of service recovery efforts of the perceived justice dimensions (distributive, procedural, and interactional justice) and attitudinal responses such as satisfaction with service recovery effort and trust in the firm. The results of structural equation modelling analyses suggested that consumers who had positive justice perceptions were likely to exhibit positive attitudinal responses. Consequently, the positive attitudinal responses generated positive word-of-mouth intention about their experiences and encouraged them to continue the service.     

Do quality perceptions of health and social services vary for different ethnic groups? An empirical investigation

The United States is now more ethnically diverse than any other time in its history. In 2000, minority ethnic groups comprised 26% of the US population; by 2010, they comprise 35%, and in 2080 they will form the majority of American citizens. And among these ethnic groups, African Americans (12.4%), Hispanics (15.4%) and Asians (4.4%) were the most predominant in 2000. The growth of this segment of the population is not only in terms of numbers but also in terms of economic development. Minority groups are showing marked improvement in income and education levels leading to greater purchasing power. As a result, for‐profit companies are increasingly targeting minority populations with products and promotions specifically designed for specific minority groups. Even non profit organizations such as educational programs, social service and healthcare agencies are striving to design specific services and culturally competent outreach models in order to serve this increasingly diverse marketplace. But despite the strides made by non profit agencies, several studies note the tremendous disparities between the ethnic and racial groups in the seeking and the receipt of health‐care and social services. Additionally, there is limited empirical information about the perceptions of minority consumers. In order to effectively serve minority groups, it is essential to understand their experiences with the non profit service industry and to assess their ongoing concerns. In this study, we focus on two critical components of the non profit world – healthcare and social services. We conducted a survey to compare and contrast the social service and health‐care quality perceptions of three ethnic groups: Caucasians, African‐Americans and Hispanics. Our study, undertaken in collaboration with community health centers, reveals distinct differences in perceptions between the three ethnic groups. Based on our findings, we outline a set of implementable strategies for social service and community health organizations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the efficiency comparison of certain randomized response strategies

Comparisons between different randomized response strategies have already been performed by several workers but all have concentrated solely on comparing the variances of the appropriate estimators. A very little attention has been paid by these workers to the degree of privacy protection offered to the interviewees. In the present paper, an attempt has been made in this direction and some important randomized response strategies have been compared with the Warner's model, taking into account the aspect of privacy protection. Received February 2000     

Demographic Transition and Economic Development in Karnataka

The universal process of population change has significant attainment of social and economic implications at global level. Demographic transition is not only consisting of population growth tendency but much more along with economic consequences Karnataka is in the third stage of demographic transition and this scenario is marked with opportunities and challenges. This paper examines the demographic trends of Karnataka by using different Census data collected from Census reports and time series data over the time period of 1991–2014 collected from SRS. The fertility and mortality levels in the state have declined considerably. The districts in the Karnataka state have shown considerable increment in HDI from decade to decade. The study used the bound testing approach to co-integration; Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was also applied for analyzing the long run relationship whereas Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) was applied for analyzing the short run link of the demographic variables with economic growth. The study exhibited that the demographic transition positively affected the economic growth in the long run and negatively in the short run.

     

On accounting’s twenty-first century challenge: evidence on the relation between intangible assets and audit fees

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting - We inform the policy debate arising from the dramatic shift in US firms’ balance sheets towards intangible assets that has created a challenge...