Are VAT reforms an effective tool for promoting culture? A quasi-experiment in Spain

Sponsoring culture is a long-term profit-generating investment that public policy makers can achieve by means of Pigouvian subsidy or tax schemes. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the three VAT reforms implemented between 2012 and 2018 (one tax raise reform and two tax cut reforms) in the cultural sector in Spain. We first provide visual evidence and empirical estimates of the tax shifting and the distribution of the VAT burden between consumers and producers. We then use a regression discontinuity design to assess the causal effects of these VAT reforms on performing acts and cinema consumption (both in the extensive and the intensive margin). Several interesting findings arise from our results. First, we find that producers only passed through 45% of the VAT cut to consumer prices. Second, the effect of the 2017 VAT reduction on performing arts slightly increased the number of households consuming these cultural services, whereas the 2018 tax cut on cinema had no significant effect in the number of moviegoers (extensive margin). Third, the cultural spending per household conditional on participation (intensive margin) increased after the two VAT rate reductions. Finally, we test for asymmetries in pass-through with respect to the 2012 tax raise and we find (i) no evidence of prices responding more strongly to increases than to decreases in VAT, (ii) a symmetric response of the number of households consuming these cultural services, and (iii) an asymmetric response of the average cultural spending conditional on participation.     

劣势耐用品厂商的产品质保期与质保服务投入策略研究

在实际中，消费者购买耐用品时均同时获得厂商提供的质保服务，由于产品质保服务影响着消费者的产品使用效用，因此耐用品定价、质保期和产品质保服务投入是影响厂商利润的主要因素。考虑双寡头市场环境下，建立微分博弈模型讨论单位产品质保服务投入和产品质保期对双寡头厂商均衡价格的影响。结论表明双寡头厂商的单位产品质保服务投入越高、质保期越长，均衡价格越高；但单位产品保服务投入与质保服务对消费者效用影响系数的关系影响着竞争对手在均衡价格的变化趋势；劣势的低质量厂商可以通过增加单位产品质保服务投入策略或延长质保期的策略实现在均衡下与高质量厂商以同等价格销售耐用品，但劣势厂商增加单位产品质保服务投入策略要优于延长质保期策略。最后，利用数值分析进一步验证了所得结论的有效性。     

基于消费者效用的生鲜农产品供应链生鲜度激励机制研究

生鲜供应链整体生鲜度的提升对减少浪费、提高供应链整体盈利水平及社会福利有重要意义。本文基于消费者效用理论研究了两供应商和单一零售商组成的供应链系统，构建了单周期下生鲜农产品生鲜度激励模型，模型以供应商为领导者，采用Stackelberg博弈方法求解得到了均衡状态下供应商、零售商的最优定价策略及供应商新鲜度努力选择。研究结果表明，供应商和零售商利润与消费者价格敏感系数呈反向变化，与新鲜度敏感系数呈同向变化。在价格竞争市场，供应商保鲜努力程度和利润与价格替代率呈反向变化；在生鲜度竞争市场，供应商保鲜努力程度和利润与新鲜度替代率呈同向变化。基于研究结论，厂商及政府应当联手引导消费者的消费观念，尽可能减少由于信息不对称引致的道德风险，在市场价格替代率不变甚至降低的情形下，提高生鲜度替代率，使得消费者的意愿支付价格上升，提高自身讨价还价能力，获取更多利润。     

Completing the Circuit: Routine,Reflection, and Ethical Consumption

Efforts to explain why some people incorporate ethical concerns into everyday shopping for food and household goods, while many do not, have so far left significant variation in “ethical consumption” unexplained. Seeking to move beyond explanations that rely mainly on differences in consumers' social class, gender, and political engagement, I draw on concepts associated with “practice theory” to argue that ethical consumption is closely tied to people's willingness and ability to spend time, while shopping, on distinct activities associated with breaking old routines and establishing new ones. The central insight of practice theory is that most consumption is the product of unconscious routine. And it is precisely because consciously departing from routine is, according to my study, a fundamentally time‐consuming process, that lack of time emerges as a crucial obstacle to translating abstract ethical concerns into concrete action as a consumer.     

Price-setting newsvendor with strategic consumers

We consider a newsvendor who sells a single product over a single season with the objective of determining both the selling price and stock quantity to maximize the expected profit. The customers are strategic and we consider two demand cases: additive and multiplicative. For each case, we derive the newsvendor׳s optimal decisions and demonstrate that neglecting the price-sensitivity of demand leads the newsvendor to make sub-optimal decisions. Moreover, we show that under certain conditions, strategic consumer behavior may positively affect the newsvendor׳s optimal expected profit in the additive demand case.     

网络促销方式对消费者购买意愿的影响机制研究

为了探究消费者在网络购物时品牌熟悉度与商家促销方式对其购买意愿的交互影响,模拟了网络购物情景,利用消费者的双系统信息处理理论(情感处理系统、认知处理系统)对消费者的购买意愿进行分析,检验了品牌熟悉度(高和低)和网络促销方式(价格促销与非价格促销)对消费者购买意愿的交互影响以及作用机制。结果表明,对于高熟悉度品牌,价格促销比非价格促销更能引起消费者的购买意愿,其中介机制为情感处理系统;对于低熟悉度品牌,非价格促销比价格促销更能引起消费者的购买意愿,其中介机制为认知处理系统。     

中美快消品行业企业简介体裁对比分析

文章根据专门用途英语学派的体裁分析理论,构建了商务体裁研究理论框架,对30篇中美快消品行业企业简介进行了体裁对比分析。结果表明,中美快消品行业企业简介语步结构基本一致,但二者在语步和步骤的选择频率、介绍性语步和劝说性语步的实现形式上存在差异。      

顾客非理性消费行为机理探析

非理性消费已经成为零售企业利润的重要来源,得到学术界的普遍关注。认为顾客非理性消费行为是受到内在的、最本质的特殊顾客需要驱使而产生的不合理行为,揭示了驱动顾客非理性消费行为的顾客需要,并探讨了情绪状态因素调节顾客需要与顾客非理性消费行为关系的作用机理。基于416份问卷的调查结果,社交需要、释压需要和求廉需要是驱使顾客产生非理性消费行为的主要内在动因,情绪对特殊的顾客需要具有不同的调节作用。旨在丰富顾客非理性消费行为的知识,为商家实施目标营销、新服务开发提供重要理论支持。     

我国粮食生产的环境技术效率测度

采用方向距离函数和Kernel密度估计方法,对1992—2012年中国29个省（市、区）的粮食生产环境技术效率进行了测度和分析,以考察城镇化和工业化加速时期中国各省份以及各粮食生产功能区粮食生产与资源环境的协调情况。研究结果表明：（1）全国及各粮食生产功能区粮食生产环境状况总体上呈现出逐渐恶化现象,其中,粮食主产区优于粮食主销区,粮食主销区优于粮食平衡区;（2）中国各省份粮食生产环境技术效率存在明显的非均衡性;（3）总体而言,我国粮食生产环境技术效率的地区差距在逐渐扩大,呈现出两级分布, 但是在各个粮食生产功能区形势有所不同。