Does the Entry of Third‐Party Remanufacturers Always Hurt Original Equipment Manufacturers?

Researchers and managers broadly agree that the entry of third‐party remanufacturers (TPRs) hurts original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) because of the cannibalization problem. Thus, OEMs should always try to deter the entry of TPRs. In this article, we present a contrasting view: Competing OEMs without remanufacturing capacities sometimes benefit from the entry of TPRs. The key feature of our model is that there exists a group of newness‐conscious consumers in the market who do not buy the remanufactured product regardless of the price, whereas a group of functionality‐oriented consumers (FOCs) may buy a remanufactured one at a low price. In a steady‐state‐period setting, we investigate how the number of TPRs affects the OEMs’ profits. We find that, from the perspective of two competing OEMs: (i) The entry of one or many TPRs may lead to a higher profit; (ii) The entry of many TPRs may be better than the entry of one TPR; and (iii) The impact of the entry of one or many TPRs may be reversed as FOCs’ willingness‐to‐pay for the remanufactured product increases.     

上海“户外媒体”的现状与发展态势

本文以上海的户外媒体现状为例，针对现有的不足，探讨了随着电子信息化的发展，未来的户外媒体有可能出现的几种发展趋势。最后，以自身的经验对未来的户外媒体形式做出了一些预测，并提出了一些具有较高可行性的发展建议。     

Consumer attitudes towards switching supplier in three deregulated markets

The efficiency of deregulated markets is jeopardized by consumers failing to switch supplier to the extent that would be beneficial to them. In order to disentangle the determinants of failures to switch, the present study investigates consumers’ motives for negative attitudes towards switching in the deregulated Swedish markets for electricity, landline telecom, and home insurance. Based on the results of a mail survey of a random sample of 458 household consumers, reliable measures were constructed of attitude towards switching supplier, loyalty to the incumbent, information search costs to compare suppliers, and expected economic benefits from switching. A negative attitude towards switching supplier was shown to increase with loyalty, increase with information search costs and decrease with expected economic benefits. Attitude towards switching was more negative in the electricity market than in the other markets and more negative in the landline telecom market than in the home insurance market. The differences between markets were accounted for by differences in loyalty, information search costs, and expected economic benefits.     

An empirical test of competing hypotheses for the annuity puzzle

This paper conducts the first empirical test of numerous rational and behavioral hypotheses for the low annuity demand observed in private markets. We designed a questionnaire based on findings from economics and psychology, enabling us to simultaneously investigate a broad range of motives that presumably constitute the reluctance to buy annuities. To address the interdependence of financial product choice and domain-specific investor sophistication, we construct and employ a novel, comprehensive measure of “annuity literacy”. The results from a representative survey among German consumers reveal that both established rational and so far untested behavioral motives are significant barriers to annuitize wealth. Furthermore, the overall level of annuity literacy is rather low, with most respondents lacking knowledge of an annuity’s core mechanics. These findings disclose promising directions for annuity suppliers, policy makers, and researchers towards resolving the annuity puzzle.     

消费者知情权与经营者告知义务对应性偏差问题——基于司法案例的分析

法理学认为,权利和义务具有统一性和对应性,然而,司法实践中经常出现经营者已经按照有关规定履行了告知义务,消费者却仍然主张知情权受损的情形。对于消费者知情权与经营者告知义务的此种对应性偏差,目前有的法官采取义务中心思路应对,有的法官采取权利中心思路解决。根据权利本位的观点,消费者知情权应决定经营者告知义务的范围,权利中心思路更为合理。而对于有关经营者告知义务的规范性文件,其制定过程应实现公众参与,并且合理定位其效力层级。     

Seasonality in U.S. Consumer Demand

This study uses a new body of quarterly, not seasonally adjusted, data to test various hypotheses regarding consumer demand. The almost complete demand system (ACS) was used to test for the various restrictions of economic theory and for the presence of seasonality. Zero-degree homogeneity, Cournot aggregation, and negativity were, for the most part, accepted. Tests showed that seasonal effects can be modeled by quarterly intercepts and that slope coefficients are homogeneous over seasons. Also, it was demonstrated that although habit plays a significant role, it is not as prominent as past studies have shown.     

A Class of Multiplicative Estimators of Laspeyres Price Indexes

Publication of indexes measuring changes in prices of retail, wholesale, export, and import items is an important part of many governmental statistics programs. One form of price index that is often used is the fixed-base Laspeyres, in which a fixed market basket of goods is priced over time. This article introduces a new class of multiplicative estimators of Laspeyres indexes. The optimum within the class is derived for long-term price change and compared with two other members of the class when used for estimating both long-term and short-term change. Theoretical properties are derived under a model in which long-term relative price changes for individual items have common within-stratum means and are correlated over time. Theory for long-term and short-term change estimators is tested in a simulation study in which a large number of stratified probability samples is selected from a population extracted from items priced for the U.S. consumer price index.     

Showing a tree to sell the forest: The impact of attribute- and alternative-based information presentation on consumers’ choices

Consumers can be provided with information in either an attribute- or an alternative-based way. We consider the literature on information presentation through the theoretical lenses of the Construal Level Theory. We propose and find that providing product-related information in an attribute- rather than an alternative-based way shifts choices. The attribute-based pattern leads to high construal levels and choices driven by desirability-related, high-level attributes (e.g., design). But when the same information is acquired following the alternative-based pattern, it leads to low construal levels and choices driven by feasibility-related, low-level attributes (e.g., price). As a consequence, choice shares for products whose strength lies in convenience and other feasibility-related features are boosted by the presentation of alternative-based information. Conversely, choice shares for products whose strength lies in design and other desirability-related features are increased by the presentation of attribute-based information. We further find that consumers acquiring information in an alternative-based way envision consumption much closer in the future than those acquiring information in an attribute-based way. Finally, we find that attribute-based information leads to more clicking.     

CLUBS TO COMPANIES: NOTES ON THE DECLINE OF POLITICAL CULTURE IN SPEEDED UP CREATIVE WORLDS

This article proposes a recent acceleration in the nature and pace of work and employment in the UK culture industries. Multi-skilling and de-specialization are a result of growth, change and competition in the arts and media sector. Creative work increasingly follows the neo-liberal model, governed by the values of entrepreneurialism, individualization and reliance on commercial sponsorship. One consequence for the relatively youthful workforce is the decline of workplace democracy and its replacement by ‘network sociality’, which in turn is influenced by the lingering impact of dance and club culture. Independent work finds itself squeezed, compromised or brokered by the venture capitalists of culture as government encourages the ‘freedom’ allowed by this kind of labour.     

从儒家思想看中国传统消费文化

儒家思想虽是封建产物,但作为一种精神思想,是中国最为重要的传统文化。儒家思想中以孔孟为代表的黜奢崇俭思想,精神至上思想及知足闲适思想对了解中国传统消费文化的历史与现状有重要的现实意义。同时这些思想也构成了中华美德的重要内容,传承这些思想可以有助于构建和谐消费文化氛围,同时也可以为解决人类困境提供宝贵的智慧源泉。