Bounded rationality and consumer choice: an evaluation of consumer choice of mobile bundles

Although numerous prior studies have examined consumer valuations in bundling transactions from a theoretical perspective, relatively few have focused on large datasets. In addition, little prior research has targeted developing telecommunication markets. To address these gaps in the literature, we examine the rationality of consumers' bundling choices in the mobile telecommunication industry, using operational data from China Telecom. We compare the current prices paid by consumers to the optimal prices of alternative bundling plans, based on the consumers' actual usage. We determine whether bundling choice is affected by risk aversion, the complexity of the bundle, and learning effects. The findings suggested that many users chose sub-optimal bundles that were more expensive than others were. The results showed that consumers were risk averse, and they were more likely to make non-optimal bundle selections with more complex usage patterns. No significant differences were found according to gender, age, or usage level.     

Economic design of acceptance sampling plans for truncated life test using Frechet distribution

In this article designing of acceptance sampling plans for the truncated life test is proposed using economic approach by assuming that the lifetime of a product follows Frechet distribution based on median. The optimal sampling plans to meet the consumer’s confidence level with minimum total cost are designed. Efficiency of the proposed plan is also analyzed.     

Expenditure Differences of University Degree Holders Across Occupational Sectors in Malaysia

This study was motivated by the key role university degree holders play in Malaysia's vision for the future and by concerns expressed about the drift of university degree holders from one sector to another. A questionnaire was mailed to a sample of 400 Malaysian families that had at least one member who held a university degree. The objective was to elicit details of the household economic situation of respondents, with special reference to the differences in expenditure patterns between families whose degree holder worked in higher education, government, or the private sector.Results of tobit analysis of expenditures show that there are some differences between the sectors regarding expenditure patterns, but the differences are not as great as expected. Nevertheless, university-educated persons in the private sector seem to have somewhat different expenditure patterns than their counterparts in other sectors.     

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.     

Sexual objectification decreases women’s experiential consumption (but not material consumption)

The current investigation examined our prediction that sexual objectification decreases women’s experiential consumption but not material consumption. Three experiments provided converging support for this prediction. In particular, female participants reported lower tendency to engage in experiential consumption after recalling a past experience of objectification (Studies 1 and 3) and chose a material product over an experiential one after receiving objectifying comments (Study 2). Furthermore, Study 3 found that sexual objectification reduced purchase inclination of experiential products, and this effect did not emerge for material products. These findings contribute to the literature on sexual objectification by showing the impact of sexual objectification on women’s economic decisions and behaviors.     

关于农村信用社模式改革的思考

农村信用社经过多年的改革许多省份都选择了省联社的模式，在这种模式下的农村信用社有许多缺点。为了避免这些缺点，许多人建议将农村信用社改组为农村商业银行。但如果再建立省级农村商业银行容易使农村地区更难得到贷款的支持，所以建议在农村信用社下一步的改革中设立两级的农村商业银行。     

“消费社会”的解读路径:马克思的视角及其意义——从西方马克思主义消费社会观的方法论缺陷谈起

鲍德里亚等西方马克思主义社会学家在建构其消费社会批判理论时,只把消费社会当作一个客观的事实来看待,在方法论上拘泥于非历史性的社会学方法,无法进入马克思意义上的历史唯物主义的方法论视域。这直接导致了他们不能准确地把握批判和超越消费社会的路径。马克思在《巴黎手稿》时期由于撇开了对生产过程的正面分析而直接进入到对财富分配领域的批判性研究,因而还不具备历史地分析消费过程的思想基础。在《德意志意识形态》中,马克思界定了生产过程对消费过程的决定性,但对消费过程本身有可能产生的社会效应还没有引起足够的重视。经过19世纪50年代初期的思想过渡,马克思在《1857—1858年经济学手稿》和《1861—1863年经济学手稿》中,不仅从资本统治模式的复杂性的角度,深刻地指出了消费过程对整个社会经济形态的重要性,而且最终还从资本主义生产过程的发展性的角度,阐释了由消费过程所滋生的观念拜物教的消解路径。     

Criteria families use to select nursing homes

The study is conducted to determine families' rankings of characteristics they consider most important when selecting a nursing home. Friedman's two-way analysis of variance is used to test for differences in the rankings. In response to a mailed survey, 231 families rank the characteristics in the following order: quality of care, appearance, atmosphere, location, reputation, building safety, quality of food, cost, and activities. Relationships are also found between the rankings and the demographic characteristics: gender, marital status, education, income, number of homes available, patient/respondent relationship, and distance respondent lived from the chosen home.     

Economic method and the concept of competition

基本医疗保险基金经办机构与公立医院之间的关系,实质上是医疗服务需求方和供给方的关系。消费者主权理论、管理型竞争理论、花钱矩阵理论,可以为理顺基本医疗保险基金经办机构与公立医院之间的应然关系提供理论依据。公立医院彻底地去行政化和赋予其独立的市场主体地位、基本医疗保险基金经办机构与公立医院就其提供的基本医疗服务进行谈判购买、基本医疗保险基金支付方式走向按绩效付费、公立医院与公立医院以及与其他非公立医疗机构之间开展市场竞争、强化医药分家后对医疗行为的行业监管、基本医疗保险基金经办机构在药品招标采购中居于主导地位、加强区域医疗资源规划、优化基本医疗保险基金经办机构管理应该成为公立医院未来改革努力的方向。

     

基于EPR制度的逆向物流研究与应用综述

伴随着电子商务技术与服务的快速发展,低成本高回收的商品回收模式成为投资者和学者研究的热点。以在线零售商为研究主体,针对废旧零部件的循环再利用,充分考虑消费者在零售商回收过程中的角色,讨论了三种回收策略情况,即两阶段回收策略、竞争型回收策略以及“合作型”回收策略。通过考察这三种策略中在线零售商的最优利润以及供应链总利润等变量的变化情况,为在线零售商实施合适的逆回收策略提供依据。研究结果表明：回收策略不同,在线零售商、消费者以及整个供应链的利润不同;在线零售商及供应链总利润受利益共享比例以及消费者参与方式的影响。进而通过仿真分析为在线零售商根据自身实际情况实施废旧零部件的回收策略提供参考依据。