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1 – 10 of over 58000Philip DeCicca, Donald Kenkel, Feng Liu and Hua Wang
The U.S. 2009 Tobacco Control Act opened the door for new antismoking policies by giving the Food and Drug Administration broad regulatory authority over the tobacco…
Abstract
The U.S. 2009 Tobacco Control Act opened the door for new antismoking policies by giving the Food and Drug Administration broad regulatory authority over the tobacco industry. We develop a behavioral welfare economics approach to conduct cost-benefit analysis of FDA tobacco regulations. We use a simple two-period model to develop expressions for the impact of tobacco control policies on social welfare. Our model includes: nudge and paternalistic regulations; an excise tax on cigarettes; internalities created by period 1 versus period 2 consumption; and externalities from cigarette consumption. Our analytical expressions show that in the presence of uncorrected internalities and externalities, a nudge or a tax to reduce cigarette consumption improves social welfare. In sharp contrast, a paternalistic regulation might either improve or worsen social welfare. Another important result is that the social welfare gains from new policies do not only depend on the size of the internalities and externalities, but also depend on the extent to which current policies already correct the problems. We link our analytical expressions to the graphical approach used in most previous studies and discuss the information needed to complete cost-benefit analysis of tobacco regulations. We use our model as a framework to reexamine the evidence base for strong conclusions about the size of the internalities, which is the key information needed.
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William A. Barnett and Apostolos Serletis
This chapter is an up-to-date survey of the state-of-the art in consumer demand analysis. We review (and evaluate) advances in a number of related areas, in the spirit of…
Abstract
This chapter is an up-to-date survey of the state-of-the art in consumer demand analysis. We review (and evaluate) advances in a number of related areas, in the spirit of the recent survey paper by Barnett and Serletis (2008). In doing so, we only deal with consumer choice in a static framework, ignoring a number of important issues, such as, the effects of demographic or other variables that affect demand, welfare comparisons across households (equivalence scales), and the many issues concerning aggregation across consumers.
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Dragan Miljkovic and Cary Effertz
The purpose of this paper is to show that empirical analysis of consumption of a good, using the same empirical and econometric model as it is done in standard applied…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show that empirical analysis of consumption of a good, using the same empirical and econometric model as it is done in standard applied demand analysis, may be based on the underlying behavioral model other than the rational choice.
Design/methodology/approach
Reference point approach originally developed by psychologists and later translated into reference price approach by business scholars is used to demonstrate this point. Empirically, a model of consumption of broilers in the USA is estimated using regression analysis and its results and implications are discussed.
Findings
The same empirical model can be used to represent more than one underlying model of consumer behavior.
Research limitations/implications
This paper raises the question of which underlying behavioral theory is valid, and under what circumstances might that validity change. The importance of accounting for reference prices appears to be validated, but the fact that both theories lead to the same or similar empirical formulation does little to secure either theory as right or wrong.
Originality/value
Research in consumer behavior and demand generally assumes the existence of one superior theoretical behavioral model. This paper suggests that such claims are unfounded since standard current empirical modeling of consumer behavior accommodates more than one underlying theory.
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Pamela Norum and Marjorie Norton
The purpose of this paper is to explore factors affecting secondhand clothing acquisition among a sample of US female consumers based on an economic perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore factors affecting secondhand clothing acquisition among a sample of US female consumers based on an economic perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is descriptive in nature, utilizing a survey of 500 US female consumers to explore relationships between five modes of secondhand clothing acquisition and selected consumer characteristics. Logistic regression was used to analyze the data.
Findings
The significant variables were income, age, number of toddlers and children ages 6-17 present in households, and sewing and repair skills. Income was found to be negatively related to purchasing secondhand clothing, suggesting that consumers view used clothing as an inferior good. Consumers in Gen Y were more likely to be involved in various means of secondhand clothing acquisition, holding income constant, than Baby Boomers.
Practical implications
Overcoming the stigma of inferiority associated with secondhand clothing, encouraging repair skills, and the repair of clothing, reaching out to consumers to build on their interest in DIY projects, and utilizing new technology (e.g. apps for sharing clothes) are practical implications.
Originality/value
The paper examined multiple modes of clothing acquisition rather than a single mode, and contributes insight regarding the economic concept of secondhand clothing as an inferior good.
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Linhai Wu, Hongsha Wang and Dian Zhu
The purpose of this paper is to reveal the actual consumer demand for traceable pork by investigating consumer preferences for pork with combined levels of traceability…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reveal the actual consumer demand for traceable pork by investigating consumer preferences for pork with combined levels of traceability information based on differences in individual consumer preferences, in order to support the government in decision making regarding the gradual construction of safe food markets.
Design/methodology/approach
Combinations of four types of traceability information, including farming, slaughter and processing, distribution and sales, and government certification, with price were randomly designed. To identify consumer preferences for these attribute combinations of traceable pork, 215 consumers in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province were investigated using a real choice experiment and the mixed logit model.
Findings
Significant heterogeneity was observed in consumer preferences for traceable pork. The information of farming, slaughter and processing, distribution and marketing, and government certification could significantly improve consumer utility. Moreover, consumers had the highest preference for government certification information.
Originality/value
Although numerous studies have been performed on consumer preferences for food safety attributes using a real choice experiment, almost none of them focus on Chinese consumers. Therefore, this study is an attempt to fill this gap. The conclusions of this study can serve as a reference for the Chinese government in developing safe food consumption policies. Although Chinese consumers have cried out for improvement of pork safety, they have different preferences for traceability information; thus, the government must promote traceable food step-by-step, using consumer preferences as a starting point.
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Lewbel and Pendakur (2009) developed the idea of implicit Marshallian demands. Implicit Marshallian demand systems allow the incorporation of both unobserved preference…
Abstract
Lewbel and Pendakur (2009) developed the idea of implicit Marshallian demands. Implicit Marshallian demand systems allow the incorporation of both unobserved preference heterogeneity and complex Engel curves into consumer demand analysis, circumventing the standard problems associated with combining rationality with either unobserved heterogeneity or high rank in demand (or both). They also developed the exact affine Stone index (EASI) implicit Marshallian demand system wherein much of the demand system is linearised and thus relatively easy to implement and estimate. This chapter offers a less technical introduction to implicit Marshallian demands in general and to the EASI demand system in particular. I show how to implement the EASI demand system, paying special attention to tricks that allow the investigator to further simplify the problem without sacrificing too much in terms of model flexibility. STATA code to implement the simplified models is included throughout the text and in an appendix.
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This paper aims to study the Soviet state-owned enterprises that were producing ready to wear clothes, engaged in activities that are traditionally associated with…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the Soviet state-owned enterprises that were producing ready to wear clothes, engaged in activities that are traditionally associated with “capitalist” marketing and public relations. Particularly, they responded to consumer complaints, monitored customer satisfaction and changed their product features and offer in response to customer feedback. This claim is illustrated using the example of the garment industry in the city Perm.
Design/methodology/approach
The data comes from archival research of a range of sector-wide documents of the Soviet period available in the State Archive of Perm Region and from in-depth interviews with ex-employees of Perm Clothing Design House.
Findings
The paper demonstrates the emergence of a marketing system not only in Eastern European countries and in major Soviet cities but also in a provincial closed city of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The findings of the research highlight that the level of sales was important for all the participants in the focal marketing system. Late Soviet marketing had the social function of supporting cooperative relationships between citizens and the state by channeling dissatisfaction and anger through surveys and consumer conferences.
Originality/value
Previous studies undertaken at the top level of the Soviet managerial pyramid have not represented a detailed picture of routine marketing activities during Late Socialism.
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William A. Barnett and Apostolos Serletis
This chapter presents the differential approach to applied demand analysis. The demand systems of this approach are general, having coefficients that are not necessarily…
Abstract
This chapter presents the differential approach to applied demand analysis. The demand systems of this approach are general, having coefficients that are not necessarily constant. We consider the Rotterdam parameterization of differential demand systems and derive the absolute and relative price versions of the Rotterdam model, due to Theil (1965) and Barten (1966). We address estimation issues and point out that, unlike most parametric and semi-nonparametric demand systems, the Rotterdam model is econometrically regular.
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Qingbin Wang, Robert Parsons and Guangxuan Zhang
The purpose of this paper is to review the growth and regional disparities of China's dairy market since 1980, examine urban consumer demand for three major dairy products…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the growth and regional disparities of China's dairy market since 1980, examine urban consumer demand for three major dairy products (fluid milk, yogurt, and milk powder), analyze China's import patterns of major dairy products since 1995, and discuss China's potential roles in the world dairy market and implications for trade.
Design/methodology/approach
While the most recently available time‐series and cross‐sectional data from China are used to analyze the trends and disparities of China's milk production and dairy product consumption through graphical and regression analyses, China's custom data from 1995 to 2008 are used to examine the trends and patterns of China's dairy product imports.
Findings
China's dairy market has expanded rapidly in the past two decades but there are significant disparities across regions and income groups. The estimated income elasticities suggest that, as per capita income continues to increase, the demand for dairy products, especially yogurt and fluid milk, is expected to grow at a significant rate. The import trend and pattern analysis indicates that China's dairy imports will likely continue to grow and provide opportunities for major dairy product exporters like the USA, New Zealand, and Australia.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature by examining the trends and disparities of China's dairy market using the most recently available data, presenting an estimation of demand elasticities for fluid milk, yogurt, and milk powder in urban China, and discussing the future prospects of China's dairy imports and implications for trade.
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