Search results

The principle of tariffs dispersion, or differential tariffs depending on country of origin, is well known. For instance, Canada adapted a double column of tariffs after 1846, Spain in 1877, and Switzerland in the 1880–1890s. But there has never before been a comprehensive measure for any national economy, to our knowledge. This contribution proposes an original and exhaustive measure of customs tariffs dispersion depending on the origin of imported products for France between 1850 and 1913. Part of this dispersion arises indirectly as the result of compiling the nomenclature – or the schedule of categories – for France’s general trade chart. Our study nevertheless reveals the existence of direct discriminatory practices applied to certain countries for certain products. The creation of this measure yields important insights. First, tariff dispersion’s evolution completes the analysis of the chronology of trade policy. Second, it is possible to link tariff discrimination, imports in particular sectors, and national production. In our opinion, the paper should pave the way to work that reintroduces a country-specific dimension into the study of late 19th century commercial policy.

Diversified trading networks have recently drawn a great deal of attention. In the process, the importance of diversity has perhaps been overemphasized. Using the trade in port wine from Portugal to Britain as an example, this essay attempts to show how a market once dominated by general, diversified traders was taken over by dedicated specialists whose success might almost be measured by the degree to which they rejected diversification to form a dedicated “commodity chain.” The essay suggests that this strategy was better able to handle matters of quality and the specialized knowledge that port wine required. The essay also highlights the question of power in such a chain. Endemic commodity-chain struggles are clearest in the vertical brand war that broke out in the nineteenth century, which, by concentrating power, marked the final stage in the transformation of the trade from network to vertical integration.

The case of Wines Manufacturer from an Emerging Economy (WMEE) aims to provide a starting point for reflections and discussions about the influence of home country formal institutions on the internationalization process of an industry in an emerging market context.

The plot revolves around the Wines Manufacturer from an Emerging Economy project, which was created to promote the Brazilian wine industry in the international market. A qualitative-descriptive approach was applied to the study, and data collection was conducted through primary and secondary sources.

The context involves the difficulty of positioning Brazilian wines in both the domestic and international markets, especially fine wines. The relationship networks built during internationalization processes (in most cases promoted by formal institutions such as WMEE) help to shape strategies for Brazilian wineries.

Doing business in international markets has made Brazilian wine known worldwide and internationalized wineries can attain new levels of learning, which can be transposed into their domestic operations. If, on the one hand, institutions are important for promoting the industry and its internationalization process, on the other hand, it is equally true that the fragmented institutional structure and their overlapped roles generate many conflicts.

The experimental parliamentary subsidy on knights' fees and freehold incomes from lands and rents of 1431 was the only English direct lay tax of the Middle Ages which broke down. As such, this subsidy has a clear historiographical significance, yet previous scholars have tended to overlook it on the grounds that parliament's annulment act of 1432 mandated the destruction of all fiscal administrative evidence. Many county assessments from 1431–1432 do, however, survive and are examined for the first time in this article as part of a detailed assessment of the fiscal and administrative context of the knights' fees and incomes tax. This impost constituted a royal response to excess expenditures associated with Henry VI's “Coronation Expedition” of 1429–1431, the scale of which marked a decisive break from the fiscal-military strategy of the 1420s. Widespread confusion regarding whether taxpayers ought to pay the feudal or the non-feudal component of the 1431 subsidy characterized its botched administration. Industrial scale under-assessment, moreover, emerged as a serious problem. Officials' attempts to provide a measure of fiscal compensation by unlawfully double-assessing many taxpayers served to increase administrative confusion and resulted in parliament's annulment act of 1432. This had serious consequences for the crown's finances, since the regime was saddled with budgetary and debt problems which would ultimately undermine the solvency of the Lancastrian state.

Previous research suggests that constructions of legitimacy play a central role in the development of markets, yet little attention has been given to how that legitimacy is constructed through the material practices of market actors. This paper aims to address this gap via an examination of cultural intermediaries in the fine wine market of Shanghai.

An interpretive thematic analysis was carried out on data from 13 semi-structured interviews with fine wine intermediaries based primarily in Shanghai (5 wine writers/educators; 5 sommeliers/retailers; 3 brand representatives).

The dimensions of the legitimation of wine were examined, identifying three key themes: the legitimacy of intermediaries as experts; the legitimacy of a particular mode of wine consumption; the legitimacy of the intermediaries as exemplars for not-yet-legitimate consumers. These findings suggest that cultural intermediaries’ personal, consuming preferences and practices are significant to the formation of a new market, and that they must negotiate potential tensions between interactions with legitimate, not-yet-legitimate and illegitimate consumers.

Limitations with regard to generalizability are discussed with regard to potential future research.

The focus on cultural intermediaries and dimensions of legitimation can be used to examine the case of other emerging markets to anticipate the pathways to institutionalizing new forms of taste and consumption practices.

The paper offers an empirical insight into the market dynamics of distinction in the Shanghai wine market and conceptual insight into the importance of cultural intermediaries as exemplar consumers.

Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in interest about fraud in food supply chain. Victims of food fraud and counterfeiting can be different actors in the supply chain: distributors, retailers and, most importantly, customers. Victims of food fraud face not only economic losses, but also health and safety risks when handling or consuming fraudulent products. The aim of this paper is to present the situation regarding counterfeiting and fraud in the food supply chain from a theoretical and practical point of view. The attitudes and opinions of consumers, experts in the field and retailers on the occurrence of food fraud and counterfeiting were explored. The results of an online survey of 326 consumers in Croatia showed that their awareness of food fraud is low. Most of them are only partially familiar with food fraud or do not know anything about this issue. The respondents are most familiar with mislabelling of organic products, meat packaging date fraud, and misuse of geographical indications (PDO/PGI). Consumers have low trust in all organisations that should protect them from food fraud (e.g. Croatian national institutions and authorities). A survey with eight food experts (olive oil, wine, milk and dairy products, honey, strong alcoholic beverages) found that they very rarely encounter food fraud in their work, usually two or more times a year. Retailers are aware of the existence of food fraud, but still do not take measures beyond the usual level in their quality assurance systems. To raise awareness of food fraud, education of all stakeholders by relevant institutions is needed.

We show how organizational forms shape job structures, specifically the variety and types of jobs employees hold, extending previous research on job structures in four ways. First, the social codes associated with wineries’ generalist and specialist forms constrain the number of jobs and functional areas delineated by job titles. Second, form-based constraints are weakened by institutional rules that impose categorical distinctions on organizations. Third, these constraints are stronger when there is more consensus around forms. Fourth, these constraints are contingent on the legitimacy and resources of organizations of varying ages and sizes.

We define diffusion as the spread of something within a social system. Diffusion is the most general and abstract term, and it embraces such processes as contagion, mimicry, social learning, organized dissemination, etc. (Strang & Soule, 1998). While the home territory of diffusion is innovation (see Rogers, 2003 for an authoritative review), more recent macro-diffusion research has developed, based on social movement and institutionalization arguments (Ansari, Fiss, & Zajac, 2010; Wejnert, 2002).