Structuring Consumer Preferences with the SEM Method

Structuring preferences has been developed with econometric models using functional flexible parametric form and the exploring the perceptions about expressed and latent needs using different multivariate approaches. Purpose of this research is to explore the demand for a new drink using the mean-end chain (MEC) theory and multivariate SEM procedure. The first part is dedicated to description of specialty foods for their capacity to create new niche markets. The MEC theory is introduced to explain the relations between attributes and consumers' perceptions of secondary needs revealed as benefit and values. The second part is dedicated to the empirical investigation of demand of a drink obtained from the "Olivello spinoso" a spontaneous plant. Empirical data were collected with "face to face sensorial test", and used to test the consumer perceptions for the product's attributes and preferences using the SEM approach. Conclusive remarks are in terms of suggestions about the modification of the product's attributes to increase the demand.Demand, Mean-End Chain, multivariate analysis, Specialty products, Niche market, customer satisfaction, SEM, Consumer/Household Economics,

Does One Size Fit All? Heterogeneity in the Valuation of Community Forestry Programs?

Through the implementation of a choice experiment valuation exercise, this study set out to identify the set of community plantation attributes that impact the welfare of potential community forestry program participants. We employed a combination of choice models to evaluate the preferences, welfare impacts and choice elasticities associated with alternative community forestry programs, allowing for different assumptions regarding heterogeneity. In line with economic theory, increased participation costs reduced the demand for community forestry, while increases in expected productivity raised the demand. With respect to preferences for the other alternatives considered - type of forest, area enclosure and type of land upon which the forest was to be situated - the results point to significant differences in preferences across the study population, suggesting that programs should be tailored to the communities in which the program is to be implemented.community forestry, choice experiment, conditional logit, random parameters logit and latent class model

Strategic Levers of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Supply-Demand Mapping Analysis

Research on the correlation between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance has been inconclusive and often contradictory. Thus, the question of whether consumers really care about CSR becomes crucial (Öberseder, Schlegelmilch and Gruber, 2011). Theory suggests that financial gains would materialise should the attributes of CSR supplied match consumer demand. But CSR demand is likely to be latent and thus hard to define. In a quest to match CSR demand and supply, this study synthesizes consumeroriented CSR research in one framework that focuses on how consumer demand for CSR can be defined based on consumer behavior analysis and how CSR supply as strategic levers of responsibility could match the demand. The study further explores current adoption of these levers by analysing the present supply of responsibility as reported by large companies. A comparison of CSR themes in corporate reports with the model highlights the requirement for further research to define and measure optimal use of the proposed levers. This study proposes an approach to bridge the gap in academic theory between the promise of responsibility as a scarce and valuable resource and the reality of an unclear link between corporate social and financial performances

Linking Lincolnshire sport: the role of University women’s cricket in promoting women’s participation

Patriarchal influences have been shown to create barriers to equity and inclusion in sports participation and governance (Rowe, D. (2004). Critical Reading: Sport, Culture and Media. Berkshire. McGraw Hill). Cricket is a sport in which patriarchal values still largely prevail. Despite the recent success of the women’s international cricket team, the Active People Survey (Sport England, 2012) shows that national participation rates have decreased in women’s cricket on a monthly basis (between period 2007/2008 and period 2010/2011). Nonetheless, evidence suggests that where tailored opportunities are created, there is a latent demand for cricket among women (Hibberd et al 2011; ‘Not Just a Boys Game’: Programme evaluation of a multi-agency cricket intervention designed to reduce gender inequity in a city in the East of England.’ Paper presented at the student BASES 2011 conference). However, access still remains limited in the Higher Education institution studied. The present study will build upon previous work completed in 2011 that widened participation in women’s cricket in the community. The principal aim of this study is to assess whether women’s perceptions of barriers to participation in cricket can be addressed by the creation of additional opportunities at a University in the East of England. The project will entail a needs assessment to inform future actions. Additional opportunities in women’s cricket will be delivered. The efficacy and sustainability of services provided will be assessed, particularly in relation to partnership work in the local context. Partners include the County Cricket Board, Students Union, and University Cricket Society, and a locally established cricket club. Project actions will involve sourcing facilities, equipment, and female coaches, producing promotion materials, and facilitating relationships with relevant partners. The study will use a theory-driven model of evaluation using the framework set out by Rossi et al (2004, Evaluation: A systematic approach. Sage, London.). Data will be obtained from a cross sectional sample of female University students. Methods will employ a mixture of qualitative (interview) and quantitative (questionnaire) measures to assess perceived barriers to participation, latent demand for women’s cricket, and the efficacy of project delivery. The project will therefore contribute to the LOCOG (2008) strategy of offering women the ‘chance to participate in the sport of choice without fear of abuse or ridicule’ (LOCOG Diversity and inclusion strategy 2008 p. 5)

Universal service obligations in utility concession contracts and the needs of the poor in Argentina's privatization

The authors summarize the main lessons emerging from Argentina's experience, including universal service obligations in concession contracts. They discuss free-riding risks, moral hazard problems, and other issues that arise when social concerns are delegated to private operators. After reporting on Argentina's experience, the authors suggest some guidelines: 1) Anticipate interjurisdictional externalities. Users'mobility makes targeting service obligations difficult. 2) Minimize the risks imposed by elusive demand. In providing new services, a gradual policy may work better than a"shock". 3) Realize that unemployment leads to delinquency and lower expected tariffs. Elasticity of fixed and usage charges is important. 4) Deal with the fact that the poor have limited access to credit. Ultimately, plans that included credit for the payment of infrastructure charges were not that successful. 5) Coordinate regulatory, employment, and social policy. One successful plan to provide universal service involved employing workers from poor families in infrastructure extension works. 6) Beware of the latent opportunism of users who benefit from special programs. Special treatment of a sector may encourage free-riding (for example, pensioners overused the telephone until a limit was placed on the number of subsidized phone calls they could make). 7) Fixed allocations for payment of services do not ensure that universal service obligations will be met. How do you deal with the problem that many pensioners do not pay their bills? 8) anticipate that operators will have more information than regulators do. If companies exaggerate supply costs in remote areas, direct interaction with poor users there may lead to the selection of more cost-effective technologies. 9)"Tailored"programs are often much more effective than standardized programs. They are clearly more expensive but, when demand-driven, are also more effective.Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,Enterprise Development&Reform,Decentralization,Environmental Economics&Policies,Governance Indicators,Health Economics&Finance,Consumption,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research

Anomalous price impact and the critical nature of liquidity in financial markets

We propose a dynamical theory of market liquidity that predicts that the average supply/demand profile is V-shaped and {\it vanishes} around the current price. This result is generic, and only relies on mild assumptions about the order flow and on the fact that prices are (to a first approximation) diffusive. This naturally accounts for two striking stylized facts: first, large metaorders have to be fragmented in order to be digested by the liquidity funnel, leading to long-memory in the sign of the order flow. Second, the anomalously small local liquidity induces a breakdown of linear response and a diverging impact of small orders, explaining the "square-root" impact law, for which we provide additional empirical support. Finally, we test our arguments quantitatively using a numerical model of order flow based on the same minimal ingredients.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure

Investigating farmers' preferences for the design of agri-environment schemes: a choice experiment approach

In recent decades agri-environment schemes (AES) have become an increasingly important tool for policy makers aiming to reverse the post-war decline in environmental quality on agricultural land. The voluntary nature of such schemes means that the decision of farmers to participate is central to achieving policy objectives. Therefore, this paper uses a choice experiment approach to investigate the role that scheme design can have on encouraging farmers to participate. Choice data was gathered from a survey of farmers in 10 case study areas across the EU and analysed using both mixed logit and latent class models. In general, farmers were found to require greater financial incentives to join schemes with longer contracts or that offer less flexibility or higher levels of paperwork. It was also observed that a large segment of farmers ('low resistance adopters') would be willing to accept relatively small incentive payments for their participation in schemes offering relatively little flexibility and high levels of additional paperwork, when compared to a contrasting segment of 'high resistance adopters'. © 2009 University of Newcastle upon Tyne