Segmenting Publics

This research synthesis was commissioned by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to examine audience segmentation methods and tools in the area of public engagement. It provides resources for assessing the ways in which segmentation tools might be used to enhance the various activities through which models of public engagement in higher education are implemented. Understanding the opinions, values, and motivations of members of the public is a crucial feature of successful engagement. Segmentation methods can offer potential resources to help understand the complex set of interests and attitudes that the public have towards higher education. Key findings: There exist a number of existing segmentations which address many of the areas of activity found in Universities and HEIs. These include segmentations which inform strategic planning of communications; segmentations which inform the design of collaborative engagement activities by museums, galleries, and libraries; and segmentations that are used to identify under-represented users and consumers. Segmentation is, on its own, only a tool, used in different ways in different contexts. The broader strategic rationale shaping the application and design of segmentation methods is a crucial factor in determining the utility of segmentation tools. Four issues emerged of particular importance: 1. Segmentation exercises are costly and technically complex. Undertaking segmentations therefore requires significant commitment of financial and professional resources by HEIs; the appropriate interpretation, analysis, and application of segmentation exercises also require high levels of professional capacity and expertise 2. Undertaking a segmentation exercise has implications for the internal organisational operations of HEIs, not only for how they engage with external publics and stakeholders 3. Segmentation tools are adopted to inform interventions of various sorts, and superficially to differentiate and sometime discriminate between how groups of people are addressed and engaged. 4. For HEIs, the ethical issues and reputational risks which have been identified in this Research Synthesis as endemic to the application of segmentation methods for public purposes are particularly relevant

Transport energy consumption in mountainous roads. A comparative case study for internal combustion engines and electric vehicles in Andorra

This paper analyses transport energy consumption of conventional and electric vehicles in mountainous roads. A standard round trip in Andorra has been modelled in order to characterise vehicle dynamics in hilly regions. Two conventional diesel vehicles and their electric-equivalent models have been simulated and their performances have been compared. Six scenarios have been simulated to study the effects of factors such as orography, traffic congestion and driving style. The European fuel consumption and emissions test and Artemis urban driving cycles, representative of European driving cycles, have also been included in the comparative analysis. The results show that road grade has a major impact on fuel economy, although it affects consumption in different levels depending on the technology analysed. Electric vehicles are less affected by this factor as opposed to conventional vehicles, increasing the potential energy savings in a hypothetical electrification of the car fleet. However, electric vehicle range in mountainous terrains is lower compared to that estimated by manufacturers, a fact that could adversely affect a massive adoption of electric cars in the short term.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft

The US dollar, the euro, and the yen: An evaluation of their present and future status as international currencies

The process of European integration and especially the introduction of the euro as the single currency for up to now 12 member countries of the EU in 1999 may alter the existing clear currency hierarchy. The euro area is comparable in size to the US with respect to GDP and even exceeds the US regarding the share in world trade. Thus questions arise of whether the international monetary system turns out to be bipolar in the long run or whether the yen can also play its part. It turns out that real activity, size and sophistication of financial markets, monetary and financial stability and inertia are the most prominent characteristics making a currency to be preferred on a world-wide level. We thus conclude that the integration and the development of European financial markets are of special importance for a stronger international role of the dollar, but that the historical experience of only gradually changing supremacy of international currencies still applies.International currencies; Dollar; Euro

Consumers' food choice and quality perception.

There is a long tradition of research into consumers’ food choice and quality perception. In the last few years, however, these topics have received even more attention due to the intense debate about such issues as ethical considerations in relation to food production and quality, food scandals and the resulting food scares among consumers, genetic modification of foods, and animal welfare (or, rather, non-welfare), which has made questions regarding food quality and consumers’ supposedly rational or irrational food choices even more urgent. In-creased interest in health and quality stands in stark contrast to a perceived unwillingness to pay the higher prices this implies, and scepticism about industrial food production stands in contrast to busy lifestyles and a resulting demand for convenience. However, while the topics of food quality perception and choice have certainly become more complex, research has also provided new insights into them. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of research carried out on consumers’ food quality perception and choice at the MAPP Centre during the last 10 years, and is part of a major research project at Fødevareøkonomisk Institut (FØI). In this project, the paper will serve as input on quality per-cep-tion from a consumer point of view. The results presented in the paper will give insights into how consumers perceive food quality and why they choose the food products they do, and may thus help in understanding the complicated concept of food quality. Although the starting point of the paper is in research carried out at the MAPP Centre, it will also include results from other sources where needed for a more thorough discussion of a specific topic. The criteria for including additional material are relevance to the topic in question and the extent to which the topic has been researched at MAPP. As a general framework for ana-lysing consumer quality perception and choice of food products, MAPP has developed the Total Food Quality Model, which will be used to structure this overview. We start by presenting the Total Food Quality Model and an overview of the research methods involved. We then describe the various elements of the model in more detail, based on four major quality dimensions – health, taste, process characteristics, convenience.Consumers; quality perception

Influence factor of Chinese elders' wealth management behaviour: an empirical study

The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the influential demographic variables of elders’ wealth management behaviour. Purpose sampling for 122 older consumers (aged over 65) who participate in wealth management programme with instrument, was conducted in April 2007 in China (Taiwan area). Regression was performed for the data analysis. The results showed gender, educational background, and living location being key factors affecting elder consumers’ wealth-management behaviours, including consumers’ familiarity with financial products/services, sources of professional information, sources of word-of-mouth information, investment intention, and investment confidence. The main contributions of this not only include enhancing existing literature concerning wealth management, marketing, and elder behaviours (especially for clarifying how the controversial factors work), but unveiling elders’ behaviour tendency in such a blooming emerging market. Practical implications to bank marketers are also given

A waste of energy? A critical assessment of the investigation of the UK Energy Market by the Competition and Markets Authority

This document is the accepted manuscript version of the following article: Chrysovalantis Amountzias, Hulya Dagdeviren and Tassos Patokos, ‘A waste of energy? A critical assessment of the investigation of the UK energy market by the Competition and Markets Authority’, Competition & Change, Vol. 21 (1): 45-60, February 2017. The final version of this paper is available at doi: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1024529416678070. Published by SAGE Publishing.In this paper, we assess the findings of the UK energy market investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority, conducted during June 2014–June 2016.We argue that the results of the investigation have been advantageous for the large energy companies and they risk failing to bring any significant and positive change to the energy industry.We highlight three major aspects of the Competition and Markets Authorities assessment. First, the panel examined retail and wholesale segments of the energy industry in isolation, which can be misleading in the assessment of vertical integration. It also considered new entries to the sector as a sign of competitive strength when many were due to favourable government policies in the form of exemptions from various obligations. Second, its conclusion that a position of unilateral market power by the large energy companies arises from weak customer engagement (i.e. low switching rates) shifts the focus and responsibility for the problems of the energy markets away from the conduct of the companies onto customers. Finally, the investigation placed an overemphasis on competition without due reference to its consequences for consumers’ welfare.Peer reviewe

Rational Pension Supervision.First Experiencies of Central and Eastern European States in Comparison with Other Countries

The subject of our consideration are the experiences relating to pension fund regulations from the point of view of their safety of operations in five countries of Central and Eastern Europe. These countries represent two groups. The first includes Hungary and Poland, where the decision to establish pension funds was made earlier on. Thus, they can now share their own, though modest, experience, especially Hungary. Moreover, the debate in both countries was very extensive and heated [Ferge, 1998; Golinowska/Hausner, 1998]. The second group includes Bulgaria, Estonia and Lithuania, the countries that passed laws on pension funds in 1999. In this period, it was the issue of introducing regulations on the safety of operations and on guaranteeing a specified level of benefits from pension funds that was extremely relevant. In analysing the socially safe functioning of pension funds, special attention has been devoted to institutions supervising the pension funds. The present work was developed in the following order. The first step involved the identification of risks and their ranking according to the degree of danger (cf. Part 1). In the second chapter we discuss the instruments for safeguarding against and reducing the appearance of risk. For these instruments, it was important to define them, as well as to analyse the legal regulations, administrative standards, financial management standards, codes of ethics, the formula and competence of supervisory institutions, and the working of the market. Before presenting the principles and means of balanced supervision over pension funds, in Part 3 we have pointed out the basic dilemmas of achieving a balance between economic and social goals. Next, we have attempted to show the proper balance between regulatory instruments and self-regulation in order to achieve a fund's balanced operations in terms of both effectiveness and safety (cf. Part 4). The fifth part of the report shows the practical experience of other countries, including those with much more experience in this area than can be found in Central and Eastern Europe. Taking into account the history of pension funds' development in these countries, we observe two roads of development of safety institutions.pension funds, Eastern Europe

An empirical analysis of the counterfactual: a merger and divestiture in the Australian cigarette industry

In this paper we empirically analyse two counterfactual situations facing an anti-trust authority following the merger of two of the largest international cigarette companies. First we estimate a nested logit model of demand for cigarettes. The implied elasticity of demand for smoking and implied marginal costs are both broadly consistent with the limited independent estimates available. We then use the model to simulate the proposed merger and the partial divestiture that was accepted by the Australian anti-trust authority. A comparison of the relative price changes predicted by the divestiture simulation with the actual post-divestiture price changes shows the model successfully anticipated the behaviour of the divested brands. This suggests structural econometric analysis using a nested logit may be usefully utilised by anti-trust authorities to assess the welfare implications of proposed mergers and partial divestitures.mergers; divestitures; simulation; cigarettes; anti-trust policy; competition policy

Competition in the Hungarian Banking Market

This paper investigates the degree of bank competition in Hungary on various submarkets. An overview of stylised facts on the market structure, pricing behaviour and entry barriers suggests that the degree of competition may be rather different in the individual submarkets. Looking at the pricing practice of Hungarian banks, a possible use of market power may be conjectured in consumer lending. By contrast, it may be presumed that competitive pricing prevails in the corporate lending market. We prove our assumption by using the Bresnahan model, which belongs to the non-structural approaches of measuring competition. We conducted our empirical investigation using different measures of output, i.e. interest-bearing assets, loans, interest-bearing liabilities and deposits, for the period between December 1996 and September 2003. In respect of consumer loans, we analysed a panel sample for a shorter time horizon, i.e. the period between March 2001 and September 2003. Based on our results, it is safe to assume that the degree of competition in the loan and deposit markets falls between perfect competition and the Cournot equilibrium. In contrast, the consumer credit market is characterised by a much lower degree of competition, i.e. between Cournot equilibrium and perfect collusion. In addition to measuring competition, we attempted to determine losses in consumer surplus caused by banks, as well as the degree of the market power (measured by the Lerner index).market structure, degree of competition and market power.

FIIs and Indian Stock Market: A Causality Investigation

While the volatility associated with portfolio capital flows is well known, there is also a concern that foreign institutional investors might introduce distortions in the host country markets due to the pressure on them to secure capital gains. In this context, present chapter attempts to find out the direction of causality between foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and performance of Indian stock market. To facilitate a better understanding of the causal linkage between FII flows and contemporaneous stock market returns (BSE National Index), a period of nineteen consecutive financial years ranging from January 1992 to December 2010 is selected. Granger Causality Test has been applied to test the direction of causality.Aczkolwiek brak stabilności związany z przepływami kapitału portfelowego jest dobrze znany, to istnieje również obawa, że zagraniczni inwestorzy instytucjonalni mogą wprowadzać zakłócenia na rynkach krajów przyjmujących z uwagi na wywieraną na nich presję, aby zapewniać zyski kapitałowe. W tym kontekście niniejszy rozdział próbuje poznać kierunek przyczynowości pomiędzy zagranicznymi inwestorami instytucjonalnymi (FIIs) i działaniem indyjskiej giełdy. Aby ułatwić lepsze zrozumienie związku przyczynowego między przepływami FII i mającymi miejsce w tym samym czasie wynikami giełdy papierów wartościowych (BSE National Index), wybrany został okres dziewiętnastu kolejnych lat począwszy od stycznia 1992 do grudnia 2010. Do zbadania kierunku przyczynowości zastosowano test przyczynowości Grangera