\u3cem\u3eAlatzas\u3c/em\u3e: Handwoven Fabrics During the Early Industrial Period in Greece (1880–1920)

In the Greek provinces of Argolida and Corinthia, women wove striped or checked cotton fabrics called alatzas for a variety of purposes including clothing. Alatzas fabrics are not well understood, as they represent a relatively short transitional period from the older forms of village dress based on Byzantine prototypes to modern Western ready-to-wear attire. In the Peloponnese, they appear about 1890 and fade away after the Second World War. These fabrics represent the first stage of development in Greece’s early industrial period. Improved transportation, particularly the railroad, brought manufactured goods to market towns where they were sold in shops or peddled to outlying villages. These goods included machine-spun cotton yarns, aniline dyes, sewing machines, commercial patterns, ribbons and other trims. This fieldwork study provides an insider perspective on the introduction of the concept of fashion to isolated villages, which informs our understanding of the process of fashion itself

Total expenditure elasticity of non-durable consumption of European households

This document presents the results of an empirical analysis carried out in order to estimate total expenditure elasticities for the household consumption module of the FIDELIO model. The estimates are based on survey data for the following six European countries: Austria, France, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, and the UK. The analysis deals with twelve categories of non-durable consumption: four energy- and eight non-energy-related goods and services. Results appear to be in line with the comparable elasticity estimates of the existing literature. Socio-demographic controls related to both household characteristics and housing conditions offer interesting additional results that may be useful at a later stage of the analysis with the FIDELIO model.JRC.J.5-Sustainable Production and Consumptio

Tax system and tax reforms in India

This paper is part of a wider research on South-East Asia countries' taxation carried on under the supervision of. V. Tanzi. India is a federal republic and a big, highly populated and poor country, which however since some years has entered the catching up stage of development and shows impressive rates of GDP growth. General Government budget is structurally imbalanced and public debt stays high. Public spending (about 25 percent of GDP) is mainly devoted to general services, defense, and the support of economic activities, rather than to public health and welfare programs. Total fiscal pressure (about 17 percent of GDP) is in line with per capita GDP and is shared evenly enough between central and states governments. The structure of the tax system is not much beyond the Musgravian "early stage". A complex structure of taxes on goods and services is largely the main heading of the tax system and it is difficultly moving towards a VAT-kind structure. Direct taxes still are in an infant state, both as weight as well as structure. Import duties remain at not negligible levels. Social contributions are entirely lacking. A tax system of a country like India unavoidably raises more than one problem: foremost among these problems appear to be a too large dominance of a complex and obsolete indirect taxation and the fiscal relations among government layers. The road to updating and improving the Indian tax system has been entered since the early 1990s, but the reform is still largely to be accomplished. Introducing VAT ( so successfully adopted in other developing countries ) is the most striking but not the only example.

Explaining Import Price Inflation: A Recent History of Second Stage Pass-through

This paper examines the pass-through of exchange rate changes to the domestic prices of imported consumer goods. Two distinct stages can be identified in the adjustment process. First, changes in the exchange rate are passed on to changes in the prices of imports over the docks. Second, these prices are, in turn, passed on to final retail import prices. It is found that pass-through in the first stage is rapid and complete. In the second stage, pass-through is also complete. It is, however, rather slow as importers appear able to vary their mark-ups substantially and for considerable periods of time. Moreover, the sizeable domestic costs involved in the distribution and sale of imports imply that a proportional change in the price of imports over the docks does not lead to the same proportional change in the retail import price, but rather one that is equal to the share of the imported item in the total bundle of costs faced by importers.

The determinants of an econometric demand model for beverages

Purpose: The study attempts to explore the determinants of demand for alcoholic and other beverages to see how a rise in prices of alcohol and other beverages and in household expenditure would influence demand. From the results, we discuss the effectiveness of a prospective excise tax increase on demand for alcoholic and other beverages. Design/Methodology/Approach: We use the Almost Ideal Demand System to analyze the demand for alcoholic and other beverages. A two-stage estimation approach is employed to estimate the model with data from Vietnam Households Living Standard survey in 2016. In the first stage, we model the choice of consuming or not consuming by a probit regression model. In the second stage, we estimate the demand system by seemingly unrelated regression (SUR). Findings: We find that demand for beer, other alcoholic beverages, and non-alcoholic packed drinks is elastic to own-price. However, as demand for beer and non-alcoholic packed drinks is also elastic to income, consumption would rise as income grows. Practical implications: Our findings have significant implications for policymakers and beverage producers. The findings suggest that an increase in excise tax would be an effective solution to control demand for alcoholic beverages. Beverage producers could also use the results to design pricing strategies and forecast consumer behaviors. Originality/Value: We contribute new findings to the literature of beverage demand analyses. Our findings differ from those in previous studies in the context of both developed and developing countries, which show that demand for alcoholic beverages is inelastic to own-prices. The findings have important implications for policymakers and beverage producers.peer-reviewe

Understanding the consumption process through in-branch and e-mortgage service channels: A first-time buyer perspective

This article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here (////BURA web address here). Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.Purpose – The twin aims of this paper are to explore the differences in the consumption process between the traditional in-branch and web-based (e-mortgage) service channels and how the differences relate to any problems identified in the electronic service environment, with respect to information search and product evaluation. Design/methodology/approach – A process-oriented approach comparing the two service channels (in-branch vs e-mortgage) was conducted in two study phases. Data from the e-mortgage process were collected using protocol analysis with 12 first-time buyers (FTBs) applying on a website belonging either to a hybrid or to an internet-only bank. Results of the e-mortgage process were mapped on to stages of the in-branch process, which was captured by observation of six FTB mortgage interviews to determine the level of correspondence and emergent issues. Findings – Support for the FTB in the e-mortgage process was problematic and service provision was found to be product- rather than consumer-oriented. Practical implications – The study highlights the importance of design issues in the electronic service environment for creating confidence in the online advice and information available on home mortgages for FTBs. Originality/value – The paper promotes increased understanding by financial service providers of the characteristics that support the consultative selling process for complex products such as mortgages and inform multichannel retailing

The impact of UKTI trade services on value of goods exported by supported firms

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