Price variability or rigidity in the food-retailing sector? Theoretical analysis and evidence from German scanner data

In many industrialized countries, the grocery-retailing sector exhibits a strong and increasing market concentration. Hence, it is important to understand retail pricing for many questions related to market power in the marketing chain and to agricultural and food policies. We analyze intertemporal pricing of grocery retailers in Germany with a large set of scanner data for processed foods. In theory, food prices could be rather variable, e.g. due to fluctuating commodity prices in a competitive world, or rather rigid, e.g. due to price adjustment costs. We elaborate that retail sales are crucial and raise food price variability at the points of sale. Despite this, prices are rather rigid and often do not change for many weeks. Moreover, pricing strategies for identical brands vary strongly across retailers. Retailers seem to have differential pricing strategies and, thus, market power. This casts substantial doubt on the assumption of a competitive price transmission in the marketing channel underlying most analyses in agricultural economics. --Grocery retailing sector,pricing patterns,sales,price rigidity,scanner data

Projekt Wikinger

Ziel des Projekts WIKINGER ist es, eine Plattform zu schaffen, die es Wissenschaftlern ermöglicht, effizient und ortsunabhängig in Wissensbasen ihres jeweiligen Fachgebiets zu recherchieren und kollaborativ über das Internet neues Wissen zu generieren. Dabei liegt besonderes Augenmerk auf der Unterstützung der Wissenschaftler bei der Vernetzung neu geschaffener Beiträge mit bereits geschaffenem Wissen. Im Detail sollen Verfahren zur automatischen Eigennamenerkennung und zur semi-automatischen Erstellung von semantischen Netzen weiterentwickelt werden, um in einem ersten Schritt Personen-, Funktions- und Ortsnamen aus einer umfangreichen Datenkollektion zu extrahieren und diese in einem zweiten Schritt Computer-unterstützt zu einem semantischen Netz miteinander zu verknüpfen. Bei der Generierung des Netzes werden Techniken des Semantic Web eingesetzt, um eine einfache Verbreitung und Nachnutzung des gesammelten Wissens über das Internet der Zukunft zu ermöglichen. Die Präsentation und die kollaborative Weiterverarbeitung der extrahierten und vernetzten Daten erfolgt über ein Wiki-System, das von allen autorisierten Nutzern des Wissenschaftsbereichs genutzt werden kann. Die im Projekt entwickelten Module sollen in ein erweitertes Wiki integriert werden, damit dieses einer wachsenden Wissenschaftsgemeinde zur Verfügung gestellt werden kann. Als exemplarischer Forschungsbereich wurde die katholische Zeitgeschichte gewählt, um die Verfahren auf einer begrenzten Domäne erproben zu können. Nach einer erfolgreichen Entwicklung kann das System auf andere Forschungsgebiete sowohl im geisteswissenschaftlichen als auch im naturwissenschaftlichen Bereich übertragen werden

WIKINGER – Wiki Next Generation Enhanced Repositories

The regular indexing of text documents is based on the textual representation and does not evaluate the actual document content. In the semantic web approach, human-authored text documents are transformed into machine-readable content data which can be used to create semantic relations among documents. In this paper, we present on-going work in the WIKINGER project which aims to build a web-based system for semantic indexing of text documents by evaluating manual and semi-automatic annotations. A particular feature is the continuous refinement of the automatically generated semantic network by considering community feedback. The feasibility of the approach will be validated in a pilot application

Behaviour of piles driven in chalk

Driving resistance is difficult to predict in chalk strata, with both pile free-fall self-weight ‘runs’ and refusals being reported. Axial capacity is also highly uncertain after driving. This paper reviews recent research that has explored these topics. Programmes of onshore tests and novel, high-value offshore, experiments involving static, dynamic and cyclic loading are described. The key findings form the basis of the Chalk ICP-18 approach for estimating the driving resistance and axial capacity of piles driven in low-to medium-density chalk. The new approach is presented and the highly significant impact of set-up after driving is emphasised. It is shown that Chalk ICP-18 overcomes the main limitations of the industry’s current design guidelines by addressing the underlying physical mechanisms. While further tests are required to enlarge the available test database, the new approach is able to provide better predictions for tests available from suitably characterised sites. A new Joint Industry Project is outlined that extends the research to cover further axial, lateral, static and cyclic loading cases

Innovation Management in Iberdrola

Innovation is Iberdrola’s main tool to guarantee its sustainability, efficiency and competitiveness. The model in Iberdrola is decentralised because the process is carried out independently in each Business Unit with support and coordination from the Innovation Department and open innovation because it seeks to involve Group technology suppliers such as universities, technology centres and equipment manufacturers in the innovation process. Research, Development and Innovation efforts comprise three main components: Efficiency: optimising operations, managing the life of facilities and equipment, bringing down operating and maintenance costs and reducing the environmental impact. New products and services to meet customer needs through digitalisation, automation and tailored solutions. Disruptive technologies and business models to tackle future energy challenges. The Company has organised its R&D Management System so that the Innovation Department can provide the Business Units with a global model, since we believe that there should be a single, standard and systematic innovation process for the entire organisation. Thanks to the commitment with Innovation, Iberdrola has positioned as a world leader in the offshore area, where it develops the most advanced and innovative projects. Wikinger Offshore wind farm is an emblematic project for Iberdrola, the symbol of Iberdrola’s commitment to innovation, sustainability and internationalisation

The axial behaviour of displacement piles in chalk

Current axial capacity design methods for piles driven in chalk are known to be unreliable, in particular where low-medium density material is encountered. The primary complexities associated with using driven pre-formed displacement piles to withstand predominantly axial loading include (i) determining their installation resistance (ii) assessing pile static load behaviour after allowing for set-up and (iii) the effects of axial cyclic loading on the behaviour. The development of improved design methods has been impeded by a lack of both instrumented pile test data and the understanding they can bring regarding the fundamental underlying effective stress mechanisms. The work described in this thesis was motivated by an Innovate-UK joint industry project related to the Wikinger offshore windfarm in the German Baltic Sea. The Author’s investigations included analysis of full-scale offshore static and dynamic pile tests on open-ended steel tubular piles founded in glacial till and chalk at Wikinger. The tests were supplemented by further experiments on reduced-scale open-ended driven piles and heavily instrumented closed-ended Imperial College Piles at an analogous onshore test site, in Kent, UK. The onshore test site facilitated a systematic investigation of how ageing and cyclic loading affects driven piles over an eight-month period. Shaft capacity was shown to increase significantly with time and the cyclic tests indicated that one-way axial cyclic loading is not as detrimental to aged capacity as previously feared. The understanding drawn from the Author’s work was used to map out a route towards better rules for predicting the axial capacity of open and closed-ended displacement piles in chalk. A new effective stress-based approach to predict radial effective stresses is proposed, based on the key phenomena identified, namely (i) the use of CPT cone resistance to allow for local variations in properties (ii) the marked effect of the relative distance from the pile tip below any given chalk horizon (iii) the interface effective stress shear failure characteristics and (iv) addressing the significant capacity gains which occur with time. The new approach is shown to lead to far better predictions of both soil resistance to driving and long-term capacity than the current industry design methods.Open Acces

Price variability or rigidity in the food-retailing sector? : Theoretical analysis and evidence from german scanner data

In many industrialized countries, the grocery-retailing sector exhibits a strong and increasing market concentration. Hence, it is important to understand retail pricing for many questions related to market power in the marketing chain and to agricultural and food policies. We analyze intertemporal pricing of grocery retailers in Germany with a large set of scanner data for processed foods. In theory, food prices could be rather variable, e.g. due to fluctuating commodity prices in a competitive world, or rather rigid, e.g. due to price adjustment costs. We elaborate that retail sales are crucial and raise food price variability at the points of sale. Despite this, prices are rather rigid and often do not change for many weeks. Moreover, pricing strategies for identical brands vary strongly across retailers. Retailers seem to have differential pricing strategies and, thus, market power. This casts substantial doubt on the assumption of a competitive price transmission in the marketing channel underlying most analyses in agricultural economics

Psychological prices of branded foods and price rigidity : evidence from German scanner data

There is increasing evidence from scanner data that branded foods in the grocery retailing sector contain a substantial amount of price rigidity (HERRMANN/MÖSER 2003). One of the many alternative explanations for price rigidity is the existence of psychological pricing points. The economic literature has been most hesitant against this theory and, in a survey, BLINDER et al. (1998) found no confirmation at all based on the views of business managers. In that study, however, retail trade is underrepresented. The theory of psychological pricing points continues to be an important concept for pricing in firms which directly sell to consumers. Empirical findings in various studies, e.g. in the early work by FRIEDMAN (1967) for food retailing, suggest that psychological prices are widely used in the retailing sector. Hence, it is the objective of this paper to elaborate to which extent psychological pricing plays a role in grocery retailing and whether it contributes to price rigidity of branded foods in Germany. The empirical analysis will be based on scanner data of weekly prices for 20 branded foods in Germany in the period 1996-99