The relationship between in-store marketing and observed sales for organic versus fair trade products

To stimulate sales of sustainable products, such as organic and fair trade products, retailers need to know whether their in-store instruments effectively enhance market shares. This study uses sales data and a multilevel modeling approach to explain the market shares of sustainable products according to shelf layout factors, price level, price promotions, and consumer demographics. It argues that the effect of these variables differs between organic versus fair trade products, as buying motives might differ, organic buyers tend to be more loyal, and price is a more informative signal of quality for organic products. Results show that the number of facings has a positive relationship with the market share of fair trade brands, but not with the market share of organic brands. The same holds for the price difference with the leading brand, which is important for fair trade brands but not for organic brands. In contrast, an arrangement of the product category by brand is associated with higher market share for organic brands but not for fair trade brands. Additionally, placement at eye level and clustering of items benefits both types of sustainable brands, whereas they appear to be not very sensitive to price promotions. Finally, higher sales of sustainable products are found in areas where the customer base is older and has a higher education level. Keywords Organic . Fair trade . Shelf layout . Price promotions . Market share . Sales dat

Прямі іноземні інвестиції: світові тенденції та структурний розподіл в економіці України

Досліджено проблему розподілу глобальних потоків прямих іноземних інвестицій у розрізі різних регіонів світу, а також країн із різним рівнем розвитку: розвинутих, з економікою, що розвивається, чи перехідною; визначено ключові особливості інвестиційної політики країн в умовах рецесійних явищ економік світу; виконано аналіз структурного співвідношення вхідних потоків прямих іноземних інвестицій в економіку України. Ключові слова: іноземні інвестиції, перехідна економіка, інвестиційна політика, економіка України.Исследована проблема распределения глобальних потоков прямых иностранных инвестиций в разрезе различных регионов мира, а также стран с разным уровнем развития: развитых, с развивающейся или переходной экономикой; определены ключевые особенности инвестиционной политики стран в условиях рецессионных явлений экономик мира; проведен анализ структурного соотношения входных потоков прямых иностранных инвестиций в экономику Украины. Ключевые слова: иностранные инвестиции, переходная экономика, инвестиционная политика, экономика Украины.In the conditions of modern economy enterprises run into high changeability of environment, in particular, with a necessity in good time to adapt the tax plans. Enormous volumes of information that must be analyzed in the process of the tax planning require the presence of the modern informative providing that allows both facilitating the drafting of tax plans and carrying out their correction. It stipulates actuality of researches in the field of development of the informative providing of the operative tax planning at enterprises. The aim of the article is the development of chart of the informative providing of the operative tax planning at an enterprise. In the article the informative providing of the operative tax planning is offered at an enterprise. The informative providing is the complex of associate instruments that provide the stages of the operative tax planning. It allows promoting efficiency of functioning of the Ukrainian enterprises. The development of the offered informative providing can be in terms of methods and mechanisms of its practical realization. Keywords: informative providing, tax planning, operative planning, taxes of enterprises

Effects of organically and conventionally produced feed on biomarkers of health in a chicken model

Consumers expect organic products to be healthier. However, limited research has been performed to study the effect of organic food on health. The present study aimed to identify biomarkers of health to enable future studies in human subjects. A feeding experiment was performed in two generations of three groups of chickens differing in immune responsiveness, which were fed identically composed feeds from either organic or conventional produce. The animals of the second generation were exposed to an immune challenge and sacrificed at 13 weeks of age. Feed and ingredients were analysed on macro- and micronutrients, i.e. vitamins, minerals, trace elements, heavy metals and microbes. The chickens were studied by general health and immune parameters, metabolomics, genomics and post-mortem evaluation. The organic and conventional feeds were comparable with respect to metabolisable energy. On average, the conventionally produced feeds had a 10 % higher protein content and some differences in micronutrients were observed. Although animals on both feeds were healthy, differences between the groups were found. The random control group of chickens fed conventional feed showed overall a higher weight gain during life span than the group on organic feed, although feed intake was mostly comparable. The animals on organic feed showed an enhanced immune reactivity, a stronger reaction to the immune challenge as well as a slightly stronger ‘catch-up growth’ after the challenge. Biomarkers for future research were identified in the parameters feed intake, body weight and growth rate, and in immunological, physiological and metabolic parameters, several of these differing most pronounced after the challeng

Uncertainty of dustfall monitoring results

Fugitive dust has the ability to cause a nuisance and pollute the ambient environment, particularly from human activities including construction and industrial sites and mining operations. As such, dustfall monitoring has occurred for many decades in South Africa little has been published on the repeatability, uncertainty, accuracy and precision of dustfall monitoring. Repeatability assesses the consistency associated with the results of a particular measurement under the same conditions; the consistency of the laboratory isassessed to determine the uncertainty associated with dustfall monitoring conducted by the laboratory. The aim of this study was to improve the understanding of the uncertainty in dustfall monitoring; thereby improving the confidence in dustfall monitoring. Uncertainty of dustfall monitoring was assessed through a 12-month study of 12 sites that were located on the boundary of the study area. Each site contained a directional dustfall sampler, which was modified by removing the rotating lid, with four buckets (A, B, C and D) installed. Having four buckets on one stand allows for each bucket to be exposed to the same conditions, for the same period of time; therefore, should have equal amounts of dust deposited in these buckets. The difference in the weight (mg) of the dust recorded from each bucket at each respective site was determined using the American Society for Testing and Materials method D1739 (ASTM D1739). The variability of the dust would provide the confidence level of dustfall monitoring when reporting to clients

Characterising the impact of rainfall on dustfall rates

Soil moisture increased the cohesion potential between particles, reducing the ability of the particle to be entrained. Dust suppression techniques are designed to increase soil moisture and therefore soil cohesion through the application of water or water-based chemicals to surfaces that have known potential for dust entrainment. Rainfall has the ability to act as a natural dust suppression mechanism; however, there is a paucity of literature on the actual effectiveness of rainfall in this regard. The ASTM D1739 methods for dustfall monitoring, commonly used in South Africa, and the National Dust Control Regulations (2013), both state that rainfall should be recorded when conducting dustfall monitoring. The rationale is that rainfall or the absence thereof, results in lower or higher dustfall rates, respectively. A suitable study site was identified in Mpumalanga, South Africa. This site had eight non-directional dustfall samplers in the near vicinity of an air quality monitoring station. Dustfall results from the eight samplers were analysed based on four scenarios, two that considers the presence of rainfall and two that consider the absence of rainfall. This analysis was further combined with wind speed data. This study, over a 24-month period indicates that there is no substantial evidence that above average rainfall will result in below average dustfall. This occurred for one month out of 24 months. Conversely, there is no consensus that the absence of rainfall will result in higher dustfall rates, which occurred cumulatively 30% of the time. Additional environmental and / or operational information may have a greater influence on dustfall compared to rainfall. Careful consideration should be taken to prevent misrepresentation of causational effects of rainfall on dustfall results. Management of dust should be undertaken through dust mitigation measures irrespective of the natural rainfall regime

Towards the development of a GHG emissions baseline for the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector, South Africa

South Africa is a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and as such is required to report on Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the Energy, Transport, Waste and the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sectors every two years in national inventories. The AFOLU sector is unique in that it comprises both sources and sinks for GHGs. Emissions from the AFOLU sector are estimated to contribute a quarter of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. GHG emissions sources from agriculture include enteric fermentation; manure management; manure deposits on pastures, and soil fertilization. Emissions sources from Forestry and Other Land Use (FOLU) include anthropogenic land use activities such as: management of croplands, forests and grasslands and changes in land use cover (the conversion of one land use to another). South Africa has improved the quantification of AFOLU emissions and the understanding of the dynamic relationship between sinks and sources over the past decade through projects such as the 2010 GHG Inventory, the Mitigation Potential Analysis (MPA), and the National Terrestrial Carbon Sinks Assessment (NTCSA). These projects highlight key mitigation opportunities in South Africa and discuss their potentials. The problem remains that South Africa does not have an emissions baseline for the AFOLU sector against which the mitigation potentials can be measured. The AFOLU sector as a result is often excluded from future emission projections, giving an incomplete picture of South Africa’s mitigation potential. The purpose of this project was to develop a robust GHG emissions baseline for the AFOLU sector which will enable South Africa to project emissions into the future and demonstrate its contribution towards the global goal of reducing emissions

Sculpting the Extra Dimensions: Inflation from Codimension-2 Brane Back-reaction

We construct an inflationary model in 6D supergravity that is based on explicit time-dependent solutions to the full higher-dimensional field equations, back-reacting to the presence of a 4D inflaton rolling on a space-filling codimension-2 source brane. Fluxes in the bulk stabilize all moduli except the `breathing' modulus (that is generically present in higher-dimensional supergravities). Back-reaction to the inflaton roll causes the 4D Einstein-frame on-brane geometry to expand, a(t) ~ t^p, as well as exciting the breathing mode and causing the two off-brane dimensions to expand, r(t) ~ t^q. The model evades the general no-go theorems precluding 4D de Sitter solutions, since adjustments to the brane-localized inflaton potential allow the power p to be dialed to be arbitrarily large, with the 4D geometry becoming de Sitter in the limit p -> infinity (in which case q = 0). Slow-roll solutions give accelerated expansion with p large but finite, and q = 1/2. Because the extra dimensions expand during inflation, the present-day 6D gravity scale can be much smaller than it was when primordial fluctuations were generated - potentially allowing TeV gravity now to be consistent with the much higher gravity scale required at horizon-exit for observable primordial gravity waves. Because p >> q, the 4 on-brane dimensions expand more quickly than the 2 off-brane ones, providing a framework for understanding why the observed four dimensions are presently so much larger than the internal two. If uplifted to a 10D framework with 4 dimensions stabilized, the 6D evolution described here could describe how two of the six extra dimensions evolve to become much larger than the others, as a consequence of the enormous expansion of the 4 large dimensions we can see.Comment: 27 pages + appendices, 2 figure