CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF FOOD RETAILING INNOVATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: SUPERMARKETS IN VIETNAM

Modernization of food retailing in developing economies,focusing on the early stages of retail modernization in Vietnam is examined. This modernization represents innovation that is sought by the host country and that depends on knowledge transfer. Retail modernization has profound effects on the host country and its food system. Innovation at the consumption (retail) end of the food supply chain warrants attention similar to that devoted to knowledge transfer at the production (farming) end of the chain.Marketing, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

FOOD PROCESSING FIRMS AND FOREIGN PRODUCTION INCENTIVES

As the practice of a firm in one country owning production facilities in another has increased, several theories have developed to explain why production facilities do not always have local owners who would presumably be more familiar with local business conditions. A transaction cost explanation is that a firm may have intangible assets that are sought in another country but that cannot be economically sold on account of market failure. In such a case the firm's expansion into the foreign country may be the most economical way for the foreign country to gain access to those assets. A few studies have identified firm characteristics and firm-specific assets associated with the international growth of food firms. The present paper expands on this work by interviewing executives in two product areas (processed meats and preserved fruit/vegetable products) to discover which assets the executives perceive as important and nontransferable through market channels (and thus applicable to the transaction cost approach). The assets of product development expertise, process management knowledge, and reputation appear to be key intangible assets associated with foreign production. A regression analysis tests determinants of foreign production of the two product categories by 17 US firms in 9 global regions, yielding results consistent with the interviews. That is, the probability of having foreign production plants is significantly enhanced by higher total firm sales, being in the processed fruits and vegetables business as opposed to processed meats and locating in higher income, Western Hemisphere and European Countries.Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

RESPONDING TO FOREIGN MARKET OPPORTUNITIES: A SURVEY OF U.S. DAIRY MANUFACTURERS

International Relations/Trade,

Development Policy Under Eisenhower and Kennedy

International Development,

Causes and Consequences of Food Retailing Innovation in Developing Countries: Supermarkets in Vietnam

WP 2002-26 August 2002JEL Classification Codes: F23; L66; L81; O00; O31I examine the modernization of food retailing in developing economies, focusing on the early stages of retail modernization in Vietnam. This modernization represents innovation that is sought by the host country and that depends on knowledge transfer. Retail modernization has profound effects on the host country and its food system. Innovation at the consumption (retail) end of the food supply chain warrants attention similar to that devoted to knowledge transfer at the production (farming) end of the chain

On the Classification of UGC1382 as a Giant Low Surface Brightness Galaxy

We provide evidence that UGC1382, long believed to be a passive elliptical galaxy, is actually a giant low surface brightness (GLSB) galaxy which rivals the archetypical GLSB Malin 1 in size. Like other GLSB galaxies, it has two components: a high surface brightness disk galaxy surrounded by an extended low surface brightness (LSB) disk. For UGC1382, the central component is a lenticular system with an effective radius of 6 kpc. Beyond this, the LSB disk has an effective radius of ~38 kpc and an extrapolated central surface brightness of ~26 mag/arcsec^2. Both components have a combined stellar mass of ~8x10^10 M_sun, and are embedded in a massive (10^10 M_sun) low-density (<3 M_sun/pc^2) HI disk with a radius of 110 kpc, making this one of the largest isolated disk galaxies known. The system resides in a massive dark matter halo of at least 2x10^12 M_sun. Although possibly part of a small group, its low density environment likely plays a role in the formation and retention of the giant LSB and HI disks. We model the spectral energy distributions and find that the LSB disk is likely older than the lenticular component. UGC1382 has UV-optical colors typical of galaxies transitioning through the green valley. Within the LSB disk are spiral arms forming stars at extremely low efficiencies. The gas depletion time scale of ~10^11 yr suggests that UGC1382 may be a very long term resident of the green valley. We find that the formation and evolution of the LSB disk is best explained by the accretion of gas-rich LSB dwarf galaxies.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures, 4 tables; accepted to the Astrophysical Journa

INNOVATION THROUGH (INTERNATIONAL) FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN DEVELOPMENT: A RESEARCH AGENDA

This paper presents a research agenda on innovation through (international) food supply chains and networks in developing countries. It derives major topics from a multi-perspective view on international food chains (economic, technology, social/legal and environment) and from different theoretical streams dealing with chains and networks (Supply Chain Management, Industrial Organization theory and Network Theory). Three agri-supply chain projects in developing countries (Thailand, South-Africa, Ghana) are analyzed to identify focus areas in supply chain development projects and important gaps. These projects were collaborative actions between companies and research institutes to initiate international supply chain development.Industrial Organization,

Radar climatology of the COPS region

A climatology of convection initiation (CI) and convective enhancements (CE) has been developed using radar reflectivity data in southwestern Germany and eastern France over the period of May�August of 2000�2006 and 2008. The study region included the Vosges Mountains of France, the Rhine Valley which straddles France and Germany, the Black ForestMountains and the SwabianMountains of Germany. Convection occurred frequently during the summer months throughout the study region. The CI density (number of initiations per square km) illustrates preferential formation in the mountain regions while the CE events spanned both mountains and valleys nearly equally. There is a strongmid-day peak of the CI events suggesting that diurnal heating is critical for CI in the region. The very strong thunderstorms (>46 dBZ) first occurred in the mountains and �2 h later in the Rhine Valley. During the summer of 2007, the Convective and Orographically-induced Precipitation Study (COPS) field campaign was conducted with the objective of obtaining improved understanding of convective processes and short-term quantitative precipitation forecasting in low-mountain regions. Comparisons were made between the radar climatology results and the COPS summer. The COPS summer exhibited preferential CI density in the mountainous regions but not as pronounced as the climatology. The COPS summer had a similar diurnal peak of CI events as climatology but the ratio of daytime to nighttime CI (1.7), or amplitude of the diurnal cycle, was less than that of climatology (3.0). While both the 8-year climatology and COPS summer were dominated by daytime, locally-forced CI occurrences, the broad distribution of daytime CI events and increase in nighttime events observed during COPS indicate a more active synoptic pattern in 2007

Radiocarbon Date List X: Baffin Bay, Baffin Island, Iceland, Labrador Sea, and the Northern North Atlantic

Date List X contains an annotated listing of 213 radiocarbon dates determined on samples from marine and terrestrial environments. The marine samples were collected from the East Greenland, Iceland, Spitzbergen, and Norwegian margins, Baffin Bay, and Labrador Sea. The terrestrial samples were collected from Vestfirdir, Iceland and Baffin Island. The samples were submitted by INSTAAR and researchers affiliated with INSTAAR\u27s Micropaleontology Laboratory under the direction of Dr.’s John T. Andrews and Anne E. Jennings. All of the dates from marine sediment cores were determined from either shells or foraminifera (both benthic and planktic). All dates were obtained by the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) method. Regions of concentrated marine research include: Baffin Bay, Baffin Island, Labrador Sea, East Greenland fjords, shelf and slope, Denmark Strait, the southwestern and northwestern Iceland shelves, and Vestfirdir, Iceland. The non-marine radiocarbon dates are from peat, wood, plant microfossils, and mollusc. The radiocarbon dates have been used to address a variety of research objectives such as: 1. determining the timing of northern hemisphere high latitude environmental changes including glacier advance and retreat, and 2. assessing the accuracy of a fluctuating reservoir correction. Thus, most of the dates constrain the timing, rate, and interaction of late Quaternary paleoenvironmental fluctuations in sea level, glacier extent, sediment input, and changes in ocean circulation patterns. Where significant, stratigraphic and sample contexts are presented for each core to document the basis for interpretations