The propensity to bargain while on a vacation

This article assesses how tourists' bargaining motivations and attitudes moderate their willingness to return to Italy, where bargaining is perceived as one of the best ways to deal with sellers. A non-probability quota sampling technique was used to survey domestic tourists in Italy through an online questionnaire which encompassed 26 bargaining values and one item to measure the likelihood that the tourists would bargain at the same destination in the future. The data comprised a total of 812 observations. An order probit model and marginal effects were estimated to measure the tourists' propensity to return to Italy for bargaining purposes. The study findings indicate that tourists' propensity to return for bargaining purposes is taken with the awareness that they will not obtain what they expected; as a matter of fact, they are unlikely to care about the final result but instead engage in this behaviour to have fun.FCT - National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology [UID/ECO/04007/2013 CEFAGE

Regional variation of the minimum wages in China

This paper analyzes the regional variation of minimum wage in China. We first introduce the institutional background of China's minimum wage policy, and then describe the regional variation of the minimum wages using detailed minimum wage data since the late 1990s. Large regional variation exists in the period studied, and the regional variation has been declining since the late 1990s. Economic factors, including GDP, economic structure, consumption level, are the main determinants for the large regional variation in the minimum wages. There is weak evidence suggesting that the regional variation is influenced by political factors, such as competition of local officials

Russia’s agro industrial complex: economic and political influence factors and state support

Authors consider changes in Russian agro-industrial complex un regard to international marketing, management and business strategies. The aim of the study is to identify the specifics of the differentiation trends in the socioeconomic space of the Russia. Basing on the Russia’s Federal Agency of State Statistics official materials (from 1991 to 2016), authors of the proposed research have estimated Russia’s agricultural ability to react to external changes. They reveal natural and climatic factors which have direct and essential influence on agricultural development. Authors give practical recommendations for the formation of an agriculture state domestic support mechanis

Economics Imperialism in Law and Economics

Non peer reviewe

Construction, Concentration, and (Dis)Continuities in Social Valuations

I review and integrate recent sociological research that makes progress on three interrelated questions pertaining to social valuation: (a) the degree of social construction relative to objective constraints; (b) the degree of concentration in social valuations at a single point in time; and (c) the conditions that govern two broad forms of temporal discontinuity—(i) fashion cycles, especially in cultural expression and in managerial practices, and (ii) bubble/crash dynamics, as witnessed in such domains as authoritarian regimes and financial markets. In the course of the review, I argue for the importance of identifying how objective conditions constrain social construction and suggest two contrarian mechanisms by which this is accomplished—valuation opportunism and valuation entrepreneurship—and the conditions under which they are more or less effective

Regulatory Constructivism: Application of Q Methodology in Italy and China

Conventional view holds that beliefs play an important role in the development of regulations but there is little evidence to support this claim. We use Comparative Q Methodology to systematically map out and compare the beliefs of public officers in China and Italy, two countries with contrasting sets of institutions but have both adopted similar ideas about integrated water resource management. We find some similarities and differences in the beliefs of public officers in both countries. In particular, we find that in both countries beliefs on the regulation of water utilities are diverse and fragmented on issues such as ownership structure of water utilities, how water infrastructure development should be funded, and how tariffs should be regulated. Our findings have two implications for theory, methods and practice. First, the Q methodology is a useful tool for systematically mapping out the beliefs of regulators and managers. Second, systematically mapping out beliefs will help facilitate the development of an alternative regime of regulation such as negotiated rule making. This alternative regime can provide substantial benefits such as more efficient rule making, more cost effective enforcement and compliance, and more equitable in terms of balancing the interests of stakeholders

Gratefully received, gratefully repaid:The role of perceived fairness in cooperative interactions

It is well documented that people would remunerate fair behaviours and penalize unfair behaviours. It is argued that individuals' reactions following the receipt of a gift depend on the perceived intentions of the donors. Fair intentions should prompt positive affect, like gratitude, triggering cooperative behaviours; while intended unfairness should trigger negative affect, like anger, fostering anti-social actions. It is, however, contended that when people lack information to infer others' intention they may use 'normative' beliefs about fairness - what a typical fair individual 'should' do in these circumstances - to guide their behaviour. In this experiment we examined this assertion. We had 122 participants play a one-shot, double-anonymous game with half playing as potential helpers (P1s) and half as recipients (P2s). Whether a participant was a P1 or P2 was chance-determined and all participants knew this. P1s decided whether to help P2s and whether to make their help unconditional (no repayment needed) or conditional (full or 'taxed' repayment). P2s decided whether to accept the offer and whatever conditions attached but were blind to the list of helping options available to P1s. We anticipated that recipients would refer to the 'injunctive norm' that 'fair people should help "for free" when it is only by chance that they are in a position to help'. Therefore, without knowing P1s' different helping options, unconditional offers should be rated by recipients as fairer than conditional offers, and this should be linked to greater gratitude with greater gratitude linked to greater reciprocation. Path analyses confirmed this serial mediation. The results showed that recipients of unconditional offers, compared to conditional ones, interpreted the helpers' motives as more helpful, experienced greater gratitude and were more eager to reciprocate. The behavioural data further revealed that, when given a latter option to default, 38% of recipients of conditional offers did so