Consumer choice in competitive location models: Formulations and heuristics

A new direction of research in Competitive Location theory incorporatestheories of Consumer Choice Behavior in its models. Following thisdirection, this paper studies the importance of consumer behavior withrespect to distance or transportation costs in the optimality oflocations obtained by traditional Competitive Location models. To dothis, it considers different ways of defining a key parameter in thebasic Maximum Capture model (MAXCAP). This parameter will reflectvarious ways of taking into account distance based on several ConsumerChoice Behavior theories. The optimal locations and the deviation indemand captured when the optimal locations of the other models are usedinstead of the true ones, are computed for each model. A metaheuristicbased on GRASP and Tabu search procedure is presented to solve all themodels. Computational experience and an application to 55-node networkare also presented.

Giffen goods and market making

This paper shows that information effects per se are not responsible forthe Giffen goods anomaly affecting competitive traders demands in multi-asset, noisy rational expectations equilibrium models. The role thatinformation plays in traders strategies also matters. In a market withrisk averse, uninformed traders, informed agents havea dual motive for trading: speculation and market making. Whilespeculation entails using prices to assess the effect of private signalerror terms, market making requires employing them to disentangle noisetraders effects in traders aggregate orders. In a correlated environment,this complicates a trader s signal-extraction problem and maygenerate upward-sloping demand curves. Assuming either (i) that competitive,risk neutral market makers price the assets, or that (ii) the risktolerance coefficient of uninformed traders grows without bound, removesthe market making component from informed traders demands, rendering themwell behaved in prices.

Capital goods imports and investments in Latin America in the mid 1920s

The assessment of Latin American long term economic performance is in urgent need ofmobilizing more data to match the pressing demands of growth analysts. We present asystematic comparison of capital goods imports for 20 Latin American countries in 1925. It relies on both the foreign trade data of the importing countries and of the major exporting countries the industrialized economies of the time. The quality of foreign trade figures is tested; an homogeneous estimate of capital goods imported is derived, and its per capita ranking is discussed providing new light on Latin American development levels before import substitution.

Sweet diversity: Colonial goods and the rise of European living standards after 1492

When did overseas trade start to matter for living standards? Traditional real-wage indices suggest that living standards in Europe stagnated before 1800. In this paper, we argue thatwelfare rose substantially, but surreptitiously, because of an influx of new goods as a result ofoverseas trade. Colonial luxuries such as tea, coffee, and sugar transformed European diets afterthe discovery of America and the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope. These goods became household items in many countries by the end of the 18th century. We use three different methodsto calculate welfare gains based on price data and the rate of adoption of these new colonialgoods. Our results suggest that by 1800, the average Englishman would have been willing to forego 10% or more of his income in order to maintain access to sugar and tea alone. These findings are robust to a wide range of alternative assumptions, data series, and valuation methods.

Vertical integration or specialisation: producing and commercialising cotton goods (1815-1913)

This article describes the ways in which cotton goods were commercialised during the nineteenth century and the first third of the twentieth. Several national cases are analysed: Britain, as the Workshop of the World; France, Germany, Switzerland and the US, as core economies; and Italy and Spain as countries on the European periphery. The main question that we address is why some cotton industries vertically integrated their production and commercialisation processes, but others did not. We present a model that combines industrial district size and product differentiation to explain why vertical integration was present in most cases and why there was vertical specialisation in Lancashire and Lowell.

Vertical integration or specialisation: producing and commercialising cotton goods (1815-1913)

This article describes the ways in which cotton goods were commercialised during the nineteenth century and the first third of the twentieth. Several national cases are analysed: Britain, as the Workshop of the World; France, Germany, Switzerland and the US, as core economies; and Italy and Spain as countries on the European periphery. The main question that we address is why some cotton industries vertically integrated their production and commercialisation processes, but others did not. We present a model that combines industrial district size and product differentiation to explain why vertical integration was present in most cases and why there was vertical specialisation in Lancashire and Lowell.

Consumer acceptance of high pressure processed beef-based chilled ready meals: The mediating role of food-related lifestyle factors

The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of high pressure processing (HPP) on consumer acceptance for chilled ready meals manufactured using a low-value beef cut. Three hundred consumers evaluated chilled ready meals subjected to 4 pressure treatments and a non-treated control monadically on a 9-point scale for liking for beef tenderness and juiciness, overall flavour, overall liking, and purchase intent. Data were also collected on consumers' food consumption patterns, their attitudes towards food by means of the reduced food-related lifestyle (FRL) instrument, and socio-demographics. The results indicated that a pressure treatment of 200 MPa was acceptable to most consumers. K-means cluster analysis identified 4 consumer groups with similar preferences, and the optimal pressure treatments acceptable to specific consumer groups were identified for those firms that would wish to target attitudinally differentiated consumer segments

Anàlisi econòmica i financera dels sectors de béns de consum i serveis de consum de la Borsa de Madrid

Aquest treball consisteix en una anàlisi econòmica i financera dels sectors de béns de consum i serveis de consum de la Borsa de Madrid en el període 2007-2011. Aquest consisteix en realitzar un estudi dels diferents comptes anuals consolidats de les diferents empreses que configuren cadascun dels sectors mitjançant diferents instruments financers, amb l’objectiu de saber si la crisi econòmica i financera actual ha afectat o no aquests.

Tourism destination zoning in rural regions: a consumer-based approach in Terres de l’Ebre

This document puts into question the conventional way of delineating tourism destinations. It intends to show a model of spatial analysis, to find new interpretations of the reality, more balanced and more optimized, in comparison with other territorial views most of them based on administrative boundaries. This paper portrays a methodological exercise that aims to structure tourism geographies into new tourism areas on the basis of visitor’s consumption patterns, which would be better fitted to the needs of tourist demand

El "teenage consumer" a la Gran Bretanya de postguerra.

El final de la segona guerra mundial va marcar el principi d’un nou context internacional on els Estats Units i la URSS, cada un amb el seu sistema econòmic, es varen convertir en les dues potències mundials en lluita per l’hegemonia mundial. Al bloc occidental els Estats Units varen començar a exercir la seva influència per a estendre un model de societat basat en el consum que es convertirà en el model predominant durant tot el segle XX. Fora dels Estats Units el primer en començar a adoptar aquest mode de vida basat principalment en el consum va ser el teenage consumer britànic. Aquest tipus d’individu altament americanitzat que va sorgir al Regne Unit de postguerra es convertiria en un signe dels canvis que encara havien de venir. Aquest treball pretén definir la figura del teenage consumer, analitzar les causes del seu sorgiment, les seves característiques, els seus hàbits de consum i com va contribuir a la creació de la societat de consum.

Spanish E-Consumer Segmentation and Positioning in Virtual Supermarkets Sector

This article analyses different factors that influence the purchasing behaviour of online supermarket customers. These factors are related to both the appearance of the website as well as the processes that take place when making the purchase. Based on these analyses, the various groups of consumers with homogenous behaviour are studied and positioned according to their attitudes. The analysis also allows the quality of the service offered by this kind of establishment to be defined, as well as the main dimensions in which it develops. In the conclusions, factors which should influence the manager of an online supermarket to improve the quality of its service are given

Going with the consumer towards the social Web environment : a review of extant knowledge

The social Web environment cannot be explained without taking into account the use made by consumers of the web technologies in the field of e-commerce. Starting with a systematic background of the growing body of research on marketing and consumer behaviour on the Web; this article presents a critical review of the main contributions on this theme, integrating also the research field of consumer behaviour in the social Web environment. It concludes with some managerial guidelines for successful use of the social Web in the commercial activities and in the establishment of fruitful relationships between the consumers and the brand.

Modernitat, consums i pràctiques culturals: el cas de la ciutat de Lleida

Este artículo presenta una reflexión teórica y empírica sobre la dialéctica entre modernidad y tradición, en relación con las nuevas pautas culturales desarrolladas en la sociedad de consumo. El acceso mayoritario al consumo no supone, en ningún caso, una práctica de carácter igualitario, sino que las diferentes disposiciones culturales y económicas definen diferencias importantes en este acceso, tanto en calidad como en cantidad. Estas diferencias permiten la consolidación de estilos de vida diferentes y distintivos que constituyen la base de las nuevas desigualdades sociales.

El contrato de servicios y la propuesta de modernización del Código civil español

La Propuesta para la Modernización del Derecho de Obligaciones y Contratos, hecha pública por la Sección Primera, de Derecho Civil, de la Comisión General de Codificación española en 2009, introduce una nueva concepción del contrato civil, de manera especial incorpora el nuevo concepto de cumplimiento contractual que se defiende en los textos legales europeos sobre la compraventa y en el borrador del Commnon Frame of Reference, así como en la normativa europea sobre los Derechos de los consumidores. En este artículo se da cuenta de tales avances en cuanto pueden referirse, no solo al contrato de compraventa, regulado ex novo en la Propuesta, sino también al contrato de servicios. Se propone centrar la mirada también en este contrato y acometer su regulación.