Porter identifies high market share with cost leadership strategy which is based on the idea of competing on a price lower than that of the competition. However, in most consumer markets a business should serve the mi...Porter identifies high market share with cost leadership strategy which is based on the idea of competing on a price lower than that of the competition. However, in most consumer markets a business should serve the middle class by competing in the mid-price segment, offering quality better than that of the competition at a somewhat higher price. It is this path that can lead to market share leadership: a strategy that can be both profitable and sustainable. The U.S. men's shaving cream market consists of two major product-market segments: gel and foam. We test the hypothesis that the best-selling brand is very likely to be a member of the mid-price segment with a price tag that is higher than that of the nearest competition. This study is based on annual U.S. sales data for 2008 and 2007 from discount retail stores, food stores, and drug stores. We performed two separate analyses for 2008 and 2007, using cluster analysis as the main analytic tool. The results were remarkably consistent between the two years. In the gel segment--by far the most important--the price-quality segmentation analysis supported our hypothesis. An interesting finding is that, for both the gel and foam segments, we found the rank order correlation of brand unit price between 2007 and 2008 as highly significant. This means that in this market management considers the price of a brand as a strategic rather than a tactical variable. Although, technically the results for the foam segment were negative, this does not necessarily contradict our hypothesis. Finally, we discovered six strategic groups in the industry and have tried to articulate what their competitive strategy is.展开更多
This paper explores the labour market segmentation by ownership type and its impact on the gender wage gap in urban China.Using the latest data of the China Household Income Project(CHIP)survey conducted in 2014(CHIP2...This paper explores the labour market segmentation by ownership type and its impact on the gender wage gap in urban China.Using the latest data of the China Household Income Project(CHIP)survey conducted in 2014(CHIP2013)and based on the Brown et al.model,I employ the decomposition analysis in this study.It is found that although both inter-sector differentials and intra-sector differentials affect the gender wage gap,the effect of intra-sector differentials is greater.In addition,in considering the effect of intra-sector differentials,the influence of unexplained differentials is greater than that of explained differentials.The results indicate that when other factors are held constantly,discrimination against female workers in a given sector is more serious,which is the main factor that causes the gender wage gap in urban China.展开更多
China s grain sectors have faced unprecedented challenges in recent years as the ever-increasing and historically high level of grain output has failed to reduce grain imports. On the contrary, high grain imports and ...China s grain sectors have faced unprecedented challenges in recent years as the ever-increasing and historically high level of grain output has failed to reduce grain imports. On the contrary, high grain imports and high domestic stock have accompanied historically high domestic output, a situation dubbed the "triple high" phenomenon in current policy discussion. This paper explores the role of widening domestic-world market price gaps in determining the triple high phenomenon.Unlike earlier studies that relied on production capacities, this paper argues that domestic production and demand (hence imports) are functions of domestic and world market prices and proposes an analytical framework to explicitly capture such price gaps under restricted trade linkages in general equilibrium. Following this approach, a set of price scenarios for the 2011-2020 period are constructed and simulated in a computable general equilibrium model. Results from the core scenarios, in which recent domestic and world market price trends are assumed to continue, suggest that further widening price gaps would substantially increase grain imports and reduce domestic output (by 60 million tons) and self-sufficiency ratios from base levels. In the alternative scenarios with larger (smaller) price gaps, we find higher (lower) imports and larger (smaller) decreases in domestic output and self-sufficiency ratios. Such results provide important policy implications as China's agricultural policy undergoes significant adjustment.展开更多
文摘Porter identifies high market share with cost leadership strategy which is based on the idea of competing on a price lower than that of the competition. However, in most consumer markets a business should serve the middle class by competing in the mid-price segment, offering quality better than that of the competition at a somewhat higher price. It is this path that can lead to market share leadership: a strategy that can be both profitable and sustainable. The U.S. men's shaving cream market consists of two major product-market segments: gel and foam. We test the hypothesis that the best-selling brand is very likely to be a member of the mid-price segment with a price tag that is higher than that of the nearest competition. This study is based on annual U.S. sales data for 2008 and 2007 from discount retail stores, food stores, and drug stores. We performed two separate analyses for 2008 and 2007, using cluster analysis as the main analytic tool. The results were remarkably consistent between the two years. In the gel segment--by far the most important--the price-quality segmentation analysis supported our hypothesis. An interesting finding is that, for both the gel and foam segments, we found the rank order correlation of brand unit price between 2007 and 2008 as highly significant. This means that in this market management considers the price of a brand as a strategic rather than a tactical variable. Although, technically the results for the foam segment were negative, this does not necessarily contradict our hypothesis. Finally, we discovered six strategic groups in the industry and have tried to articulate what their competitive strategy is.
基金This research is supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science(JSPS)KAKENHI(Grand Number JP16K03611)the project fund of Joint Usage and Research Center,Institute of Economic Research,Hitotsubashi University。
文摘This paper explores the labour market segmentation by ownership type and its impact on the gender wage gap in urban China.Using the latest data of the China Household Income Project(CHIP)survey conducted in 2014(CHIP2013)and based on the Brown et al.model,I employ the decomposition analysis in this study.It is found that although both inter-sector differentials and intra-sector differentials affect the gender wage gap,the effect of intra-sector differentials is greater.In addition,in considering the effect of intra-sector differentials,the influence of unexplained differentials is greater than that of explained differentials.The results indicate that when other factors are held constantly,discrimination against female workers in a given sector is more serious,which is the main factor that causes the gender wage gap in urban China.
基金Zhu and Li acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.71803085 and No.71673142)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No.2017M621766)+1 种基金Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(No.KJQN201949)Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.
文摘China s grain sectors have faced unprecedented challenges in recent years as the ever-increasing and historically high level of grain output has failed to reduce grain imports. On the contrary, high grain imports and high domestic stock have accompanied historically high domestic output, a situation dubbed the "triple high" phenomenon in current policy discussion. This paper explores the role of widening domestic-world market price gaps in determining the triple high phenomenon.Unlike earlier studies that relied on production capacities, this paper argues that domestic production and demand (hence imports) are functions of domestic and world market prices and proposes an analytical framework to explicitly capture such price gaps under restricted trade linkages in general equilibrium. Following this approach, a set of price scenarios for the 2011-2020 period are constructed and simulated in a computable general equilibrium model. Results from the core scenarios, in which recent domestic and world market price trends are assumed to continue, suggest that further widening price gaps would substantially increase grain imports and reduce domestic output (by 60 million tons) and self-sufficiency ratios from base levels. In the alternative scenarios with larger (smaller) price gaps, we find higher (lower) imports and larger (smaller) decreases in domestic output and self-sufficiency ratios. Such results provide important policy implications as China's agricultural policy undergoes significant adjustment.