Determining policy recommendations towards electric vehicles incentives in Jakarta using AHP-Entropy

One solution for diminishing carbon outflows is to provide electric vehicles (EV), which can help the sustainable development of the ecosystem in an environmentally way. Jakarta, as a capital city with high levels of pollution, has forced the government to recognize the need for policymakers to correct environmental failures through effective policy solutions. To support policy-driven adoption of EV, incentives shall be given to stimulate EV users. Current regulations have not yet explained regulations for EV’s, direct and indirect consumer benefits, infrastructure for charging, and complementary policies. This paper will compare the world’s best EV policy which will determine the main policy criteria to be developed for Jakarta’s regulation using the analytical hierarchy process and entropy method in giving scaled preferences of sets of standards and alternatives with acceptable inconsistency. AHP is used to determine initial subjective weights from experts, while then entropy will enhance AHP’s weights into objective weight. This study shows that charging infrastructure is the most influential criterion among other criteria followed by consumer incentive, both direct and indirect, complimentary policies, and regulatory incentives. Therefore, it is highly recommended that Jakarta’s government develop EV’s incentive policy in detail as the order above.

Restricting a single amino acid cross-protects D. melanogaster from nicotine poisoning through mTORC1 and GCN2 signalling.

Dietary interventions that restrict protein intake have repeatedly been shown to offer beneficial health outcomes to the consumer. Benefits such as increased stress tolerance can be observed in response to restricting individual amino acids, thus mimicking dietary protein restriction. Here, we sought to further understand the relationship between dietary amino acids and stress tolerance using Drosophila melanogaster. Utilising a chemically defined medium for Drosophila, we found that transiently restricting adult flies of a single essential amino acid generally protects against a lethal dose of the naturally occurring insecticide, nicotine. This protection was conferred during the pre-treatment window, was specific for individual amino acids and depended on the identity of the focal amino acid, as well as the duration and intensity of its restriction. For instance, complete isoleucine deprivation for 7 days maximised its protective effect - increasing survival during nicotine exposure by 100%. However, a dose of 25% threonine was required to maximise its protective effect (53% enhanced survival). To understand the molecular basis of these effects, we modified the signalling of two cellular sensors of amino acids, GCN2 (General control non-derepressible) and mTORC1 (mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1) in combination with amino acid restriction. We found that GCN2 was necessary for diets to protect against nicotine, whereas suppression of mTORC1 was sufficient to induce nicotine resistance. This finding implies that amino acid restriction acts via amino acid signalling to cross-protect against seemingly unrelated stressors. Altogether, our study offers new insights into the physiological responses to restriction of individual amino acids that confer stress tolerance. This has broad potential for application in animal and human health.

The Latest Generation of SEZs: Consumer-Oriented Unilateralism in China’s E-commerce Trade

WTO multilateralism is driven by manufacturers. However, in China, Cross-border E-commerce Retail Import (‘CERI’) has spurred a new, consumer-oriented trade unilateralism. CERI prospers within China’s National Cross-Border E-commerce Pilot Cities, which are Special Economic Zones aimed at using unilateral trade liberalization to meet consumers’ growing demands for high-quality foreign products. CERI enhances consumer benefits beyond reducing customer formalities and tax rates and lowering product prices. It re-conceptualizes consumer protection by treating consumers as diverse individuals rather than as a homothetic group. It also empowers consumers by making them ‘importers’ to minimize behind-the-border trade barriers. CERI warrants a rethinking of WTO multilateralism from its initial focus on corporations and capital owners to a revised focus on consumers.

Prey identity affects fitness of a generalist consumer in a brown food web

The use of ever-advancing sequencing technologies has revealed incredible biodiversity at the microbial scale, and yet we know little about the ecological interactions in these communities. For example, in the phytotelmic community found in the purple pitcher plant, Sarrecenia purpurea, ecologists typically consider the bacteria as a functionally homogenous group. In this food web, bacteria decompose detritus and are consumed by protozoa that are considered generalist consumers. Here we tested whether a generalist consumer benefits from all bacteria equally. We isolated and identified 22 strains of bacteria, belonging to six genera, from S. purpurea plants. We grew the protozoa, Tetrahymena sp. with single isolates and strain mixtures of bacteria and measured Tetrahymena fitness. We found that different bacterial strains had different effects on protozoan fitness, both in isolation and in mixture. Our results demonstrate that not accounting for composition of prey communities may affect the predicted outcome of predator-prey interactions.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the FAS of the Russian Federation Based on the Indicator of Consumer Surplus

The article distinguishes between the immediate and final results of the competition policy. The importance of taking into account the final results for the state and society is justified. It is argued that they can be quantified by calculating consumer benefits from eliminating and preventing violations of antitrust laws. The calculation method used in The Competition and Market Authority (CMA, UK) is given. In addition to calculating direct gains (losses), it also calculates indirect ones arising from the reaction of firms-outsiders to the investigation. The criteria for the effectiveness of competition policy in the UK and in Russia are described, and their comparison is carried out. The article reproduces the foreign experience of calculating consumer surplus on the example of the FAS’ investigation of the cartel. The resulting surplus is compared with the average consumer surplus calculated based on the amount of fines collected and the number of cases initiated. The structure of the FAS law enforcement in the context of saved surpluses is recognized as suboptimal. Next, a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of competition policy measures is carried out using the “difference-in-differences” method: the contribution of the FAS to the change in the prices of firms-violators is investigated. Based on the obtained estimates and data on the volume of sales of goods, consumer surpluses are calculated from the investigation of two types of violations – the conclusion of anticompetitive agreements and abuse of a dominant position, as well as from the prevention of violations by issuing warnings. Extrapolation of the surpluses to the entire set of cases for the year, and comparison of the total surpluses for the year with the FAS budget showed that the level of effectiveness of the competition policy in Russia is not inferior to the one in the UK.

The market position of online fitness in the market of sports and wellness services

The article reveals the specifics of online fitness services, examines their position in the market of sports and wellness services. The content is determined, the cost of this type of services is estimated, as well as the consumer benefits from their acquisition.

Motivating Collaborative Consumption in Fashion: Consumer Benefits, Perceived Risks, Service Trust, and Usage Intention of Online Fashion Rental Services

This study explored the conceptual constructs of consumer benefits and perceived risks of online fashion rental services (Online FRS) and their impacts on usage intention towards Online FRS. The mediating roles of perceived risks and service trust were examined in this research. A survey was performed on female shoppers between the ages of 20–30 residing in a metropolitan area. Results of this research were as follows: (1) The results analyzing the sub-dimension of benefits (Reasonable cost, Wearing at right time, place and occasion (TPO), Space Saving, Entertaining, Product Variety, Style Conformity) and perceived risks (Financial, Performance, Social) clearly presented factorial structures. (2) Reasonable cost, Style Conformity, and Product Variety showed significantly positive influences on usage intentions towards online fashion rental services; in addition, Financial, Performance, and Social risks of rental services had a negative effect on usage intentions. (3) Service trust and consumer perceptions of Financial and Performance risks had important mediating roles in the relationship between consumer benefits and usage intentions towards Online FRS. This study highlighted that consumer benefits, perceived risks, and service trust should be registered among consumers to boost usage intentions towards Online FRS.

Consumer Value Trumps Perceived Privacy Risk

This chapter reviews past radio frequency identification (RFID) literature within the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry and the impact of consumer benefits on the perceived risks of item-level RFID. Two new categories are used to measure this impact; the separation of consumers' interactions with the technology to in-store and after-sales allows the consumers expectation of privacy to changes depending on the surrounding environment. A quantitative survey on primary household grocery purchasers within the USA revealed that while consumers are aware of the associated privacy risks after sale, they would be willing to use the technology, given sufficient benefits. This important step in RFID literature changes the conversation from a privacy risk management focus to a balanced integration of the technology, focusing on consumer benefits to manage the roll-out within the FMCG industry.

ESTIMATION THE ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL BRAND OF ENTERPRISE AT THE MARKET OF CLEANSERS OF UKRAINE

The object of the research is the assessment of the economic and ecological brand of the enterprise for the introduction of environmentally friendly detergents on the Ukrainian market. One of the most problematic areas is the formation of responsible consumption, or smart consumption. Responsible consumption is ranked 12 on the list of 17 Global Sustainable Development Goals identified by the United Nations. Responsible consumption forms social consciousness regarding the consumption of environmentally friendly washing products, which is the basis for assessing the ecological brand of an enterprise on the Ukrainian market. The analysis of the current state of the market for environmentally friendly detergents in Ukraine is carried out. The main characteristics of the assessment of quality, safety, environmental assessment, the formation of the competitiveness of detergents in business processes have been determined. In the course of the research, general scientific and special research methods were used. The stages of modeling the process of stimulating environmentally friendly production at the public level have been determined, which, in contrast to the existing ones, provides for the use of financial and economic incentives. These stages include planning the development and introduction into production of new synthetic detergents. And also the development of an ecological strategy for the manufacture of environmentally friendly Synthetic Detergents of the enterprise, which includes marketing research, determination of consumer benefits, positioning of the enterprise brand in the Ukrainian market, justification of expanding the range of Synthetic Detergents, planning the promotion of Synthetic Detergents. To implement them, a SWOT analysis method is proposed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the company «DE LA MARK» LLC. Thanks to this method, it is possible to qualitatively control monitoring of the needs and likings of consumers. In comparison with similar known methods, the proposed approaches make it possible to modify the production and management of a given enterprise.