Analysis of the Differences in OCOP Products between Thanh Hoa Province and Nghe an Province

This research analyzes the differences in OCOP products between Thanh Hoa province and Nghe An province, Vietnam. OCOP products are analyzed based on three aspects: Product mean score (Product level), Structure of product type, and Structure of product region. The analysis sample includes 115 OCOP products from 3 to 5 stars in each province (230 products in total). Research results are confirmed that there are some differences in OCOP Products between Thanh Hoa province and Nghe An Province. Whereby, there is the difference in the mean score, the difference in the structure of product type, and the difference in the structure of product region. These results help the authorities in both provinces to have appropriate policies and support tools to develop local OCOP products by the goals and orientations of each locality to commercialize strongly rural products that have their comparative advantage.

Exchange Rate Pass-Through into Japanese Import Prices: Evidence at Both Bilateral and Product Levels

This study investigates the degree of the exchange rate pass-through to Japanese bilateral import prices at the product level for major Japan's trading partners (US, EU, and Asian NIEs) for a period (1998:1-2010:12) dubbed as Japan's lost decade and marked by a gradual the exchange rate appreciation against the US dollar. By considering both country and product dimensions in a unified framework, this study makes one of the first attempts to analyze the responsiveness of Japanese import prices to exchange rate movement. The empirical analysis suggests a declining exchange rate pass-through to Japanese import prices at the bilateral level in some product categories but increasing in others. However, we find no evidence of the changes in exchange rate pass-through for manufacturing, machinery, and overall product level for each of these partners. Our finding sheds light on the recent decline in exchange rate pass-through to Japanese multilateral import prices and helps calibrate its trade relationship with its partner countries.

Between semiotic linguistics and narratology: Objective grounding and similarity in essayistic translation

In memoriam Christophe HalsbergheIn this article, I will show how the description of meaning in translated texts can be enriched by combining insights from semiotic linguistics and narratology. Concretely, I will focus on the phenomenon of ‘grounding’ as it is described in Cognitive Grammar. Special attention will be paid to ‘ob-jective grounding’. I will claim that this phenomenon plays a central role in essayistic translation, as it reflects one of the core characteristics of this type of translation, i.e. the search for similarity. The analysis of objective grounding will allow us to develop this notion, describing similarity at product level but also at the communicative process level. In the final sec-tion, I will try to link the search for similarity with psychological notions such as empathy and anxiety.

When a Robot Makes Your Dinner: A Comparative Analysis of Product Level and Customer Experience Between the U.S. and Chinese Robotic Restaurants

Integrating two theoretical frameworks, the product level theory and the experience economy model, this research analyzed and compared robotic technology applications and customer experiences in selected case robot restaurants in the United States and China. Guided by the product level theory, we first analyzed in which product/service levels were robots applied in each case restaurant in Study 1. Then in study 2, guided by the experience economy model, we further explored customers’ dining experiences and compared if customers’ experience differs due to variations in product/service levels that robot applied. The study first contributes to the product level theory by extending its application to the context of robotic restaurants. It also contributes to the experience economy literature, and in particularly, whether applications of robotic technologies at different product levels matter in customers’ dining experience. The study included case restaurants both from the United States and China, presenting findings with cultural implications. Given the challenges presented by COVID-19 and the industry is exploring alternative ways for service delivery and food production, such a study is particularly meaningful.

On the Risks of Using the Sequential Product-Level SSNIP Approach to Identify Relevant Antitrust Markets‡

In a recent influential paper Coate et al. (2021) have criticized the sequential product-level approach to market definition in merger review. They argue that a simultaneous market-level approach to critical loss is more appropriate than a product-level critical loss analysis, because under certain plausible demand scenarios (nonlinear demand functions) the latter could yield the wrong answer on market definition—i.e., excessively broad or narrow markets. We extend their analysis by showing that a sequential product-level approach actually leads to an excessively narrow market definition when the typical nonlinear demand functions used in merger analysis are employed.