The Optimal Strategy of China’s Plastic Drinking Straws Ban Based on Consumer Heterogeneity and Retailer Competition

The Chinese government has issued a new “Plastic Restriction Ban” requiring that, by the end of 2020, the food and beverage industry across the country bans the use of single-use, nondegradable plastic drinking straws. The governance of plastic drinking straws is a multi-dimensional and complex process. Therefore, based on the heterogeneity of consumers, this paper constructs a tripartite game model (the government, retailers, and consumers) for the governance of plastic drinking straws in China. Under this model, this research derives an optimal strategy in both monopoly and competitive markets, assuming the government has access to two policy tools, fines and subsidies. The research results suggest the following. (1) In monopoly markets, when (a) the fine or subsidy fee is high or (b) the fine or subsidy fee is low and the number of environment-conscious consumers is high, retailers are more inclined to provide biodegradable drinking straws. (2) Consumer heterogeneity has a certain impact on policy results; when there are enough environment-conscious consumers, policy costs can be reduced. (3) For high-quality products, the policy costs in competitive markets is lower than in monopoly markets; for low-quality products, the policy costs in competitive markets is higher than in monopoly markets. Based on the conclusions, this work suggests the government should focus on cultivating consumers’ environmental awareness and tighter control of products quality, in addition to the two policy tools, i.e., fines and subsidies, because these can reduce policy costs. Consumers should be aware of their own importance to China’s Plastic Drinking Straws Ban and adopt a refusal to accept plastic drinking straws and reduce the consumption of disposable plastics to support the policy. Retailers should also realize that proactively catering to consumer and government expectations can bring higher benefits to themselves; this can be achieved by providing high-quality biodegradable straws to support China’s Plastic Drinking Straws Ban. The model of this work could be applied to other corporate activities related to sustainability, such as plastic bags, plastic bottles, etc., and their connection to government policies.

DYNAMICS OF INFLUENCE OF COMPONENTS OF THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT OF AVIATION ENTERPRISES FUNCTIONING IN COMPETITIVE MARKETS

The purpose of the paper is research of the components of the external environment and assessment of its impact on the functioning of airlines in open markets. The article defines the essence of the concept of the external environment of the airline, in which the classical scheme highlights the environment of direct and indirect influence. The author notes that direct factors affect the activities of each individual airline separately, and indirectly – form general industry trends in competitive markets. In modern conditions, when the external environment of enterprises is extremely dynamic not only in Ukraine but also internationally, the problem of developing methodological approaches to assess the impact of macroeconomic factors on the activities of airlines is extremely relevant. Assessing the general trends in the aviation industry, it should be noted that the aviation industry is one of the few transport sectors that is developing gradually and has positive growth rates, despite the large wear of aircraft, which adversely affects the image component of most airlines. Methodology. Methods of scientific research are abstraction, grouping of data, study of time series, which made it possible to generalize the concept of environment, trends in the industry, assessment of the impact of individual factors on the development of the industry determined by correlation analysis. Results the analysis of the availability and degree of the relationship between the studied indicators made it possible to conclude that there is a strong relationship between the rate of domestic passenger traffic and population, the size of real GDP and income. Factors such as the political crisis, economic crisis, wars, terrorist acts, plane crashes, pandemics affect both domestic and global passenger traffic, which in turn is reflected in the financial condition of individual airlines. Practical implications. Analysis of the dynamics of the influence of components of the external environment of the functioning of aviation enterprises in competitive markets allows airlines to ensure sustainable development and economic activity without taking into account their economic activities. Thus, to ensure the effective operation of the enterprise in competitive markets and maintain competitiveness requires systematic management of the main resources of the enterprise. Value/originality. The author identified macroeconomic factors influencing the dynamics of the air transport industry, established the relationship between passenger traffic and global and national cataclysms (financial crises, political crises, plane crashes, pandemics, wars, etc.), substantiated the factors that caused the greatest impact on activities aviation enterprises.

Introduction

‘Introduction’ provides an overview of the competitive process, which has generated much of the prosperity of the Western world. It is this process that delivers the abundance of choice, the lower prices, the increased innovation, and the better quality of goods and services. The antitrust and competition laws are designed to address risks, remedy possible market failures, and safeguard consumer welfare. Competition agencies and courts are tasked with enforcing the law. As they do so, they face the challenge of correctly identifying what amounts to an anti-competitive activity and curtailing it to ensure dynamic and competitive markets.

Competition and Antitrust Law: A Very Short Introduction

Competition and Antitrust Law: A Very Short Introduction draws on case studies from across the EU and USA to examine the benefits of competition and the laws which safeguard competitive markets. Competitive markets deliver lower prices, better quality, abundance of choice, and increased innovation. But while competition benefits consumers, it can prove challenging for sellers and producers who may try to dampen the competitive process. This VSI elucidates the key challenges to competition — cartels and anti-competitive agreements, monopolies, and mergers — and looks at the policy considerations which affect competition law enforcement. There exists a delicate relationship between a free market economy and government intervention.