Impact of Network Structure on New Service Pricing

We analyze a firm’s optimal pricing of a new service when consumers interact in a network and impose positive externality on one another. The firm initially provides its service for free, leveraging network externality to promote rapid service consumption growth. The firm raises the price and starts earning revenue only when a sufficient level of consumer interactions is established. Incorporating the local network effects in a nonstationary dynamic model, we study the impact of network structure on the firm’s revenue and optimal pricing decision. We find that the firm delays the timing of service monetization when it faces a more strongly connected network despite the fact that such a network allows the firm to monetize the service sooner by resulting in faster consumption growth. We also find that the firm benefits from network imbalance; that is, the firm prefers a network of consumers with varying degrees of connections to that with similar degrees of connections. We also study the value of knowing the network structure and discuss how such knowledge impacts the firm’s profitability. Our analyses rely on the techniques from algebraic graph theory, which enable us to solve the firm’s high-dimensional dynamic pricing problem by relating it to the network’s spectral characteristics.

Environmental Efficiency of Construction Industry with onsiderations to Carbon Emission: A Case Study in Henan, China

Low energy utilization is observed in China due to the extensive economic growth mode, which further leads to considerable energy wastes and environmental pollution. The construction industry plays an important role in the national economic development of China and consumes tremendous materials; thus, this industry discharges abundant CO2. The energy consumption growth rate of the construction industry in China is far higher than the national energy consumption growth rate, resulting in the prominent situation of high energy consumption and low yield. A case study based on Henan Province, China, was conducted to further analyze the environmental efficiency of the construction industry. An index system was established by using the Super-slack-based model (Super-SBM). This system chooses the following: labor, energy, capital, and technology of the construction industry as the input variables, economic output as the output variable, and carbon emissions as the unexpected output. This system was also used to investigate the energy efficiency of the construction industry in Henan Province from 2008 to 2019. Results demonstrated that the construction industry in Henan Province has failed to eliminate the extensive development mode thus far. The environmental efficiency of the construction industry presents a fluctuating growth with a mean of 1.048, which generally remains at a relatively low level. The numbers of construction machines and enterprises in the construction industry have redundancy in approximately 50% of the years. Thus, this study can provide some positive references to enrich the evaluation index system and estimation model of energy efficiency of the construction industry, which includes unexpected output. Moreover, the current study can provide a comprehensive understanding of the environmental efficiency of the construction industry in a province in China and realize reasonable allocation of construction industrial resources.

Study on the Influence of Immersive Shopping Experience on the Consumption Decisions of Generation Z

Generation Z was born in 1995 -2009. Take the Chinese market as an example. According to CBNData data, China's generation Z expenses account for about 13% of the total national household expenses, and the consumption growth rate far exceeds that of other age groups. According to the White Paper on Generation Z Consumption Power, Generation Z's monthly disposable income reaches 3,501 yuan, much higher than China's per capita disposable income of 2,561 yuan. (Luna; Zhou Yize 2020) So it is very important to catch the consumer eye of Generation Z.

Households’ Electrical Energy Conservation and Management: An Ecological Break-Through, or the Same Old Consumption-Growth Path?

We examine the motivations behind the electrical energy conservation and smart management at households to verify whether we are observing an ecological breakthrough, or a mere continuation of the well-trodden consumption-growth path. We conducted an online survey in France, Spain, Italy, and Denmark (n = 3200) on the subject of electricity use and generation. We utilized a generalized structural equation model to simultaneously test the direct reasons behind different energy-use behaviors and intentions, as well as their motivating factors. Measures to conserve electrical energy and install renewable energy equipment are not solely driven by ecological concerns; a crucial role is played by openness to new technologies, which correlates with high financial status. Saving electrical energy and new-tech eagerness go hand-in-hand with attachment to consumption and comfort. Social environment is relevant, as it allows users to converse about electricity saving with friends, and to observe their habits. Individuals may aim not to consume less energy, but to enhance their standards of living by economizing energy to fund other purchases, which limits the reduction in carbon footprint. Increasing the popularity of energy-saving solutions, therefore, might prove insufficient in the face of environmental threats and the challenges of transforming the energy market.

How the shadow economy can be detected in National Accounts

The paper examines how indicators of the shadow economy correspond to the National Accounts values. More precisely, we focus on household accounts assuming that the shadow economy should be visible in the difference between household income and consumption, as household (disposable) income is grossly underreported. Household consumption seems therefore to be a more accurate indicator in this context, as most shadow economy income is eventually spent on consumption. This implies that household savings figures should be negatively related to the values of the shadow economy; consequently, if the values relating to the shadow economy are high, savings should be low, or even negative, and vice versa. We verify this hypothesis using European cross-country data covering the years 1991–2017 with the application of MIMIC model calculations as a point of reference. The estimation results lend very little support to the hypothesis assuming that the shadow economy depresses household savings, even though we can otherwise explain comparatively well the cross-country variation in household savings and consumption growth rates.

How to be sustainable in beef consumption – Exploring the factors. Case study

The aim of the paper is to explain beef consumption through the economic indicators and the prediction tendencies of beef consumption. There are countries like Slovakia that confirm the opposite trend despite the global trend of consumption growth. In terms of the ecosystems' sustainability, beef production should be adjusted accordingly, as in the case of Slovakia. We focus on the economic aspect of beef consumption from the perspective of sustainability. Commodity prices are considered to be a significant factor influencing consumption and the behaviour of beef consumers. Despite increasing income in Slovakia, consumption of beef covers only 30% of recommended doses in the year 2018. To achieve the objective of the research, we decided to use the calculation of price and income elasticity of food demand using the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) model to analyse meat consumption trends. The findings confirm that beef consumption will decline in Slovakia in the following years, and it will be progressively replaced by pork and poultry meat.

Know More, Spend More? The Impact of Financial Literacy on Household Consumption

This paper examines the relationship between household consumption and financial literacy. The economic framework is a simple life-cycle model of consumption in which financial literacy affects the rate of return on assets. The theoretical predictions are that, for plausible values of the intertemporal elasticity of substitution, financial literacy is positively related to both the level of consumption and consumption growth. We empirically test these theoretical predictions with Dutch data from the LISS household panel. Our results provide evidence in favour of a positive association between non-durable consumption, and in particular food consumption, and financial literacy. No evidence is, however, found in favour of an association between consumption growth and financial literacy.