The future of electronic commerce will be shaped by open, heterogeneous and complex structures, consisting of networked marketplaces. Software agents will interact and negotiate on behalf of their human (or organizational) principals. Principals will be able to implement fraudulent strategies in...

Tipping is a phenomenon that illustrates the importance of social norms and psychological reasons in motivating economic behavior. People tip because this is the social norm and disobeying norms results in psychological disutility. Tipping is also economically important: in the United States...

Tipping illustrates the importance of social norms in motivating economic behavior. People tip because this is the social norm and disobeying norms results in social disapproval that creates emotional disutility. Tipping is also economically important: in the United States alone, millions of...

THE CONCEPT OF AN INDUSTRY IS IMPORTANT FOR ECONOMIC ANALYSIS. HERE, WE DEFINE SUGAR INDUSTRY AS GROUP OF FIRMS PRODUCING SUGAR THAT ARE CLOSE SUBSTITUTES BY THE USE OF IDENTICAL PRODUCTION PROCESSES AND RAW MATERIALS. HOWEVER, SUGAR INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA WAS STILL IN ITS PIONEERING STAGE. THIS...

Globalization has led to exciting new business opportunities around the globe. Still, national and cultural boundaries have not evaporated into a borderless world. Several studies have identified so-called liabilities of foreignness that arise from a lack of embeddedness and roots in the host...

Prior research suggests that brand may influence consumer preference for differentiated products. However, the extant literature does not measure how brand value affects product similarity and consumer choice. This paper examines demand response to the proliferation of personal computers (PCs)....

We report that the price of a 6.5oz Coke was 5¢ from 1886 until 1959. Thus, we are documenting a nominal price rigidity that lasted more than 70 years! The case of Coca-Cola is particularly interesting because during the 70-year period there were substantial changes in the soft drink industry...

COAL WAS DISCOVERED IN NIGERIA IN 1909 AND COAL MINING STARTED WITH A DRIFT MINE AT OGBETE, ENUGU IN 1915. SINCE 1958/59, WHEN COAL PRODUCTION REACHED ITS PEAK, THERE HAS BEEN A PERSISTENT FLUCTUATION IN THE AMOUNT OF COAL PRODUCED IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS. THIS PAPER THEREFORE INVESTIGATES THE MAJOR...

In this paper we argue that pricing is all about price changes, and that the costs of price changes are often simultaneously subtle and substantial. We discuss a framework to deal with the dynamics of changing prices. This framework incorporates customer interpretations of price changes, an...

This paper was prepared for the purpose of presenting the methodology and uses of the Monte Carlo simulation technique as applied in the evaluation of investment projects to analyse and assess risk. The first part of the paper highlights the importance of risk analysis in investment appraisal....