Willingness to Pay for Solar Lanterns: Does the Trial Period Play a Role?

Where electricity access is limited, solar lanterns are a viable and relatively inexpensive source of basic lighting for households. However, the creation of commercially viable business models for solar lanterns is difficult because the customers are poor and make decisions under tight liquidity constraints. To understand the economics of technology adoption in the case of solar lanterns, we conduct a field experiment on willingness to pay (WTP) for solar lanterns in rural Uttar Pradesh. Applying the Becker–DeGroot–Marschak method of eliciting WTP, we evaluate the ability of a trial period and postponed payment to increase sales. We find no evidence for the effectiveness of the trial period and only weak evidence for the positive effect of postponed payment. Overall, WTP for the product among the customers is low. There is no clear evidence for concerns about the uncertain quality of the product, liquidity constraints, or present‐bias. In this context, policies to subsidize very small solar lanterns would not correct a market failure, as people appear to have only a limited interest in the product.     

The costs of collectivization,per se

The question of collectivization becomes relevant in the post-financial crisis years as characterized by growing criticism of market organization. Collectivization, the social structure distinguishable from the market or central planning agency, can be costly from overspending. In our analytical framework, the political order remains polycentric. The most widely acceptable institutional solution may be budgetary outlay sufficient to meet all demand, and especially when it is recognized that public criticism of market alternatives is often concentrated on moral goods, e.g., health care. The excess burden of collectivization, per se, is the excess of costs over benefits if the collectivity meets individual demand for the good beyond plausible efficiency levels. The costs of collectivization, per se, can be reduced by separated budgets, showing both revenue and outlay for individual budgetary line items, that bring collective spending decisions closer to the accompanying levy of taxes.     

Negotiators as Mediators: The Case of 1987–1995 Korea–United States Bilateral Trade Negotiations

Despite their widely recognized benefits, integrative approaches to negotiation have seldom been effectively used in interorganizational negotiations. This study analyzes the 1987–1995 Korea–United States Trade Negotiations, identifying elements in those talks that could have moved the negotiations in a more integrative direction. The role of building relationships — especially between key negotiators — is examined. Informal negotiations between the key negotiators from both sides were crucial in building such relationships, which helped both sides create solutions for mutual gains. This process was realized, inter alia, by the dual role that the key negotiators took on as negotiators and as mediators.     

The Organisational Culture of the Chaebol and Workplace Inequality: Stunted Mobilities of Korean Chinese Employees in a Beijing Subsidiary

The chaebol’s organisational culture was the target of much criticism when the Asian financial crisis hit the Korean economy in 1997. Despite much research on the topic over the past two decades, there continues to be a lack of consensus on the efficacy of reforms implemented since then. While some have focused on persisting patterns of paternalism, others have highlighted the structural changes implemented. This article revisits this debate by analysing the ways in which culture influences the implementation of structural reforms as a legitimating ideology. By analysing ethnographic data of a chaebol subsidiary in Beijing, the article demonstrates how cultural tropes of the company as a family and women as caretakers, popularised under the Park Chung Hee regime, have continued to shape perceptions of competence in the workplace. In particular, despite the crucial role that Korean Chinese employees have played in helping the chaebol penetrate Chinese markets, their bilingual and bicultural skills are devalued. Instead, the feminisation of their labour has justified their continuing marginalisation in the firm.     

Developmental Pathways from Parental Socioeconomic Status to Adolescent Substance Use: Alternative and Complementary Reinforcement

Although lower socioeconomic status has been linked to increased youth substance use, much less research has determined potential mechanisms explaining the association. The current longitudinal study tested whether alternative (i.e., pleasure gained from activities without any concurrent use of substances) and complementary (i.e., pleasure gained from activities in tandem with substance use) reinforcement mediate the link between lower socioeconomic status and youth substance use. Further, we tested whether alternative and complementary reinforcement and youth substance use gradually unfold over time and then intersect with one another in a cascading manner. Potential sex differences are also examined. Data were drawn from a longitudinal survey of substance use and mental health among high school students in Los Angeles. Data collection involved four semiannual assessment waves beginning in fall 2013 (N?=?3395; M baseline age?=?14.1; 47% Hispanic, 16.2% Asian, 16.1% multiethnic, 15.7% White, and 5% Black; 53.4% female). The results from a negative binomial path model suggested that lower parental socioeconomic status (i.e., lower parental education) was significantly related to an increased number of substances used by youth. The final path model revealed that the inverse association was statistically mediated by adolescents’ diminished engagement in pleasurable substance-free activities (i.e., alternative reinforcers) and elevated engagement in pleasurable activities paired with substance use (i.e., complementary reinforcers). The direct effect of lower parental education on adolescent substance use was not statistically significant after accounting for the hypothesized mediating mechanisms. No sex differences were detected. Increasing access to and engagement in pleasant activities of high quality that do not need a reinforcement enhancer, such as substances, may be useful in interrupting the link between lower parental socioeconomic status and youth substance use.