The isolation requirements of the coronavirus epidemic and the intuitive display advantages of live-streaming have led to an increasing number of retailers shifting to social live-streaming platforms and e-commerce live-streaming platforms to promote and sell their products in real time. However, the provision of live-streaming services will also incur high live-streaming effort costs. In this paper, we develop two decision models for retailers to sell goods through a single online shop and both online shop and live-streaming room; we also present (...) the optimal decisions of pricing and live-streaming efforts. Furthermore, we identify the profitability conditions for retailers to determine when to provide live-streaming services. In addition, we examine the impact of the provision of live-streaming services on the optimal price and live-streaming effort. We obtain three findings. First, there is a unique optimal decision on the price and live-streaming effort under certain conditions. Second, when the effect coefficient of the live-streaming room reaches a certain threshold, there are enough customers who enter the live-streaming room to watch and buy and it is profitable for retailers to provide live-streaming service. Finally, the optimal price and live-streaming effort increase with the increase in average return loss, the effect coefficient of live-streaming effort, and the extra return rate and decrease with the increase in the proportion of customers who choose to buy in the online shop and the price discount coefficient in the live-streaming room. (shrink)

With the gradual deepening of environmental problems and the increase in consumer awareness of environmental protection, many enterprises have already begun to pay attention to green supply chain management. However, the price of green products is higher than that of nongreen products, which is an enormous challenge for many small- or medium-sized enterprises. To study the pricing and coordination of green supply chains under capital constraints, a model consisting of a manufacturer and a capital-constrained retailer is established; the manufacturer (...) invests in green products and provides a deferred payment contract. Setting the situation without capital constraints as a benchmark, this study explores the impact of the retailer’s capital constraints on the manufacturer’s product greenness design; an interesting result shows that deferred payment can help encourage the retailer to order more products and improve the profit of the manufacturer and the efficiency of the entire supply chain as well as the product’s greenness level simultaneously. However, the profit of the retailer will be hurt by the deferred payment contract. Therefore, to guarantee the profit of the entire channel and to make the two agents obtain a win-win outcome, a new two-way revenue-sharing contract is designed to coordinate the green supply chain. (shrink)

This study examines determinants of retail chains’ corporate social responsibility communication on their web pages. The theoretical foundation for the study is signaling theory, which suggests that firms will communicate about their CSR efforts when this is profitable for them and when such communication makes it possible for outsiders to distinguish good from bad performers. Based on this theory, I develop hypotheses about retail chains’ CSR signaling. The hypotheses are tested in a sample of 208 retail chains (...) in the Norwegian market. As hypothesized, I find that foreign chains, chains using private brands, and vertically integrated chains are more likely to signal, but I find no relationship between pricing and signaling. In further analysis using chains’ CSR memberships and certifications as the measure of signals, only the relationship between organizational form and signaling is replicated. In total, the findings give partial support to signaling theory. (shrink)

This paper looks at the question of sustainability through the prism of a collective action problem fundamentally driven by human desires and needs. It ftrst characterizes the problem of non-sustainability by combining environmental ethics with the philosophy of technology. The paper then considers four basic strategies for resolving the collective action problem: virtue, regulation, price, and innovation. Each solution has its own set of weaknesses and strengths, meaning that achieving sustainability will remain a difficult balancing act.

This paper presents an analysis and defense of competition in retail electricity supply. It includes some account of its development in the UK over the last dozen years, to the point where all retail price controls have now been removed. The development of this competition illustrates a number of the themes in Israel M. Kirzner’s writing – for example, the nature of competition as a process over time, the entrepreneurial and learning nature of this process, the role (...) of marketing in alerting customers, the role of competition in establishing price and in discovering the services and suppliers that customers prefer, and the advantages of competition over regulation.Cet article propose une analyse et une défense de la concurrence de l’offre de détail d’électricité. Il comporte quelques résultats de son évolution au Royaume-Uni durant les douze dernières années, jusqu’au moment où tous les contrôles de prix au détail ont été abolis. L’évolution de cette concurrence illustre quelquesuns des thèmes des écrits d’Israel Kirzner — par exemple, la nature de la concurrence en tant que processus à travers le temps, la nature entrepreneuriale et cognitive de ce processus, le rôle du marketing dans l’information des consommateurs, le rôle de la concurrence dans la fixation des prix et dans la découverte des services et des offreurs que les consommateurs préfèrent, et les avantages de la concurrence par rapport la réglementation. (shrink)

Counterfeiting is common in many industries. For the authenticity of online channel products and to combat counterfeiting, many companies have begun to use blockchain technology to trace product information. This paper investigates a dual-channel supply chain consisting of one manufacturer and one retailer, in which the manufacturer sells its standard products through the retailer and adopts blockchain technology to launch the online channel to sell the traceable products. A Stackelberg game is developed to depict the pricing decision and channel strategy (...) choice for the manufacturer. It shows that both the manufacturer and the retailer can benefit from blockchain adoption. And the longer it takes for product traceability, the lower the price of online traceable products. It is beneficial for the manufacturer when consumers in the market are less concerned about information transparency. For consumer sensitivity, as consumers’ acceptance of direct sales channels increases, the selling prices of online traceable products have risen. Furthermore, as the traceability time-sensitivity coefficient increases, the sales price of the traceable products decreases, and the retail price of offline standard products rises. The conclusion of this paper has a certain guiding role for the dominant manufacturers in choosing whether to apply blockchain technology to improve the demand for traceable products. (shrink)

During the last 10 years or so, a number of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives have been introduced in global supply chains, which aim to improve the conditions of workers engaged in producing goods for export. This article discusses the observations of CSR in practice in the Costa Rican-United Kingdom (UK) banana chain. The banana chain makes for an interesting case study because there are dominant corporate actors at each end who are in a position to influence the conditions experienced (...) by workers on banana plantations. At the top of the chain there are four major UK supermarket groups who control access to the retail market and as selfappointed guardians of consumer interest are demanding that producers adopt more socially responsible practices. At the other end, banana production is highly integrated and controlled by three large North American agri-businesses who have developed their own social and environmental certification programmes. Costa Rica also makes for an interesting country to locate the study as it has a tradition of state-led policies to protect worker rights. Yet, in spite of CSR commitments made by both supermarkets and producers that emphasise health and safety and the country's established Labour Law, this article shows that there are problems for workers when they are forced to meet demanding production schedules. Furthermore, it suggests that whilst supermarkets continue to drive down consumer prices and put pressure on producers to reduce costs, a downward spiral of working conditions is created regardless of the CSR policies in place. However, this article also identifies that changes to supermarket behaviour is possible when consumer trust is at stake. (shrink)

Online retailers are using advances in data collection and computing technologies to “personalize” prices, i.e., offer goods for sale to shoppers at their reservation prices, or the highest price they are willing to pay. In this paper, I offer a criticism of this practice. I begin by putting online personalized pricing in context. It is not something entirely new, but rather a kind of price discrimination, a familiar pricing practice. I then offer a fairness-based argument against it. When (...) an online retailer personalizes prices, it competes unfairly for the social surplus created by a transaction. I defend this argument against objections, and offer a simple remedy: online retailers should either disclose that they are personalizing prices, or stop doing so. (shrink)

Times of crisis bring about increased demands on businesses as shortages, or unexpected but significant, business costs are encountered. Passing on such costs to consumers is a challenge. When faced with a retail price increase, consumers may rely on cues as to the motive behind the increase. Such cues can raise suspicion of alternative motive (e. g., taking advantage of the consumer) affecting consumers' judgments of price fairness. This research investigates two triggers of suspicion: salience of alternative (...) motives, and behavior judged to be out-of-character for the business. Results of the two studies within crisis contexts indicate that suspicion is created when alternative motives are salient and when a retailer acts out-of-character. Multiple group analyses revealed that suspicion induced negative affect and subsequent perceptions of price fairness. When suspicion was present, more negative feelings toward the retailer and judgments of price unfairness resulted. (shrink)

This study uses an artificial intelligence (AI) model to identify arbitrage opportunities in the retail marketplace. Specifically, we develop an AI model to predict the optimal purchasing point based on the price movement of products in the market. Our model is trained on a large dataset collected from an online marketplace in the United States. Our model is enhanced by incorporating user-generated content (UGC), which is empirically proven to be significantly informative. Overall, the AI model attains more than (...) 90% precision rate, while the recall rate is higher than 80% in an out-of-sample test. In addition, we conduct a field experiment to verify the external validity of the AI model in a real-life setting. Our model identifies 293 arbitrage opportunities during a one-year field experiment and generates a profit of $7.06 per arbitrage opportunity. The result demonstrates that AI performs exceptionally well in identifying arbitrage opportunities in retail markets with tangible economic values. Our results also yield important implications regarding the role of AI in the society, both from the consumer and firm perspectives. (shrink)

This paper considers a dual-channel supply chain with product customization. One manufacturer and one retailer are involved. The online direct sales channel sells standard and customized products, and the offline retail channel sells standard products. The prices and service levels of products sold via different channels are differentiated, and the customization level which influences the customization cost and choices of customers is decided by the manufacturer. Three game models are proposed: the manufacturer Stackelberg model, the retailer Stackelberg model, and (...) the Nash game model. The price and service decisions of the players are derived. Meanwhile, a service-cost-sharing contract is designed for the MS model. The impacts of price and service competition, service cost, and customers sensitivity to the customization level on the optimal decisions are investigated. Through the numerical analysis, we find that, among the three models, the manufacturer Stackelberg model is the most beneficial game structure for the overall supply chain but has the largest revenue gap between the two members. Second, under price competition and service competition, the manufacturer should differentiate the prices and services for direct sales standard products and customized products according to his market status. Third, the manufacturer should increase customization expenditures to construct his customization production line and provide more diversified products when consumers are more sensitive to product customization. (shrink)

Following the Industrial Revolution in Europe and America, the market was flooded with manufacturing goods. To promote sales, the department store that stressed a “low profit, high volume” model appeared in Shanghai. Sellers lowered prices to encourage purchases, and used rapid and high volume turnover to make up for lower profits. To speed up turnover, department stores invented various devices to increase sales, including intensive media advertising, open and comfortable store spaces, and free and attentive services. The new sales philosophy (...) and tactics not only brought about a breakthrough in the retailing, but also reshaped consumer life and urban culture. The Shanghai department store evinced the social and cultural meaning of consumption in its building and inner design, its application of new technology, and its promotional activities and products display. A consumer lifestyle centering on the department store also remolded the Shanghai society. (shrink)

Pharmaceutical supply chains are often highly complex with conflicting objectives of social welfare and profit maximization. Furthermore, there are various stakeholders including pharmaceutical manufacturer, distributors, retailers, patients, and the government. In this paper, we consider a two-stage supply chain consisting of one pharmaceutical manufacturer and a pharmacy with online and offline channels. We focus on four price cap models: no price cap regulation, pharmaceutical manufacturer’s price cap regulation, pharmacy price cap regulation, and linkage price cap (...) regulation. We apply game theory, investigate how the price cap regulations affect the firms’ pricing, and evaluate the economic performance and social welfare of the dual-channel pharmaceutical supply chain. Our findings show that first, like the single-channel pharmaceutical supply chain, the profit of the regulated firm always decreases and the profit of the unregulated firm always increases when they are under one-sided price cap regulations. Second, the impacts of the linkage price cap regulation on the supply chain are more complicated depending on the linkage coefficient and market share. Overall, our findings can provide theoretical and practical insights to help the government devise price cap regulations for complex modern pharmaceutical supply chains. (shrink)

Focusing on the dual-channel supply chain with live broadcasts selling, this paper investigates the service overflow of live broadcasts with Stackelberg game perspective and the impact of retailers’ different market potentials on the pricing decisions of dual-channel members. Meanwhile, it also evaluates the pricing strategy of online retailers after introducing KOL live broadcasts. The results show that when one of the dual-channel retailers adopts live broadcast sales, the live broadcast service overflow will have an adverse impact on it, but the (...) degree of the impact depends on the market potential of supply chain members, and different power structures can be used to offset the adverse impact of live broadcast service overflow. Then, the live broadcast sales service overflow will have a certain beneficial impact on online retailers under certain circumstances. Furthermore, with the increase of live broadcast sales service overflow, the retail prices of both companies will decline, while the live broadcast sales service overflow is more beneficial for consumers. (shrink)

This paper is the report of a meetingthat gathered many of the UK's most senioranimal scientists with representatives of thefarming industry, consumer groups, animalwelfare groups, and environmentalists. Therewas strong consensus that the current economicstructure of agriculture cannot adequatelyaddress major issues of concern to society:farm incomes, food security and safety, theneeds of developing countries, animal welfare,and the environment. This economic structure isbased primarily on competition betweenproducers and between retailers, driving foodprices down, combined with externalization ofmany costs. These issues must be addressed (...) by acombination of legislation, restructuring ofthe market, and use of public funds. Themeeting included workshops that made otherrecommendations for research and education. Themost urgent requirement is recognition thatchange is needed and development of a visionfor what that change must achieve. (shrink)

Remanufacturing has become an important way to realize sustainable development strategy. For remanufacturing closed-loop supply chain under different circumstances, many factors are considered, such as consumers’ different preferences for the purchase and payment of remanufactured products and the quality of recycled products. In this study, three models are presented for supply chain system, including a manufacturer lead and a retailer recycle. While nongovernment participation and non-supply-chain coordination are considered in model I, model II has government participation but non-supply-chain coordination, and (...) model III has both government participation and supply chain coordination. The equilibrium decisions are derived for each model using the game-theoretic approach. The study found that consumers’ preferences affect the pricing decisions of remanufactured products. When consumers’ willingness to buy and pay for remanufactured products is close to that of new products, the total profit of the supply chain will significantly increase; the quality of recycled products will also influence the pricing decisions of new/remanufactured products, which in turn will affect the market demand for products. Government participation is conducive to encouraging manufacturer, retailer, and consumers to actively participate in the recycling and remanufacturing activities of used products. Supply chain coordination contracts can further enhance the role of the consumer market and promote the implementation of government policies. Under certain conditions, revenue sharing contract coordination can significantly increase the total profit of the supply chain system. The research conclusions have certain reference value for the coordination among the nodes of the remanufacturing supply chain and the formulation of policies with government participation. (shrink)

This paper explores how consumers perceive retailer ethics. Based on a review of the marketing and consumer research literature, we conceptualize consumer perceptions of the ethics of retailers as a multidimensional construct and propose that its effects on consumer purchase behavior and word-of-mouth communication are more salient when consumers have strong rather than weak ethical beliefs. The model was validated using a random sample of 399 respondents in a collectivist society. The results of structural equation modeling confirmed that CPER is (...) a second-order construct comprising product fairness, price fairness, non-deception, fair trade, and green products. CPER positively predicted consumer purchase behavior and word-of-mouth communication. Moreover, ethical beliefs moderated the positive relationship between CPER and the word-of-mouth communication of consumers with strong ethical beliefs but did not moderate the relationship between CPER and purchase behavior. The implications of the findings are discussed. (shrink)

This research was designed to develop an inventory of vendor-related problems experienced by buyers for small retail apparel stores during the merchandise buying process, determine how frequently each difficulty occurs, and identify the experiences perceived to be unethical. Among the 22 vendor-related difficulties examined minimum order requirements, 6 month advance purchase, incomplete orders, late shipments, and shipping overcharges were identified most frequently. Analysis of results suggested that one factor, misleading vendor practices, and eight background variables (annual sales, price (...) line, full- and part-time employees, retail and buying experience, and shopping large or small markets) were associated with unethical experiences. Ethically troublesome experiences mentioned most frequently were padded orders, selling competitor same merchandise, withholding return authorization and credit, shipping overcharges, and dealing with vendor's factor. (shrink)

Remanufacturing widely exists in production activities. Two different game models are involved while considering reverse channels: In Model P, the manufacturer provides new and remanufactured products to two retailers. New products are sold through an online platform, while remanufactured products are sold in offline physical stores in a decentralized scenario. In Model C, the manufacturer provides new and remanufactured units to only one retailer that operates both online and offline channels in a centralized scenario. This research showed that a manufacturer’s (...) profitability and industry profits in Model P were higher than those in Model C from the perspective of economic performance; the sum of the profits of both retailers in Model P was worse than the profits of the retailer in Model C. Moreover, Model P was found to be greener than Model C from the perspective of environmental sustainability. From a social viewpoint, Model P had a higher consumer surplus than Model C; the higher the cost of distributing a remanufactured unit, the more disadvantageous the model to the consumers. (shrink)

From a marketing point of view, front labels play a crucial role in the consumers' relatively quick decisionmaking process when buying wine in retail stores. The aim of this paper was to reveal which semiotic code systems, in particular, colors, visual representations, and designs, as well as verbal representations, Austrian wine producers use on the front labels of their red wine bottles. For that purpose, the method of content analysis was applied on a representative corpus of red wine labels. (...) Our empirical study showed that the wine labels analyzed especially appeal to price sensitive customers through the employment of light colors. In addition, wine producers do not seem to apply the “visualtotaste lexicon” as the labels rarely show the color “red.” Furthermore, in a large number of cases the wine producers use their family names as brand names of their wines. Moreover, both the depiction of crests and landscapes and the application of indexical brand names, emphasize the Austrian origin of wines. Finally, the extensive use of English brand names appears to connect wines to the social stereotypes of modernity, prestige, and progress. (shrink)

Transnational food retailers expanded to middle-income countries over recent decades responding to supply and demand. Control in new markets diffuses along three axes: socio-economic, geographic, and product category. We used a mixed method approach to study the progression of modern retail in Thailand on these three axes and consumer preferences for food retailing. In Thailand modern retail controls half the food sales but traditional fresh markets remain important. Quantitative questionnaires administered to members of a large national cohort study (...) revealed around half of respondents were primarily traditional shoppers and half either utilized modern and traditional formats equally or primarily shopped at supermarkets. Fresh foods were mainly purchased at traditional retail formats and dry packaged foods at supermarkets. Qualitative interviews found price and quality of produce and availability of culturally important products to be significant reasons for continued support of fresh markets. Our results show socio-economic and geographic diffusion is already advanced with most respondents having access to and utilizing modern retail. Control of the fresh food sector by transnationals faces barriers in Thailand and may remain elusive. The short to mid-term outcome may be a bifurcated food system with modern and traditional retail each retaining market share, but fresh markets longer term survival may require government assistance as supermarkets become more established. Fresh markets supply affordable, healthy foods, and livelihoods for poorer Thais and are repositories of Thai food culture and social networks. If they survive they will confer cultural, social, economic, and health benefits. (shrink)

Retailers are faced with a dilemma of whether to share demand information with other supply chain members, and if so, how to share it. Our research interest is motivated by the grounds that the value of downstream retailers’ sales information to upstream manufacturers is to improve the accuracy of manufacturers’ order forecasting. This problem is particularly important in the remanufacturing of closed-loop supply chains. In this study, we consider a retailer as the demand information holder, who sells new and remanufactured (...) products in wholesale to a manufacturer and, simultaneously, she and the manufacturer competitively collect used products from the customers. We explicitly characterize the role of information sharing in a CLSC. We contributed to the information-sharing literature by integrating the existing information-sharing model with dual recycling channels and channel power structure. Previous literature suggests that retailers prefer to share demand information with other firms when the market demand is high. However, surprisingly, we find that when the manufacturer does not play a leading role, the retailer shares her forecast demand information with the manufacturer if the market demand is low. We also show that information sharing reduces the overall profit of the supply chain when the manufacturer dominates the market. In addition, our results also illustrate that information sharing affects the performance of the supply chain mainly by affecting the wholesale price. (shrink)

We describe a first experiment on whether product complexity affects competition and consumers in retail markets. We are unable to detect a significant effect of product complexity on prices, except insofar as the demand elasticity for complex products is higher. However, there is qualified evidence that complex products have the potential to induce consumers to buy more than they would otherwise. In this sense, consumer exploitability in quantities cannot be ruled out. We also find evidence for shaping effects: consumers’ (...) preferences are shaped by past experience with prices, and firms may in principle exploit this to sell more. (shrink)

This book explores for the first time an idea common to both Plato and Aristotle: although people are separate, their lives need not be; one person's life may overflow into another's, so that helping someone else is a way of serving oneself. Price considers how this idea unites the philosophers' treatments of love and friendship (which are otherwise very different), and demonstrates that this view of love and friendship, applied not only to personal relationships, but also to the household (...) and even the city-state, promises to resolve the old dichotomy between egoism and altruism. (shrink)

This is a book about the religious life of the Greeks from the eighth century BC to the fifth century AD, looked at in the context of a variety of different cities and periods. Simon Price does not describe some abstract and self-contained system of religion or myths but examines local practices and ideas in the light of general Greek ideas, relating them for example, to gender roles and to cultural and political life (including Attic tragedy and the trial (...) of Socrates). He also lays emphasis on the reactions to Greek religions of ancient thinkers - Greek, Roman, Jewish and Christian. The evidence drawn on is of all kinds: literary texts, which are translated throughout; inscriptions, including an appendix of newly translated Greek inscriptions; and archaeology, which is highlighted in the numerous illustrations. (shrink)

The supply chain in the new retail context demands higher requirements on the price, service, and logistics level. It is very important to seek the coordination among the optimal price, service level, and logistics level. In this paper, we propose the coordination of pricing, the service level, and delivery time of a new retail supply chain composed of one product supplier, one platform service provider, and one logistics provider. Firstly, the profit function mode of product pricing, (...) platform service level, and logistics distribution level that influence the consumers’ demand is constructed in two modes, namely, the centralized and decentralized decision mode. Then, we calculate and compare the optimal product price, the optimal platform service level, the optimal delivery time, and the profit of each member of the supply chain from both decision modes. We discovered that cooperation improves the service level, logistics level, and the income of each member of the new retail supply chain. Therefore, we propose a novel mode called the coordination mode as a strategy for the supply chain based on the combination contract. We performed a numerical analysis to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the coordination contract. (shrink)

Retailers like to use different colors to present the sale price and original price when they are presenting a promotion price. How does the inconsistent color presentation of the prices influence consumers’ purchase likelihood? The extant research does not consider this question. This article will address this question. Drawing on incongruence theory and the persuasion knowledge model, this article proposes that when the color of the sale price is inconsistent with that of the original price, (...) consumers show less preference for the sale price. The reason is that consumers perceive the price as being less trustworthy, which leads to a lower purchase likelihood. Furthermore, this effect is affected by the brand awareness of products. Specifically, when products are less-known brands, the inconsistent colors of the sale price and original price will lead to a lower purchase likelihood. In contrast, when products are well-known brands, the inconsistent colors of the sale price and original price will lead to a high purchase likelihood. In this article, four studies are used to verify these hypotheses, and implications of theory and practice of the present research are discussed. (shrink)

The present research isolates the fairness assessment of the process used by the retailer to set a price, as well as the distributive fairness of the price compared to the price that others are offered, and examines the combined effect of procedural fairness and distributive fairness on overall price fairness. Two experimental studies examine procedural and distributive fairness effects on overall price fairness. In study 1, procedural fairness and distributive fairness are manipulated and found to (...) interact to bring about overall price fairness. In study 2, suspicion toward the seller is found to mediate the relationship between procedural fairness and overall price fairness when the price is disadvantageous. (shrink)

Many areas of philosophy employ a distinction between factual and non-factual (descriptive/non-descriptive, cognitive/non-cognitive, etc) uses of language. This book examines the various ways in which this distinction is normally drawn, argues that all are unsatisfactory, and suggests that the search for a sharp distinction is misconceived. The book develops an alternative approach, based on a novel theory of the function and origins of the concept of truth. The central hypothesis is that the main role of the normative notion of truth (...) is to encourage speakers to argue, with long-run behavioural advantages. This offers a fresh perspective on many debates about realism in contemporary philosophy. (shrink)

Does artificial intelligence (AI) pose existential risks to humanity? Some critics feel this question is getting too much attention, and want to push it aside in favour of conversations about the immediate risks of AI. These critics now include the journal Nature, where a recent editorial urges us to 'stop talking about tomorrow's AI doomsday when AI poses risks today.' We argue that this is a serious failure of judgement, on Nature's part. In science, as in everyday life, we expect (...) influential actors to consider the consequences of error. As the world's leading scientific journal, Nature is certainly an influential actor, especially so in the absence of robust global regulation of AI. Yet it has manifestly failed to consider the cost of error in this case. (shrink)

I discuss the relationship between the two forms of expressivism defended by Robert Brandom, on one hand, and philosophers in the Humean tradition, such as Simon Blackburn and Allan Gibbard, on the other. I identify three apparent points of difference between the two programs, but argue that all three are superficial. Both projects benefit from the insights of the other, and the combination is in a natural sense a global expressivism.

Causalists and Evidentialists can agree about the right course of action in an (apparent) Newcomb problem, if the causal facts are not as initially they seem. If declining $1,000 causes the Predictor to have placed $1m in the opaque box, CDT agrees with EDT that one-boxing is rational. This creates a difficulty for Causalists. We explain the problem with reference to Dummett's work on backward causation and Lewis's on chance and crystal balls. We show that the possibility that the causal (...) facts might be properly judged to be non-standard in Newcomb problems leads to a dilemma for Causalism. One horn embraces a subjectivist understanding of causation, in a sense analogous to Lewis's own subjectivist conception of objective chance. In this case the analogy with chance reveals a terminological choice point, such that either (i) CDT is completely reconciled with EDT, or (ii) EDT takes precedence in the cases in which the two theories give different recommendations. The other horn of the dilemma rejects subjectivism, but now the analogy with chance suggests that it is simply mysterious why causation so construed should constrain rational action. (shrink)

In the first chapter of From Metaphysics to Ethics, Frank Jackson begins, as he puts it, ‘by explaining how serious metaphysics by its very nature raises the location problem.’ (1998, p. 1) He gives us two examples of location problems. The first concerns semantic properties, such as truth and reference: Some physical structures are true. For example, if I were to utter a token of the type ‘Grass is green’, the structure I would thereby bring into existence would be true (...) ... How are the semantic properties of the sentence related to the non-semantic properties of the sentence? Where, if anywhere, are the semantic properties of truth, content and reference to be found in the non-semantic, physical or naturalistic account of the sentence?’ (1998, p. 2) Jackson notes two possible answers to questions of this kind. The first denies that there are any such semantic properties. (shrink)

Are the distinctions between past, present and future, and the apparent ‘passage’ of time, features of the world in itself, or manifestations of the human perspective? Questions of this kind have been at the heart of metaphysics of time since antiquity. The latter view has much in common with pragmatism, though few in these debates are aware of that connection, and few of the view’s proponents think of themselves as pragmatists. For their part, pragmatists are often unaware of this congenial (...) application of their methodology; some associate pragmatism with the other side of the old debate in the metaphysics of time. In my view, this link between time and pragmatism only scratches the surface of the deep two-way dependencies between these two topics. The human temporal perspective turns out to be deeply implicated not merely in our temporal notions themselves, but in many other conceptual categories – arguably, in fact, in all of them, and in the nature of language and thought. In this way, reflection on our own temporal character vindicates James’ famous slogan for global pragmatism: ‘The trail of the human serpent is thus over everything.’. (shrink)

This paper incorporates fairness concerns and consumer reference price effects into a two-echelon building-material closed-loop supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer. By establishing four differential game models, we investigate the sustainable operations and cooperation of this supply chain. The four game models are a Nash noncooperative game, Stackelberg game with cost sharing, Stackelberg game with fairness concerns and cost sharing, and centralized decision model. By using dynamic models and optimal control theory, we obtain the two members’ (...) optimal equilibrium strategies in the supply chain. Analytical results show that the consumer reference price effect has a positive impact on the manufacturer’s effort level, retailer’s publicity level, and product brand goodwill, which can improve the supply chain performance. The retailer’s partial commitment to cost sharing can enhance the production enthusiasm of the manufacturer, improve the brand reputation of the product, and enhance the two members’ individual profitability. The distributional fairness concerns of the manufacturer not only prevent the manufacturer and retailer from achieving Pareto improvement but also lead to the decline of the manufacturer’s effort level and profitability. The research conclusions of this paper can provide some insights into the cooperation and sustainable development of the supply chain. (shrink)

In the first chapter of From Metaphysics to Ethics, Frank Jackson begins, as he puts it, ‘by explaining how serious metaphysics by its very nature raises the location problem.’ (1998, p. 1) He gives us two examples of location problems. The first concerns semantic properties, such as truth and reference: Some physical structures are true. For example, if I were to utter a token of the type ‘Grass is green’, the structure I would thereby bring into existence would be true (...) ... How are the semantic properties of the sentence related to the non-semantic properties of the sentence? Where, if anywhere, are the semantic properties of truth, content and reference to be found in the non-semantic, physical or naturalistic account of the sentence?’ (1998, p. 2) Jackson notes two possible answers to questions of this kind. The first denies that there are any such semantic properties. (shrink)

Why do leaders fail ethically? In this book, Terry L. Price applies a multi-disciplinary approach to an understanding of immorality in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. He argues that leaders can know that a certain kind of behavior is generally required by morality but nonetheless be mistaken as to whether the relevant moral requirement applies to them in a particular situation and whether others are protected by this requirement. Price articulates how leaders make exceptions of themselves, explains (...) how the justificatory force of leadership gives rise to such exception-making, and develops normative prescriptions that leaders should adopt as a response to this feature of their moral psychology. (shrink)

Ismael traces our sense that the past is fixed and the future open to what she calls ‘the practical arrow’ – ‘the sense that we can affect the future but not the past.’ In this piece I draw a sharper distinction than Ismael herself does between agents and mere observers, even self-referential observers; and I use it to argue that Ismael’s explanation of the practical arrow is incomplete. To explain our inability to affect the past we need to appeal to (...) our own temporal orientation as agents, and not merely to the ingredients from physics that allow us to predict the consequences of our actions. [This piece is a commentary on J Ismael’s ‘The Open Universe: Totality, Self-Reference and Time’, to appear in the Australasian Philosophical Review.]. (shrink)

Carnap was one of the first to use the term 'non-cognitivism'. His linguistic pluralism and voluntarism, and his deflationary views of ontology and semantics, are highly congenial to those of us who want to take non-cognitivism in the direction of global expressivism. In his own case, however, this move is in tension with his continued endorsement of what he calls 'the general thesis of logical empiricism', that 'there is no third kind of knowledge besides empirical and logical knowledge.’ So while (...) Carnap clears a path towards global expressivism, he doesn't seem to appreciate what it requires him to leave behind. (shrink)

How do rational minds make contact with the world? The empiricist tradition sees a gap between mind and world, and takes sensory experience, fallible as it is, to provide our only bridge across that gap. In its crudest form, for example, the traditional idea is that our minds consult an inner realm of sensory experience, which provides us with evidence about the nature of external reality. Notoriously, however, it turns out to be far from clear that there is any viable (...) conception of experience which allows it to do the job. The original problem is to show that thought is rationally constrained by external reality. If sensory experience is to provide the solution--in particular, if it is to provide the answer to sceptical challenges--it must therefore meet two criteria. First, it must itself be `receptive'--i.e., appropriately constrained by external reality. Second, it must be the kind of thing that can enter into a logical or rational relationship with belief--it must already be `conceptual,' in other words. In arguing against the idea that anything could serve both roles, Wilfred Sellars termed this conception of experience "the Myth of the Given.". (shrink)