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Consumption studies has grown tremendously in the past decade. Researchers in sociology, geography, anthropology, history, marketing, management, organization and even art history have embraced consumption as a key institution of our era, and are eager for ideas and insights. Conversations on Consumption makes an important contribution to the growing field of consumption studies by offering readers a lively introduction to debates and dialogues that have shaped the field, in the form of engaging interviews and personal reflections from leading theorists and researchers. The interviews in this collection were first published in the interdisciplinary journal Consumption Markets and Culture and together form an accessible summary of the leading ideas and key developments in consumption studies and social theory over the past two decades. With innovative contributions from marketing academics, historians, consumer researchers, sociologists, anthropologists and artists, the pieces highlight the interdisciplinary nature of consumption, as well as the wide-ranging interest in consumption studies. They are united in their approach to understand consumption, far removed from economic or managerial analysis, by focusing more on the role it plays in culture

This book brings together a diverse set of expert scholars to enliven and sharpen the debate about the ways in which consumption affects society today. Research on consumption can shed light on many fundamental questions, such as the character of society, including social and cultural dimensions; the relations between the generations; dependency of technology and the risks involved; the rise of Asia and its potential consumption preferences; the question of whether we must continuously increase our consumption to avoid a recession and whether this is ecologically sustainable

Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of tables -- List of figures -- List of maps -- List of contributors -- Acknowledgements -- Foreword -- 1 Introduction and overview -- 2 Iron and steel trade in Southeast Asia and the world -- 3 Intensity of steel use and environments in Southeast Asia -- 4 China's metals industry (I) -- 5 China's metals industry (II) -- 6 World demand for metals -- 7 Analysis of steel prices -- 8 Steel price projections -- 9 Trade complementarity: Western Australia and Korea -- Appendix -- Index.

Even though he is widely considered to be the founding father of the economic discipline, Adam Smith would have a hard time finding a job at an economics department or getting his ideas published in any of the major economics journals, had he lived today. One of the central reasons for this is that neoclassical economics, which dominates the discipline today, and economics at the time of the great political economists such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo are differentiated by one single characteristic more than any other: their use of mathematics1 (Schabas, 1989). While today's economics is best characterized as a thoroughly mathematical science, the writings of the classical economists were almost entirely discursive (Lawson, 2012; Hodgson, 2013). This mathematical condition of modern economics has quite recently become the subject of heated debate and strong criticism in light of the economic crisis that has hit us in 2008 and still lingers on today. Many (i.e., Friedman, 1999, p. 137; Krugman, 2009a, 2009b) have argued that, caught up in more and more complex models, economics itself had become detached from its appropriate subject matter: real world economic problems. The economic science failed to make sense of our reality, and instead got lost in a different reality of their own making consisting of models and equations. Such criticisms regarding the role of mathematics in economics and its inability to capture our economic reality are not, however, just something of the past seven years. Even though the role of mathematics has evolved to one of absolute dominance since the end of the 19th century, many have voiced criticisms towards this development. And the list of those critical of the mathematization of economics does not just name quirky heterodox economists at the margins of the discipline but also includes some of the most famous and important economists of the 19th and 20th century. In this paper I will take a closer look at some of the concerns and warnings about the role of mathematics in economics put forward by Alfred Marshall, Friedrich Hayek and John Maynard Keynes. Specifically these economists have been selected because each of them has had a significant and constituting influence on the economic discipline, and because taken together they represent a substantial part of the diversity of the economic discipline at their time and today (i.e. Keynes' argument for the occasional government intervention versus Hayek's laissez-faire economy).2 This paper will focus on the concerns they voiced regarding mathematics in economics, which were born out of their shared conviction of the complexity of economic reality. They argue that the world is too complex and varied for mathematics to be able to capture it, and that this thus poses limits to its use. They do not deny that mathematics can be useful but one must know its place and restrictions. In

This dissertation contains three essays on labor economics and development economics.In the first and second chapters, I examine determinants and consequences of alcohol consumption in Russia and quantify the effects of various public policies on mortality rates and on consumer welfare. For the past twenty years, Russia has confronted the Mortality Crisis - the life expectancy of Russian males has fallen by more than five years, and the mortality rate has increased by 50%. Alcohol abuse is widely agreed to be the main cause of this change.In the first chapter, I employ a rich dataset on individual alcohol consumption to analyze the determinants for heavy drinking in Russia, including the price of alcohol, peer effects, and habits. I exploit unique location identifiers in my data and patterns of geographical settlement in Russia to measure peers within narrowly-defined neighborhoods.This definition of peers is validated by documenting a strong increase in alcohol consumption around the birthday of peers. With natural experiments, I estimate the own price elasticity of the probability of heavy drinking using variation in alcohol regulations across Russian regions and over time. From these data, I develop a dynamic structural model of heavy drinking to quantify how changes in the price of alcohol would affect the proportion of heavy drinkers among Russian males (and subsequently also affect mortality rates). I find that that higher alcohol prices reduce the probability of being a heavy drinker by a non-trivial amount. An increase in the price of vodka by 50% would save the lives of 40,000 males annually, and would result in an increase in welfare. Peers account for a quarter of this effect.The second chapter analyzes the consequences of government policy towards light alcohol drinks. Light drinks are commonly viewed as stepping stone to harder drinks, but also as safer substitutes for them. Here, I analyze this trade-off by utilizing micro-level data on the alcohol consumption of Russian males. I find, first, that beer is a safer drink compared to hard alcohol beverages, in the sense that consumption of hard beverages increases the hazard of death while consumption of beer does not. Second, I find that beer is a substitute for vodka: there is significant positive cross-price elasticity of vodka consumption with respect to beer price. I find also little evidence that beer consumption actually serves as stepping stone for vodka consumption. Initiation of beer consumption instead forms habits for the further consumption of beer. Drinking beer at earlier ages results in higher beer consumption and higher overall alcohol intake in older years, but also results in reduced consumption of hard drinks compared to vodka drinkers and to non-abstainers. Finally, I estimate a multivariate model of consumer choice, and quantify the effect of different government policies on mortality rates, drinking patterns, and consumer welfare. I find that the taxation of beer may decrease consumer welfare and increase mortality rates. In contrast, subsidizing beer consumption will increase consumer welfare and even slightly decrease mortality rates.The third chapter of my dissertation documents the unequal enforcement of liberalization reform of business regulation across Russian regions with different governance institutions, which leads to unequal effects of liberalization. National liberalization laws were enforced more effectively in sub-national regions with a more transparent government, more-informed population, higher concentration of industry, and stronger fiscal autonomy. As a result, in regions with stronger governance institutions liberalization had a substantial positive effect on the performance of small firms and on the growth of the official small-business sector in general. In contrast, in regions with weaker governance institutions there is no effect from the reform, and in some cases even a negative effect is observed.

Cover -- Half Title -- Series Information -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Figures -- Tables -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- 1 The Foundations of the digital Economy -- Abstract -- What Is the Digital Economy? -- The Foundations: The Computer and the Internet -- Device -- Connection -- Service -- Content -- The Inflexion Point: Smartphones and Sensors -- The Breakthrough: Data and Algorithms -- The Big Bang of Data -- Intelligent Algorithms -- The Properties of the Digital Economy -- Datafication -- Networks -- Digital Transformations -- Key Takeaways -- Notes -- Bibliography -- 2 How Is Market Changing? -- Abstract -- The Phenomenal Career of the Platform -- Economic Mechanisms of Platforms -- Datafication Effects -- Network Effects -- What Makes Digital Platforms a Challenge for Traditional Business? -- Mechanisms of Platformisation -- Key Takeaways -- Notes -- Bibliography -- 3 How Is Production Changing? -- Abstract -- Industry 4.0 -- New Technologies in Manufacturing -- Datafication of Production -- Intelligent Product -- Platformisation of Production -- Datafied Distribution -- The Digital Company -- Key Takeaways -- Notes -- Bibliography -- 4 How Is Work Changing? -- Abstract -- Automation of Work -- Platformisation of Work -- Datafication of Work -- New Risks in the Labour Market -- Skills for the Future -- Key Takeaways -- Notes -- Bibliography -- 5 How Is Consumption Changing? -- Abstract -- The New Objects of Digital Consumption -- Digital Information Goods -- Intelligent Products -- From Online Shopping to the Phygital Experience -- Platformisation of Consumption -- Collaborative Consumption -- The Price of Personalisation -- Key Takeaways -- Notes -- Bibliography -- 6 How Is Globalisation Changing? -- Abstract -- Digital Flows -- Digital Trade in Goods -- Digital Trade in Services.

This book sheds light on the consumption of spiritual products, services, experiences, and places through state-of-the-art studies by leading and emerging scholars in interpretive consumer research, marketing, sociology, anthropology, cultural, and religious studies. The collection brings together fresh views and scholarship on a cultural tension that is at the centre of the lives of countless individuals living in postmodern societies: the relationship between the material and the spiritual, the sacred and the profane. The book examines how a variety of agents - religious ins.