Suchergebnisse

This report briefly discusses the USDA's FY2006 appropriation, which postpones rules requiring many retailers to provide country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for fresh produce, red meats, and peanuts until September 30, 2008. The report also discusses related legislation.

Abstract
A large body of research shows that clients of government services benefit from the presence of bureaucrats with whom they share race or ethnicity. These benefits arise from active or symbolic representation, which scholars argue are grounded in the shared backgrounds, language, and values that race and ethnicity proxy. We suggest that these shared connections are likely to be even more salient for clients and bureaucrats who share not just the same ethnicity but the same country of origin, and we look for evidence of representation based on country of origin in the context of public schools. Leveraging administrative and survey data from Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the fourth-largest school district in the United States, we employ regression models with school-by-year fixed effects to test for differences in test scores for students taught by a teacher with the same country of origin relative to similar students taught by other-origin teachers in the same school in the same year. We find that immigrant students with origin-matched teachers score modestly higher than their non-matched peers in both math and reading. These increases are most apparent among low-income students and those who are English learners. Patterns vary by immigrant students' origin country.

Numerous academics and marketers are sceptical about the relevance of research on country-of-origin (coo) effects. This criticism is based on a series of studies suggesting that coo-cues are of no more than marginal importance as determinants of people's attitudes towards foreign-sourced products. More specifically, this criticism is directed towards studies focussing on the relevance of a coo's more general environmental conditions (like for instance its cultural identity, political climate, geography, religion, language, national history, etc.). Additionally, the theoretical status of the coo-field as a whole has frequently been questioned for its lack of solidity and transparency. Our study intends to put this situation into its proper context. Its main objective is to contribute to a better 'understanding' of coo-effects with special attention going to the role of a coo's more general environmental conditions as determinants of attitude formation towards products made abroad. A large-scale field survey was designed, questioning a Belgian student sample about their images of Spain and Denmark's environmental conditions. Also, participants were questioned about their images of Spanish/Danish beer (hedonic product) and DVD-players (utilitarian product). Hypotheses concerning the structure of country images and their role as potential determinants of attitude formation were developed based on semiotics (and more in particular based on Discourse Theory). Data were analyzed by means of Structural Equation Modeling (AMOS 5.0). Results indicate first of all that images about Spanish/Danish country-related environmental conditions significantly contribute to the formation of attitudes towards Spanish/Danish beer and DVD-players. Secondly, these country images were found to be based on a hierarchically ordered tri-component structure. Thirdly, in line with Discourse Theory, it could be established how coo-effects are supported by composite mechanisms with country-related cognitions, feelings and conations operating simultaneously during product attitude formation. More in detail, effects generated by the country image's conative component were found to be strongest. Interestingly, country-related cognitions were more important for attitude formation towards DVD-players while country-specific feelings were more influential in case of beer. Finally, the level of cultural similarity with a product's coo did not moderate the size of coo-effects

The country-of-origin is the "nationality" of a food when it goes through customs in a foreign country, and is a "brand" when the food is for sale in a foreign market. My research on country-of-origin labeling (COOL) started from a case study on the extra virgin olive oil exported from Italy to China; the result shows that asymmetric and imperfect origin information may lead to market inefficiency, even market failure in emerging countries. Then, I used the Delphi method to conduct qualitative and systematic research on COOL; the panel of experts in food labeling and food policy was composed of 19 members in 13 countries; the most important consensus is that multiple countries of origin marking can provide accurate information about the origin of a food produced by two or more countries, avoiding misinformation for consumers. Moreover, I enhanced the research on COOL by analyzing the rules of origin and drafting a guideline for the standardization of origin marking. Finally, from the perspective of information economics I estimated the potential effect of the multiple countries of origin labeling on the business models of international trade, and analyzed the regulatory options for mandatory or voluntary COOL of main ingredients. This research provides valuable insights for the formulation of COOL policy.

On May 7th 2024 Italy updated its list of safe countries of origin (SCO) for the second time after the introduction of the notion in the national legal system in 2019. Notably, the latest update retained the most contentious addition to the list from last year, Nigeria. Until then, only Cyprus considered Nigeria as generally safe. The legal issues underlying this designation illustrate how country of origin information (COI), largely provided to Member States by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), is (mis)used to produce policy-based evidence rather than evidence-based policies.

The association between 'place of origin' of a product and its effect on consumer preference has been in existence and researched for long. The country-of-origin effect is created in the minds of consumer from individual's knowledge, experience, exposure and inclination towards a particular country. It helps in reducing cognition load in consumer decision-making by becoming a proxy for quality, reliability and acceptability of products originating from a specific country. The phenomenon is identified by researchers in different contexts and levels, leading to many concepts and definitions. There are many product-specific factors that contribute to the generation of country-of-origin biases along with moderating factors influencing the effect. In modern hybrid products, with distributed locations of production, it has become more complicated with differences in brand/country of the brand, country of design, country of parts and country of assembly and so on. However, the importance of the country-of-origin effect is still a reality as the consumer uses these cues in product differentiation.

In the challenging task of determining the legitimacy of a claim for refugee status, Country of Origin Information (COI) is a key element, complementing the testimonial of the applicant. It may, for example, corroborate or contradict the likelihood or the risk of persecution or help ascertain the relevance and reasonableness of available internal flight or relocation alternatives. Government COI Units will attempt to provide a balanced account of facts but may face a variety of difficulties in accessing relevant COI. Adapted from the source document.

PurposeThis study aims to examine how members of American Generation Y cohort feel about the USA and the USA's major trading partners. In addition, the study's purpose is to find out whether product's country‐of‐origin (COO) plays a role when members of Generation Y evaluate products.Design/methodology/approachUndergraduate university students are used as sample in this study. Experiment with 18 conditions is utilized to collect that data. Linear regression is used to test the hypothesis.FindingsResults show that animosity toward the country negatively influences COO image and that person's level of cosmopolitanism and ethnocentrism contribute to person's perception of (in)equality when evaluating COO images. Findings also indicate COO significantly influences product judgment and this relationship is moderated by quality of information about the product (positive, negative, or lack of information) and involvement with the product (involved or not involved).Originality/valueResults from this study show that, in the context of Generation Y, country image still matters and should be considered when developing a product or promotion strategy. Although country image matters, its effect on product judgment has to be examined in conjunction with factors like quality of information about the product and involvement with the product. As such, examining COO effect on its own might be misleading and not paint a completely accurate picture of antecedents to product judgment.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to quantify the value of brands and countries of origin in monetary units. The automobile industry in Thailand is chosen because of the variety of brands and the intense competition within the industry. Both the pick up truck and passenger car market shares have been dominated by Japanese brands for decades, whilst the luxury market has been dominated by German brands.Design/methodology/approachThe data are collected from an authors' survey carried out during the "Thailand International Motor Expo 2007". A total of 244 models are chosen from 20 brands, and from 7 countries of origin. The hedonic price model is applied to ascertain the price premiums of these different brands, taking into account their countries of origin, since each automobile brand offers several models with distinguishably different features.FindingsThe results indicate that different brand names affect consumers' "Willingness to Pay," in which Mercedes, BMW, and Audi brands are ranked the highest. Surprisingly, Subaru, Mitsubishi and Toyota are the only Japanese brands to have significant brand values. The findings also illustrate a direct relationship between market acceptance and the price premium for automobiles in the luxury car segment, however the same relationship does not hold true for the cars in economy car segment. It seems that Thai consumers put the highest value on cars from Germany, whilst cars from Japan and the USA possess approximately the same value. Korean and Malaysian cars, which focus on low‐prices as a means to obtain a competitive advantage, are as to be expected ranked last. An association was found between countries' GDP per capita and the price premium. Countries with a lower GDP per capita show lower price premiums and vise versa. The exception is Germany, which has a low GDP per capita yet has a higher price premium than the better ranked GDP countries such as the USAResearch limitations/implicationsThough the German brands are ranked the highest, competition in the car industry is likely to be intense, since their premiums are not noticeably different. Additionally, there are implications regarding entry barriers for new automobile brands from the same or different countries. These entry barriers are considered to be quite high, as the brand premiums could represent more than 25 percent of the car prices, at least for the compact car segment. A strategy of discounted price penetration is therefore recommended for a brand which is new to the market, and which does not originate from a highly regarded country. For existing brands with below average values, a customer‐based approach is recommended in which those brands improve the attributes in order to create higher premiums.Originality/valueIn addition to confirming the relationship between the price premiums of brands and their countries of origin, this paper successfully provides valuations in monetary units and rankings accordingly. This research could be useful to both incumbents and new entrants, when designing their pricing strategies.