Showing papers on "Quality (business) published in 1978"
3,258 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a model of a single market in which goods of different qualities are sold and sellers advertise is presented, where buyers react plausibly but not optimally to experience gained by purchasing and to sellers' advertising.
Abstract: This essay presents a model of a single market in which goods of different qualities are sold and sellers advertise. Sellers advertise noncooperatively, knowing rivals' outlays and buyers' behavior patterns. Buyers react plausibly but not optimally to experience gained by purchasing and to sellers' advertising. Various properties of equilibria are analyzed. For some parameter values, the lowest-quality brands have the largest equilibrium market shares, advertising budgets, and profits. This is especially likely if buyers' behavior indicates confidence that better brands spend more on advertising.
420 citations
248 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the possibility of quality certification as an alternative to exit from the market in such situations and examine the economic properties of the quality certification process, which unravels from the top down.
Abstract: In markets with qualitative uncertainty, pricing on the basis of average quality will be unattractive to participants whose products are above average in quality. This note examines the possibility of quality certification as an alternative to exit from the market in such situations. Examples dealing with labor market uncertainties illustrate the economic properties of the quality certification process, which unravels from the top down. The economic motivations and patterns of this form of price discrimination are similar to those encountered in standard "lemons" models.
211 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it was hypothesized that approach toward an environment and the desire to affiliate there are influenced by the emotion-eliciting quality of that environment, and two studies were conducted with undergraduates.
Abstract: It was hypothesized that approach toward an environment and the desire to affiliate there are influenced by the emotion-eliciting quality of that environment. In two studies, undergraduates (N = 20...
175 citations
01 Jan 1978
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a relationship between quality and uncertainty in the automotive market and use the automobile market as a finger exercise to illustrate and develop these thoughts. But this market is chosen for its concreteness and ease in understanding rather than for its importance or realism.
Abstract: Publisher Summary
This chapter presents a relationship between quality and uncertainty. The existence of goods of many grades poses interesting and important problems for the theory of markets. There are many markets in which buyers use some market statistic to judge the quality of prospective purchases. It is perceived that in these markets, social and private returns differ, and therefore, in some cases, governmental intervention may increase the welfare of all parties. The automobile market is used as a finger exercise to illustrate and develop these thoughts. This market is chosen for its concreteness and ease in understanding rather than for its importance or realism.
145 citations
139 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors defined the user-perceived quality of interactive systems in terms of statistically nonoverlapping categories, so-called dimensions or factors, identified by factor analysis.
Abstract: User-perceived quality of interactive systems is defined in terms of statistically nonoverlapping categories, so-called dimensions or factors Categories are identified by factor analysis and represent a dimensional concept of the quality of interactive systems as perceived by its users. Each category describes essential user requirements.
125 citations
10 May 1978
TL;DR: Categories are identified by factor analysis and represent a dimensional concept of the quality of interactive systems as perceived by its users, which describes essential user requirements.
Abstract: User-perceived quality of interactive systems is defined in terms of statistically non-overlapping categories, so-called dimensions or factors. Categories are identified by factor analysis and represent a dimensional concept of the quality of interactive systems as perceived by its users. Each category describes essential user requirements.This paper reports on a method and some initial results in the analysis of user-perceived quality of interactive systems. It is based on research work described in more detail elsewhere7.The methodology of approach is suitable for software requirements definition and human factors engineering.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors distinguished quality of graduates from quality of education, which is renamed "efficiency of education" and defined the first concept in a quantitative manner, the second by way of a set of 66 statements concerning the efficiency of education derived from judgements about the effectiveness of particular teaching methods in the achievement of different types of teaching objectives.
Abstract: In this paper “quality of graduates” is distinguished from “quality of education”, which is renamed “efficiency of education”. The first concept is defined in a quantitative manner, the second by way of a set of 66 statements concerning the efficiency of education derived from judgements about the effectiveness of particular teaching methods in the achievement of different types of teaching objectives.
TL;DR: In this article, an intermediate-level model of the earnings process is presented, which contains a job-quality equation, a research-output equation, and an earnings equation, in which research output and job quality enter causally.
Abstract: Our model of the earnings process contains (1) a job-quality equation which describes the type of academic job one obtains; (2) a research-output equation; and (3) an earnings equation, in which research output and job quality enter causally. Underlying this model of the earnings process is, of course, a more fundamental set of relationships that is, a set of demand, supply, and production functions which reflect utility maximization on the part of market participants. The model we develop is an intermediatelevel model, more refined than a single-equation approach but not as complete as one based on demand, supply, and production considerations and not as complete as we would like.1 A more complete model would also have separate production functions for teaching, public service, and departmental administrative outputs. The model presented here permits testing several hypotheses. In the job-quality equation (1), the quality of institutional affiliation of a particular economist that is, his or her "job quality" is hypothesized to be determined primarily by (a) the individual's characteristics, such as intelli-
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a model to analyze properties of demand functions for the quantity and quality of physicians' services and apply the model to study the demand for pediatric care.
Abstract: When the quality of a good varies, quantity in physical units may be a very misleading measure of total consumption. In this paper it is argued that differences in quality are a distinguishing feature of the market for physicians' services. We develop a model to analyze properties of demand functions for the quantity and quality of physicians' services and apply the model to study the demand for pediatric care--physicians' services rendered to children. The theoretical model of quantity-quality substitution provides a framework for demand analysis whenever the market for a good is distinguished by a quality component.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report that high quality planning is associated with a high level of performance, as measured by improvement in profits, rates of return on invested capital and rates of increase in total funds employed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the production activity of cities in identifying the supply of labor and use a rich set of environmental attributes to develop new estimates of the hedonic prices for urban amenities.
Abstract: AS consumers choose among cities, they may trade off higher earnings against differences in the consumption of environmental goods. Commuter travel time, crime and air quality, the quality of educational and health facilities, each may involve unpurchased environmental goods. Decisions about -the consumption of such goods are made simultaneously with the choice of city of residence. By examining the compensating earnings differentials relative to differences in environmental goods across cities, one can estimate hedonic prices for each environmental attribute. The hedonic prices may be useful in valuing the benefit of environmental improvement, and as weights in constructing an index of the quality of life, as Tobin and Nordhaus (1972) propose. By relating the index of the quality of life to city size, something may be learned about the effect of urban growth on the quality of life. This method is a substantial improvement over the index of Liu (1975). Previous efforts to estimate these hedonic prices by Izraeli (1974) and by Hoch and Drake (1974) have been unsatisfying for several reasons. First, they model only the consumer side, while ignoring the possibility that differences in productivity may influence wage determination. Thus, they do not indicate the conditions necessary for their equations to be identified. Second, they do not include variables representative of a wide range of environmental attributes. Exclusion of important categories of environmental attributes may unduly bias the estimates. Hoch and Drake (1974), for example, focus on climate while ignoring many other environmental attributes. Third, if one includes a wide array of environmental attributes, one is confronted with a serious multicollinearity problem. Kelley (1977) takes explicit account of the demand side of the labor market in estimating hedonic prices for amenities. His analysis, however, does not account for differences in the cost of living in different cities, apparently assuming that all goods are traded in national markets. In addition, Kelley does not account for differences in labor force quality in different cities. This essay considers the production activity of cities in identifying the supply of labor. A rich set of environmental attributes is then used to develop new estimates of the hedonic prices for urban amenities.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated whether other informational cues-specifically, product price and country of manufacture-influence the industrial buyer's perception of product quality and found that these cues have important implications for industrial marketing managers as well as for professional purchasing managers.
Abstract: P RODUCT QUALITY has long been recognized as one product attribute of great importance in the buying process. Both consumers and industrial buyers must decide whether the quality of a given product will satisfy their particular buying requirement. It is difficult to discuss industrial marketing without focusing on the concept of product quality. 1 In industrial organizations, product specifications represent one way of dealing with the assessment of minimum levels of required product quality. The question to be investigated in this article is whether other informational cues-specifically, product price and country of manufacture-influence the industrial buyer's perception of product quality. Findings of this research have important implications for industrial marketing managers as well as for professional purchasing managers.
01 Jan 1978
TL;DR: This paper reviewed the literature on the long and short-term relationships between energy and the quality of life as measured by commonly used indicators such as health, economic well-being, crime and suicide statistics, and general satisfaction.
Abstract: This paper is organized around three tasks: (a) to review the literature on the long- and short-term relationships between energy and the quality of life as measured by commonly used indicators such as health, economic well being, crime and suicide statistics, and general satisfaction; (b) to discuss use of the term life-styles as a prelude to discussing the relation between energy, life-styles, and social organization; and (c) to comment on how such understanding is relevant to the development of energy policies that origi nate from a user rather than a producer perspective and that are concerned with the purposes for which energy is used to improve the human condition. There are contrary positions that may serve as starting points in our discussions. First, there is the contradiction between the now traditional view that more energy and new sources of energy will improve our lives, and the observation that a decline in the quality of life indicators has accompanied great energy growth. A second contradiction deals with be
01 Jan 1978
TL;DR: This article used census data from 1960 and 1970, augmented with schooling data (expenditures per pupil as well as other measures of school quality) from the various Biennial Surveys of Education, to analyze the impact of education quality on earnings and to...
Abstract: Census data from 1960 and 1970, augmented with schooling data (expenditures per pupil as well as other measures of school quality) from the various Biennial Surveys of Education, are utilized to analyze the impact of school quality on earnings and to ...
TL;DR: The Equivalent Initial Quality Method, a method of quantifying the quality of fastener holes, was used to assess the manufacturing quality of the F-4C/D/E(S) and A-7D aircraft.
Abstract: This paper describes a method, the Equivalent Initial Quality Method, of quantifying the quality of fastener holes. This quantification is accomplished by representing the imperfections that are either inherent in a material or introduced during the manufacturing of a structural component with a fatigue crack of a particular size and shape. This initial quality representation can be used in a crack-propagation analysis to determine the life of the structural component. For example, the Equivalent Initial Quality Method can be used in design by providing the assumptions necessary to satisfy the USAF airplane damage tolerance design requirements (MIL-A-83444) and the USAF airplane durability design requirements (MIL-A-8866B). The method was used to assess the manufacturing quality of the F-4C/D/E(S) and A-7D aircraft. The more recent A-7D quality assessment is discussed in detail and the equivalent initial quality results for the F-4C/D and A-7D aircraft are presented. The potential applications (e.g., determination of required inspection intervals and maintenance and modification schedules, use in design, assessment of quality of manufacturing procedures, etc.), as well as the possible limitations (e.g., sensitivity of method to stress level, material, etc.), of the Equivalent Initial Quality Method are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the present state of work and workers in U. S. society are examined, with special attention to evidence that provides clues about how work may be designed in the 1980s and beyond.