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The advent of the Single European Market will have a significant effect on the competitive position in EC life insurance markets. This arises not only from enhanced freedom of establishment and the freedom of services to conduct cross‐frontier trade in insurance, but also from the deregulation of insurance markets in some Community countries which allow links between banks and insurers. The development of a Single Market in life insurance is described and the opportunities and threats for insurers are examined. The alternative strategies available to insurers are evaluated, with particular attention paid to costs and benefits of bank/insurance links.

This paper presents the results of a detailed comparison of the perceptions by individual consumers and expert financial advisers of the investment risk involved in various UK personal financial services' products. Factor similarity tests show that there are significant differences between expert and lay investors in the way financial risks are perceived. Financial experts are likely to be less loss averse than lay investors, but are prone to affiliation bias (trusting providers and salesmen more than lay investors do), believe that the products are less complex, and are less cynical and distrustful about the protection provided by the regulators. The traditional response to the finding that experts and non‐experts have different perceptions and understandings about risk is to institute risk communication programmes designed to re‐educate consumers. However, this approach is unlikely to be successful in an environment where individual consumers distrust regulators and other experts.

Concern about ethical practices in the marketing of financial services has increased in recent years, despite an apparent strengthening of the regulatory framework. In part the ethical problems associated with the promotion and distribution of financial services may be attributable to specific features of the market such as asymmetric information. From the consumers’ perspective, there is a range of anecdotal evidence concerning ethical problems in the marketing of financial services in general and insurance products in particular. Information concerning the industry perspective on these issues is limited. Presents evidence of the extent to which ethical problems in marketing are identified by those in the industry and the extent to which the views of marketing staff differ from those of non‐marketing staff.

Rural residential energy consumption accounts for 46.6% of total building-related energy consumption of China. In Northeast China, energy consumption for space heating represents a significant proportion of total rural residential energy consumption and has reached 100 million tce (tons of standard coal equivalent), or more than 60% of total household energy consumption. In terms of energy consumption per square meter of gross floor area, rural residential energy consumption for heating is more than that of cities (20kgce/m2). However, the average indoor temperature of most rural residence is below 10°C, much less than that in cities (18°C). Hence, it is an important task for Chinese energy saving and emission reduction to reduce rural residential energy consumption, while enhancing indoor thermal comfort at the same time.

Restricted by local technology and low economic level, rural residences currently have poor thermal insulation resulting in severe heat loss. This paper reports on research aimed at developing design strategies for improving thermal insulation properties of rural residences with appropriate technology. A field survey was conducted in six counties in severe cold areas of Northeast China, addressing the aspects of indoor and outdoor temperature, humidity, internal and external surface temperature of building envelop enclosure, and so on.

The survey data show the following:

1. Modern (after 2000) brick-cement rural residences perform much better than the traditional adobe clay houses and Tatou houses (a regional type of rural residence in Northeast China – see figure A) in overall thermal performance and indoor thermal comfort;

2. Among the traditional residential house types, adobe clay houses have better heat stability and thermal storage capacity than Tatou houses;

3. Applying an internal or external thermal insulation layer can greatly improve rural residential thermal insulation properties, and is an economical and efficient solution in rural areas;

4. In terms of roofing materials, tiled roofs show much better thermal insulation properties than thatch roofs;

5. Adopting passive solar techniques can form a transition space (greenhouse) against frigid temperatures, resulting in interior temperatures 5.91°C higher than the outside surroundings. It is evident that local passive solar room design offers significant heat preservation effects and lower cost ($12/m2), embodies the ecological wisdom of rural residents, and is therefore important to popularize.

The above experimental results can provide guidance in energy conservation design for both self-built residences and rural residences designed by architects. In addition, the results can also provide experimental data for energy-saving studies for rural residences in China.

Marketing managers in financial institutions should be aware that customers are likely to embody electronic banking provided that such technology contributes to existing relationships. Based on a survey of bank corporate clients in Singapore, the impact of satisfaction, trust and the use of electronic banking on commitment towards current banks was investigated. It was found that trust was the key factor influencing the adoption of electronic banking. Perceived customer satisfaction with the bank only impacted indirectly on the adoption of electronic banking. The cumulative effects of customer satisfaction were found to have a positive impact on trust directed towards the bank, and this greatly impacted on the propensity to use electronic banking. Customer satisfaction, trust, and the use of electronic banking were found to have a positive impact on the corporate clients’ commitment towards their bank.

The purpose of this paper is to assess new and often innovative models that aim to fund and deliver affordable housing in Scotland within a context of fiscal crisis. These models and their setting have implications for other countries with limited funds to support their housing systems.

This paper is a policy analysis, drawing on ideas from public policy and applied economics. It derives a set of criteria with which to provide an interim assessment of both key proposals and the policy programme as a whole.

The new models and the government's approach are pragmatic and have elements of genuine innovation. Other elements are only aspirations at this point and considerable uncertainties remain. The new environment will be difficult for housing associations but also in terms of wider knock‐on effects between the market‐rented sector and intermediate housing. Major concerns remain about rent levels and there is a lack of clarity about government's long‐term objectives for social housing.

The paper provides a first critical overview and initial assessment of radical new policies for affordable housing in Scotland. The paper's subject matter is of direct relevance to all national housing systems confronting shortages of public resources, a demonstrable need for more affordable housing, and also those contemplating radical reform to tried and tested funding and delivery models.

We live in times of increasing dynamism in the natural, social and business environments; with such dynamism comes fear, uncertainty and doubt. As a result the discipline of risk management is in the ascendancy. In a recent influential report the UK’s Royal Society called for research into the role that organization design plays in risk management. Defines a theoretical framework that is being used to investigate a part of that relationship: the link between risk management strategy and organizational behaviour. Organizations are identified with either a proactive or a reactive approach to risk management. The research issue is whether the “choice” of approach is dependent on organization structure or is it independent? Does structure determine the approach or does the approach determine the structure? What other factors play a role? The critical factor of risk perception in managers and its impact on implementation strategy is considered. The types of risk strategy an organization follows and its structure are defined using various measures of distinct factors. By establishing the nature and cause of relationships between the measures and factors, the relationship between organizational approaches to risk and organization structure may be identified. Describes a method for evaluating this relationship.