Grocery shoppers were questioned about their response to the stock-out of their preferred item of milk and milk products. This measure was used as the dependent variable in a multinomial logit model with the independent variables being shopper dispositions, the contextual shopping situations, age, and household size. This study identified distinctive customer orientations that foreshadowed shoppers' buying a brand variant, buying another brand, and forgoing or postponing their purchase. A binary logit model then estimated the shoppers' orientations that motivated them to seek their preferred item from another store. It emerged that for most shoppers, their household size appeared to be a pressing variable that influenced the way they tackled the non-availability of their normal choice. Marketing literature postulates that large families invariably gravitate to larger pack sizes. Previous research also observes that brand loyalty is negatively correlated to household size. If their regular choice is not available, shoppers could, therefore, easily be BACKGROUND According to Schonberger's (1990) study of retail supermarkets, at any point in time during a week the average supermarket is outof-stock of approximately 8% of the items planned to be on the shelves.

The link between population proliferation and environmental degradation continues to be a critical issue in many developing countries. Such a link has dented the development process and produced unpleasant marks on the socio‐economic fabric of the society. These marks are quite distinct to rural and urban regions. Any efforts to rectify the situation first require regional‐wise identification of the problems and the causal socio‐economic factors. Based on this information a sustainable development approach can be formulated, with environmental concerns such as protection of natural resources from depletion and degradation and ensuring an adequate resources base to secure a decent standard of living. Further, implementation of this kind of integrated strategy needs commitment from institutions ranging from local to international level.

Technical change and the extent to which commodity supplies and input demands are interrelated in Sri Lankan peasant agriculture are explored in this paper. Using a multiple-product dual model, a seemingly unrelated system of product supply and input demand equations is estimated for four crops and four variable inputs. Restrictions based on competitive behaviour and a twicecontinuouslydifferentiable production function are maintained in the non-linear least squares estimation. A number of important interrelationships in individual product supplies and input demands are identified, further documenting the need to account for intercommodity production relationships in econometric and simulation studies and in policy formulation. Non-joint production and Hicksneutral technical change are both rejected.Commodity supply models are prominent in the applied agricultural economics literature. Supply relationships have been estimated for a multitude of commodities and geographic locations (Askari and Cummings 1977). The purposes of such estimation are highly varied and include the search for basic knowledge of production relationships, policy inference and price prediction. Most studies have focused on supply relationships for single commodities, particularly with regard to changes in own-product price.Many firms produce several commodities and others are capable of doing so. Thus, production decisions about one commodity are likely to be associated directly with production decisions for others. It is important to examine the extent of production interrelationships in order to anticipate more accurately the effects of policy changes and shifts in economic conditions. This is particularly crucial in many developing countries, such as Sri Lanka, that are attempting to increase the contribution of the agricultural sector to the nation's economic development. Such information can also play a vital role in guiding subsequent econometric specifications and simulations within the agricultural sector as well as in policy formulation and price prediction.The objectives in this study are: (a) to determine the extent to which individual crop supplies and variable input demands in the Sri Lankan dry zone (Vavuniya District) are interrelated; and (b) to examine technical change. The focus will be on four crops (paddy, chili, pulse and vegetables) and four variable inputs (chemicals, fertiliser, power and seed) used in production.

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PurposeA better understanding of the response of shoppers in developing countries to inevitable product stock‐outs would help logisticians to put structures in place to reduce the disruption. The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences in orientations that characterize shoppers’ responses to stock‐outs in retailing environments by comparing an emerging economy, Malaysia, with a developed economy, Australia.Design/methodology/approachRandomly selected adult grocery shoppers across Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were surveyed to examine shoppers’ behavioural response to a most recent stock‐out of their preferred dairy item. This study followed the methodology and reporting framework adopted in an Australian study.FindingsWhen responding to stock‐outs of their preferred grocery items, shopping lists serve as instruments that give archetypical Malaysian shoppers, unlike their Australian counterparts, a framework to adjust their budgets and seek alternatives within the store itself rather than venture to another store. Most Malaysian shoppers’ reactions to an out‐of‐stock situation, just as their Australian counterparts, appear to be underpinned by their household size. If their preferred item is not available, the frugal and observant among Malaysian shoppers, however, are not inclined as much as their Australian counterparts, to buy more of their alternative choice, even if these substitute items are discounted.Research limitations/implicationsInsight into Malaysian shoppers’ behavioural response to inadequate shelf life of perishable products, considering that they might feel impelled to act as per their shopping lists, would give members of the supply chain confidence to adopt inventory management policies that make a judicious balance between avoiding stock‐outs and ensuring stock availability with acceptable shelf life.Practical implicationsMalaysian frugal and observant shoppers when responding to stock‐outs of their preferred items might allow the opportunity to let a bargain pass on alternative brands or variants, because these shoppers, guided by their shopping lists, are possibly hamstrung, by budgetary constraints in not being able to make heavier purchase outlays and by likely storage constraints in their living accommodation. Retailers in Malaysia have a greater challenge than Australian retailers to dispose of stocks of grocery products that are fast approaching their expiry dates through discounting, because Malaysian shoppers may resist buying more than their immediate need.Originality/valueMalaysian shoppers, inclined to carry memory scripts to assist them in their shopping efforts, are conditioned to stay within their planned budgets and when confronted with a stock‐out of their preferred item, are likely to resist buying anymore than what they had planned to buy.