AUA Center for Business and Research Development Wins Best Paper Award at International Conference

American University of Armenia coauthors, Dean Rubina Ohanian, Associate Dean Judy Newton, and Former Visiting Research Professor Nancy Scannell were granted a 'Best Paper Award' at the International Business and Economics Research (IBER) Conference held in Reno, Nevada USA in October 2001. The IBER peer review committee selects 15% of conference submissions for the award. The paper, "Cross-Cultural Consumer Attitudes; A Case of the Second-Hand Clothing Market in Armenia," will be published in the forthcoming edition of the IBER Journal.

In their article, the authors consider the issue of consumer attitudes in Armenia with respect to second-hand clothing. Results of an informal public poll in Yerevan, the country’s capital, and a rendering of an historical perspective on Armenia’s economy provide a backdrop for discourse on what appears to be a slight shift of consumer attitude away from a relatively negative bias against the purchase of second-hand clothing when compared to that evidenced broadly in the United States.

Research for the paper was initiated in Summer 2001 under the auspices of the Center for Business Research and Development (CBRD) in the College of Business Administration at the American University of Armenia. Contributions were made by CBRD Research Assistants, Lusine Poghosyan, Armen Ginosyan, Christina Dombayan, and David Janibekyan. The Center for Business Research and Development (CBRD) was established in 1992 to help the economic development of Armenia in its transition to a market economy. The Center is administered by the College of Business and Management and carries out organized research and development projects through teams of faculty, local experts, and graduate assistants. CBRD focuses on developing reliable economic business and industrial information about Armenia and the region and serves as a resource for information and expertise for both local and foreign firms. CBRD is partially supported by the Paul Avedisian Endowment.