Electricity Pricing in New Zealand and the Australian State of Queensland: Accounting for the Impact of Sector Restructuring

The electricity industries of New Zealand (NZ) and the Australian state of Queensland have undergone substantial structural and regulatory reform with the common intent to improve economic efficiency. Deregulation and privatisation have been key elements of the reform but have been approached differently by each jurisdiction. This study traces the link between structural and regulatory regimes and asset valuation, profits and, ultimately, pricing. The study finds that key drivers in recent price increases are the government‐owned generation and retail sector in NZ and the government‐owned distribution sector in Queensland. It is concluded that, contrary to the rationale for the imposition of regulatory controls in a non‐market environment, the regulatory regimes appear to have contributed to higher rather than lower pricing structures.     

Whistle-blowing by external auditors: Seeking legitimacy for the South African Audit Profession?

Auditing is often cited as playing an important role in managing agency-related costs and, accordingly, being integral to the sound functioning of capital markets. There may, however, be more to the attest function than a technical rational practice. By virtue of relying heavily on claims to technical expertise, professionalism, prudential judgement and public confidence, auditing is both a source of legitimacy for organisations and, paradoxically, dependent on claims to legitimacy for its continued existence. From this perspective, recent regulatory developments, purportedly enacted to increase arms-length control over the profession, may not only be about improving perceived audit quality and practice but also about ensuring continued faith in the well-established ‘rituals’ of the assurance function. A reporting duty imposed on South African external auditors, akin to whistle-blowing, is used as a case study to explore this perspective. In doing so, this paper contributes to the scant body of interpretive research on auditing, simultaneously offering one of the first insights into auditing regulation from an African perspective.     

Sustainable Drive Tourism: A Catalyst for Change

Drive tourism remains an under‐researched component of the wider tourism industry. As such, this study reviews the drive tourism phenomenon with attention focused on the anticipated impact of the implementation and adoption of new clean energy technologies. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications for the drive tourist, the drive tourism experience and the drive tourism sector. If new and more sustainable forms of drive tourism can retain their sense of fun, flexibility, and freedom there is every chance that the current initiatives being implemented in the US may become the norm rather than the exception. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Collective Reputation and Quality

Firms who sell regional or specialty products often share a collective reputation based on aggregate quality. Collective reputation can be approached as a dynamic common property resource problem. We show that for an experience good without firm traceability, individual firms have the incentive to choose quality levels that are sub-optimal for the group. These results support minimum quality standards. Trigger strategies are analyzed as an alternative solution to this problem. Finally, the implications of these results are discussed as they relate to the case study of Washington apples.     

Valuing the Health Benefits of a Novel Functional Food

Awareness of the link between diet and health has led to an interest from consumers, the food industry, and policymakers in the health properties of foods. Food industry innovations are emerging that enhance the health attributes of foods. Recent scientific evidence has linked the consumption of foods high in trans fatty acids with elevated cholesterol levels and a higher incidence of coronary heart disease. Foods that reduce the risk of chronic diseases have potential social welfare benefits. This article values the potential health benefits of a healthy food: a trans fat‐free canola oil. Using a range of assumptions about the extent to which a trans fat‐free canola oil will substitute for existing oils, the paper shows how two alternative methods of computing reductions in the cost of illness reveal nontrivial benefits to society. Policy implications and suggestions for further research are discussed. La sensibilisation au lien qui existe entre l'alimentation et la santé a suscité chez les consommateurs, l'industrie alimentaire et les décideurs un intérêt pour les propriétés des aliments pour la santé. L'industrie alimentaire ne cesse d'innover afin d'accroître les attributs des aliments pour la santé. Des preuves scientifiques récentes ont établi un lien entre la consommation d'aliments riches en gras trans, des taux de cholestérol élevés et une incidence accrue de coronaropathie. Les aliments qui diminuent les risques de maladies chroniques ont des bienfaits potentiels sur le bien‐être social. Le présent article porte sur l'évaluation des bienfaits potentiels d'un aliment sain, soit une huile de canola sans gras trans. À l'aide de diverses hypothèses quant au degré de remplacement des huiles existantes par l'huile de canola, le présent article montre de quelle fa¸on deux méthodes de calcul des diminutions du coût de la maladie révèlent des avantages non négligeables pour la société. Nous discutons des incidences politiques et présentons des suggestions de recherche ultérieure.     

Adapting auctions for the provision of ecosystem services at the landscape scale

Auctions, or competitive tenders, can overcome information asymmetries to efficiently allocate limited funding for ecosystem services. Most auctions focus on ecosystem services on individual properties to maximise the total amount provided. However, for many services it is not just the total quantity but their location in the landscape relative to other sites that matters. For example, biodiversity conservation may be much more effective if conserved sites are connected. Adapting auctions to address ecosystem services at the landscape scale requires an auction mechanism which can promote coordination while maintaining competition. Multi-round auctions, in which bidding is spread over a number of rounds with information provided between rounds on the location of other bids in the landscape, offer an approach to cost effectively deliver landscape-scale ecosystem services. Experimental economic testing shows these auctions deliver the most cost effective environmental outcomes when the number of rounds is unknown in advance, which minimises rent-seeking behaviour. It also shows that a form of bid-improvement rule facilitates coordination and reduces rent seeking. Where the biophysical science is well developed, such auctions should be relatively straightforward to implement and participate in, and have the potential to provide significantly better outcomes than standard ‘one-shot’ tenders.     

The uninvited brand

Brands rushed into social media, viewing social networks, video sharing, online communities, and microblogging sites as the panacea to diminishing returns for traditional brand building routes. But as more branding activity moves to the Web, marketers are confronted with the stark realization that social media was made for people, not for brands. In this article, we explore the emergent cultural landscape of open source branding, and identify marketing strategies directed at the hunt for consumer engagement on the People's Web. These strategies present a paradox, for to gain coveted resonance, the brand must relinquish control. We discuss how Web-based power struggles between marketers and consumer brand authors challenge accepted branding truths and paradigms: where short-term brands can trump long-term icons; where marketing looks more like public relations; where brand building gives way to brand protection; and brand value is driven by risk, not returns.     

Activists and Animal Welfare: Quality Verifications in the Canadian Pork Sector

Animal welfare is an emotive topic. Although most governments legislate against outright animal cruelty, animal welfare organisations have actively lobbied for more stringent farm animal welfare regulations. Food retailers and restaurant chains have faced pressure from animal welfare organisations to implement more stringent animal welfare requirements for their suppliers. Is the demand for more stringent farm animal welfare protocols primarily determined by a subset of consumers with very strong preferences or does it signal a more fundamental underlying change in societal preferences? Given the credence nature of farm animal welfare, whom do consumers trust for credible quality assurances? This article analyses the role of quality verification in a market characterised by consumers with heterogeneous preferences for animal welfare. Of particular interest are the relative strength of preferences for humane animal treatment assurances and the credibility of these quality claims. Using data from a Canadian survey targeted at two distinct samples – a general population group and members of animal welfare organisations – a discrete choice experiment is used to assess consumer attitudes towards animal welfare assurances for pork products. The credibility of quality verification by public sector, private sector and third party agents is assessed. Evidence confirms that consumer preferences for farm animal welfare assurance and the source of verification are indeed heterogeneous. Although a portion of consumers remain largely indifferent to pork products with animal welfare assurances, a group of highly motivated consumers exist with an economic incentive to lobby for tougher animal welfare standards.     

Testing for allocation efficiencies in water quality tenders across catchments,industries and pollutants: a north Queensland case study*

The design of competitive tenders to purchase environmental services requires judgements to be made about the funding scale and tender scope, with the latter incorporating considerations of geographic area, industries involved and the types of environmental outputs required. Increasing the scale and scope of tenders increases the likelihood that a larger range of proposals will be proposed and cost‐effective ones selected. However, the use of larger and more broadly scoped tenders may reduce landholder participation and increase asking bids. In the study reported here, these issues have been tested with a single water quality tender run in north‐eastern Australia in 2007 and 2008. Post hoc tests and workshop exercises show that while larger‐scale and scope tenders can generate efficiency gains, care has to be taken to maintain participation and avoid higher bid levels.     

Exit Planning of Lifestyle and Profit-Oriented Entrepreneurs in Bed and Breakfasts

ABSTRACT

With approximately 17,000 bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) currently in operation in the United States and the majority owned and managed by an entrepreneur, the entrepreneurial process becomes a focus of this sector of the lodging industry. This research examined the engagement in the entrepreneurial process, specifically exit planning among B&B owner/operators according to their entrepreneurial type (lifestyle or profit oriented). In addition, research questions evaluated motivational factors of job satisfaction, work–life balance, and family involvement related to exit planning. This study used a cross-sectional design comprised of B&B owner/operators, innkeepers, and entrepreneurs with geographic representation of the United States. This study concluded that B&B entrepreneurs are aware of and engaged in exit planning and the majority of B&B entrepreneurs are lifestyle entrepreneurs.