The Power of Images: Marketing Tourism in the 1990s

This conference was held at The Roehampton Institute, London on 2–3 September 1992 with its main aim being to bring together those involved in tourism education and those from the industry to discuss the future of tourism marketing. Organised jointly by Tina Bryant (University of Hertfordshire) and John Eade (Roehampton Institute), the event attracted delegates mainly from the academic community, with members of the tourism industry conspicuous by their absence! Ray Youell of Sheffield Hallam University describes the somelime contrasting perspectives evident at the conference.     

The impact of rent seeking activity on U.S. preferential trade and World debt

Zusammenfassung Der Einflu\ von “rent seeking“-Aktivit?ten auf den Pr?ferenzhandel der USA und die Verschuldung in der Welt. - Der Verfasser untersucht die Wirkung der US-Handelspr?ferenzen für Entwicklungsl?nder auf die amerikanischen Einfuhren aus den gr?\ten Schuldnerl?ndern in den Jahren {dy1985} und 1986. Die empirischen Befunde für Argentinien, Brasilien, Indonesien, Korea, Mexiko, die Philippinen und Venezuela zeigen unbedeutende und/ oder kontraproduktive Wirkungen des revidierten Allgemeinen Pr?ferenzsystems auf die US-Importe aus diesen hochverschuldeten Entwicklungsl?ndern.

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Resumen El impacto de la actividad de “rent seeking” sobre el comercio preferencial de los EE.UU. y la deuda externa. - El autor analiza el impacto de las preferencias comerciales ofrecidas por los EE.UU. a los países en desarrollo, el Sistema Generalizado de Preferencias (GSP), sobre las importaciones estadounidenses de manufacturas de países altamente endeudados en {dy1985} y 1986. La evidencia empirica para Argentina, Brasil, Indonesia, Corea del Sur, México, Filipinas y Venezuela indica que los efectos del GSP revisado sobre las importaciones estadounidenses de esos países han sido insignificantes y/o contraproductivos.

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Résumé L’impact de l’activité de ?rent seeking? au commerce préférentiel des Etats-Unis et l’endettement des pays du monde. - L’auteur analyse les effets des préférences commerciales des Etats-Unis qui sont disponibles aux PVD - le système de préférences généralisées (SPG) - aux importations manufacturées américaines qui proviennent des nations avec l’endettement la plus grande en {dy1985} et 1986. L’évidence pour l’Argentine, le Brésil, l’Indonésie, la Corée, le Mexique, les Philippines et le Venezuela indiquent des effets négligeables et/ou improductifs du SPG révisé en ce qui concerne les importations américaines de ces pays.

     

Are labor markets segmented in developing countries? A semiparametric approach

We test the hypothesis that observably similar workers earn higher wages in the formal sector than in the informal sector in developing nations. Using data from Argentina's household survey and various definitions of informal employment, we find that on average, formal wages are higher than informal wages. Parametric tests suggest that a formal premium remains after controlling for individual and establishment characteristics. However, this approach suffers from several econometric problems, which we address with semiparametric methods. The resulting formal premium estimates prove either small and insignificant, or negative. Neither do we find significant differences in measures of job satisfaction between the two sectors. We invoke these results to question the mainstream view that labor markets are segmented along formal/informal lines in developing nations such as Argentina.     

Monetary equilibrium in an overlapping generations model with productive capital

Summary We study perfect foresight competitive equilibrium in an overlapping generations model with productive capital and a fixed nominal stock of money. We obtain almost-complete characterizations of (a) the existence of a monetary equilibrium from an arbitrary initial capital stock, and (b) the existence of anefficient monetary equilibrium from an arbitrary initial capital stock. When the initial capital stock is no larger than the golden rule stock, the necessary and sufficient condition for both (a) and (b) is the dynamic inefficiency (in the sense of Malinvaud) of the autarkic (or nonmonetary) equilibrium from the same initial stock. However, this condition, though necessary, isnot sufficient for the existence of a monetary equilibrium when the initial stock exceeds the golden rule stock (and still more conditions are needed for anefficient monetary equilibrium to exist). We provide characterizations for these cases, and as corollaries obtain examples in which (a) the nonmonetary equilibrium is inefficient but no monetary equilibrium exists, and (b) monetary equilibria exist but no efficient monetary equilibrium does.We are grateful to a co-editor and an anonymous referee for comments that greatly improved the exposition in the paper.     

Planting flexibility: Implications for agricultural sustainability

There is a general belief that federal commodity programs restrict adoption of more sustainable production systems. In the 1990 farm legislation, Congress introduced limited planting flexibility to address these concerns and to reduce federal farm program costs. This program estimates the impact of planting flexibility on selected agricultural sustainability indicators and its policy implications. Results show that planting flexibility is a necessary but not sufficient condition for implementing more sustainable production systems. Other factors such as the availability of economically viable alternatives, macroeconomic conditions, and local resource and environmental concerns need to be considered. Policy reforms can help in achieving economic and environmental gains only in locations with economically viable alternatives. In other cases, increased research and development of new systems are needed to achieve desired results.     

Attitudes and consumption values of consumers of imported fruit in Guangzhou,China

Research on how Chinese consumption values influence Chinese consumer behaviour is rare. First, this paper examines consumers’ attitudes towards the physical and intangible attributes of imported fruit. Then, it identifies consumers’ consumption values and the role of these values in purchasing behaviour. Data were collected through point of sale intercept surveys conducted in Guangzhou, China. Latent consumption values of consumers were identified through factor analysis. K‐means clustering revealed four natural groupings of consumers, each group demonstrating different consumption values. The results demonstrated the primary importance of symbolic values and hedonic values in the decision to purchase imported fruit. Such consumption values may derive from the intermingling of Confucian and Western cultural values. Results from this study could help to better understand interrelationships among product attributes, consumption values and cultural values, and could make a significant contribution in developing strategies to market imported fruit in China.     

Who Receives Farm Government Payments?

If we do not systematically attempt to collect data and assess distributional impacts, we shall always be surprised by the many unintended consequences of our public decisions. (Bonnen 1969, p. 447) Direct government payments to farmers have tripled in the last half of the 1980s. Market price support programs (for example, the Western Grain Transportation Act, among others) and supply management regulation continue to be topics of debate among policy analysts. Certainly the debate has become intensified by the discussions surrounding the Canada-U.S. Trade Agreement and the Uruguay Round of talks under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. When all census farms are distributed across gross sales classes, the “selected” programs included in this study tend to be more concentrated among the mid-sized farms than are aggregate gross sales. However, if one considers Prairie grain farms distributed across farm size classes measured in terms of grain acres, gross sales, net farm income (specifically, NCFIWF) and the net “benefits” of “selected” government programs are similarly concentrated. For example, Prairie farms with 320 to 599 acres of grain report 24% to 26% of each of these four items.²⁶ The “selected” programs included in this study tend to pay about the same size of payout per farm household, regardless of the size of household income. We obtain this result because farm size in terms of gross farm sales tends to be the same, regardless of the size of household total net income. Across the spectrum of farm financial stability classes, the net “benefit” of the “selected” programs in this study tend to be distributed similarly to gross farm sales. The results depend on exactly how one implements the classification but more than two thirds of gross sales and more than two thirds of net “benefits” of “selected” programs accrue to farms with a higher level of financial stability. Across the spectrum of rates of return on equity as an indicator of farm efficiency, about one third of gross sales and one third of net “benefits” of “ selected” programs accrue to farms with a rate of return on equity of 10% or more. The potential impact of deregulation of supply management depends on one‘ s assumption. Three scenarios are presented here and, in each case, both “winners” and “losers” are identified. Between 4% and 37% of households on farms with quota would move from above to below the Statistics Canada low-income cutoff (LICO), depending on the scenario under consideration. However, in each seen-ario, there are cases of households moving from below to above LICO as a result of our calculated impact of deregulating supply management. This paper takes its lead from Bonnen's observation about “unintended consequences.” We do not offer an “evaluation” of any government program. Our sole objective is to illustrate “distributional impacts” so that all individuals in the policy debate may speak from an informed perspective. This paper represents an initial step in developing an “informed perspective.” As the first note to this paper indicates, an important ancillary objective is to illustrate the potential of Statistics Canada databases to provide tabulations to answer specific Questions posed by researchers and policy analysts.