Standards and the regulation of environmental risk

We study regulatory design for a pollution-generating firm who is better informed than the regulator regarding pollution mitigation possibilities, and who chooses an unobservable action when employing a particular mitigation plan. We distinguish among performance, process, and design standards, and study the relative merit of each type of regulatory instrument. Relative to previous work on standards design, we emphasize technology and process verification. An optimal performance standard is relatively strict when regulator and firm preferences are congruent, but the regulator may prefer no performance standard at all if verification costs are sufficiently high. A process standard unambiguously increases expected surplus (relative to no regulation) in some environments, and otherwise improves welfare only when it is unlikely to generate a “bad” technology choice by the firm. A design standard can improve welfare if the regulator is sufficiently well informed about the technological possibilities for pollution control, but only when the firm’s private benefits from technology choice are sufficiently small.     

Host community attitudes toward tourism and cultural tourism development: the case of the Lewes District,southern England

Increasingly research is being conducted on host community attitudes toward tourism. However, few studies have been conducted at a regional level and none have examined the attitudes of the host community towards both tourism and cultural tourism development. This paper outlines a study conducted in the Lewes District of southern England and notes that although residents are generally supportive of tourism development and cultural tourism development, there are differences in opinion concerning the perceived economic and social benefits. In particular, levels of income and proximity to the tourist centre were major influencing factors. Conclusions and recommendations are made concerning the need for tourism planners to distribute the benefits more widely and to engage residents from different socio‐economic groups and localities in tourism planning and development activities. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bicycle tourism in the South Island of New Zealand: planning and management issues

Several emerging trends are pointing to the re-emergence of the bicycle as an important leisure and recreational transportation mode. Yet little research has been conducted into cycling within a tourism context. This paper examines the increasing phenomenon of bicycle tourism by defining bicycle tourists and bicycle tourism from a demand perspective, and describes the characteristics, infrastructure and travel behaviour associated with bicycle tourism through the examination of data collected on independent cycle tourists in the South Island of New Zealand. It illustrates through performance-importance analysis, the areas of major concern in the planning and management of bicycle tourism, and recommends that a demand side perspective is needed if the supply side of the industry is to be sustainable in the future. It makes recommendations for the future planning and management of bicycle tourism in New Zealand that may be of interest to countries currently developing cycle tourism.     

Financial misreporting and peer firms' operational efficiency

We investigate the impact of financial misreporting on peer firms’ operational efficiency, defined as a firm’s efficiency in converting investments into revenues. We find that, on average, peers’ operational efficiency declines after rival firms misstate their financial performance. However, we also find that the impact of financial misreporting is not homogeneous across peer firms. The negative effect is mainly driven by non‐misstating firms that had high performance. For firms that had lower past performance, the negative effect is significantly weaker, suggesting that the perceived competition induced by misreporting has a more positive effect. In addition, we document that the effect of misreporting is influenced by peer firms’ external financing need, industry leadership status and information environment.     

Marketing channel evolution: From contactual efficiency to brand value co-creation and appropriation within the platform enterprise

Abstract

In recent years, major technological advances have been a primary force driving channel evolution. In particular, the Internet of things has provided a means for some firms to experience the rise of one of the most innovative and cutting-edge channels—the platform enterprise (i.e., firms such as Amazon, Etsy, and Airbnb). We examine the platform enterprise through a marketing channel evolution lens. In doing so, we point to key factors that enable particular kinds of firms to forge unique marketing channels. As platform enterprises, these channels offer value that transcends contactual efficiency, because they utilize their resources and capabilities not only to connect buyers and sellers efficiently but also to create a community of stakeholders whose collective efforts are focused on two linked priorities—brand value co-creation and brand value appropriation.     

Costs and Perseverance in Serious Leisure Careers

Few studies have explored the impacts of costs on serious leisure careers. This article presents a case study of amateur athletes encountering a significant cost—cancellation of the 2012 Ironman New Zealand triathlon—and how they persevered despite this cost. Through a phenomenological research design incorporating qualitative interviews with 14 amateur triathletes, grounded theory analysis revealed that despite encountering a significant cost, athletes remained committed to their serious leisure careers. Athletes acknowledged and accepted the inherent risk of cancellation associated with outdoor sports events. Their experiences stimulated deployment of cognitive and behavioral strategies aimed at rationalizing or mitigating risk. This article contributes three theoretical propositions regarding costs encountered by serious leisure amateurs, how they persevere around costs, and concomitant impacts on serious leisure career trajectories.     

Tracking the concept of sustainability in Australian tourism policy and planning documents

In the current climate of intense turbulence, tourism must transform to a more sustainable development platform. Yet it remains unclear how the concept of sustainability is embedded at different levels of government policy and planning, and how this has evolved over time. This paper identifies the concept of sustainability as it is articulated in 339 Australian tourism strategic planning and policy documents published between 2000 and 2011. The paper examines the extent to which the concept of sustainable tourism is evident in the discourse of Australian tourism strategic planning documents at the national, state, regional and local levels, as well as the balance of the discourse in relation to sustainability objectives. The results show that the frequency of occurrence of sustainability as a concept has slightly increased in strategies over the past decade. At the same time, there has been a shift in the conceptualisation of sustainability, with thinking evolving from nature-based, social and triple bottom line concepts toward a focus on climate change, responsibility, adaption and transformation.     

I Heart Logistics—Just Don’t Ask Me to Pay For It: Online Shopper Behavior in Response to a Delivery Carrier Upgrade and Subsequent Shipping Charge Increase

The provision of outstanding delivery service is increasingly critical for retailers engaged in e-commerce. As a result, many are interested in switching from their existing carrier to one that is more highly capable in order to better serve their customers. In making this switch, the retailer faces a dilemma: Better carriers cost more, so they will either have to accept a reduction in profit or increase the shipping charge to their customers. While research shows that shoppers recognize certain carriers as superior—and both theory and empirical evidence suggest that people are willing to accept certain cost-justified increases to what they are charged in a transaction—studies also show that online shoppers loathe shipping charges. Thus, what is an e-retailer to do? Through a series of vignette experiments, we examine the question of how online shoppers respond to a shipping charge increase when the retailer switches to a more highly perceived delivery carrier. Our findings show that shoppers are not particularly accepting of the switch, and while they are not likely to complain, resulting purchase intentions are notably low. Alternative strategies for implementing the carrier switch are also explored.