How shark conservation in the Maldives affects demand for dive tourism

Shark-diving tourism provides important economic benefits to the Maldives. We examine the link between shark conservation actions and economic returns from diving tourism. A combined travel cost and contingent behaviour approach is used to estimate the dive trip demand under different management scenarios. Our results show that increasing shark populations could increase dive-trip demand by 15%, raising dive tourists’ welfare by US$58 million annually. This could result in annual economic benefits for the dive-tourism industry of >US$6 million. Conversely, in scenarios where shark populations decline, where dive tourists observe illegal fishing, or if dive operators lack engagement in shark conservation, dive trip demand could decrease by up to 56%. This decline causes economic losses of more than US$24 million annually to the dive tourism industry. These results highlight the dependence of the shark-diving industry on the creation and enforcement of appropriate management regimes for shark conservation.     

Macroeconomic Uncertainty in South Africa

This paper develops a new index of economic uncertainty for South Africa for the period 1990–2014. The index is constructed from three sources: (1 ) Disagreement among professional forecasters, (2 ) a count of international and local newspaper articles discussing economic uncertainty in South Africa and (3 ) mentions of uncertainty in the quarterly economic review of the South African Reserve Bank. The index shows high levels of uncertainty around the period of democratic transition in 1992–1994, the large depreciation of the currency in 2001 and the financial crisis of 2008. The uncertainty index is a leading indicator of a recession. An unanticipated increase in the index is associated with a fall in GDP, investment, industrial production and private sector employment. Contrary to evidence for the U.S.A and the U.K., uncertainty shocks are inflationary. These results are robust to controlling for global uncertainty shocks, consumer confidence and financial shocks.     

Does distance matter in foreign direct investment sub-national location choice? Evidence from China

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) make investment decisions according to the distance factors at a sub-national level. This paper made estimates using the gravity model with provincial foreign direct investment (FDI) data from 2000 to 2012 and employed three concepts of distance. Our empirical results indicate that geographic distance and cultural distance have significant negative effects on FDI flow, whereas economic distance has a significant positive effect. It suggests that FDI prefers to locate in regions that are geographically and culturally close but economically distant from the home country, which further implies that FDI in China is dominated by vertical FDI. Our findings suggest that Chinese provincial governments should place emphasis on attracting FDI from culturally close countries and provide institutional support to encourage and promote horizontal FDI.     

经济增长质量的研究进展与学术展望

改革开放40多年来，中国经济铸就了高速增长奇迹，目前已经具备向高质量发展转变的客观条件。本文通过梳理中国经济增长质量的相关文献，总结当下经济增长质量问题的研究不足和未来研究方向。研究发现：关于经济增长质量的文献集中在经济增长质量的内涵界定和解析、经济增长质量的评价维度与定量测度、经济增长质量的影响因素与调控政策等方面，研究成果较为丰富，但也存在经济增长质量的评价指标选取不一致、经济增长质量的评价指标缺乏宏微观维度区分、经济增长速度和增长质量关系认识不清等问题，今后学术研究当以此为重点突破方向。本文关于经济增长质量的文献梳理和评价，对各界理解经济高质量发展，确定经济增长质量的研究方向具有重要意义。     

高技术制造业与高技术服务业协同集聚的经济增长效应

基于中国省级面板数据，利用空间面板模型和面板门槛模型，探究高技术制造业与高技术服务业协同集聚的经济增长效应。结果表明：区域间产业集聚特征差异显著，高协同集聚主要集中在东部沿海地区，低协同集聚主要集中在西部地区。经济增长水平、高技术制造业与高技术服务业协同集聚水平均具有显著空间正相关性，二者协同集聚有助于促进区域经济增长。协同集聚的经济增长效应存在双重门槛，当高技术制造业集聚度和高技术服务业集聚度均介于第一、二门槛之间时，产业协同集聚的经济增长效应最强。仅少部分省域两产业集聚度介于第一二门槛之间，能够有效发挥协同集聚对经济增长的推动作用。     

环境规制科技政策对科技进步与经济增长的影响

基于事件系统理论构建系统性、多层次性和综合性的政策量化分析框架，从政策属性、政策目标和政策工具3个维度对我国1985—2015年制定的198条环境规制科技政策进行量化研究。基于政策评估中的工具理性和价值理性两个层面，从环保科技进步效果和经济增长效应两个维度对环境规制科技政策有效性进行评估。研究发现，我国环境规制科技政策工具及政策工具协同对环保科技进步和经济增长的影响存在显著方向性差异。为此，进一步讨论了我国环境规制科技政策工具及工具协同的政策有效性评估结果，可为我国环境规制科技政策的完善和有效实施提供决策依据。     

中国省际区域经济差距演进及协调发展

实现区域协调发展是新时代中国区域高质量发展的必然要求。改革开放以来,中国省际区域经济差距经历了差距拉大—逐渐缩小—缓慢增大—逐渐缩小—维持不变的过程,逐步趋于收敛,其深层原因在于经济发展基础、资本投入、区域要素配置、区域要素使用和制度因素的地区异质性。推进区域经济协调发展,要不断加强对中西部地区的资本投入,优化资源配置,提高全要素生产率,提升开放水平,推进贸易高质量发展,完善与区域协调发展总体战略要求相适应的宏观区域政策和区域管理体制。     

Residential mobility and the local context: Comparing long-term and short-term spatial trends of population movements in Greece

Residential mobility is a key dimension of population dynamics shaping urban growth and rural development at different spatio-temporal scales. Assuming spatial mobility as increasingly dependent on the intrinsic characteristics of local contexts, the present study investigates long-term and short-term population movements in a European country (Greece), in light of regional urbanization processes and socioeconomic development. A multidimensional analysis of indicators of residential stability and background variables was carried out with the aim at evaluating the influence of local contexts on more general processes of population mobility. Different typologies of spatial mobility associated to factors (directly or indirectly) dependent on demographic dynamics, economic performances and urban cycles were identified. The empirical findings of this study evidence (more or less traditional) paths of internal migration and a latent process of population relocation across metropolitan regions, together with more recent international migrations at both working and retirement age. While short-range population movements were the ultimate result of late suburbanization in Greece, medium- and broad-range mobility consolidated the country's divide in urban and rural areas, evidencing the attractive role of Athens. Spatial direction and intensity of population movements reflect complex socioeconomic transformations, whose knowledge provides innovative visions for a better understanding of future demographic dynamics in Mediterranean Europe.     

Does Airbnb have a homogenous impact? Examining Airbnb’s effect on hotels with different organizational structures

Although a number of studies have examined Airbnb’s impact on hotels, previous studies have yielded mixed results and are limited in their geographical scope. Additionally, the impact of Airbnb on hotels with different organizational structures has not been previously analyzed. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is threefold: 1) to add to our understanding of the impact of an increase of Airbnb inventory by clarifying previously inconclusive results; 2) to examine the extent to which Airbnb listings affect hotel performance measures in the overall U.S. hotel market; and 3) to investigate the influence of Airbnb on key hotel metrics by elaborating the effect of Airbnb on hotels operated under different organizational forms- chain-managed, franchised, and independent. Our results show an adverse impact of Airbnb on hotel RevPAR and ADR metrics across different organizational structures. However, interestingly, Airbnb listings did not negatively affect occupancy numbers. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The non-inclusive nature of ‘all inclusive’ economics: Paradoxes and possibilities of the resort complex

The ‘All Inclusive’ (AI) concept has revolutionized package hospitality services and captured the attention of many industry stakeholders. Scholars have mostly investigated AI from the marketing perspective, whereas the economic ramifications of this type of product, for both hospitality operators and local communities, are still a barren landscape. Using a mixture of quantitative analysis techniques, including a two-step cluster analysis and econometric modeling, the study aims to enhance our conceptual capital pertaining to the economic impact of AI for local communities. The study focuses on overall tourists' spending, both within and outside their accommodation, with expenditure segmented into seven study-specific categories that highlight the economic specificities of AI. Findings, of interest to industry stakeholders, revealed the problematic and ambiguous status of AI provision in Cyprus, whereas actions, espousing the principles of cluster theories, that could maximize the economic contribution of AI to local economies are suggested.