Informing timeshare exchange services on the drivers of customer-driven co-production

Given the continued growth of the timeshare segment and its unique characteristics as an owned leisure lodging product, adopting a service-dominant logic and developing opportunities for co-creation is highly relevant for companies that provide services to this industry. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to explore the drivers that lead to customer-driven co-production in timeshare exchange services, due to the popularity of this option among consumers owning timeshare. Our results indicate that interaction between timeshare owners as customers of the exchange company is a significant driver of customer-driven co-production. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore customer-driven co-production in the timeshare industry. Moreover, our findings are highly significant for timeshare exchange companies and point them to potential areas of improvement in their service processes that could lead to higher customer-driven co-production and, consequently, more valuable experiences.     

Understanding the impact of COVID-19 intervention policies on the hospitality labor market

Using new high-frequency data that covers a representative sample of small businesses in the United States, this study investigates the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting state policies on the hospitality industry. First, business closure policies are associated with a 20–30% reduction of non-salaried workers in the food/drink and leisure/entertainment sectors during March-April of 2020. Second, business reopening policies play a statistically significant role in slowly reviving the labor market. Third, considerable differences exist in the impact of policies on the labor market by state. Fourth, the rise of new COVID-19 cases on a daily basis is associated with the continued deterioration of the labor market. Lastly, managerial, practical, and economic implications are described.     

Retail trade and payment innovations in the digital era: a cross-industry and multi-country approach

Abstract

This article introduces a novel approach to payment innovations. It t identifies a cross-industry (retail trade and retail banking) and multi-country (USA, some Western European countries and Japan) approach to the interaction between these industries and the new retail payment systems from the 1970s to the mid 1990s. It documents and discusses the different trajectories that have been seen in the different competitive environments, particularly in regard to payment cards. It also analyses the involvement of bankers and retailers in the evolution of card payment systems and their contribution to the global adoption of bank cards. These processes have occurred within a framework in which sectoral boundaries have taken precedence over the payment alternatives associated with cross-industry solutions.     

旅游产业与县域经济耦合协调发展研究 ——来自桂林阳朔县的经验证据

旅游业可以带动县域经济的发展,但也要依靠一定程度的经济作为基础支撑,如何协调好两者的均衡发展,关系到旅游产业与县域经济的耦合协调问题。以阳朔县为研究对象,采用协整分析、误差修正模型以及耦合协调度分析的方法对2004年至2018年阳朔县旅游产业和经济的关系和耦合协调性进行研究。结果表明：旅游产业和经济之间存在长期均衡的关系,经济的短期波动受旅游产业的短期波动以及误差修正项的影响；旅游产业和经济在观测期间由轻度失调逐渐转变为良好协调的状态。     

畜牧产业结构变动对我国粮食安全的影响分析

［目的］改革开放40多年来，我国畜牧产业结构不断调整和优化，其生产供给结构与消费需求结构的变动与我国粮食安全问题息息相关。［方法］文章基于改革开放40多年来畜牧产业发展历程，从供给与需求两个维度分析我国畜牧产业结构变动的特征，并进一步探究畜牧产业结构变动与我国粮食安全间的作用机理，最后运用灰色关联度分析法实证其关联影响度。［结果］我国畜牧产业结构由耗粮型为主向节粮型转变，畜产品供给结构趋于合理，但不同区域间存在较大差异； 我国居民对畜产品消费需求量增加，但城乡居民畜产品消费结构及变动存在一定差异性； 畜牧产业结构变动与粮食安全有重要联系，畜牧业发展同保障国家粮食安全并不矛盾，畜牧产业结构变动主要通过耕地、基于口粮替代的食物需求结构变化及饲料粮需求3个方面作用于粮食安全； 具体来看，粮食播种面积、耗粮型畜产品比重和耗粮型畜产品饲料转化率对粮食安全水平的关联影响较大，节粮型畜产品比重与节粮型畜产品饲料转化率对粮食安全水平的关联影响小于耗粮型畜产品的影响。［结论］不断提高不同畜产品的饲料转化率，加大非粮型饲料资源开发利用度，推广非粮饲料应用技术，加快畜牧产业转型升级，满足消费者需求和保障国家粮食安全。     

黑龙江森工林区林业产业结构演变趋势及优势产业选择

采用灰色预测方法对黑龙江森工林区2018—2027年林业三次产业产值进行预测,并在此基础上利用动态偏离-份额分析方法对此阶段黑龙江森工林区的林业优势产业进行选择。结果表明:2019年黑龙江森工林区林业产业结构将演变为"三、一、二"模式;林业第一产业中的林木育种和育苗、经济林产品的种植和采集业可作为优势产业进行重点发展和管理。因此,提出优化黑龙江森工林区林业产业结构的相关建议:继续巩固发展林木育种和育苗、经济林产品的种植和采集这两个优势产业;推动加工制造业向深加工、精加工的方向转变;加强林业旅游与休闲服务业的竞争力。     

Effects of redistributing policy support on farmers’ technical efficiency

The objective of this article is twofold: first, investigating the relationship between technical efficiency and decoupled direct payments of a sample of Italian farms prior to the application of the 2014–2020 Common Agricultural Policy reform; second, evaluating possible implications of alternative scenarios about distribution of direct payments on technical efficiency. To these aims, a stochastic frontier analysis is adopted. Results indicate that direct payments produce significant effects on technical efficiency in specialized farms, which received higher levels of support. However, effects are contrasting. Moreover, results show that redistribution of policy subsidies may negatively impact on technical efficiency to an extent depending upon the criterion of redistribution applied. Finally, some policy suggestions are given.     

The role of culture and personality traits in board game habits and attitudes: Cross-cultural comparison between Denmark,Germany, and USA

This study investigated whether variations in personality traits are related to board game usage patterns and attitudes, and whether such associations are expressed differently across countries that reflect different cultural orientations and values. A cross-sectional online survey was distributed among 486 Danes, Germans, and Americans, whose personalities were assessed through the NEO-FFI questionnaire. Participants also indicated their liking levels, attitudes, and playing frequency of board games. Results showed significant associations between personality traits and board game-related attitudes and habits. However, these associations were moderated by culture and primarily predicted responses among Danish participants, but not their American or German counterparts. These findings have important implications for the board-game industry, a multi-billion-dollar market worldwide. Furthermore, findings can shed light on how to better personalize and design board games according to personality traits and culture-specific preferences, which should have a significant impact on the user experience and ultimately increase sales.     

The Great Divergence: Why Britain Industrialised First

What drove the precocious industrialisation in Britain was not demand for machines but rather (as Joel Mokyr and his co-authors have argued) the supply of useful knowledge and the skills needed to put it into practice. They were the force behind early innovation. But they did not act alone. They were reinforced by British institutions, which gave the British economy a century's head start over the rest of Europe and likely too over the rich parts of Asia. The institutions included a uniform fiscal and legal system; an effective means of training apprentices, who had escaped from local guild control; and a parliament that could raise taxes and exercise eminent domain but was at the same time a credible protector of private property. Among other things, these institutions facilitated the transportation of goods such as coal and they were backed up by policies that worked in favour of manufacturing. Together, the institutions and policies generated agglomeration effects that encouraged innovation. The agglomeration effects were more pronounced in western Europe than anywhere else in Eurasia and more developed in Britain than anywhere else.     

关键核心技术攻关新型举国体制研究

面对新一轮科技革命,传统创新组织和模式已难以适应新形势的要求,美国科技界认为会聚创新模式将成为推动科技发展的重大战略举措。本文深入分析会聚创新兴起的内在机理,以人工智能领域为切入点,广泛借鉴国际创新组织不同模式经验,提出构建社会主义市场经济条件下关键核心技术攻关新型举国体制的若干建议。