Tourists and albatrosses: the dynamics of tourism at the Northern Royal Albatross Colony, Taiaroa Head, New Zealand

Wildlife tourism attractions in New Zealand, like those elsewhere in the world, have experienced rapid growth in demand since the mid-1980s in association with the ecotourism phenomenon. Fortunately, the body of research on the impacts of tourism upon wildlife, both domestic and international, is beginning to reflect this growth. This article presents a consideration of wildlife tourism as it has developed in the New Zealand context. Specifically, it addresses the complexities of understanding the impacts of non-consumptive wildlife tourism. This term describes tourist engagements with wildlife that take place in the habitat of the focal species without the deliberate disturbance or removal of that species. To this end, the case of the North Royal Albatross Colony, Taiaroa Head, New Zealand, is examined. Various secondary data sources are employed to test the application of Duffus and Dearden's (Biological Conservation 1990, 53, 213–231) conceptual framework to this bird colony, with all components of the framework proving to be upheld. It is concluded that site users, contact wildlife species and the natural habitat of the focal species all demonstrate various dimensions of change over time. Several conclusions are drawn from this study. First, that in the absence of deliberate management intervention, wildlife tourism attractions evolve over time to the detriment of both the visitor experience and the focal wildlife species. Secondly, the impacts of tourism upon wildlife transcend tolerance. In other words, wildlife species may appear to be perfectly tolerant of tourists while significant impacts still occur. Thirdly, the application of the core components of Duffus and Dearden's framework dictates that wildlife impact research is not transferable, but rather research of this nature is both site- and species-specific. Finally, it is recommended that research in this domain should involve long-term monitoring of wildlife impacts. Many significant impacts go undetected in the absence of time series data. Failing this, research into the impacts of non-consumptive wildlife tourism must give consideration of the possible long-term biological consequences of tourist engagements with wildlife species.     

PROGRESSIVITY AND REDISTRIBUTION IN NON‐REVENUE NEUTRAL TAX REFORMS: THE LEVEL AND DISTANCE EFFECTS

Kakwani and Reynolds–Smolensky indices are used in the literature to measure the progressivity and redistributive capacity of taxes. These indices may, however, show some limits when used to make normative assessments about non‐revenue neutral tax reforms. Two approaches have traditionally been taken to overcome this problem. The first of these consists of comparing after‐tax income distributions through generalized Lorenz (concentration) curves. The second approach is based on the decomposition of changes in the Reynolds–Smolensky index into changes in the average tax rate and variations in progressivity. Nonetheless, this decomposition between the average tax rate and progressivity may be further exploited to obtain some information that can be relevant to assess tax reforms. The main aim of this study is to draw up some indicators that can be useful to quantify the effects of non‐revenue neutral tax reforms. These indicators are used to investigate the last personal income tax reforms that have taken place in Spain.     

The Effects of Formal and Informal Contracting in Credit Availability

This paper investigates how the use of collateral (formal contracting), along with the market power of banks (which facilitates relational contracts), affects the availability of credit for business firms. Using loan data from the Spanish Credit Register, we show that the average credit quality of borrowers in a provincial market decreases with market concentration and the availability of collateral. Additionally, the marginal effect of each variable decreases with the higher values of the other variable. We also find that credit line interest rates increase with the availability of collateral, although the increase is lower for banks operating in more concentrated credit markets. Therefore, market power (relations) and collateral (formal contracting) act as substitutes to increase the availability of bank finance under asymmetric information.