Do we really care about Biodiversity?

This paper addresses from an economic perspective the issue of global biodiversity conservation. It challenges the perception that the world really cares a great deal about biodiversity and is prepared to pay the full cost of maintaining this stock of natural capital. Despite the existence of a plethora of international agreements there still seems to be a global ‘deficit of care’ surrounding efforts to combat challenges such as those posed by global warming and biodiversity conservation. More light can be thrown on the degree of care by measuring both the actual expenditures and the stated willingness to pay for biodiversity conservation. However, actual expenditures are much lower than willingness to pay estimates recorded in the published literature. Using the criteria that the ‘right’ amount of conservation effort is one where the marginal economic benefits from conservation just equal the marginal costs of conservation, the paper explores the biodiversity conservation conundrum and concluded that, on the available evidence, the world does not care too much about this natural capital stock and bequests to future generations. An erratum to this article can be found at     

BOARD COMPOSITION FROM A STRATEGIC CONTINGENCY PERSPECTIVE

This study examined the association between corporations’environments, strategies, and past performance and the composition of their boards of directors as measured by size and outside director representation. The environment, strategy and past performance were viewed as posing a strategic contingency; each of these sets could determine the success or failure of the company. Data on 119 Fortune 500 industrial companies for the 1983-9 period were used. Canonical analysis showed that increased uncertainty of a firm's environment, use of external growth and diversification; reliance on leverage as a means of finance, and poor past financial performance were associated with large board size and increased outside representation in subsequent years. Most important, board composition was positively associated with future measurements of corporate financial performance.     

Declining Discount Rates: The Long and the Short of it

The last few years have witnessed important advances in our understanding of time preference and social discounting. In particular, several rationales for the use of time-varying social discount rates have emerged. These rationales range from the ad hoc to the formal, with some founded solely in economic theory while others reflect principles of intergenerational equity. While these advances are to be applauded, the practitioner is left with a confusing array of rationales and the sense that almost any discount rate can be justified. This paper draws together these different strands and provides a critical review of past and present contributions to this literature. In addition to this we highlight some of the problems with employing DDRs in the decision-making process, the most pressing of which may be time inconsistency. We clarify their practical implications, and potential pitfalls, of the more credible rationales and argue that some approaches popular in environmental economics literature are ill-conceived. Finally, we illustrate the impact of different approaches by examining global warming and nuclear power investment. This includes an application and extension of Newell and Pizer [‘Discounting the benefits of climate change mitigation : how much do uncertain rates increase valuations?’ Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 46 (2003) 52] to UK interest rate data.     

Conceptualizing and operationalizing nodal tourism functions

This paper reviews conceptualizations of nodal functions and presents a methodology for identifying and measuring the tourism functions of specific places with reference to place competitiveness. The methodology, which combines measures of length of stay and purpose of visit, is illustrated by a survey-based comparative analysis of ferry passengers traveling between two tourist nodes in New Zealand: Wellington and Picton. The results show distinctive differences between the two places in terms of their multiple functions expressed as origins, gateways, stopovers and destinations. Opportunities for modifying functions appear to be greatest amongst international travelers.     

The relative power of ceos and boards of directors: Associations with corporate performance

A typology of the relative powers of the chief executive officer and the board of directors was derived based on the literature, highlighting four situations: Caretaker, Statutory, Proactive and Participative boards. Data collected from Fortune 500 Industrial and Fortune 500 Service corporations supported the typology. The results showed significant differences among the four board types in their characteristics, internal process, decision-making styles, board effectiveness, and contribution to company performance. Powerful boards were associated with superior corporate financial performance.     

The Role of the Non-Farm Rural Sector in the Reconstruction of the Balkans

MOCT-MOST: Economic Policy in Transitional Economies -     

Growth patterns of the world’s largest firms, 1962–1982

Zusammenfassung Wachstumsmuster der gr?\ten Firmen der Welt zwischen 1962 und 1982. - Mit Hilfen der Gibrat- und Galton-Modelle wird gezeigt, da\ in den beiden Perioden 1962–1972 und 1972–1982 das Wachstum der gr?\ten Unternehmen langsamer war als das kleinerer Unternehmen. Die wirtschaftliche Konzentration innerhalb dieser Gruppe von Unternehmen mit Weltgeltung nahm in jeder Periode vermutlich ab. Die kleineren Firmen unter ihnen, die zwischen 1962 und 1972 verh?ltnism?\ig erfolgreich waren, wiederholten diesen Erfolg zwischen 1972 und 1982: “Erfolg erzeugt Erfolg”. Die Nationalit?t der Firmen scheint auf diese Ergebnisse für die Periode 1962–1972 ohne Einflu\ gewesen zu sein. Zwischen 1972 und 1982 dagegen gab es in Deutschland und Japan im Gegensatz zu den USA, Gro\britannien und dem Rest der Welt keine Tendenz der kleineren Firmen, schneller zu wachsen.

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Résumé Structures de croissance des entreprises mondiales les plus grandes, 1962–1982.- En utilisant les modèles de Gibrat et Galton, les auteurs démontrent que la croissance proportioneile des entreprises les plus grandes était plus lente que celle des entreprises plus petites dans les deux périodes 1962–1972 et 1972–1980. La concentration dans ce groupe des grandes entreprises a probablement décr? dans chaque période. Des petites entreprises qui avaient relativement beaucoup de succès en 1962–1972 répétaient la bonne performance en 1972–1982: “succès produit de succès”. La nationalité de l’entreprise ne semble pas avoir influencé ces résultats en 1962–1972. Mais pour la période 1972–1982, l’Allemagne et le Japon différaient des Etats Unis, du R.U. et du reste du monde en manière que les entreprises les plus petites n’accroissent pas plus vite.

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Resumen Pautas de crecimiento de las empresas más importantes, 1962–1982. — Utilizando los modelos de Gibrat y de Galton se demuestra que las empresas más grandes han crecido más lentamente que las empresas peque?as en los períodos 1962–1972 y 1972–1982. La concentración de empresas importantes probablemente disminuyó en cada período. Las empresas peque?as con éxito relativo en 1962–1972 pudieron repetir su éxito en 1972–1982: el éxito genera éxito. La nacionalidad de las empresas parece no haber tenido efecto sobre los resultados para 1962–1972. Pero en 1972–1982, Alemania y el Japón se diferenciaron de los EEUU, el Reino Unido y el resto del mundo al carecer de una tendencia favorable para la peque?a empresa.

     

Looking inside the joint venture to help understand the link between inter-parent cooperation and performance

Cooperation is the Holy Grail for inter-organizational relationships, and significant research effort has been directed towards understanding its antecedents. However, the extant literature on joint ventures indicates that relatively few researchers have attempted to measure either cooperation or its organizational consequences. This paper examines the thesis that the link between inter-parent cooperation and joint venture performance may be mediated by important conditions inside the joint venture. The findings suggest that the nature of relations between the managers transferred into the joint venture from the parents can help explain the link between joint venture performance and inter-parent cooperation. In that regard, this research highlights the mediating roles of interdependence, factionalism, and patterns of influence behaviour. A parsimonious model is offered to help understand joint venture performance.     

Tourism and regional development a genetic approach

Research on tourism and regional development should include a temporal perspective, for studies of contemporary and economic impact are, by themselves, insufficient to explain tourism's contribution to regional development. Such a genetic approach is used to examine the growth and impact of tourism in Queenstown, New Zealand. Events and interrelationships are examined over the last twenty-five years to show the process of growth, changes in the patterns of local and outside involvement and the increasing sophistication of a resort once based largely on scenic factors alone. Certain sectors of the industry have been developed primarily by individuals and companies from the local region, while others have been dominated by outsiders. Although the former contribute the most to regional development through local participation in the development process, external developments have also generated complementary growth. A consideration of events over a certain time span allows these different factors to be placed more clearly in the context of regional development.