Destination choice and the identity of places: A disaggregated analysis for different types of visitor population environment in the Netherlands

Individual behaviour relates to the ecological structure or identity of places. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the space–time ecologies of different types of visitor population environment in the Netherlands and destination choice. Multinomial logistic regression modelling for car users was applied to determine the relative importance of various personal and household attributes on choosing for a particular purpose a particular type of visitor population environment during a particular time period of the day. The attributes with the strongest link to the space–time ecologies of destination environments proved to be age, educational level, car ownership, and household income and type.     

A post-carbon aviation future: Airports and the transition to a cleaner aviation sector

There is an increasing global interest in sustainable aviation technologies as a result of concerns associated with the carbon-intensive nature of the industry and the imminence of reaching peak oil. Available options such as biofuels, liquid hydrogen and electric propulsion will not only impact on the design and functionality of commercial airplanes, but also will affect the entire industry from supply through to operation and maintenance. However, on account of the global spread and international nature of aviation, in addition to the lock-in effect associated with existing fossil-fuel driven technology, the present aviation paradigm is not well equipped for a massive or rapid technological transition. This paper first provides an overview of selected available propulsion options, as well as their possible impact on the aviation infrastructure. It then sets out to identify the existing regime players in the aviation transition arena as a means to provide an overview of potential path trajectories, with a view to assessing how airport owners and other salient regime players can either facilitate or hinder the transition to alternative and less carbon-intensive technologies.     

Transport energy futures: Exploring the geopolitical dimension

The future of road transport, being currently reliant on carbon-based liquid fuels, is largely unclear. Some advocate the necessity of single renewable energy paradigm, but its realization is potentially fraught with difficulty owing to technological challenges, existing sunk costs, and path dependencies associated with existing and emerging options. It could also result in disadvantageous outcomes to emerging economies. Another school of thought proposes that future road transport, even within single nations, will require multiple energy types, mainly because a single source will be insufficient to meet projected needs. A multiple paradigm has the potential to be expensive because several infrastructures have to be implemented simultaneously. This paper aims to assess both concepts by considering the largely neglected dimensions of resource location and regional geophysical attributes, in addition to national technical expertise, industry capacity and modal factors. Case studies from both the developed world (the European Union and Australia) and the developing world (sub-Saharan Africa and China) will assess the possibility of implementing a single transport energy paradigm versus a more pluralistic regime. The results will help to inform policy making and enable greater foresight with regard to making long-term transport infrastructure investment decisions.     

Exploring the Role of Ownership Structures in the Results of Professional Health Care Franchises from a Multi-Actor Perspective

This paper explores how the ownership structure of professional health care franchises contributes to the achievement of positive results with franchising for the franchisor, the franchisee, professional service provider, and clients. We conducted a comparative embedded case study with three health care franchises in the Netherlands using data from 101 interviews, observations, and document analyses. We show that different ownership structures at the system-level (i.e., plural form, pure franchise, cooperative franchise) and the unit-level (i.e., stand-alone versus fractional, active versus passive, single versus multi-unit) have different effects as perceived by franchisors, franchisees, and professionals. Moreover, we reveal how this variation in experienced effects can be explained by differences in dynamics in regard to management, decision making, control, steering, support, interests, learning, and adaptation. Based on these analyses, we develop new typologies of ownership structures and show how combinations of system-level and unit-level structures can have mutually weakening or strengthening effects.     

The impact of home–host cultural distance on foreign affiliate sales: The moderating role of cultural variation within host countries

Research on how multinational firms deal with home–host cultural differences argues that cultural differences are minimized and assumes that foreign cultures are homogenous. In this paper we relax the cultural homogeneity assumption. In the presence of cultural variation in host countries the minimization of cultural differences leads existing mean-based indices of cultural differences to overestimate the actual cultural differences these firms have to deal with. We test this argument in a 25-year panel analysis of total US multinationals' foreign sales in 54 host countries. At the sample average of cultural variation, the use of mean cultural difference indices yields a 74% overestimate of the actual cultural difference effect. This suggests that home–host cultural differences are a substantially smaller barrier to multinational sales than hitherto assumed. The assumption of cultural homogeneity leads to conclusions in which a too large role is attributed to cultural differences.     

Parasitical cultures? The cultural origins of institutions and development

Do cultural attitudes affect institutions and economic performance? This paper suggests they do. To measure the impact of cultural attitudes we use prevalence rates of the common parasite Toxoplasma gondii which is known to affect individual attitudes and societal values in predictable ways. By using prevalence rates of Toxoplasma as instrument for cultural variation, we are able to isolate the effects of cultural attitudes on institutions, distinguishing them from effects of institutions and economic outcomes on culture. We find that our indicators of cultural attitudes are significant determinants of institutional quality, and strong predictors of long-run economic performance.     

Trade,development, and poverty-induced comparative advantage

This paper deals with the relation between trade and development when poverty affects individual decision making. We develop a two-sector model that links production and schooling decisions under poverty with standard neo-classical trade analyses. The decision to either work or acquire skills depends on households having reached subsistence levels of income, implying that the income level of a country becomes important in establishing comparative advantages and trade patterns. Trade liberalisation is always allocative efficient, but its timing is important for the speed by which countries industrialise. Our analysis supports the idea that there are instances that stalling trade liberalisation may serve industrial development.     

How Fair is Fair Trade?

This paper investigates to what extent fair trade programmes, are indeed fair. This is accomplished by comparing fair trade with free trade and protectionist trade regimes on their compliance of the criteria set by the fair trade movement itself. This comparison is made using comparative cost based models and economies of scale models. It is found that whether or not fair trade is superior to free trade or protectionism is highly dependent on a number of characteristics of the products to which fair trade is applied as well as on the context within which international trade takes place.