PRIVATIZED HOUSING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONDOMINIUMS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE: THE CASES OF POLAND, HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA, AND ROMANIA

This paper looks at the housing sector reform in Central and Eastern Europe and examines the progress to date in housing privatization and policies aimed at improving the management and condition of the existing housing stock through the establishment and operation of the condominium form of ownership. The paper compares and analyzes approaches taken in four countries with regard to four issues: (I) the legal framework and implementation strategies; (2) the role of local government housing strategies in supporting the development of viable condominium associations; (3) property management of privatized housing; and (4) financing rehabilitation and capital repair projects for condominiums. Findings include the need for a clear legal framework, competition in the property management market, more supportive local government policies, and public sector support in tackling rehabilitation finance issues.     

Corruption and Transparency in a Growth Model

We develop a Ramsey type model of economic growth in which the “Engine of Growth” is public capital accumulation. Public capital is a public good, and is financed by taxes on private output. The government may either use the taxes gathered to fund public capital accumulation or consume the resourses itself; that is engage in corruption. There is an irreducable level of endogenously determined corruption which constitutes rents for which potential governments compete. This competition takes the form of choosing a time path for public capital invesment, which implies time paths for output and household consumption. We study both the model’s steady state, and dynamical behavior along the saddle path. The predictions of our theory accord well with the existent empirical evidence on the relationships between the level and growth rate of output, corruption, public investment and fiscal transparency. Our analysis also provides a perspective on the transition experiences of several Eastern European economies. JEL Code: O41, H41     

How do environmental knowledge,environmental sensitivity,and place attachment affect environmentally responsible behavior? An integrated approach for sustainable island tourism

Previous studies have explored tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) from the perspectives of individual commitment, attractiveness, and involvement. This study approaches from the standpoint of environmental knowledge (EK); it probes tourists’ behavior to facilitate sustainable tourism development, and constructs a sustainable island tourism development model by integrating EK, environmental sensitivity, place attachment, and ERB. Four hundred and seventy seven tourists visiting the Penghu Islands, Taiwan, were surveyed. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the relationships among the variables and the mediating effects. Results indicate that higher levels of tourists’ EK about the Penghu Islands are associated with stronger environmental sensitivity; environmental sensitivity which tourists have for island tourism is positively associated with place attachment. The extent of place attachment of Penghu as perceived by tourists is also positively associated with stronger ERB. When tourists are highly sensitive to the attraction, they are more likely to exhibit ERB. Environmental sensitivity and place attachment were found to exert significant effects in mediating the relationships between EK and ERB. This study pioneers the integration of all four constructs in a sustainable tourism behavior model for tourists to island tourism destinations. Suggestions for marketing and implementation of sustainable tourism, and their managerial implications are proposed.     

Ideal Standards and Attitude Formation: A Tourism Destination Perspective

This study investigates the way attributes of an individual's ideal destination influence attitudes towards a holiday destination. Traditionally, ideals are used as comparison standards or to weight perception measures, but literature from outside the tourism and business management domains suggest new possibilities exist. A conceptual model was developed and empirically tested using path analysis, and the results indicate that ideal attributes directly influence perceptions of a holiday destination and indirectly influence attitude components of emotion and conation. The implications of the findings are discussed from both a practical and theoretical perspective and raise a number of interesting future research possibilities. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of ‘‘high in” front-of-package nutrition labeling on food choices: Evidence from a grocery shopping experiment

This study investigates the ex-ante effects of the front-of-package (FoP) nutrition labeling for food products high in saturated fat, sugar, and/or sodium, which is a new regulation recently announced by Health Canada to combat obesity. The Canadian food industry has until January 1, 2026, to comply with the new regulations. To examine the ex-ante effects of this policy, an incentivized experiment is conducted in a lab that replicates a grocery store. The results at the product level indicate a significant decrease in the probability of choosing a product with a “high in” label compared to those without “high in” labels. Basket-level results demonstrate that FoP labeling is significantly associated with a lower quantity share and dollar value share of products high in one of the mentioned nutrients selected in a grocery basket, as well as fewer grams of sugar and sodium in a grocery basket. Furthermore, the study reveals that individuals with higher educational attainment, a risk-averse nature, and a lower level of self-reported nutrition knowledge tend to react more to the labeling. The insights from eye-tracking data further support these results, revealing that product choices are deterred by a fixation on “high in” labels. This study contributes to an improved understanding of the pathway in which labeling schemes influence food choices.