Opportunity or threat? Finnish hunters’ attitudes to hunting tourism

This article examines elements of the social sustainability of hunting tourism development by scrutinising Finnish hunters’ opinions on three possible scenarios related to hunting tourism: the threat of an exclusion of local hunters, the threat of rising rents of hunting land and the threat to Finnish hunting customs and practice due to increasing numbers of foreign hunting tourists. Hunters’ positions on these three issues are mapped and the determinants of their attitudes are analysed using unique national survey data on Finnish hunters and their attitudes (N= 1193). The results show a clear ambivalence to hunting tourism among hunters. While a majority of hunters tend to view hunting tourism as a threat, a large minority relate to it more positively. These attitudinal patterns can be explained only partly by socioeconomic factors, whereas factors pertaining to hunting experience and hunting profile play a somewhat more prominent role in understanding the legitimacy that hunting tourism enjoys in the eyes of hunters in Finland. Age, rural residence and participation in wildlife management are also found important for some issues. The ambiguities revealed could pose major problems for social sustainability and hunting tourism management and development.     

Trust, contract and economic cooperation

After providing a brief overview of the standard economic analysisof incomplete contracts in terms of property rights, transactioncosts and self-enforcing implicit contracts, the author showswhy, in the orthodox view, trust is not a pertinent categoryto their negotiation or effectiveness. Drawing on various empiricalstudies which he has undertaken in the area of industrial relations,the author develops an alternative approach to the study ofincomplete contracts in which the concept of trust is central.In this alternative vision, boundedly rational agents with limitedforesight form provisional judgements about the trustworthinessof their trading partners based on the success of their pastencounters. A consequence of this alternative understandingof incomplete contracts is that there is no guarantee that cooperationwill succeed, even when the circumstances appear to promisemutual gain. The author argues, however, that by establishingan appropriate set of procedural rules to guide their responseto the unanticipated, agents can promote the kinds of mutuallearning that contribute to the build-up of trust and that increasethe likelihood of successful cooperation.     

Einzelbesprechungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Extended Dividend,Cash Flow,and Residual Income Valuation Models: Accounting for Deviations from Ideal Conditions*

Previous empirical studies derive the standard equity valuation models (i.e., DDM, RIM, and DCF model) while assuming that ideal conditions, such as infinite payoffs and clean surplus accounting, exist. Because these conditions are rarely met, we extend the standard models by following the fundamental principle of financial statement articulation. We then empirically test the extended models by employing two sets of forecasts: (1) the analyst forecasts provided by Value Line, and (2) the forecasts generated by cross‐sectional regression models. The main result is that our extended models yield considerably smaller valuation errors. Moreover, by constructing these models, we obtain identical value estimates across the extended models. By reestablishing empirical equivalence under nonideal conditions, our approach provides a benchmark that enables us to quantify the errors caused by individual deviations from ideal conditions and thus to analyze the robustness of the standard models. Finally, by providing a level playing field for the different valuation models, our findings have implications for other empirical approaches, for example, estimating the implied cost of capital.     

Efficient Grid Extension for Strongly Fluctuating Energy Sources

The statistical distribution function of the yield of a source of strongly varying output is usually presented as a ‘power-duration-curve’. We show that the decisive economic curve representing the marginal benefit of such fluctuating sources like wind energy can be derived directly from this distribution function. This may allow to determine the optimum investment in renewable energy systems. As one application we determine the economic optimum limit power of high voltage lines devoted to long distance transmission of wind energy as the intersection of the marginal-benefit-curve of the energy produced and the marginal-cost-curve of the transmission line.     

How cost-effective are result-oriented agri-environmental measures?—An empirical analysis in Germany

Agri-environmental measures (AEM) are the central area-based measures of the second pillar of the Common European Agricultural Policy. Cost-effectiveness of AEMs has to be improved. In this paper a newly designed AEM called result-oriented incentive is empirically analysed for the first time concerning its impacts on environmental effects and cost.     

Regional Impact of the German Rent Brake

New rental contracts have risen dramatically in many German places in recent years due to strong influxes and sluggish construction activity. The rent brake should put a stop to this development so that housing in prospering cities remains affordable for people on normal and low incomes. Although initial successes were attested to the rent brake, empirical findings are increasing, according to which the rent brake is not having the desired effect. This also applies to the findings determined here: the results of a difference‐in‐difference estimation show that the rent brake has reduced rents on offer in Hamburg, Berlin and Munich by up to 5%, while no effects are observed in Cologne and Düsseldorf. Nevertheless, the effects are lagging behind the expected effects almost everywhere. The results illustrate once again an implementation deficit and show that no general statements on the effectiveness of the rent brake are currently permissible. However, the rent brake is certainly having a price effect in some regions, even if not to the intended extent.     

Every flow has its ebb: The impact of flow on work–family conflict and adjustment in global careers

Despite an increase in research in psychology on the mental state of flow, little is known within the area of organisational studies about its “dark side.” Although prior organisational studies literature suggests that flow leads to generally positive work outcomes, we use conservation of resources theory to argue that expatriates in the state of flow can accumulate resources that lead to work adjustment but at the same time may experience unintended negative work–family conflict consequences. Specifically, we argue that being in the state of flow can improve expatriates' work adjustment because they can concentrate on the task at hand in an unencumbered way. Yet the exclusive concentration on work tasks and the distortion of time while in the state of flow may reduce psychological and time resources available to the family, resulting in work–family conflict. We explore whether flow theory needs to be altered to discover potentially negative work–family conflict outcomes inherent in the complex work regimes associated with global careers. Structural equation modelling analyses based on a sample of 230 expatriates in the United States and 169 expatriates in Brazil revealed that flow increased both work–family conflict and work adjustment.