Variability of User-Based Evaluative Standards for Backcountry Encounters

Backcountry visitors are often surveyed regarding their personal evaluative standards (or norms) for acceptable levels of encounters with other groups. In this study, backpackers at Grand Canyon National Park were asked about the acceptability of encounters at several times: at home prior to their trip, once each day during their trip, and at-home after their trip. Thus it was possible to assess spatial and temporal variability within individuals, as well as variation among individuals, in both the ability to provide a personal evaluative standard about number of encounters and the standard provided. Results suggest that backcountry visitors differentiate between zones in the Grand Canyon backcountry managed to provide diverse settings, including visitor density. However, there was substantial variation in the standards provided both among individuals and over time within individuals.     

Exploring quality of life perceptions in rural midwestern (USA) communities: an application of the core–periphery concept in a tourism development context

Tourism has increasingly become a preferred option for rural economic development. Like other economic opportunities, the purpose is to improve community viability and residents' quality of life. However, the impacts from tourism are sometimes negative and may lead to a decreased quality of life for residents. This empirical study investigates residents' quality of life using the core–periphery (CP) model. Periphery respondents reported a statistically higher overall quality of life, which is at odds with other research. Significant differences in quality of life scores and subsequent indicators highlight the usefulness of the CP model towards understanding tourism impacts to a rural destination. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bribery in international markets: Diagnosis,clarification and remedy

This essay ranges widely, using selected ideas from microeconomics, ethics, and elementary game theory in an effort to gain some understanding of the controversial issue of bribery in international markets. Its goal is partial charification of the issue and increased awareness of alternative remedy strategies. Harold L. Johnson is Professor of Economics at the Emory University. Previously he worked at the Georgia State University. His most important publications are Disclosure of Corporate Social Performance, Praeger Publishers, New York, 1979 and Business in Contemporary Society: Framework and Issues, Wadsworth, New York, 1971. He wrote several articles which appeared in Harvard Business Review, Southern Economic Journal, Journal of Business, Behavioral Science and other journals.     

Using participatory rural appraisal and participatory research and extension in a post-independence environment: a case from East Timor

A participatory rural appraisal (PRA) conducted in East Timor in 2004 as part of an agricultural development project provided the basis for a number of community-based participatory extension initiatives. The PRA involved several communities throughout a watershed and also served as a training exercise for local agriculture ministry staff. Despite the poverty of many of the communities involved, and in contrast to published literature on the local agricultural situation, farmers clearly expressed their need for more marketable crops and alternative sources of livelihoods. Their desires contrasted with the project's initial assumption that the major need was for increased production of staple crops to alleviate food scarcity. The project consequently branched out from concentrating on basic agronomy of staple crops into developing marketable crops, improving livestock production and facilitating development of a local business. Farmers' groups were set up to allow farmers to develop their own agricultural enterprises. Some ministry staff who participated in the project welcomed the opportunity to move from the traditional authoritarian extension system set up under Indonesian colonial rule to a more collegial and educational system. The breakdown of institutions and lines of authority following independence may create new opportunities for participatory development in newly independent states.     

Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic Ethic, and Adam Smith

In The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) Adam Smith draws on the Stoic idea of a Providence that uses everything for the good of the whole. The process is often painful, so the Stoic ethic insisted on conscious cooperation. Stoic ideas contributed to the rise of science and enjoyed wide popularity in Smith’s England. Smith was more influenced by the Stoicism of his professors than by the Epicureanism of Hume. In TMS, Marcus Aurelius’s “helmsman” becomes the “impartial spectator,” who judges actions in terms of the way they are seen by others. This is the key to justice, without which society collapses. Business school students should be taught that Smith’s “invisible hand” is best understood as a universal rationality that uses just actions for the benefit of the whole.     

Firm Heterogeneity,Origin of Ownership and Export Participation

This paper investigates the relationship between firm heterogeneity and a firm’s decision to export, using the annual survey of Thai manufacturing firms from 2001 to 2004. A significant contribution of this paper is that we are, for the first time, able to break down FDI by country of origin to observe whether the behaviour of MNEs differs by region of origin. We find that sunk entry costs and firm characteristics are important factors in explaining a firm’s decision to export. Another important determinant is the ownership structure of the firm, with foreign‐owned firms having a higher probability of exporting than domestically owned firms, although this differs across country of ownership with potentially important policy implications. Export platform FDI is used to explain the behaviour of foreign firms that invest in Thailand. Using three measures of total factor productivity, we also find that highly productive firms self‐select into the export market. The implication for governments of developing countries is the need to think carefully about how and to whom they target their inward FDI policies as a means of growth. The heterogeneous behaviour of multinationals from different nations means that policies targeting specific regions or countries may be preferable to general tax concessions or the implementation of special economic zones that are open to all.     

Farmers' Preferences for Alternative Crop and Health Insurance Subsidy

In addition to production risks, farmers desire to balance personal risks of health care. A theoretical framework is developed for holistic health and crop insurance products that provide the opportunity to switch a portion of existing crop insurance subsidy for greater health coverage. A random utility discrete choice experiment is used to assess farmers' stated preferences for holistic insurance products. Farmers prefer higher levels of coverage and are price sensitive. A sample of farmers did not prefer the subsidy switch. However, the subsidy switch is preferred by older farmers, those with higher health care spending, and farmers who have experienced major health problems.     

The effect of changes in ownership structure on performance: Evidence from the thrift industry

Restrictions on stock ownership may harm a company's performance, because restrictions prevent owners from choosing an optimal structure. We examine the stock-price performance and ownership structure of a sample of thrift institutions that converted from mutual to stock ownership. We find that after conversion and the expiration of ownership-structure restrictions, firm performance improves significantly, and the portions of the firm owned by managers and the firm's employee stock ownership plan increase. Changes in performance are positively associated with changes in ownership by managers, but negatively associated with changes in ownership by employee stock ownership plans.     

The industrial proposal as a promotional tool

The industrial marketer's promotional tool, the formal proposal, has been little more than an informative but relatively dull statement of supplier qualifications and technical specifications. This article outlines the phases of conventional bidding or proposal preparation, employs exploratory research findings to help identify current weaknesses, and introduces the emerging storyboarding process as a stimulus to the increased vitality of the industrial promotional atmosphere.