The regional wage gap in the Spanish hospitality sector based on a gender perspective

In this work we estimate human capital returns in the Spanish hospitality sector using an expanded version of the Mincer wage equation (1974). In addition, wage differences in the main tourist regions are quantified using the wage decomposition of Oaxaca (1973) and Blinder (1973) from a gender perspective. Using data from the 2006 Spanish Wage Structure Survey (Encuesta de Estructura Salarial), all the regions under analysis show lower education returns in the hospitality sector when compared to other private services. The same results are found for the other human capital variables used. There are significant differences in education returns between regions, especially in Catalonia and the Canary Islands. The main wage gap in the Canary Islands and the Madrid region is due to differences in returns in the observed variables, whereas in other regions most of the differences are due to the resources allocated. Furthermore, gender wage differences are found in all the regions. The largest estimated wage gap between men and women occurs in the Balearic Islands followed by Catalonia and the Community of Valencia. In contrast, equality between genders is greater in the Community of Madrid.     

Environmental scanning the future of event design

This paper used multiple sources of information in order to identify the forces likely to impact event design. Content analysis of key informant interviews and selected trade publication articles identified key forces impacting event design. Technology, the environment and green issues, security and safety, and globalization were forces identified by both the key informants and the trade literature. Neither of the sources gave much attention to political forces. This article contributes to our understanding of the forces impacting event design and suggests some environmental scanning methodologies that can be used with both key informants and the trade publication literature.     

THE WAGE-PROFIT RELATION WITHOUT CONSTANT RETURNS(1)

It is shown that well-known propositions of Sraffa concerning the relation between the wage and the rate of profits are not valid without the assumption of constant returns or some other restrictive assumption. The paper recognises a distinction between classical and marginalist methods of analysis but disputes the view that the pursuit of the classical method in value theory obviates the need to assume constant returns. It is argued, on the contrary, that the assumption of constant returns is necessary to the fruitful application of the classical method.     

Beverage Container Deposit Laws: A Survey of the Issues and Results

Much of the movement toward mandatory beverage deposit legislation has withered away in the current anti-regulation mood of the country. Even before the change in mood, the major focus of deposit laws was moving away from litter control and toward energy and resource savings. In fact, deposit laws have had a variety of repercussions on such factors as jobs, consumer prices, industry capital expenditures, energy consumption, and litter. The cooling emotions and lapse in time since most of the regulations were enacted provide a good opportunity to sort through the arguments and review the results. This paper attempts to present a balanced view of the issues surrounding this complicated topic. It find that the consequences of mandatory deposits have generally been somewhere between the initial predictions of groups favoring legislation and those opposing it.     

Consumer Response to Adjustable Rate Mortgages: Implications of the Evidence from Illinois and Wisconsin

The innovation-adoption framework is used to determine consumers' levels of awareness of AMIs and the degrees to which they are able and willing to evaluate and/or accept the complicated alternatives available to them. A mail survey of consumers in Illinois and Wisconsin was structured to compare previous studies on this topic and to compare consumers across various demographic categories. Results indicate that awareness of AMIs is increasing, as is the willingness to accept them with an initial interest rate discount and a limitation on the range over which the interest rate can fluctuate. Findings suggest that some consumers have moved beyond the information-gathering stage, now view nontraditional mortgages as a legitimate mechanism for financing home purchases, and are willing to accept certain configurations of these instruments.     

Early on-line detection of exothermic reactions

On-line supervision exhibits in many respects properties complementary to those of established off-line safety tests. Thus, on-line methods are powerful tools for increasing the safety of chemical processes, especially in situations where unexpected hazards could occur. Known on-line supervising methods are described and their advantage and disadvantages are briefly discussed. The abilities of various on-line methods are demonstrated on a real case.