Supply chain in tourism destinations: the case of Levi Resort in Finnish Lapland

Tourism destinations in Finnish Lapland provide a suitable base for supply chain management (SCM). Often, the investments in these destinations are directed to wilderness areas without significant initial infrastructure. Thus, the surroundings provide better possibilities to build and direct the experiences of tourists in contrast to city tourism where the surroundings are not especially designed for tourism. In this paper we apply an SCM framework to the Levi Fell resort in northern Finland. By identifying some special characteristics of tourism destinations and region‐based tourism production, we further develop the traditional SCM framework in the context of tourism. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of fiscal policy on economic activity in Finland

This study analyzes whether fiscal policy decisions have real effects on the economy of Finland, and if they do, what are the strength and durations of the effects. We utilise the Vector Stochastic Process with Dummy Variables (VSPD) method in our empirical work. This approach is a suitable tool to study event-based episodes. Fiscal policy shocks do have an effect on the economic activity of Finland when the time period 1990–2007 is investigated. A positive tax shock (or a policy that increases public sector revenues) seems to have a positive effect on Investment and GDP but the response of private consumption is mixed. Results clearly indicate that increase in Government spending crowds out private sector activity, and the effect takes place sooner than with the Revenue variable in question. This is a clear evidence for the crowding out effect.     

Where do the highly educated migrate? Micro-level evidence from finland

This paper analyses the role which migration of highly educated labour plays in human capital reallocation. The study focuses on actual migrants, examining the direct effect of educational attainment on destination choices. The paper uses the ordered probability model and a micro-level data set in econometric analyses. Individual level investigations of migrants show that highly educated migrants are likely to move to urban regions. As a result, the reallocation of highly educated labour, and thereby also the redistribution of human capital, seems to be taking place in Finland.     

Public and private capital productivity in Russia: a non-parametric investigation

The productivity of public capital has been very popular research topic for US and other OECD countries, while studies using data from transitional countries are almost non-existent. In this paper, we analyze the productivity of public and private capital in Russia with parametric and non-parametric regression methods utilizing a unique regional level panel data from 2003 to 2007. More specifically, we assess public capital’s spillover effects, i.e., the productivity of public capital on private output, as well as the productivity of different capital ownership types on total output. We find that public capital has a clear positive effect on private output. However, our estimates and test statistics show that parametric methods are not able to grasp vast non-linearities and heterogeneity present among Russian regions, while the non-parametric approach can capture these important features of the data better. Furthermore, we find that multicollinearity is an important methodological problem which should be accounted for in analysis concerning capital data. Our results also suggest that the impact of public capital in Russia is heterogeneous in the sense that for some regions its contribution to private output is insignificant or even negative while it has a considerable positive role for most regions. Concerning the capital elasticities of total output, we find that public capital is less productive than private capital and roughly as productive as joint private-public capital.     

Investment credit and child labour

It is generally assumed that credit has a positive effect on children's schooling among poor households. This article shows that need not be the case when households obtain credit for investment purposes. In fact, investment loans may not have any effect on the likelihood of schooling for children who work in their family business. Our estimates confirm that this is the case; credit used to finance investments has no effect on the odds of schooling for employed children. This may be because investment loans increase children's labour productivity, which in turn increases the opportunity cost of schooling. The results of this study suggest that improving access to credit may not, by itself, constitute a solution to the problem of child labour in developing countries.     

Worker inflow,outflow, and churning

Linked employer–employee data from Finnish business sector is used in analysing worker turnover. The data set is an unbalanced panel with over 219?000 observations in 1991–97. The churning (excess worker turnover), worker inflow, and worker outflow rates are explained by plant and employee characteristics. The probabilities of observing non-zero churning, inflow, and outflow rates increase with plant size. The magnitudes of the non-zero churning and inflow rates depend positively on size, but the magnitude of outflow rate depends negatively on size. High-wage plants have low turnover; plants with large within-plant variation in wages have high turnover. Average tenure of employees has a negative impact on turnover. High plant employment growth increases churning and separation but reduces hiring in the next year. Also controlled are average age and education of employees, shares of women and homeowners among employees, foreign ownership, ownership changes, and regional unemployment.     

Informational mobility and productivity: Finnish evidence

The labor productivity effects of portability and connectivity of information and communication technology (ICT) are studied with Finnish firm-level data. It is found that a computer with only processing and storage capabilities boosts labor productivity by 9% (corresponding to 5% output elasticity), portability by 32%, wireline connectivity by 14%, and wireless connectivity by 6%. The findings are in line with previous literature and comparisons to ICT costs suggest that firms equate marginal costs and returns. Although increasing ICT penetration can no longer be a major source of productivity growth in developed economies, the relatively new characteristics studied can.     

Do Urban Neighborhoods Benefit from Homeowners? Evidence from Housing Prices

Homeownership is heavily subsidized in most countries. The adverse effects of this policy on economic efficiency and income distribution are well documented in the economics literature. The main argument in favor of subsidizing homeownership is that it creates positive externalities that offset these adverse effects. In this paper, we test whether homeowners create positive externalities that capitalize into housing prices in multi‐storey buildings. Using semi‐parametric hedonic regressions with and without instrumental variables, we find no evidence of positive externalities, although the results with instrumental variables are somewhat imprecise. This result is robust to several sensitivity checks and to a relaxation of the identification assumptions of our instrument using set identification.     

Actor roles and role patterns influencing innovation in living labs

Innovation networks are embodied and shaped by their participants. This paper examines actors' roles in living labs, which are defined as networks of open innovation. The study utilizes four approaches to roles: structuralist, symbolic interactionist, resource-based, and action-based approaches. Our empirical analysis of 26 living labs in four different countries identifies a number of actor roles associated with open innovation. In addition, it reveals four role patterns characteristic of living labs: (i) ambidexterity, (ii) reciprocity, (iii) temporality, and (iv) multiplicity. These patterns distinguish actor collaboration in networks characterized by heterogeneous actors, the coexistence of individual and shared motives, high degree of openness, and user involvement. Scholars and practitioners of innovation learn that understanding of role patterns in living labs can contribute to building, utilization, and orchestration of open innovation networks.