The value of the floor

Existing theoretical literature suggests that floor trading has discernable benefits over electronic trading. In particular floor relationships lead to a reduction in asymmetric information and hence lower spreads. The ability of floor brokers to participate in incoming order flow without revealing their supply and demand curves increases total liquidity and dampens liquidity shocks leading to lower volatility. We develop hypotheses and test them on a sample of stocks that switch from floor trading to an electronic system with fairly identical rules and pre-trade transparency. We find strong support for existing theory and our hypotheses. In particular asymmetric information and volatility are significantly higher on the electronic system. This leads to an increase in investor transaction costs which dwarfs the operational cost advantages of the electronic systems. Our results are robust to tests involving samples that control for company specific factors and market wide trends.     

Alternative tourism in Montserrat

Small island states or dependencies have increasingly turned to international mass tourism as a strategy for overcoming their underdeveloped status. However, mounting criticism of this sector has increased the interest in alternative tourism. The Caribbean island of Montserrat is well positioned to implement an ecotourism strategy based on the island's scenic beauty, biodiversity and historical/cultural attributes. This would augment an already unconventional tourism product emphasizing low-density residential tourism. The fact that few tangible initiatives have so far been taken in the direction of ecotourism is not problematic, since careful planning is advisable given the risks inherent in any form of tourism, and given existing and potential problems which could threaten its viability. A Montserrat Heritage Trail network is proposed as the centrepiece of this ecotourism product, while various marketing and institutional initiatives are recommended.     

Compassion as a neglected motivator for sustainable tourism

Compassion is defined and identified in this paper as a powerful and universal motivator for actions that could help attain sustainable outcomes and enable aspirational forms of sustainable tourism, including just tourism, hopeful tourism and enlightened mass tourism that have not yet demonstrated real-world traction. Despite its potential, compassion has been neglected in the tourism literature. This paper reviews the 50-year quest for a “better tourism”, and presents a compassion-scape as a comprehensive and systematic framework for facilitating sector engagement with compassion. “Context” factors associated with tourism settings (e.g. level of development, purpose) and agents (e.g. mindset, psychographics, motivations) influence “encounter” elements, such as the relationship, type and distress characteristics. Subsequent “response” factors, such as type, recipient, timeframe and intention, influence the “implications” for sustainable tourism, which in turn affect the types of “intervention” (e.g. mindful interpretation, social marketing, faith injunction) implemented to achieve sustainable outcomes. The many innate methodological challenges for the researcher in measuring compassion are discussed, along with the issues involved in operationalizing the compassion-scape to engage and reform alternative tourism forms, notably volunteer tourism, pro-poor tourism, religious tourism and fair trade tourism as well as conventional mass tourism. A paper for the thinking reader.     

Consumer transformation through volunteer service experiences

A growing number of consumers are seeking to make a difference through experiences involving interaction and collaboration with organizations that offer charitable service opportunities. These experiences are noteworthy in not only their catalyzing influence on the organization and the beneficiary customer, but also the personal transformation in the volunteer. The authors introduce a phenomenon called transformative charity experiences (TCEs), a triadic framework highlighting an avenue of personal consumer well-being through the transformative effect of service interactions with key stakeholders. Building upon conceptual models proposed in Transformative Services Research and insights from their own embedded charity experiences, the authors introduce how service co-creation from three entities (charity, volunteer, and community) can lead to a transformative effect for the volunteer. An exploratory field study in an international setting provides insights into how the proposed framework accounts for TCEs. Implications and future directions for charitable services research are presented.     

Customer‐based Brand Equity for a Destination: the Effect of Destination Image on Preference for Products Associated with a Destination Brand

This study investigated how destination image of customer‐based brand equity for a tourist destination can be transferred to products associated with a destination brand. The effect of destination image on preference for products associated with a destination brand (PPADB) and the relationship between tourists’ destination preference and PPADB were investigated. Two hundred and ninety six individuals replied to a self‐administered questionnaire distributed to 318 students at a major US university. The results revealed that both cognitive and affective image of a destination are positively related to PPADB; preference for a destination is also positively related to PPADB. Suggestions are provided for a successful destination brand extension strategy. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimizing Environmental Product Life Cycles

In this paper, we propose a methodology, based on materials accounting and operational research techniques, to assess different industry configurations according to their life cycle environmental impacts. Rather than evaluating a specific technology, our methodology searches for the feasible configuration with the minimum impact. This approach allows us to address some basic policy-relevant questions regarding technology choice, investment priorities, industrial structures, and international trade patterns. We demonstrate the methodology in the context of the European pulp and paper industry. We are able to show that current environmental policy's focus on maximizing recycling is optimal now, but that modest improvements in primary pulping technology may shift the optimal industry configuration away from recycling toward more primary pulping with incineration. We show that this will have significant implications for the amount and type of environmental damage, for the location of different stages in the production chain, and for trade between European member states. We caution policy makers that their single-minded focus on recycling may foreclose investment in technologies that could prove environmentally superior. Finally, we hint that member state governments may be fashioning their environmental policy positions at least in part on some of the trade and industrial implications we find.