Contents of Volume 28

Volume Contents

Contents of Volume 28     

Service quality delivery in a cross-national context

Consumption of a broad range of services ranging from tourism to hospitality by an increasingly global mix of customers, especially from the new millennium of the emerging middle class, is creating an interesting challenge for service providers. What are the macro-environmental (cultural, historical, economic, political etc.) influences on service culture and on service quality delivery? Drawing on the expectancy-disconfirmation theory, this qualitative study provides insights on profound macro-environmental drivers of attitudes towards service quality delivery from a cross-national context. Based on comparative, country-based industry insights that highlight employee attitudes from advanced and emerging markets, we discuss the impact from a cross-national service quality delivery perspective. By examining comparative country contexts in growing service sectors, as in hospitality and tourism, we develop and present a conceptual model of cross-national service quality delivery.     

Converting Forests to Farms: The Economic Benefits of Clearing Forests in Agricultural Settlements in the Amazon

Agricultural expansion into tropical forests is believed to bring local economic benefits at the expense of global environmental costs. The resulting tension is reflected in Brazilian government policy. The national agrarian reform program has settled farm families in the Amazon region since the 1970s, with the expectation that they will clear forests in order to farm the land. On the other hand, recent Brazilian policy initiatives seek to reduce deforestation to mitigate climate change. We contribute to the policy debate that surrounds these dual goals for the Amazon by estimating the marginal effects of new agricultural land on the full income and assets of farm settlers over a 13-year period from 1996 to 2009. Using micro panel data from agrarian settlements where forest was being rapidly cleared, and controlling for factors that would otherwise confound the relationship, we estimate the effect of converting forest to agriculture on total household income to estimate the opportunity cost of conserving forest. Our measure of income reflects any re-allocation of resources by utility maximizing households and any productivity effects due to loss of forest ecosystem services. The estimated effect of new agricultural land on income is positive, but small relative to the income per hectare of previously cleared land. However, we show that income increases investment in physical assets, which raises households’ income generating capacity and future accumulation of assets. Thus, while there is only a small immediate income gain from clearing more forest, the long-term effects on wealth are still substantial. This demonstrates that given the right conditions, conversion of forest to agricultural land can be an impetus for asset accumulation by smallholders. It also highlights the importance of considering the indirect and long-term welfare benefits of new agricultural land when assessing the opportunity costs of forest conservation.     

Factors Influencing Partial and Complete Adoption of Organic Farming Practices in Saskatchewan, Canada

Using a sample of organic producers in Saskatchewan, Canada, this study uses a Tobit model to identify the factors that discourage or encourage the complete adoption of organic farming and to assess why farmers differ in the share of total cultivated crop area they allocate to organic practices. In particular, the study evaluates the effect of transaction costs on the decision to convert partially or completely from conventional to organic practices. The results highlight the importance of lowering certain transaction costs to encourage the adoption of organic management practices. Significant transaction costs were found to include infrastructure and services, satisfaction with marketer performance, marketing problems, and Internet use. Results suggest that farmers with smaller land holdings are more inclined to undertake complete adoption. While the education levels of organic farmers show no significant effect on the probability of adoption, younger organic farmers allocate significantly less of their cultivated area to organic practices. À partir d'un échantillon de producteurs de cultures biologiques de la Saskatchewan, au Canada, nous avons utilisé un modèle Tobit pour déterminer les facteurs qui encouragent ou découragent l'adoption totale des pratiques agricoles biologiques et les raisons pour lesquelles le pourcentage des superficies consacrées aux cultures biologiques varie d'un producteur à l'autre. Nous avons également examiné les répercussions des coûts de transaction sur la décision de passer, en totalité ou en partie, des pratiques conventionnelles aux pratiques biologiques. Les résultats ont fait ressortir l'importance de réduire certains coûts de transaction afin d'encourager l'adoption des méthodes agronomiques biologiques. Les coûts de transaction les plus importants incluaient les infrastructures et les services, l'efficacité des intermédiaires, les problèmes liés à la mise en marché et l'utilisation d'Internet. Les résultats autorisent à penser que les producteurs agricoles qui possèdent de petites superficies sont plus enclins à adopter en totalité l'agriculture biologique. Alors que le niveau de scolarité des producteurs ne semble pas avoir de répercussions sur la probabilité d'adopter l'agriculture biologique, les jeunes producteurs de cultures biologiques consacrent beaucoup moins de leurs superficies cultivées à la culture biologique.     

气候变化和林业:REDD入门

在如何应对气候变化的讨论中,最有争议的问题之一是REDD(减少毁坏和林地退化造成的碳排放)。在基于市场减排战略中的作用,分析审查REDD活动的成本表明,REDD不但在减少GHG排放的全球战略中发挥重要作用,还可以保护热带雨林提供生物多样性和重要生态系统服务。但是REDD项目限于在一定地域,除非全球森林都被纳入REDD,否则漏洞无法消除,此外,REDD在政策设计问题上存在一定争议,因此还需进一步的研究讨论。     

Global convergence of consumer spending: Conceptualization and propositions

The convergence versus divergence debate has persistently presented a puzzle in the scholarly literature. Forces of globalization created a wave of convergence. Yet, the recent worldwide events have changed the course of globalization, slowing its seemingly unavoidable forward direction. It is, therefore, incumbent upon international business scholars to reexamine the convergence versus divergence debate in the contemporary world economy. Despite the central role that global convergence plays in international business decisions, the literature is lacking a conceptualization of the convergence construct in terms of consumer spending behavior. Offering a new perspective derived from the convergence-divergence-crossvergence (CDC) framework and the coevolution theory, the authors define and conceptualize the convergence construct associated with consumer spending behavior. The proposed conceptual framework is comprehensive, offers refinements to the convergence phenomenon, and leads the way for further development of new theories in the international marketing domain.     

Terrorism and women’s employment in Afghanistan

ABSTRACT

Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous countries for women and has the sixth lowest women’s employment rate globally. Evidence shows that security concerns prevent women from working, but there is little work estimating the magnitude of or mechanism behind these effects. We address this gap in the literature by estimating the relationship between increased terrorist attacks and women’s employment using the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) and the 2015 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). We find the number of attacks is negatively associated with men’s and women’s employment, yet the relative magnitude is larger for women due to their low employment rate. Conversely, we find that an increase in fatalities is associated with higher women’s employment, suggesting that women replace men that have died from attacks. This research illuminates a potential link between women’s employment and terrorism, thus adding to the ever-increasing knowledge of the costs of conflict.     

Deaths of older Australians related to their use of motorised mobility scooters

This study describes motorized mobility scooter (MMS) rider-related fatalities in the older Australian population during the years 2000–2011, identified from the National Coronial Information System. Seventy-seven fatalities were identified, most aged 80 years or older (74.1%) and males predominated (76.6%). Most deaths (88.3%) resulted from collisions with motor vehicles or falling from the MMS. These findings are consistent with the reported morbidity data. Challenges to MMS case identification included lack of specification in reports to Coroners and inadequate codes. Improved specificity and coding are necessary to fully describe the extent of MMS-related injury. This study raises the issue of emerging largely unregulated consumer products. Further research is required to understand the uptake and use of MMS in the ageing population. Strategies are needed to decrease rider injuries whilst meeting community mobility needs.