Structural Change and the Labor-market Effects of Globalization

The paper develops a simple political‐economy model of unemployment benefit determination in a small open economy characterized by bargaining between firms and unions. The authors derive a number of comparative static results and present empirical results for a panel of OECD countries that are broadly consistent with the theory.     

A Study of the Use of Targets in the Planning Documents of Executive Agencies

The use of quantitative, often non-financial, targets and performance measures in the plans of both businesses and not-for-profit organisations has recently received increasing attention in the academic literature. In the UK public sector this has been particularly important, given the rise of New Public Management. This has resulted in a shift from issues of policy to issues of management, and the break-up of traditional bureaucratic structures. These changes have been supported by an increasing focus on setting quantitative targets which cover all aspects of an organisation's performance. This paper seeks to examine the possible role of quantitative targets in planning and control in public sector organisations. Furthermore, through an exploratory study of over eighty planning documents from executive agencies, the nature and breadth of targets being used are examined and discussed.     

The impact of vocational education on productivity

This study looks at the impact that vocational education has had on output via the production function in the United States over the period 1947–1970. The results suggest that each one percent increase in the number of students enrolled in vocational education programs eventually leads to a 0.31% increase in output.     

The impact of vocational education on productivity in the United States

This paper examines the impact of vocational education on productivity in the United States. By using a cross-correlation test for directional causality, it is shown that vocational education has led to improvements in human capital that in turn increase productivity as measured by real private domestic product per worker hour in nonfarm business. The reverse is not true: that is, changes in productivity do not have a statistically identifiable impact on vocational education. Moreover, the time it takes for significant cross-correlations to appear suggests that the total effect of any vocational educational change takes at least 10 to 20 years to exhaust itself.When the manufacturing sector is studied separately, such positive results are not obtained. Only two out of seven vocational education measures appear to have a significant effect on productivity. For these two measures, the time for an identifiable impact to occur is also fairly long.     

The effectiveness of regulation in the electrical energy industry

There is a gap between what federal and state regulatory commissions are authorized to do and what they are doing to regulate the electrical energy industry. It has been argued that a pricing scheme in the industry has evolved akin to the pricing scheme a discriminating monopolist might employ for different classes of consumers that are spatially diffuse. The attention of the paper is focused on the effectiveness of regulation in the industry, given the characteristics of it. The method of analysis chosen is to construct two models which are polar opposites and compare the results with what was actually the situation in 1973. The conclusion indicates that it is justifiable to argue that the electrical energy industry on the whole is not allowed to behave as a spatial monopolist. It is not correct to conclude that monopolistic tendencies are absent. Specifically, the pricing structure does depart from the competitive criterion which requires price to equal marginal cost for each consumer sector and all regions. Further, little electrical energy is transmitted interregionally.     

Futures in Australian education—tacit, token and taken for granted

This article critically examines ways in which futures are conceptualized in the language of Australian education. From an analysis of selected examples of research reports, policy documents and other texts, it is suggested that futures in Australian educational discourse are often conceived in terms of (1) tacit inferences, (2) token invocations or (3) taken for granted assumptions. Conceptualizing futures in such ways may be disempowering and allows education in Australia to be vulnerable to forces of economic and technological determinism.     

Estimation of demand elasticities: A reflection on the issues

The general nature of demand and the notion of the elasticity of demand are the issues of concern. Whether the requisite conditions from demand theory are closely enough satisfied when estimating the demand for energy is problematical. Consequently, the meaning of such estimates is subject to debate.     

The benefits,satisfaction, and perceived value of small business membership in a chamber of commerce

• Nonprofit chambers of commerce have a long history in western culture but little if any empirical research has been conducted to explore why a small business would join one. This study focuses on members' evaluation of chamber assistance programs and benefits and how they mediate the impact of satisfaction and the perceived customer value of paid membership for chamber services. A mail census survey of all 2019 members, in a large category‐four chamber of commerce, provided valid and reliable representation of existing membership demographics. Factor analysis identified four main benefits, whereas a LISREL model was applied to identify the mediating impact of relational benefits on satisfaction and perceived value. All four dominant benefits significantly correlated with both membership satisfaction and perceived value as did the correlation between satisfaction and perceived value. However, perceived value was found to have higher correlations with relational benefits than that of satisfaction. This study is important as it provides managers with a framework to identify and balance the benefits desired by the membership and adjust the level of expected satisfaction with perceived value in a nonprofit service‐oriented assistance organization.

Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Antecedents of augmented reality experiences: potential tourists to Shangri-La Potatso National Park,China

ABSTRACT

Smartphone technology has the potential to change the nature of a tourists’ experience in a protected area. A smartphone running an augmented reality (AR) app may contribute to the protection of national parks while enhancing a visitor’s experience. This paper examined potential visitors’ to Potatso National Park, Shangri- La, China, their preferences for seven such AR experiences and the effect of visitors’ acceptance of technology on the perceived value of visiting the park. An online questionnaire (n?=?323) identified results and provided insights for enhancement of national park experiences using AR.