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.     

Role conflict and ambiguity confronting transnational business networkers: Contrasting social stigma and relational risks for Chinese and Western boundary spanners

Our research explores the role conflict, ambiguity and resulting social stigma and relational risks that transnational B2B networkers face when facilitating the formation of new exchange dyads between firms from distinct and distant cultures, i.e. Chinese and Western. We integrate literature from institution theory and role theory to establish the comparative framework. This allows us to explore: (1) what stigma and relational risks guanxi brokers assume when facilitating transnational business connections; (2) if Western brokers encounter similar stigma and negative consequences that threaten their professional standing and the formation process; and, (3) the lessons from both that transnational firms can learn and incorporate into best practices. We conclude our paper with managerial implications and suggestions for further research.     

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.     

Missing Price Information and Its Impact on Equilibrium Price Dispersion: Evidence From Gasoline Signboards*

This article seeks to quantify the importance of price information in reducing consumer search costs and equilibrium price dispersion in a competitive setting. It exploits a natural experiment in the retail gasoline industry in which stations post the prices of only certain grades of gasoline on large street-side signboards, and not others, except where required by law. Differential-by-grade signboard information predicts a specific curvature in price dispersion across grades, and differentiates itself from other noninformational factors such as income and cost. The impact of readily-available price information on search and price dispersion is found to be exceptionally large.     

Dynamic optimal hedge ratio design when price and production are stochastic with jump

Annals of Finance - In this paper, we focus on the farmer’s risk income when using commodity futures, when price and output processes are randomly correlated and represented by jump-diffusion...     

Synergies in destination image management: a case study and conceptualisation

This paper addresses the question of how operators and destination authorities work within a destination region, illustrating a method by which the problems resulting from different geographical scales and objectives of business units can be tackled through co‐operative marketing within a strong destination image. Following a review of the literature, a case study covering the research underpinning a cooperative marketing programme involving hotels in Port Douglas, Tropical North Queensland (TNQ) is presented. The research methodology is outlined. The policy implications of the findings for the State Tourist Organisation and for organisations involved in destination image management are considered, and a conceptual model of cooperative marketing at the destination level is proposed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.