An International Carbon Tax to Combat Global Warming: An Economic and Political Analysis of the European Union Proposal

A bstract An international carbon tax has been the subject of considerable recent discussion as an economic incentive instrument to combat the perceived threat of global warming lesuking, primarily, from the use of the carbon emitting fossils–coal, oil, and natural gas–in the production of energy. During 1991, the European Union proposed the adoption of such a tax to be imposed by each member nation. The economic merits as well as the problems associated with the proposed European carbon tax are discussed along with the political prospects for its adoption. It is concluded that even though early adoption of the tax is unlikely, the economic merits of this tax instrument for the alleviation of global warming accompanied by changing political parameters may lead to its adoption in the long run.     

THE REGIONAL AGGLOMERATION IMPACAT OF JUST-I-TIME INPUT LINLAGES: EVIDENCE FROM THE SCOTTISH ELECTONICS INDUSTRY

There is no clear consensus as yet concerning the possible regional agglomeration impacts of Japanese Just-In-Time manufacturing techniques. This paper attempts to provide a theoretical structure to discussing such questions and then uses a logit model to analyse evidence from the Scottish Electronics Industry. The results provide support to the suggestion not only that the adoption of such techniques within the UK will encourage the shortening of input linkages, but also that this phenmenon is not restricted purely to the case of the automotive industry.     

Leaders’ Personal Wisdom and Leader–Member Exchange Quality: The Role of Individualized Consideration

Business scholars have recently proposed that the virtue of personal wisdom may predict leadership behaviors and the quality of leader–follower relationships. This study investigated relationships among leaders’ personal wisdom—defined as the integration of advanced cognitive, reflective, and affective personality characteristics (Ardelt, Hum Dev 47:257–285, 2004)—transformational leadership behaviors, and leader–member exchange (LMX) quality. It was hypothesized that leaders’ personal wisdom positively predicts LMX quality and that intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration, two dimensions of transformational leadership, mediate this relationship. Data came from 75 religious leaders and 1–3 employees of each leader (N = 158). Results showed that leaders’ personal wisdom had a positive indirect effect on follower ratings of LMX quality through individualized consideration, even after controlling for Big Five personality traits, emotional intelligence, and narcissism. In contrast, intellectual stimulation and the other two dimensions of transformational leadership (idealized influence and inspirational motivation) did not mediate the positive relationship between leaders’ personal wisdom and LMX quality. Implications for future research on personal wisdom and leadership are discussed, and some tentative suggestions for leadership development are outlined.     

关于中国货币政策的分析与建议

中国人民银行在货币政策战略方面已经取得了巨大成绩,但随着经济的日趋复杂,货币政策的有效性将会降低。实证研究表明中国需要维持对货币的盯住(a reference to money)战略以及加强利率在货币政策执行中的作用。我们建议采取折衷性战略,包括盯住若干指标,并将短期利率作为执行目标。应该赋予央行利率政策的自主权,在不远的将来实现这一目标不存在技术上的障碍。     

Conference Reports

Governments at all levels have assumed greater responsibility for, and involvement in, tourism destination planning and development. In the post-Brundtland era local governments in particular have been under closer scrutiny for their role in driving the sustainable development agenda in tourism destination contexts. Yet, a notable research gap still exists despite the increased focus on local government, particularly in terms of empirical research investigating the roles and responsibilities of local government in addressing sustainable tourism development. Given this context, this paper explores the role of local government in facilitating, or indeed inhibiting, sustainable development objectives in a tourism destination context. To assess this issue, it uses in-depth interviews with local government representatives and key destination stakeholders from five local government areas in Queensland, Australia. It shows that local government had assumed responsibility for facilitating the sustainable tourism agenda, due to the absence of strong industry leadership and due to top-down directives from state and federal governments. However, power struggles, tokenistic public participation and the strong influence of the local government authority in local governance structures were found to be inhibitors to sustainable tourism development.     

Jost Krippendorf

The paper examines the extent to which tourism in the Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics World Heritage Areas can be said to be sustainable. To do this it provides a definition of sustainable tourism for protected areas, in terms of ecological economics criteria. Tourism, and its management, in the two World Heritage Areas is described, and the outcomes are assessed against the definition of sustainable tourism. The available data is not sufficient to permit a definitive overall assessment. However, a favourable interim verdict appears justified against environmental criteria in the case of the Great Barrier Reef. There is in both cases a dearth of suitable data for proper assessment against economic criteria. The criteria proposed and the assessment exercise reported provide a contribution to developing ways to evaluate sustainable tourism.