Human resource development issues for the hotel sector in Libya: a government perspective

The Libyan government emphasises the importance of tourism in economic diversification through its Libyan Tourism Master Plan identifying various initiatives to develop the Libyan tourism industry, including human resource development (HRD). Hotels are key to an internationally competitive industry and human resources critical to perceptions of service quality. This paper analyses issues relating to the Libyan hotel sector, including the need to strengthen the private sector; to match education/training programmes to industrial needs, and to address cultural and religious dimensions which exacerbate poor industry image. The paper identifies a partnership approach between governmental, educational and hotel sectors to address HRD issues through workforce planning. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pollution Offshoring and Emission Reductions in EU and US Manufacturing

Between 1995 and 2008, the European Union and the United States raised environmental standards and concurrently experienced important reductions in emissions from manufacturing despite a rise in output. Levinson (Am Econ Rev 99(5):2177–2192, 2009) finds that the offshoring of polluting industries to countries with lower environmental standards played only small role in the cleanup of US manufacturing, which was largely due to improvements in production technique. But there is no evidence of whether US patterns hold in other developed economies. I provide the first analysis of the pollution intensity of EU production and imports to examine which forces drove the EU cleanup. I find that concerns about the effect of pollution offshoring were unfounded in the European Union, not because the effect was small like in the United States, but because the patterns of specialization of EU production and imports were exactly opposite to what pollution offshoring would predict. Starting in the early 2000s, EU manufacturing increasingly produced more pollution-intensive goods while imports became progressively less pollution-intensive, especially from low-income countries. There are two notable exceptions: primary aluminum and electrometallurgical products, except steel, which do provide evidence of offshoring from the EU to lower income countries. The “brown” specialization of EU production is difficult to explain, but about a quarter can be matched by increased demand for EU exports of polluting goods. However, similar to the US cleanup, changes in production and imports were overwhelmed by improvements in production technique, which were the main drivers of the cleanup of manufacturing.     

The Evolution of an Intellectual Community Through the Words of Its Founders: Recollections of Australia's Economic History Field

Analysing the dynamic evolution of a scholarly field requires an understanding of the social interactions within its community as well as the impact of the written word. Influence might diffuse through mentoring, graduate supervision, seminar discussion, and management roles. To date, our knowledge of the growth of economic history in Australia after 1945 draws heavily upon the impact of a number of key publications. We interview a broad selection of academics who worked in the field of Australian economic history, approximately 1950–90, to provide a fuller understanding of the evolution of this interdisciplinary field. Our results confirm, complement and, in some cases, challenge conventional views. © 2016 Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd     

Cannibalism and the Optimal Sharing of the North-East Atlantic Cod Stock: a Bioeconomic Model

This paper shows how intra-stock relations such as cannibalism and growth enhancement, determine the economically optimal sharing of a fish resource between heterogeneous harvesting agents. The sharing of resources between different vessel groups is often left for political decision making. Nonetheless, such decisions may have both biological and economic consequences. This becomes quite clear when different harvesting groups exploit different sections (age groups) of a stock that has intra-stock interactions in the form of cannibalism. A two-agent bioeconomic model with cannibalism is developed and used to determine (i) optimal annual harvest sizes (TACs) for cod, and (ii) the optimal proportion of the TAC that should be harvested by the different vessel groups in the fishery. Applying biological and economic data in a numerical procedure, and comparing the results obtained to previous studies, it is shown that intra-stock interactions such as the presence of cannibalism has a significant impact on who should take what proportion of the TAC, and hence, the standing stock size and discounted economic rent achievable. In contrast to other studies, we find that the optimal harvest requires that both trawlers and coastal vessels should harvest the fish resource. In addition, the results indicate that, from a bioeconomic perspective, the existing trawler fleet’s harvest share in the cod fishery is too high. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The role of regional airports and air services in the United Kingdom

This paper deals with the implications of the 1998 UK transport White Paper for regional airports and air services within the wider context of the promotion of an integrated and sustainable transport system. More specifically, the discussion initially addresses the political and business context of the development of air transport in the UK regions. Secondly, the recent trends defining that development are isolated, particular attention being paid to the increasing importance of supplier-led strategies in air transport and the segmented markets served by regional airports. Finally, the three, not easily reconciled, strands, which can be identified in the White Paper’s analysis of aviation are considered. These are: air transport's relationship with sustainable development; the integration of air transport with surface modes; and the contribution of air transport to regional economic growth.     

Community acceptance of biodiversity offsets: evidence from a choice experiment

This study of the community's acceptance of biodiversity offsets in Australia provides insights relevant to future revisions of offset policies of both State and Commonwealth Governments. A choice experiment was used to measure preferences for the general acceptability of offsetting, and for a number of attributes that define how an offset can be implemented. Based on a sample of 204 respondents from Perth, WA, we found that the majority of respondents did not object to the practice of biodiversity offsetting in general. A minority of respondents preferred that offset actions be direct, but most accepted a combination of direct and indirect actions. Individuals generally preferred that the offset be located near the site of impact, and it became more unacceptable the further away that it was located. However, there was heterogeneity in preferences for protecting the impacted species or a more endangered one.     

Option contracting in the California water market

Temporary water transfers, as achievable under option contracts, capture gains from trade that would go unrealized if only permanent transfers of water rights were possible. This paper develops a bilateral option contracting model for water which includes the possibility of conveyance losses and random delivery. Seller-optimal and socially optimal option contracts are characterized in terms of relevant base and strike prices, as well as contract volumes, from an ex-ante and an ex-post point of view. Lastly, welfare gains are estimated, and actual contract prices in California are compared to model-predicted prices.     

Future of the hills of Scotland: Stakeholders’ preferences for policy priorities

This paper sets out to assess stakeholders’ preferences for policy priorities for the management of the hill areas of Scotland, using an adaptive conjoint analysis (ACA) method. The method is used to evaluate trade-offs that stakeholders make between policy priorities. A pre-survey was carried out to obtain a large number of defining characteristics of a Scottish hill land system, which were subsequently narrowed down to 20 attributes. A survey was implemented, where a range of stakeholders, who had an interest in the hill and upland areas of Scotland, were asked to select and rank five attributes (out of the 20) that, for them, best described a hill system. They were also asked to describe what constituted both good and poor levels for each of their 5 chosen attributes. A computerised ACA questionnaire was designed, using attributes and levels defined from the previous surveys. Respondents were asked what the policy targets for management choices and options should be in the next 10 years for the Scottish hill areas. Policy simulations were subsequently carried out using the ACA software, to compare stakeholders’ actual preferences with seven different policy profiles, designed to reflect current land use issues and orientations for the Scottish hills.     

E-business's impact on organizational flexibility

Organizations are finding that their ability to respond to unpredicted changes in the market is becoming a key factor in survival. The ability to adjust e-business processes to customer preferences (flexibility) has become a necessity for online systems. Despite the interest in e-business flexibility the academic literature has not kept pace with industrial developments. This research study builds upon previous work through two investigations. First, the results of five case studies are used to develop a seven (alliance/joint decision management and intelligence, enterprise-wide change management, organizational learning, process oriented agility, network centric information management, leadership of transformation and knowledge exchange meetings) factor model that depicts the influences of flexibility on organizational effectiveness in e-business environments. Second, this paper illustrates how the model can be used as a benchmarking tool and has the potential to become a key learning mechanism. The authors discuss the conclusions and managerial implications of the findings.