USSR

Statistical Annex

USSR     

Social tourism programmes for the senior market: a benefit segmentation analysis

The senior market has gained increasing interest from the tourism industry, mainly because of its considerable size and time flexibility. However, seniors are also a group facing many constraints to participating in tourism, which has led some countries to promote social tourism programmes for this market. However, little is known about the success of these programmes, while research showing the benefits derived by participants would be useful to continuously improve these initiatives. This paper presents a segmentation analysis of senior participants in a Portuguese social tourism programme, based on benefits derived. A questionnaire-based survey was undertaken, yielding a total of 848 valid responses, which were subjected to a hierarchical cluster analysis. Three clusters emerged: the least benefitted, the most benefitted and active and the highly benefitted and locally socializing seniors. The clusters were compared regarding socio-demographic profile, travel behaviour, satisfaction and loyalty. Several statistically significant differences among the clusters were observable, providing relevant inputs for managing social tourism programmes for this market.     

Developing critical thinking: An examination of contemporary practices in accounting

Employers and professional bodies call for higher education accounting courses to emphasise the importance of critical thinking skills. This study provides an in-depth assessment of how critical thinking is currently taught and assessed across an entire accounting degree. Our study contributes to our understanding of how teaching and assessment can support students in developing their critical thinking. Using a case study approach, we identify resource restraints and disruptions to traditional forms of engagement as key challenges to developing critical thinking skills in accounting education. We conclude with suggestions for teaching practice, such as formative scaffolds and teacher-led discussions.     

Absorbing partner knowledge in R&D collaborations – the influence of founders on potential and realized absorptive capacity

We investigate whether founder participation in research and development collaborations enhances the two dimensions of absorptive capacity (ACAP): potential ACAP and realized ACAP. Based on a longitudinal firm-patent dataset of over 700 collaborations, and using a novel measure of ACAP, we find that founder involvement enhances potential ACAP provided the knowledge bases of focal firm and partner are related. Once knowledge has been absorbed, founder involvement increases realized ACAP irrespective of relatedness. Thus, we highlight the merit of treating the dimensions of ACAP separately by showing differing effects of founder involvement. Our paper emphasizes the outstanding role founders play in the R&D process of their firms. Firms should consider carefully the allocation of team members to R&D projects because team members differ with respect to their ACAP.     

Advertising Functional Foods: The Effects of Physical Body Size and Appeal Type on Ad Credibility and Purchase Intentions

When advertising functional foods, whether these are in solid or liquid form, marketers can choose different appeal types in combination with different endorser characteristics. In this research study, the authors examine how the credibility of such an ad and purchase intentions for the advertised product are influenced by the physical body size of the endorser and the appeal type used. Based on a 2 × 2 full factorial design, they find that in an ad for an energy drink, endorser body size has an effect on both of these dependent variables, while no differences are found between a functional and an emotional appeal.     

Introduction: Land rights,restitution, politics,and war in Colombia

This paper introduces contributions to a symposium that report some of the findings and arguments to emerge from a collaborative research project involving five Colombian universities forming the Observatorio de Restitución y Regulación de Derechos de Propiedad Agraria (Observatory of Restitution and Regulation of Agrarian Property Rights). In a number of ways, the research presented in the symposium advances understanding of the political economy of rural Colombia, and of war in Colombia, and the papers, drawing on the original evidence collected by Observatorio researchers, develop arguments that have a wider relevance too for agrarian political economy and the understanding of violent conflict. In particular, the papers highlight the direct participation of elites in violent conflict; the varieties and nuances of wartime primitive accumulation; the complexities of the state's role in wartime agrarian political economy; the gender dimensions of agrarian conflict; the interaction of war and law; and the significance for service provision of farm size. As Colombia—hopefully—passes from long war to peace, these arguments and this evidence may be valuable in debates about what kind of peace can develop.     

Using Mokken scale analysis to develop unidimensional scales

This paper describes Mokken scale analysis as a method for assessing the unidimensionality of a set of items. As a nonparametric stochastic version of Guttman scale analysis, the Mokken model provides a useful starting point in scale construction since it does not impose severe restrictions on the functional form of the item trace lines. It requires only that the item trace lines are monotonically increasing and that they do not cross. After describing the Mokken method, we illustrate it by analyzing six abortion items from the 1975–1984 NORC General Social Surveys. In contrast to earlier parametric analyses of these items (regular and probit factor analyses), we find that these items form a single dimension. We argue that the two-dimension solution of these earlier analyses is an artifact of the differences in the difficulty of the items.     

Inflation uncertainty revisited: a proposal for robust measurement

Any measure of unobserved inflation uncertainty relies on specific assumptions which are most likely not fulfilled completely. This calls into question whether an individual measure delivers a reliable signal. To reduce idiosyncratic measurement error, we propose using common information contained in different measures derived from survey data, a variety of forecast models, and volatility models. We show that all measures are driven by a common component, which constitutes an indicator for inflation uncertainty. Moreover, our results suggest that using only one individual disagreement measure may be misleading, particularly during turbulent times. Finally, we study the Friedman–Ball hypothesis. Using the indicator, we show that higher inflation is followed by higher uncertainty. By contrast, we obtain contradictory results for the individual measures. We also document that, after an inflationary shock, uncertainty decreases in the first two months, which is traceable to the energy component in CPI inflation.