Measuring Commodities' Commodity Content

Within the standard linear framework, a methodology, formally similar to the labour theory of value, is proposed to compute the direct and indirect commodity contents of any produced good. The proposal is then compared with the more familiar social accounting matrix (SAM) accounting procedure, using an appropriate partitioning of the SAM accounts. Some numerical results are then obtained and compared using a recently compiled SAM for Catalonia. The empirical results show the practical feasibility of the proposed methodology.     

Selling digital services abroad: How do extrinsic attributes influence foreign consumers’ purchase intentions?

This article investigates, through the country-of-origin effect and value-in-use lenses, how the implementation of digital services creates opportunities for cultural industries to expand internationally. We argue that intrinsic attributes of cultural content such as the capacity to entertain are difficult to parameterize because they are somewhat experiential and subjective. This means that extrinsic cues are essential to foreign consumers when making a decision to purchase digital services. We specifically evaluate the influence of Britishness, cultural distance, exoticness, brand image, and flag-brand congruence on the purchase intentions of consumers in foreign markets. This study employs a unique consumer dataset with information on the internationalization of British cultural digital services. The depth and breadth of the survey data collected through collaboration with a UK media industry partner with a globally recognised brand is significantly richer than data used in previous studies. In particular, the study exploits a survey with 5,200 usable data points from consumers residing in fourteen geographically dispersed countries. Findings support theoretical predictions that Britishness, cultural distance, exoticness, brand image and flag-brand congruence are positively linked to the purchasing decisions. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

An evaluation of the performance of an applied general equilibrium model of the Spanish economy

Summary In 1985–86 the authors were members of a team that constructed a static applied general equilibrium model that was used to analyze the impact on the Spanish economy of the 1986 fiscal reform, which accompanied Spain's entry into the European Community. This paper compares the results obtained to recently published data for 1985–87; we find that the model performed well in predicting the changes in relative prices and resource allocation that actually occurred, particularly if we incorporate exogenous shocks that affected the Spanish economy in 1986. We also analyze the sensitivity of the results to alternative specifications of the labor market and macroeconomic closure rules; we find that the central results are robust.We gratefully acknowledge financial support from NSF Grant SES 89-22036 (Kehoe) and CICYT Grant PB 89 + 0309 (Polo and Sancho). We thank participants in the IIASA Applied General Equilibrium Conference, Laxenburg, Austria, August 1991; the International Trade Workshop at UCLA, March 1992; the Graduate Public Finance Course at the University of Minnesota, Winter 1993; Antonio Gomez Gomez-Plana; and Betsy Caucutt for helpful suggestions. Above all, we wish to thank our colleagues who have worked with us on the MEGA (Model d'Equilibri General Aplicat) Project at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona: Antonio Manresa, Pedro Javier Noyola, Jaime Serra-Puche, Cristina Echevarria, Walter Garcia, Ana Laborda, and Xavier Ramirez. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis or the Federal Reserve System.     

Tourism Destination Image and Motivations: The Spanish Perspective of Mexico

ABSTRACT

The notion that a tourist has about a certain destination is conditioned by his vision of it, and this behavior is the result of his perceptions (Baloglu &; McCleary, 1999 Baloglu, S. and McCleary, K. W. 1999. A model of destination image formation. Annals of Tourism Research, 26(4): 868–897. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Goodrich, 1978 Goodrich, J. N. 1978. The relationship between preferences for and perceptions of vacation destinations: Application of a choice model. Journal of Travel Research, 17(2): 8–13. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). The outcome of this information assessment process is currently known as destination image (Milman &; Pizam, 1995 Milman, A. and Pizam, A. 1995. The role of awareness and familiarity with a destination: The central Florida case. Journal of Travel Research, 33(3): 21–27. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Based on the model of Baloglu and McCleary (1999 Baloglu, S. and McCleary, K. W. 1999. A model of destination image formation. Annals of Tourism Research, 26(4): 868–897. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) we propose a model which explains the process of destination image formation. For testing this model, we have gathered information from residents in Spain, with Mexico as a destination. For this task, a covariance analysis was estimated by maximum likelihood with EQS.