Poverty issues for zero rating VAT in South Africa

Governments often include equity considerations when determiningrates for value added taxes (VAT). This paper explores the implicationof current and proposed tax exemptions in South Africa fromthe perspective of their impact on the expenditures of the poorand on the calorie and protein consumption of low-income households.Maize, which is currently exempted from VAT, is shown to bethe best choice for low tax rates from both the standpointsof equity and the impact on the food consumption of the poor.In contrast, lower tax rates on fluid milk, which is currentlyexempted from VAT, and meat, for which an exemption has beenproposed, are not good vehicles for assisting the poor. Thepaper illustrates the revenue forgone with zero tax rates onthese commodities and compares the tax relief for the poor andchange in nutrients consumed from alternative tax exemptions.     

Local development and business creation. The role of local development workers in project management

The participation of social inclusion workers in project management is to a large extent aimed at setting up businesses and mainly entails working with businessmen and women and entrepreneurs. Policies formulated to this end involve four lines of action: improving infrastructure; managing local businesses; supporting and managing the creation of micro-businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises; and carrying out socio-economic studies which aid the economic and social development of a particular local community. This study includes an analysis of the characteristics of the service provided by local development workers with regard to the development areas concerned, the nature of the work carried out and the groups involved, the characteristics of the service offered to entrepreneurs and groups of entrepreneurs and the characteristics of the projects managed. Field work was carried out during the 2004 which entailed the use of a questionnaire intended for all local development workers included in our own directory.     

Celebrity Endorsement and Involvement With the Social Cause in Nonprofit Organizations

Celebrity endorsement has become a very popular communication strategy in the nonprofit sector, although there are still doubts about its effectiveness. Specifically, one interesting question is whether the involvement of individuals with a social cause can explain differences in the valuation and effects of the celebrity endorsement strategy in consumer behavior. Taking into account this fact, the current research presents a causal model that analyzes the determinants of the attitude toward ads involving celebrities and the explanatory variables of the behavioral intentions in this sector. We worked with two subsamples of individuals with high and low involvement, who rated a fictitious ad with a well-known social entity and a celebrity. As a result, we observed that the strategy can influence the group of low involved people and have no significant effects on the segment with high involvement.     

Measuring Corporate Social Responsibility in tourism: Development and validation of an efficient measurement scale in the hospitality industry

This article aims at developing an efficient measurement scale for corporate social responsibility in the tourism industry, given the contextual character that is recognized in the practice of this construct. Indicators were generated on the basis of a literature review and qualitative research. To assess the reliability and validity, first- and second-order confirmatory factor analysis were carried out. Results show a multidimensional structure of this construct—including economic, social, and environmental issues. This study contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the field of social responsibility through its practical application regarding concepts of sustainable development which have mainly been theoretical. The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for many helpful comments and suggestions. E-mail: shumookh333alghamdi@hotmail.comView all notes     

Reasons for implementing certified quality systems and impact on performance: an analysis of the hotel industry

Certifying quality systems has become standard practice in a wide range of companies the world over. However, studies on these systems' underlying motivations and these motivations' effects on performance have focused primarily on industrial firms, leaving the service sector largely unexplored in this regard. In this article structural equation modelling is used to analyse the reasons that underlie certification and the effects of these motivations on performance parameters within the hotel industry. The findings in this study show certain significant differences from the academic findings for industrial companies. The conclusions may help managers of hotel companies to better incorporate quality as a strategic, proactive tool with which to confront changing or adverse economic circumstances.     

Contingency factors on the success of services for social integration and job placement schemes

The success of a strategy depends, to a large extent, on the contingency factors that condition the functioning of an organisation. This study presents empirical research to contrast the existence of a significant relationship between the implementation of a particular strategy (in this case, related to the management of job placement and social insertion schemes) and a set of given structural parameters or contingency factors, in particular, the organisational structure of the firm such as time with the firm, firm size, technology used and organisational culture. The empirical analysis is applied to the strategies used by local development and employment officers with regard to the management of job placement and social integration schemes.     

Prior knowledge and social networks in the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities

In this study we analyze the effects of prior knowledge and social networks on the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. The prior knowledge considered is associated with the successes and failures experienced in the entrepreneurial trajectory and, therefore, derived from the exploitation of prior opportunities. In analyzing social networks, we examine the strength of the relationships between entrepreneurs, managers and entrepreneurial associations. As an explanatory factor of the entrepreneurial process, we also include the influence of the entrepreneurial opportunities recognized. Through a hierarchical regression analysis, we show that the number of potential opportunities recognized, the number of previous opportunities successfully exploited and the strength of entrepreneurial social networks positively influence the number of opportunities developed and exploited.     

The Most-Favoured-Customer Pricing Policy and Competitive Advantage

The paper investigates the effects on competition of the unilateral most-favoured-customer pricing policy. A model is considered in which a multimarket incumbent firm faces a threat of entry in one of its two markets. It is shown that contemporaneous most-favoured-customer clauses may change competition to the advantage of the incumbent both under strategic substitutes and strategic complements. If the duopolistic market is strong, the most-favoured-customer policy makes the incumbent 'tough' and may be used for entry deterrence purposes.     

Hidden monopsony rents in winner‐take‐all markets—sport and economic contribution of Spanish soccer players

In labor markets where few companies compete for many workers, economic theory predicts monopsony rents. Surprisingly, soccer clubs do not profit from the expected rents. The purpose of this study is to explain such contradictory evidence. Our model and empirical test, using data obtained from the Spanish professional soccer league for the season 2001/2002, suggests that monopsony rents that the clubs were to obtain from most of the soccer players would eventually revert to the superstars. The study also illustrates that the market value of players stems both from their sporting performance and their economic contribution. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.