A Model of Elitist Qualification

This paper deals with the collective qualification of members of society as belonging to a certain category or group based on a fixed attribute. Our model contains three main features: the existence of individual gradual opinions, the notion of elitism (only the opinions of certain individuals are taken into account to delineate the reference group), and the idea of sequentiality (elites are successively created by using the previous elites’ opinions on a social decision scheme). The main results of the paper characterize when this sequential procedure converges for some intuitive ways of aggregating individual opinions. Finally, we analyze the role of convergence for two extra basic properties (symmetry and contractiveness) that elitist rules should possess.     

Foreign players,team production,and technical efficiency: Evidence from European soccer

As on-field success is nowadays the main objective of European soccer clubs, good management needs to extract the highest sport success from the squad talent at hand. Because teams differ in their quality, performance needs to be compared with the best practice of comparable units. One remarkable source of heterogeneity across teams is the squad composition, which can produce gains from diversity together with communication costs. The paper studies the efficiency in sporting performance of soccer teams, paying attention to how the number of foreign players relates to productive inefficiency. Using data for 146 teams in the top 5 European leagues during 10 seasons, we estimate a double heteroskedastic True Random Effects Stochastic Frontier team production function. We find that (i) the number of passes, ball recoveries, and shots from the penalty area improve team efficiency, and (ii) a higher number of foreign players increase inefficiency. Our findings suggest that gains from squad diversity might be offset by communication costs.     

The Importance of Internal Resources and Capabilities and Destination Resources to Explain Firm Competitive Position in the Spanish Tourism Industry

This study draws on the Resource‐Based View to analyze the effects of distinctive competences in tourism firms and location in a tourism district on competitive position, and explores the moderating effects of the tourism destination. Multiple linear regression was used to test the research hypotheses on a sample of 1019 Spanish tourism firms. Results reveal that financial resources and dynamic and production capabilities favor a better competitive position for tourism firms in general; however, coordination and marketing capabilities are key factors for firms embedded in a tourism district, while dynamic capabilities have a negative effect in this case. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘Does it Really Affect Me?’ Tourism Destination Narratives,Destination Image,and the Intention to Visit: Examining the Moderating Effect of Narrative Transportation

The extent to which tourism destination marketing narratives with different themes influence readers by imaginatively ‘transporting’ them is quite varied. This study investigates the different degrees of influence such narratives have on destination image and the intention to visit, exploring how the intensity of readers' experiences of being transported by narratives with different themes can influence their intention to visit the places described. Our results reveal the extent to which different narrative themes affect destination image and significantly influence readers' intention to visit. The extent to which narratives with different themes make readers feel transported also has a significant moderating effect on their intention to visit. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Why is intelligent technology alone not an intelligent solution?

This article investigates how intelligence can contribute to the flexibility of infrastructures. Intelligent solutions, here, are ways to optimise the capacity, efficiency, safety, sustainability, etc. of an infrastructure system, typically by means of ICT-based information processing. For this, three cases are presented of implementations of intelligent solutions. Viewing the infrastructure as part of a constellation, serving to fulfil a societal need, the problems encountered in these cases are found to be of a similar nature. It is found that intelligent technology in itself is not enough for an intelligent solution, the users and operators need to be involved in a learning process, and the institutions will need to be changed as well. Consequently, the design should not focus on the intelligent infrastructure alone, not only on the end goal, but rather the transition phase itself should be designed carefully, with much attention for intermediate and hybrid stages where sometimes the flexibility gained from the intelligent solution can already be put to use.     

Flood Insurance Coverage in the Coastal Zone

We explore determinants of flood insurance demand in the coastal zone using micro‐data for nine Southeastern counties. Overall estimates indicate price inelastic demand, though subsidized policyholders have greater coverage and are more price sensitive. Mortgage borrowers exhibit no greater coverage; only 12 percent in 100‐year flood zone indicate flood insurance was required by their lender. Flood insurance demand is increasing in the levels of flood and erosion risk. We find a positive correlation between household income and coverage, but the effect is not monotonic. Community‐level erosion hazard mitigation projects influence flood insurance coverage, with beach replenishment acting as a complement.     

Collateral in Monetary Policy Operations

We present a portfolio decision model for banks that permits us to estimate the costs associated with the need to collateralise loans from the central bank. This allows us to calibrate the difference between a restrictive collateral eligibility framework for open market operations, such as that applied by the FED, with a more flexible approach such as that of Eurosystem. We also document that there could potentially appear relevant cost differences between the various collateral mobilisation procedures (pooling and earmarking) that currently coexist in the eurozone.     

‘The Re Tea Corporation principle and junior creditors’ rights to participate in a scheme of arrangement – a view from Singapore'

This paper examines the application of the principle derived from Re Tea Corporation's case in recent schemes of arrangement to break negotiation deadlocks between senior and junior creditors of a financially distressed company. This paper argues against an overly technical application of the principle in Re Tea Corporation's case which might work injustice towards junior creditors by effectively shutting them out of a restructuring. This paper further explores how the holdout problem, which led to the formulation of the Re Tea Corporation principle in the first place, could be addressed while balancing the competing interests of junior claimants in a scheme of arrangement. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The value of relational learning in global buyer‐supplier exchanges: a dyadic perspective and test of the pie‐sharing premise

Research in collaborative interorganizational relationships has typically focused on the value of these relationships to a specific supply chain partner. Furthermore, the phenomenon has rarely been explored in a global setting. Using primary data from 126 cross‐border dyads, we investigate the influence of relational learning on the relationship performance of both the buyer and the supplier, testing the contention that both members (1) benefit from relational learning efforts and (2) enjoy equal pieces of the benefits pie. We find that three specific types of relational learning (information sharing, joint sensemaking, and knowledge integration) influence relationship performance, and that these dimensions of relational learning affect supply chain partners in different ways. We draw conclusions regarding the relative value of relational learning for both buyers and suppliers. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.