The efficiency of the Environmental Management Charge in the Cairns management area of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park*

Using data from a survey of more than 1000 domestic visitors to the Northern section of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) – predominantly those travelling on live‐aboard dive boats – this research investigates the (tax) efficiency of the Environmental Management Charge (EMC). The travel cost method (with a zero truncated negative binomial specification) is used to estimate the price elasticity of demand, and those estimates are used to estimate the deadweight losses, the losses in visitor numbers that could be ‘blamed’ on the EMC and the associated taxation revenues for different types of trips. The welfare loss for each dollar of revenue raised from the EMC was estimated at less than one per cent for each type of trip considered. The analysis therefore suggests that, for these types of trips in this part of the reef at least, the EMC is a very efficient tax – particularly when compared with other taxes. This has important implications beyond the GBR, particularly in countries who struggle to find sufficient funds to properly manage world heritage areas: taxes such as these may be a relatively efficient and equitable means of collecting such revenues.     

Gravity, trade integration, and heterogeneity across industries

We derive a micro-founded measure of bilateral trade integration that is consistent with a broad range of leading gravity models. This measure accounts for cross-industry heterogeneity by incorporating substitution elasticities estimated at the industry level. We then use it to provide a theory-based ranking of trade integration across manufacturing industries in European Union countries. In addition, we explore the determinants of trade integration, finding that substantial Technical Barriers to Trade in certain industries as well as high transportation costs associated with heavy-weight goods are the most notable trade barriers.     

Accountants’ Relief Foundation (ARF): A not-for-profit case examining contribution receipts and distributions

The Accountants’ Relief Foundation case study exposes students to not-for-profit (NFP) transactions and performance evaluation. Your task is to: (1) explain the advantages and restrictions associated with NFPs, (2) describe and calculate customary NFP performance metrics and assess risks, (3) determine the existence of liabilities and expenses, (4) discuss contract-timing issues, (5) evaluate differences between discretionary and non-discretionary power, (6) evaluate contribution alternatives, and (7) use primary and secondary accounting literature to solve the case.     

Personalmanagement und -controlling

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Balanced scorecard

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The characteristics and performance of Japanese FDI in less developed and developed countries

Data on 26,857 Japanese foreign investments in 150 countries and regions over the 1991–1999 period reveal that there are stark differences in the characteristics and performance of Japanese FDI (JFDI) between less developed countries (LDCs) and developed countries (DCs). JFDI in LDCs has been growing more rapidly over the period, and it is concentrated in the Secondary industrial sector, with a lower level of control within a subsidiary, and has been initiated by parent firms with market-seeking and labor-seeking purposes and with relatively weak ownership advantages. In contrast, JFDI in DCs has maintained relatively stable growth over the period, is concentrated in the Tertiary industrial sector, with a higher level of control within a subsidiary, and has been initiated by parent firms with market-seeking and strategic-seeking purposes and with relatively strong ownership advantages. JFDI in LDCs tended to attain a higher financial performance and a lower exit rate, yet with a greater variance, than those in DCs.     

Modeling Marketing Dynamics by Time Series Econometrics

This paper argues that time-series econometrics provides valuable tools and opens exciting research opportunities to marketing researchers. It allows marketing researchers to advance traditional modeling and estimation approaches by incorporating dynamic processes to answer new important research questions. The authors discuss the challenges facing time-series modelers in marketing, provide an overview of recent methodological developments and several applications, and highlight fruitful areas for future research. This discussion is based on the First Annual Conference on Modeling Marketing Dynamics by Time Series Econometrics at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA on September 16–17, 2004.Insights from the First Annual Conference, Tuck School of Business at DartmouthThis revised version was published online in May 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Customer segmentation in retailing based on retail brand patronage patterns

In this study, we propose an alternative method for customer segmentation based on households’ retail brand portfolios. We suggest blockmodeling, a method that is rooted in social network analysis, to identify homogeneous groups of customers being characterized by similar patronage patterns. In a second step, we combine this method with psychometric analyses to examine group differences based on sociodemographic and purchasing behavior variables. To illustrate our approach, we use a sample of 500 households out of a panel data set of 36,502 German households in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. The findings of our analyses yield support for our assumption that our methodology, taking into account the relationship between households and the different retail brands they patronize, provides a broader understanding of the antecedents of households’ multiple store patronage strategies, leading eventually to a new form of customer segmentation.     

Statistical Disclosure Control Methods for Census Frequency Tables

This paper provides a review of common statistical disclosure control (SDC) methods implemented at statistical agencies for standard tabular outputs containing whole population counts from a census (either enumerated or based on a register). These methods include record swapping on the microdata prior to its tabulation and rounding of entries in the tables after they are produced. The approach for assessing SDC methods is based on a disclosure risk–data utility framework and the need to find a balance between managing disclosure risk while maximizing the amount of information that can be released to users and ensuring high quality outputs. To carry out the analysis, quantitative measures of disclosure risk and data utility are defined and methods compared. Conclusions from the analysis show that record swapping as a sole SDC method leaves high probabilities of disclosure risk. Targeted record swapping lowers the disclosure risk, but there is more distortion of distributions. Small cell adjustments (rounding) give protection to census tables by eliminating small cells but only one set of variables and geographies can be disseminated in order to avoid disclosure by differencing nested tables. Full random rounding offers more protection against disclosure by differencing, but margins are typically rounded separately from the internal cells and tables are not additive. Rounding procedures protect against the perception of disclosure risk compared to record swapping since no small cells appear in the tables. Combining rounding with record swapping raises the level of protection but increases the loss of utility to census tabular outputs. For some statistical analysis, the combination of record swapping and rounding balances to some degree opposing effects that the methods have on the utility of the tables.