International managers and mobile families: the professional and personal dynamics of trans-national career pathing and job mobility in the 1990s

This paper reviews the literature on transnational career pathing and job mobility. Alongside a detailed, critical review of the literature, a systematic model of international job mobility is presented. The directions for future research are then examined.     

The impact of sustainable energy production on land use in Britain through to 2050

Historically, land use in Britain has been shaped by the environment's capacity to provide energy as well as food, water and shelter. Over the next decades, energy will again become a major driver in land cover change as we seek to capture the necessary energy to replace fossil fuels, reduce environmental damage and substitute for insecure supplies. Britain was one of the first places to exploit fossil fuels extensively, initially coal, and it has the potential to generate considerable amounts of renewable energy from tides, waves, the wind, biomass and sunlight. The UK Government's policy is to develop a suite of technologies that will provide a resilient supply without compromising its economy or its international commitments to environmental protection.This paper examines the three major terrestrial options for renewable energy and assesses each by successively filtering them for feasibility, achievability and practicality incorporating existing developments, designation and public opinion. Technology and opinion are dynamic, so the outputs need to be viewed as indicative of alternative scenarios rather than as fixed forecasts. Implications for changes in the energy supply infrastructure needed to match the new supply chains are highlighted.The demand for energy depends on the demographic profile (population size, age distribution, lifestyle and expectations) and on economic activity. Here total demand is predicted using the UK Energy Research Centre's Energy 2050 model, which uses linear programming to balance economics and environmental capacity by major demand sectors in five-year time steps. The core model often generates challenging results.     

Measuring service quality of travel agents: evidence from Northern Cyprus

Service quality delivered by travel agents in Northern Cyprus was examined using a SERVQUAL scale. The translated instrument was purified using an item-categorisation technique and administered to 337 current users of travel agents in the region. Expectations and performance (SERVPERF) scores indicated that respondents were concerned most with the efficiency and least with the personalisation of the services offered. The largest service gaps were identified with the ‘modern’ appearance of the service and service-scape, and the smallest with interpersonal qualities of service. Multiple regression showed promptness, empathy, efficiency and service-scape aesthetics to be the main determinants of customer satisfaction. SERVPERF scores gave a better prediction of overall satisfaction and showed marginally better reliability and validity than those from which expectations were subtracted. Instead of the predicted SERVQUAL five-factor solution, factor analysis showed an underlying uni-dimensionality that is consistent with the findings of other authors. Possible management actions suggested by the findings are discussed in the context of the small business environment in Northern Cyprus.     

A dynamic analysis of the impacts of export taxes: The case of Argentinean soy and beef markets

Argentina plays an important role in the global soy market as one of the world's leading exporters of soy products. In an effort to shift its agricultural sector's focus to value‐added exports and to raise revenue, Argentina's government has maintained a regime of differential export taxes on soy products. In addition to soy products, Argentina is a major producer, consumer and exporter of beef. However, over the last decade it has relinquished much of its world market share as its beef exports have fallen because the government has periodically imposed a ban on exports of beef along with maintaining an export tax. As the soy and livestock sectors are inextricably linked, owing to both industries’ intensive land use and the utilisation of soymeal as a feed supplement for cattle, trade policies in one sector have pronounced cross‐sectoral impacts. This study develops a theoretical model of these different sectors and trade policies, incorporating the dynamic decisions of cattle stock management. The model is calibrated to real‐world data on the Argentinean economy, and the impacts of trade liberalisation are quantified. Key results show modelling the various intersectoral linkages and the dynamic implications of cattle stock is essential for obtaining accurate estimates.     

Income Redistribution and Direct Taxes and Transfers in New Zealand

This article examines the redistributive effects of direct taxes and transfers in New Zealand. First, it reports summary measures of the income tax-and-transfer system using the NZ Household Economic Survey. Second, the article examines the characteristics of low-income NZ taxpayers. A decomposition by individual and household characteristics shows that different groups of low-income taxpayers can be affected quite differently by various aspects of the tax-and-transfer system. In particular, reforms involving tax-free zones do not appear to be well targeted to help those most in need.