Motives for a secular pilgrimage to the Gallipoli battlefields

Pilgrimage is a journey to a non-substitutable site embodying the highly valued, the deeply meaningful, or a source of core identity for the traveller. Secular pilgrimage is an important yet under-researched sector of the tourism industry. Where the motives for religious pilgrimage are well documented, little is known of the motives for secular pilgrimages. This paper presents the results of an empirical investigation of one case of secular pilgrimage, the journey of Australians and New Zealanders to the Gallipoli battlefields in Turkey. Five distinct motives for visits to the pilgrimage site are identified – spiritual, nationalistic, family pilgrimage, friendship and travel motives – and differences in their importance noted across seven visitor groups. These motives share some commonality with the motives for religious pilgrimage, and conversely, with the motives for leisure tourism; yet, other motives are unique to the secular pilgrimage. Suggestions for future research on secular pilgrimage are provided.     

Design principles of hybrid approaches in new product development: a systematic literature review

Setting the right approach for new product development (NPD) in the presence of uncertainty remains an ongoing debate in innovation management. Stage-gate systems (SGS) and agile methodology (AM) are the dominant approaches. Recently, hybrid approaches (combining SGS and AM) have been proposed. Although these hybrid approaches represent a significant development in NPD, combining them without considering their design principles might lead to contradictory and competing conceptual formulations, thus increasing the difficulty of comparison among studies. Moreover, scholars and practitioners may struggle to understand when, why and how a certain configuration of the NPD process provides the right response to different manifestations of uncertainty. The current literature faces problems regarding the clarity of design principles (e.g. flexibility and adaptability), and this has led to research gaps concerning the uncertainty contingency and outcomes of hybrid approaches. This study combines bibliometric and content analyses to identify four design parameters and principles of NPD hybrid approaches: flexibility, adaptability, velocity and integration. Our findings might help advance the development and comparison of different hybrid approaches.     

‘I Don't Like My Children to Grow up in this Bad Area’: Parental Anxieties about Living in Informal Settlements

A growing body of research on informal settlements considers the experiences of children, but seldom outlines the daily parenting experiences of adult men and women. At the same time, policy on housing in South Africa points to the ways in which the ‘eradication’ of informal housing will help provide children with better futures. This article explores the social relation of parenting within an informal settlement in Durban, South Africa, bearing in mind the broader difficulties of parenting in poverty, and points to ways in which the material qualities of informal settlements contribute to feelings of anxiety in parents. It questions how these experiences might differ from or be similar to those of parents who live in generic contexts of poverty (but not necessarily informality). It concludes ultimately that living in an informal settlement does actually contribute to particular parental anxieties, but that there is no guarantee that informal housing eradication will remove these concerns.     

Evaluation of a Truthful Revelation Auction in the Context of Energy Markets with Nonconcave Benefits

We describe a Vickrey-Clarke-Groves auction for supply and demand bidding in the face of market power and nonconcave benefits in which bidders are motivated to bid truthfully, and evaluate its use for power and gas pipeline capacity auctions. The auction efficiently allocate resources if firms maximize profit. Simulations, including an application to the PJM power market, illustrate the procedure. However, the auction has several undesirable properties. It risks being revenue deficient, can be gamed by cooperating suppliers and consumers, and is subject to the information revelation and bid-taker cheating concerns that make single item Vickrey auctions rare.     

Determinants of bank’s interest margin in the aftermath of the crisis: the effect of interest rates and the yield curve slope

Empirical Economics - This paper analyses the determinants of net interest margin, focusing on the impact of interest rates and the slope of the yield curve, using a broad panel of data from 32...     

The “frequency divide”: implications for internet-based surveys

Those who use the internet more frequently are more likely to notice a request to participate in a survey than less frequent users. The frequency of internet use is thus likely to affect the likelihood of participation in internet-based surveys. If frequent and infrequent users are different in relevant features, this could influence survey estimates. This study aims to identify which demographic characteristics most differentiate frequent and infrequent users of the internet and whether those distinctions have an influence on substantive responses. The effect of internet usage frequency when conducting internet-based surveys on specific subgroups of the population is also examined. Results suggest that frequent and infrequent users are different both in demographic characteristics and substantive estimates. Differences in substantive estimates are also found when comparing frequent and infrequent users in the 15–24 years subgroup. Weighting can reduce the discrepancies found for most of the substantive estimates, but the differences between frequent and infrequent users remain statistically significant for some specific items.     

Retaining volunteers for the cause: Hope and pride associated with cause-related charity events in cancer control

Special charity events are an important source of revenue for non-profit organisations in cancer control yet volunteering is declining and turnover is high. Experiences at cause-related events may influence retention, particularly emotions connected to the cause and ceremonies which honour cancer survivors and remember loved ones. We explore the degree to which emotions associated with cause-related volunteering and collective action in the literature are felt in response to Relay For Life and what emotions predict three indicators of retention: intention to return for future events, satisfaction with volunteering, and organisational commitment. Volunteers (n = 410) completed a cross-sectional survey at Relay For Life events in Queensland, Australia. Multiple regression analyses examined whether emotions associated with events predicted each indicator of retention, adjusting for number of years spent volunteering for events. Sixty-two percent reported an intention to return the following year. The most commonly reported event-related emotions were hope, pride, and empathy (62–69%). Intention to return, satisfaction, and commitment were each significantly predicted by hope and pride. The findings suggest special charity events in cancer control could retain volunteers by fostering pride and hope (e.g., for a cancer free future); however, future prospective research which examines the mechanisms of these relationships is warranted.     

Uk Corporate Acquisitions In Latin America In The 1990s: Lost Opportunities In A New Economic Environment

During the 1990s, foreign direct investment flowed into Latin America at an unprecedented rate. Capital inflows associated with privatizations and private mergers and acquisitions (M&As) rose steeply. Drawing on original firm–level transactions data, this article examines the extent to which UK enterprises participated in the Latin American privatization and private M&A boom. The authors conclude that, relative to their counterparts in many other major industrial countries, UK enterprises adopted a cautious stance, largely eschewing privatization opportunities and concentrating M&A activities on relatively few operations, sectors and countries, in order to strengthen product and market positions. Moreover, the strategic logic guiding the most important corporate acquisitions centred on gaining access to domestic markets rather than attempting to create global export platforms.