The future of walking in Europe: a Delphi project to identify expert opinion on future walking scenarios

There is increasing recognition of the importance of walking to the sustainability of cities, set against a continuing decline in everyday walking. This paper reports on a research project, which predicts trends in walking in Europe by 2010 by seeking opinion of experts who are knowledgeable about non-motorised transport. There is a consensus that there will be more walking for leisure and health, but less everyday walking. This will happen despite walking being seen as more important and there being more facilities, infrastructure, information and funding for walking.     

Attendance and the Uncertainty-of-Outcome Hypothesis in Baseball

Sports offer interesting insights into demand due to the added twist of fan preferences for outcome uncertainty. We add to and amend previous work by analyzing the time series behavior of Major League Baseball attendance (1901–2003) using break point analysis, exploring a wide variety of measures of game uncertainty, playoff uncertainty, and consecutive season uncertainty. Only playoff uncertainty is statistically significant, and it is economically significant only for (1) truly ambitious intervention and (2) recent history. The policy implication is that actual league choices may be motivated by wealth redistribution rather than concerns over competitive balance.      

The Persistent Myths of “Acting White” and Race Neutral Alternatives to Affirmative Action in Admissions

This paper discusses the persistent myths that cloud our understanding of two politically charged themes that have been featured in discussions of the educational outcomes of Blacks: "Acting White" and Race Neutral Alternatives to Affirmative Action in postsecondary admissions. We discuss research that shows that the "Acting White" hypothesis fails both theoretically and empirically to explain differences in educational outcomes between blacks and whites. We provide evidence that race neutral alternatives to admissions in higher education are both less effective and less efficient in producing racially diverse cohorts. Policy recommendations that heed the myths that rather than follow the facts are likely to be injurious to those that they seek to aid.     

NGOs Address Structural Racism: After the Storm in New Orleans

The long history of institutional and historical racism found an explosive expression in the events around Katrina in New Orleans. Racial inequalities were evident in the actual destruction caused by the hurricane and even more significantly in the government response to the disaster. The Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) sector provided alternative approaches to recovery and reconstruction, but such alternatives were inadequate to counter the formidable forces of capitalism arrayed against them. NGOs provided substantial direct service to the most distressed residents of the city and, in some cases, provided important advocacy roles in addressing the inequities caused by government action and/or inaction. The specific initiatives of six NGOs are reviewed here, including the work of the New Orleans Habitat for Humanity, the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the Common Ground Collective, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, the Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition, and the People’s Organizing Committee. NGO initiatives were not structurally capable of generating a broad militant anti-racist mass movement of New Orleans’ working class for social change. Five years after the storm the working class of New Orleans faces deepened racial and economic distress. A return to the strategy of bold anti-racist mass movements confronting capital and the state would seem to be in order for the coming period of time.     

Determinants of Attendance in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League: Role of Winning,Scoring, and Fighting

Attendance in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League was studied for the 2009 to 2010 season. This junior league, part of the Canadian Hockey League system, serves as a development league for teenage players who attempt to parlay their participation in this league into a professional career. Fan demand for this level of hockey is found to be sensitive to the success of the home team and to exhibit normal consumer responses to weekday and monthly effects with weekends being more popular and attendance increasing throughout the season toward the playoffs. On-ice factors such as scoring, a proxy for excitement, and fighting are not shown to have a significant effect on attendance.     

Entrepreneurial marketing and hybrid entrepreneurship: the case of JM Reid Bamboo Rods

ABSTRACT

Through the presentation of the case of James Reid, a hybrid entrepreneur that transitioned towards full-time entrepreneurship, this paper discusses a number of entrepreneurial marketing issues faced by a small business. When presented with several opportunities for business growth, Reid evaluates the extent to which growth could impact his business model, brand image and his passion. The case study demonstrates the importance of maintaining brand values and establishing a clear strategic orientation in order to create a strong brand. However, these are shown to also significantly limit the growth prospects of the business. The discussion of the case delves into these issues together with an examination of the entrepreneurial journey of a highly skilled transitory hybrid entrepreneur. This paper further introduces the concept of a comfort entrepreneur, one that willingly halts the growth of their venture, and examines the business implications thereof.     

Accountability and worth: a study of New Zealand's tertiary education institutions

This paper explores the complex web of accountability relationships between New Zealand’s tertiary education institutions (TEIs) and the different forums with which they interact. A brief review of the extensive literature on accountability suggests that previous approaches to this topic have largely adopted the perspective of those forums to which accountability is provided. However, the alternative perspectives of those giving an account provide a more insightful understanding of accountability practices.