Aspects of profitability that influence smallholder cash-crop preferences in northern Mozambique

This study analyses profitability in terms of relationships between various aspects, indicators and cash-crop cultivation preferences. Both financial and pragmatic aspects of profitability were found to be related to cash-crop preferences. Apart from the need to promote a crop with a good farm gate price and to reduce production and marketing costs, promoters need to strengthen the wider system by supporting profitability as well as household consumption requirements. The correlation between indicators of expected profitability improved as more financial and pragmatic aspects were incorporated. Smallholder farmers' rankings of profitability correlated better with cash-crop preferences when the analysis incorporated more aspects of profitability. In addition, the results indicated the institutional support needed to improve the profitability of cash crops. This simple method of identifying smallholder preferences for one cash crop among many is of paramount importance in the design of strategies for improving agricultural market participation.     

The Trade and Welfare Effects of State Trading in China with Reference to COFCO

The use of state trading to manage imports and exports has been a long‐standing feature of China’s agricultural trade regime. While the use of state trading was modified by China’s accession to the WTO, state trading still dominates for some commodities, even though there have been recent attempts to diminish its importance. In this paper, we analyse the potential trade distorting effect of COFCO on market access and export competition by drawing on some recent research on the impact of STEs on agricultural trade. By using a calibrated model of China’s imports of wheat and exports of maize, we are able to quantify the size of the trade distortions.     

Pharmacy discount card programs: catching up with the health markets

Pharmacy costs continue to rise, as does the number of senior citizens. One of the ways of containing costs may be the pharmacy discount drug card program, for both seniors and the general population.     

Investigating the Drivers of Consumer Acceptance and Response of SMS Advertising

This study tests five potential drivers underlying the acceptance of SMS advertising. After developing a scale to measure behavioral responses to SMS advertising, the relationships between the acceptance of SMS advertising, intention to receive SMS advertising and behavioral responses to SMS advertising are tested. A convenience sampling method was employed. Survey questionnaires were distributed across Western Australia. The return yielded 203 usable questionnaires from the respondents. Several factors emerge as significant drivers of acceptance of SMS advertising including utility of SMS advertisements, context of SMS advertisements and attitudes to advertising in general. Contrary to expectation, control over SMS advertisements did not emerge as a significant driver for acceptance of SMS advertising. Trust in advertisers and laws did not emerge as a significant driver of the acceptance of SMS advertising among Australian respondents. Advertisers who pursue consumer acceptance should strive to build utility and context considerations into their SMS campaigns. Future research opportunities include testing the drivers of SMS advertising to further investigate the impact of control and trust on acceptance of SMS advertising in other countries where the SMS advertising has not been explored yet.     

The Effect of Substitute Assets on Yields in Financial Markets

We examine the link between volume and liquidity in money markets where there are close substitutes. We find that the size of the market, as a proxy for trading volume, affects yield spreads over T-bill rates. We examine the bankers acceptances market, when market size declined by half over the decade of the 1990s. Controlling for interest-rate levels, day-of-the-week, calendar, term structure, credit spread, time-series, and cross-equation effects, we find that the substitution effect does not eliminate the impact of market-size changes on rates, but it does preserve the hierarchy of rates across instruments.     

Analysis of Employee Performance during Cross-cultural Service Encounters at Luxury Hotels in Hawaii,London and Florida

Globalization has motivated managers and scholars in the tourism industry to focus more attention on the problems and characteristics of the cross-cultural service encounter. During these interactions, differing cultural norms and values often create misunderstanding and conflict, which can result in an unhappy customer, a frustrated service provider and lost business. Therefore, the focus of this study was to analyze the effect of intercultural sensitivity on tourism employee performance in cross-cultural service encounters in three similar, but distinct service-dependent markets: the Hawaiian Islands, Greater London (UK) and the state of Florida. The results indicate that tourism employees with high intercultural sensitivity generally scored significantly (p < 0.05) higher than employees with low intercultural sensitivity in terms of service attentiveness, revenue contribution, interpersonal skills, job satisfaction and social satisfaction as they relate to cross-cultural encounters. There was no significant difference in results for motivation to work, tenure (years at present organization) and primary rewards (compensation, recognition, etc.). Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Voluntary association membership of outdoor recreationists: An exploratory study

Abstract

Research on the political activity of outdoor recreationists has focused primarily on their associational affiliations and concern for the environment. This article reviews literature on theories of collective behavior, recreation motivations, and environmental concern. The study considers outdoor recreation as a social movement and investigates relationships between incentives for voluntary membership in environmental and outdoor recreation associations, motivations for participation in outdoor recreation activities, and environmental concern. Members of associations were found to be significantly different than nonmembers on several variables including value for outdoor recreation, incentives for association membership, intellectual motivations for outdoor recreation, environmental concern, education level, and age. Results suggest that association efforts to obtain instrumental benefits, or public goods that accrue to all of society, are a primary incentive for outdoor recreationists to join voluntary associations. A common thread of intellectual pursuit distinguished members from nonmembers, suggesting that intellectual benefits may help define the relationship between outdoor recreation and associational affiliation behaviors.     

Does telic/paratelic user mode matter on the effectiveness of interactive internet advertising? A reversal theory perspective

Drawing on reversal theory (Apter, 2007), the current research proposes that internet users' metamotivational state (telic vs. paratelic) determines advertising interactivity's effectiveness. An online field experiment involving 141 Facebook and Twitter users tests this proposition. Research findings support telic state consumers form more positive attitudes toward a low-level interactive ad, whereas paratelic state consumers form more positive attitudes toward a high-level interactive ad. Further, this research shows that an arousal seeking tendency mediates the metamotivational state's impact on ad attitude.