Finisterre: being and becoming a myth-related tourist destination

The phenomenon of travelling to myth-related places has had a revival in recent decades, warranting an investigation of how such places are perceived by today’s tourists. While established myths and the specific places they are associated with have been extensively researched, there is as yet relatively little research on how tourists appropriate and rework conventional myth-based place meaning and identity. The aim of this article is to contribute to wider debates on place, meaning and identity in tourism studies particularly as regards myth-related tourist destinations. Relying on theories of place and identity, we highlight how mythical places and their identities are appropriated and consumed by and made part of individual tourists’ experiences. Drawing on qualitative interviews with tourists journeying to Finisterre in Spain, this article shows how tourists rework the classical symbolism surrounding mythical places and imbue these with new meanings and identities. Based on Finisterre as a case, our study found out that myth-related places have become tourist-driven attractions: at present it is tourist flows that shape traditional myth destinations.     

中国纸制品消费趋势:城市化增长的效应分析和预测

基于对近期未来的人口—经济增长的预测,分析了城市化增长对未来纸制品消费的影响。用"自相关误差回归"的方法检验人口和城市化增长的不同发展路径对于纸制品消费的影响。中国的城市化过程对纸制品消费影响很大,更快的城市化进程,相应的影响会更强烈。比较人口变量和经济变量,城市家庭经济因素相对更加明显。在近期的未来,随着纸制品消费的增加,其对环境污染的压力也会增大。     

Vocational education and training – an engine for economic growth and a vehicle for social inclusion?

Vocational education and training (VET) has in recent years enjoyed a revival for two major reasons. Firstly, it is regarded as a suitable means of promoting economic growth. Secondly, it is seen as a potentially powerful tool for fostering social inclusion. In this review, these assumed effects are critically examined on the basis of the vastly expanding literature in the field. Evidence of the productivity‐enhancing effects of VET at company level is quite solid, but evidence of the effect on overall economic growth is far from conclusive. The effects on social inclusion are uncertain because reform of VET systems has not been sufficient and because it has proved difficult to bring about the necessary institutional change. The review identifies policy implications and makes some suggestions for future research.     

How does bargaining power affect remittances?

This paper examines the factors affecting the amount of remittances by migrants to their home countries, in a context of a family bargaining model. Spanish data does not show the same clear relationship between remittances and migrant income that is captured in the theoretical literature and certain empirical papers. Family bargaining models emerge as a useful framework within which to study remittances, and bargaining power is a key element in determining the level of such remittances. As a consequence of the consideration of bargaining power, the effect of income levels on remittances emerges as non-monotonic.