Measuring the Competitive Threat from China for other Southern Exporters

In recent years there has been a growing literature which analyses the threat which Chinese exports pose to the exports of other developing countries. This paper provides a critique of the standard measures of export similarity which have been used to estimate the threat from China in these studies. Two alternative indices, the Static and the Dynamic Index of Competitive Threat, are developed and estimated for 18 developing countries and compared with estimates for the standard measures. It is shown that the latter tend to underestimate the extent to which countries are threatened by China. They also distort both the rankings of countries according to the extent to which they face competition from China and the direction of change in the competitive threat over time.     

RANKING INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS WHEN NEEDS DIFFER

We derive criteria for ranking income distributions where households differ in equity-relevant non-income characteristics ('needs'). using methods which do not require cardinal specifications of equivalence scales. We consider comparisons for situations where the distributions of needs differ (eg. Cross nationally or intertemporally), building on the results of Atkinson and Bourguignon (1987) and Atkinson (1992). The modifications required when the individual rather than the household is the income-receiving unit are also discussed. We illustrate the methods with an analysis of changes in social welfare and poverty in the U.K. between 1981 and 1986.     

Nonresident Fathers' Leisure with Their Children

This study examines nonresident fathers' leisure with their children, which leads to nuanced understandings of nonresident fatherhood, father–child relationships and the role of leisure in these relationships. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 nonresident fathers residing in the Hunter region, Australia. The fathers who participated in the study were a diverse group. Despite fathers' different life circumstances, experiences of separation, and divorce and child contact arrangements, leisure was an important context for fatherhood. Leisure was a vital aspect of fathers' engagement with their children and a means for them to make valuable contributions as parents to the lives of their children.     

Reviews

Skålnes, Tor The Politics of Economics Reform in Zimbabwe, Continuity and Change in Development Antle, John M. and Sumner, Daniel A. The Economics of Agriculture Helleiner, G.K. (ed.) Manufacturing for Export in the Developing World, Problems and Possibilities     

Understanding and measuring tourist destination images

A destination image is ‘the expression of all objective knowledge, impressions, prejudice, imaginations, and emotional thoughts an individual or group might have of a particular place’ (Lawson and Baud Bovy, 1977 ). Destination images influence a tourist's travel decision-making, cognition and behaviour at a destination as well as satisfaction levels and recollection of the experience. This paper looks at the concept of tourist destination images and how destination image research has been approached from different academic disciplines and by practitioners such as tourism marketers. In particular, different techniques for the measurement of a tourist's destination images are reviewed and the dominance of structured, word-based approaches is highlighted. This paper adds to previous work that has listed the main attributes used in image studies by including recent studies, many of which are Australian. In the paper it is argued that to provide valid image research, a preliminary phase of qualitative research is important in order to distil the constructs relevant to the population being studied. Construct elicitation techniques, such as free-elicitation, interactive interviews and focus group interviews, are discussed along with new techniques that include the visual aspect of image, such as photo-elicitation. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.