Political travel constraint: The role of Chinese popular nationalism

This study extends the leisure constraint model by examining the role that popular nationalism has in Chinese outbound travel. Using a case study approach based on the 2012 Diaoyu/Senkaku Island Incident between China and Japan, the study demonstrates how Chinese popular nationalism has the potential to shape the geopolitical environment of all outbound Chinese tourism. The study proposes a new model that can be used to illustrate how popular nationalism may affect bilateral tourism in other settings. Findings of this study offer important insights for both scholars and practitioners contributing to the understanding of the impact of Chinese popular nationalism on bilateral tourism flows.     

Creditor Rights,Country Governance,and Corporate Cash Holdings

This study examines the impact of creditor rights and country governance on cash holdings using a sample of firms from 47 countries. We hypothesize that cash holdings are smaller when both creditor rights and country governance are high. In these circumstances firms will not need to hold as much cash for future investments needs (precautionary funds) because firms will expect that funds will be available in the future. Our findings support our hypothesis and hold for alternative definitions for cash holdings, different country samples, different definitions of governance and concerns about endogeneity.     

Comparing levels of resident empowerment among two culturally diverse resident populations in Oizumi,Gunma, Japan

While resident empowerment has been a central aspect of the sustainable tourism literature, difficulties of putting the concept into practice have been noted given the heterogeneous nature of communities. “Community” is often divided by kinship, age, gender and ethnicity, and such division may influence the perceptions of empowerment. The goal of this study was to better understand heterogeneous perceptions of empowerment by administering the Resident Empowerment through Tourism Scale within the community of Oizumi, Japan. Oizumi has the highest concentration of Brazilian immigrants in Japan, and the town has embraced “ethnic neighborhood tourism” centered on Brazilian culture as a strategy for economic development. Oizumi's demographic makeup allowed for testing differences in perceived empowerment between members of the dominant ethnic group (Japanese) and members of the ethnic minority group (Japanese Brazilians). Analysis of 650 completed questionnaires revealed that Brazilians felt more psychologically and socially empowered than Japanese residents, indicating a shift in the balance of power between the ethnic groups. Results also revealed that the political dimension of empowerment was rated relatively low among both groups, suggesting a general lack of opportunities to participate in the planning process. Implications for both practice and theory are presented.     

Advertising and the Department of Energy's Campaign for Energy Conservation

Abstract

Motivating consumers to conserve energy has proven to be a difficult task in the United States. One tactic that has been used on a limited basis by the Department of Energy is paid advertising. This paper examines the role of conservation within the country's broader energy problems, delineates several consumer issues that affect the success of government conservation programs, discusses the controversy surrounding the use of paid advertising to promote consumer conservation efforts, and describes those DOE programs that have used paid advertising as an integral component of conservation program strategy.     

The Status of Econometrics in the Economics Major: A Survey

In this article, the authors describe the place of econometrics in undergraduate economics curricula in all American colleges and universities that offer economics majors as listed in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges 2010” guide (U.S. News & World Report 2009). Data come from online catalogs, departmental Web sites, and online course syllabi. About one-third of the schools require econometrics of all students majoring in economics, about half require it of none, and a sixth require it of some, but not all, economics majors. Among universities with economics PhD programs and liberal arts colleges, almost all those ranked in the top 10 require it. Below the top 10, there is little correlation between ranking and econometrics requirements. Liberal arts econometrics classes are much more likely to require research projects than their counterparts in universities.     

An Academic Publisher’s Response to Plagiarism

Plagiarism strikes at the heart of academe, eroding the fundamental value of academic research. Recent evidence suggests that acts of plagiarism and awareness of these acts are on the rise in academia. To address this issue, a vein of research has emerged in recent years exploring plagiarism as an area of academic inquiry. In this new academic subject, case studies and analysis have been one of the most influential methodologies employed. Case studies provide a venue where acts of plagiarism can be discussed and analyzed in a constructive manner, and that is the primary purpose of this article. Unlike previous studies, however, we focus on the role of the publisher, a key player in dealing with acts of plagiarism, but one who has received little attention in the academic literature. Specifically, we examine how an academic publisher addressed allegations of plagiarism and how the publisher’s decision-making affected the outcome. We analyze the case by applying the guidelines from different frameworks and ethical theory and develop recommendations from the lessons evidenced, the second main objective of our article. This analysis advances the dialog on academic plagiarism by exploring the role of the publisher from a deontological perspective of ethical absolutism.     

The entry‐mode decision of Chinese outward FDI: Firm resources,industry conditions,and institutional forces

How do Chinese firms make their entry‐mode decision for their outward investments? Based on the three theoretical perspectives that balance the “strategy tripod,” our study conducted empirical tests using survey data collected from outward‐investing Chinese firms. We found that the cost advantage of the investing firm and learning opportunities in the host industry have positive effects on the likelihood of a Chinese firm opting for wholly owned subsidiary against joint‐venture entry mode, while the market attractiveness of the host industry, host‐country restrictions, cultural barriers, and cognitive pressures have negative effects. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Predictors of registered nurses' willingness to remain in nursing

A major question about the adequacy of the future supply of nurses is how many will stay in the profession. The relationship between scheduling and propensity to stay or leave the nursing profession was examined in this study. This analysis suggests there are definite characteristics of the work schedules that can influence a nurse's inclination to stay or leave the profession. This is not simply a question of "overwork," but of matching work schedules and hours as closely as possible to employee expectations. This suggests management needs to find a way to pay attention when nurses request changes in hours. The mere fact of changing schedules will not solve the nursing shortage, but it is one action within the management control of any organization employing nurses that could have a positive effect on retention.     

Business cycle amplification with heterogeneous expectations

This paper studies the implications for business cycle dynamics of heterogeneous expectations in a stochastic growth model. The assumption of homogeneous, rational expectations is replaced with a heterogeneous expectations model where a fraction of agents hold rational expectations and the remaining fraction adopt parsimonious forecasting models that are, in equilibrium, optimal within a restricted class. Our approach nests the literature on rational expectations in business cycle models with a recent approach based on adaptive learning. We demonstrate that (i.) heterogeneous expectations can lead to substantial improvement in the internal propagation of equilibrium business cycle models and (ii.) the internal propagation depends on the degree of heterogeneity. A calibrated model with heterogeneity provides a closer fit to business cycle data than its representative agent, rational expectations counterpart.