Informal trail creation: hiking,trail running,and mountain bicycling in shortgrass prairie

This study considers initial impacts on vegetation cover caused by mountain bicycling, trail running, and hiking in a shortgrass prairie environment. Vegetation cover measurements were taken at multiple intervals following experimental recreational use on three uphill and three downhill trail segments. All three activities caused statistically significant increases in bare ground cover between the first baseline measurement and post-treatment sampling one year later. Short-term effects were more variable: walking and bicycling caused statistically significant increases in bare ground, but running did not. The study suggests that impacts to vegetation differ not just between uses, but also within a single type of recreational activity depending upon site-specific characteristics, and that the timing of use and recovery are important factors in informal trail creation. The rapid creation of trail impacts also has management implications, especially as recreational pressures increase and recreationists seek more challenging terrain and opportunities off-trail. This research suggests that the dynamics of trail formation from running deserve further attention and likely differ from hiking or mountain biking impacts.     

BOOK REVIEWS

The purpose of this investigation was to explore the meanings recreationists tenting at an agricultural fair associated with the settings in which their fair experience occurred. Using a symbolic interactionist framework, our analysis of data collected through onsite observation and using photo-elicitation guided interviews illustrated that informants' place meanings were the product of interactive processes involving the individual, their social world and the physical setting. These interactions elicited meanings tied to place that were largely independent of the physical attributes that defined the setting. Most significant were specific place experiences shared with family and close friends. The importance attached to these relationships and experiences were embedded in the spatial contexts that encapsulated informants' fair experience. Findings from this investigation shed light on the social construction of place meaning within a built environment.     

Line,line, everywhere a line: Cultural considerations for waiting-line managers

Given the trend of increasing business globalization, management teams of multinational companies have taken steps to better understand consumers, local business partners, and local governments. Local queueing preferences present managers with additional challenges and opportunities in international markets. The world may be ‘flat,’ but it is foolish to believe that all cultures perceive lines and waiting through the same lens. As discussed herein, perceptions regarding waiting and management of queues vary greatly; therefore, managers should adopt different policies and procedures when managing waiting lines across natural and cultural borders. Considering queue management in a global context offers benefits. Thinking globally—and acting locally—can prioritize and clarify important decisions any waiting-line manager has to make.     

Distributional impacts of changing from a gasoline tax to a vehicle-mile tax for light vehicles: A case study of Oregon

A vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) tax is frequently mentioned as viable alternative to a fuel tax for collecting highway users fees from light vehicles. Both a static model and a regression based model are used here to assess the distributional impacts of a switch from a fuel tax to a VMT tax for the state of Oregon. The VMT tax is found to be slightly more regressive than the fuel tax and rural households are found to actually benefit relative to urban households under a VMT tax. Two alternative VMT structures that might increase incentives to use more fuel efficient vehicles are provided, but both are found to be even more regressive than a flat VMT tax.     

Name Dropping and Product Mentions: Branding in Popular Music Lyrics

Product placement provides a unique advantage over traditional advertising as it can be integrated into program content through a symbiotic relationship. A content analysis of the Billboard year-end top 20 songs for Rap, Country, R&B/Hip-Hop, Adult Contemporary, Rock, and Pop over five years (2009–2013) was conducted to determine the use of celebrities, product placement, and nonbranded product mentions in song lyrics. Results found male artists used celebrity mentions and product placement more than females, Rap contained the most mentions (73% of songs), clothing and shoes was the most prevalent product category, musicians were the most common type of celebrity mentioned, and nonbranded product mentions were in 54.5% of songs. The paper concludes by discussing practical implications of utilizing branded, nonbranded, and celebrity mentions in song lyrics.     

Understanding and modifying beliefs about climate change through educational travel

Understanding the factors that shape individuals’ beliefs about climate change is key to the development of effective climate change communication and education strategies. In this study, we test a path model of the social psychological antecedents of beliefs about climate change and evaluate the effectiveness of an educational travel program in changing them. Results show that environmental worldview and affective association with nature are two significant predictors of students’ belief in the occurrence of climate change. Gender was found to influence belief in an anthropogenic causation, while political orientation was a significant predictor of conviction that climate change is occurring. Regression analysis was used to test for changes in climate beliefs before and after participation in an educational travel experience, compared to a control group, using a quasi-experimental design. Results indicate participation strengthened climate change beliefs.     

Land use in Macau: changes between 1972 and 1994

Based upon land use surveys undertaken in Macau during 1994, this paper updates changes in land use between 1972 and 1983 analysed in a previous issue of Land Use Policy. Many of the trends seen in past land use in the territory have continued but further intensification and modernization has led to the increase in use of underground areas and a more modern type of mixed residential/commercial use than the previous dominant Chinese ‘bazaar’ type of commercial use with upstairs residences. Finally plans show that by 2005 there is likely to be another massive expansion of reclaimed land with the island of Taipa becoming completely urbanized.     

State enterprise performance and soft budget constraints: The case of Bulgaria

This paper analyses the performance of state enterprises in Bulgaria during 1992-94. Consistent with the literature on other transitional economies, this paper finds that one key factor underlying (the lack of) enterprise adjustment in Bulgaria during this period was the availability of financing. Empirically, the (lack of) past adjustment and the softness of finance are the best predictors of current adjustment. Many state enterprises, mostly smaller ones, appear to have adjusted to the new economic structure, partly in response to tighter budget constraints. However, a number of large, hard-core lossmaking state enterprises did not adjust, due primarily to the soft budget constraints that they faced. These enterprises crowded out profitable enterprises, both public and private, through their large financing requirements, adversely affecting economic growth. Moreover, continued bank financing of these large loss-makers decapitalized the banking system, and budgetary financing of their losses, largely through tax arrears, has undermined fiscal policy. This lack of enterprise adjustment and the resulting financial indiscipline lies at the core of the macroeconomic difficulties that Bulgaria has recently faced.     

Why do global long‐term scenarios for agriculture differ? An overview of the AgMIP Global Economic Model Intercomparison

Recent studies assessing plausible futures for agricultural markets and global food security have had contradictory outcomes. To advance our understanding of the sources of the differences, 10 global economic models that produce long‐term scenarios were asked to compare a reference scenario with alternate socioeconomic, climate change, and bioenergy scenarios using a common set of key drivers. Several key conclusions emerge from this exercise: First, for a comparison of scenario results to be meaningful, a careful analysis of the interpretation of the relevant model variables is essential. For instance, the use of “real world commodity prices” differs widely across models, and comparing the prices without accounting for their different meanings can lead to misleading results. Second, results suggest that, once some key assumptions are harmonized, the variability in general trends across models declines but remains important. For example, given the common assumptions of the reference scenario, models show average annual rates of changes of real global producer prices for agricultural products on average ranging between ?0.4% and +0.7% between the 2005 base year and 2050. This compares to an average decline of real agricultural prices of 4% p.a. between the 1960s and the 2000s. Several other common trends are shown, for example, relating to key global growth areas for agricultural production and consumption. Third, differences in basic model parameters such as income and price elasticities, sometimes hidden in the way market behavior is modeled, result in significant differences in the details. Fourth, the analysis shows that agro‐economic modelers aiming to inform the agricultural and development policy debate require better data and analysis on both economic behavior and biophysical drivers. More interdisciplinary modeling efforts are required to cross‐fertilize analyses at different scales.     

Assessing the Probability of Bankruptcy

We assess whether two popular accounting-based measures, Altmans (1968) Z-Score and Ohlsons (1980) O-Score, effectively summarize publicly-available information about the probability of bankruptcy. We compare the relative information content of these Scores to a market-based measure of the probability of bankruptcy that we develop based on the Black–Scholes–Merton option-pricing model, BSM-Prob. Our tests show that BSM-Prob provides significantly more information than either of the two accounting-based measures. This finding is robust to various modifications of Z-Score and O-Score, including updating the coefficients, making industry adjustments, and decomposing them into their lagged levels and changes. We recommend that researchers use BSM-Prob instead of Z-Score and O-Score in their studies and provide the SAS code to calculate BSM-Prob.