Environmental Management Systems in Outdoor Recreation: A Case Study of a Forest Enterprise (UK) Site

Management of environmental impacts is a key requisite to achieve sustainable tourism and recreation; and Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) provide the framework to assess, plan, act upon, control and monitor environmental management and performance. Although a large proportion of tourism and recreation sites would be in a position to work towards an EMS, few of them are aware of what they need to do to implement such systems. This case study analyses to what extent the elements of an EMS are present in the current management of a Forest Enterprise site in the UK providing outdoor recreation, promoting nature conservation and producing timber. This paper demonstrates how an EMS can be applied to put a structure to the management of a multi-purpose site, and concludes that this site, representative of other Forest Enterprise sites, can meet the basic demands of an EMS.     

The valuation of nature-linked bonds with exchange rate risk

This paper develops an arbitrage approach to pricing insurance bonds that bear currency risk. Bondholders are shown to have a short position on path-dependent digital options written on risk-tracking indices. It implements the technique of forward-neutral change of numeraire and comes down to computing first-passage-time distributions of drifted Brownian motions. We derive closed-form formulas or perform simulations depending on whether interest rates are deterministic or stochastic. Along the way, we evaluate outside-barrier currency call options. Then this research studies the effects of both nature risk and exchange rate uncertainty and shows that the former is more significant than the latter.     

The Impact of Electronic Clock Auction Systems on Shellfish Prices: Econometric Evidence from a Structural Change Model

Economic theory suggests that different auction systems may lead to different price equilibria under specific conditions. By changing the trading rules, the introduction of electronic clock auction systems (ECAS) on primary fish markets is likely to modify the price formation process. A relationship between the prices of live prawns (Nephrops norvegicus) in two French ports where different ECAS have been successively introduced is estimated through two univariate models and a vector autoregressive model applied to stationary weekly data series. Using a recent multiple break searching procedure (Econometrica, Vol. 66, 1998, 47; Journal of Applied Econometrics, Vol. 18, 2003, 1; Econometrics Journal, Vol. 6, 2003, 72), a single structural change matching the date of implementation is discovered in the two ports and shows a different impact partly explained by the type of auction system in force. The introduction of the Euro in January 2002 also appeared to play an influential role in the adoption of electronic clock auction markets.     

Preventing merger unilateral effects: A Nash–Cournot approach to asset divestitures

This paper aims to analyze the effectiveness of asset transfers in preventing unilateral effects of a merger. We show that asset divestitures allow the remedying of certain price increases. Market size negatively impacts the scope of the divestiture package, while the number of merging firms increases with it. In spite of the required asset sale, parties’ profitability remains ensured in most cases. Buyers always make profit from their purchase if industry fixed costs are rather low. We also add the alternative of a second buyer and compare outcomes with both consumer and welfare standards. Furthermore, as many mergers lead to efficiency gains, we integrate specific cost synergies and show that the higher the synergies, the smaller the divestiture share. In the case when no buyers are available, we show that the option of divesting to a start-up entity is bound to fail if firms’ technology remains the same. Lastly, we find that product differentiation can reduce the efficiency of the asset transfer.     

Reviews

'WOMEN IN BRITAIN TODAY' Beechey, Veronica and Whitelegg, Elizabeth (Editors), 1986: Women in Britain Today. Milton Keynes: Open University Press, £20.00 hardback, £6.95 paperback.

'WOMEN AND TRAINING' Wickham, Ann. 1986: Women and Training. Milton Keynes: Open University Press, £6.95 paperback.

'ALL WORK AND NO PLAY?' Deem, R. 1986: All Work and No Play? The Sociology of Women and Leisure Milton Keynes:Open University Press, £20.00 hardback, £6.95 paperback.

'ANY ADVANCE ON MONETARISM?' Tomlinson, J., 1986: Monetarism: Is There an Alternative? Oxford: Blackwell, £22.50 hardback, £6.50 paperback.

'LOCAL AUTHORITIES ACTION ON INDUSTRIAL CLOSURES' Local Authority Associations, 1986: Crisis and opportunity: local authorities' response to decline of major traditional industries. Available from ACC, ADC or AMA, £5.00 incl. p. and p.

'DEVELOPING THE SOCIALLY USEFUL ECONOMY' Bodington, S., George, M. and Michaelson, J., 1986: Developing the Socially Useful Economy. Macmillan, £9.95 paperback.     

Purchasing power parity and real factors

It is acknowledged that purchasing power parity (PPP) fails in empirical tests. The position adopted is that real factors are an omitted variable from the PPP relationship and are the cause of divergences from PPP. The real exchange rate as being determined by supply and demand shift factors (as in Stockman, 1987 and Neary, 1988) is modelled. We then empirically estimate a real exchange rate equation and use the fitted value as a generated regressor in tests of PPP. It is demonstrated that when changes in the real exchange rate are incorporated into the PPP relationship, PPP improves.     

Managing the Innovative Capacity of Voluntary and Non-Profit Organizations in the Provision of Public Services

This article considers the implications of recent research about the innovative capacity of voluntary and non-profit organizations for their management by their organizational leaders. Its core points are that innovation has to be seen as one possible direction for the work of such organizations to follow, rather than being a defining characteristic of their work, and that the expectations of funders, and especially governmental funders, are as important in setting this direction as are the concerns of the organization itself.