Maori and Tourism: A Relationship of History,Constitutions and Rites

This paper describes developments in Maori tourism. It argues that such developments cannot be understood without reference to a socio-political and ethical context of the history and ethical structures of Maori. It draws attention to Maori as an indigenous people as defined by the conventions on such peoples as adopted by the United Nations, and the recognition of ownership of cultural symbols. Maori claims of ownership of the symbols and practices adopted by tourist operators are thus sanctioned by international and national rights, but are equally tempered by Maori notions of hospitality to guests. However, Maori notions of gifts require respect and proper usage of gifts, and it is with this accord that Maori become involved with tourism. Furthermore, economic realities mean that Maori tourist operations will tend to be at an individual or extended family level, and hence the recognition of Maori ownership may be said to be more important. However, a further complicating issue is that Maori society is traditionally a tribal society; the Maori tourist 'gaze' is thus fractured by this consideration.     

Declining Protection in Developing Countries: Fact or Fiction?

This paper explores whether and to what extent evident trade reform, falling average tariffs and rising exports in recent decades overstate the extent to which protectionism has declined in developing countries, especially low‐income developing countries. It identifies remaining significant protection, especially of final manufactured goods; this being associated with the presence of peak tariffs, escalating tariff structures by stage of production and replacement of old forms of non‐tariff protection with new instruments of non‐tariff protection. It also identifies significant protection arising from high international trade costs induced by inefficiencies in transportation, ports and customs, and from the growth of exports to preference‐receiving, export markets.     

Maori-based Tourism in Rotorua: Perceptions of Place by Domestic Visitors

This paper reports findings from a survey of 763 Auckland residents. The research examined attitudes towards the resort town of Rotorua as a short-break destination with specific reference to the role that Maori culture plays in the formation of perceptions of Rotorua. The Te Arawa Maori people have been closely associated with tourism for over 140 years and this is recognised by the domestic market. However, the Maori component of Rotorua is found not to be an attraction. Rather, tourists are drawn to other facets of the product. While this is evidence for the fact that Rotorua is a multi-use product in tourism, given the role that travel is supposed to play in bridging gaps between cultures, tourism seems to be failing in this respect. It is suggested that an emphasis upon 'traditional authenticities' aimed at certain overseas segments misses the contemporary vibrant nature of Maori music and dance performance that might in fact have a wider appeal, including the domestic tourism market.     

Ratings assignments: Lessons from international banks

This paper estimates ordered logit models for bank ratings which include a country index to capture country-specific variation. The empirical findings support the hypothesis that the individual international bank ratings assigned by Fitch Ratings are underpinned by fundamental quantitative financial analyses. Also, there is strong evidence of a country effect. Our model is shown to provide accurate predictions of bank ratings for the period prior to the 2007–2008 banking crisis based upon publicly available information. However, our results also suggest that quantitative models are unlikely to predict ratings with complete accuracy. Furthermore, we find that both quantitative models and rating agencies are likely to produce highly inaccurate predictions of ratings during periods of financial instability.     

Self-Annuitization and Ruin in Retirement

Abstract

At retirement, most individuals face a choice between voluntary annuitization and discretionary management of assets with systematic withdrawals for consumption purposes. Annuitization–buying a life annuity from an insurance company–assures a lifelong consumption stream that cannot be outlived, but it is at the expense of a complete loss of liquidity. On the other hand, discretionary management and consumption from assets–self-annuitization–preserves flexibility but with the distinct risk that a constant standard of living will not be maintainable.

In this paper we compute the lifetime and eventual probability of ruin (PoR) for an individual who wishes to consume a fixed periodic amount–a self-constructed annuity–from an initial endowment invested in a portfolio earning a stochastic (lognormal) rate of return. The lifetime PoR is the probability that net wealth will hit zero prior to a stochastic date of death. The eventual PoR is the probability that net wealth will ever hit zero for an infinitely lived individual.

We demonstrate that the probability of ruin can be represented as the probability that the stochastic present value (SPV) of consumption is greater than the initial investable wealth. The lifetime and eventual probabilities of ruin are then obtained by evaluating one minus the cumulative density function of the SPV at the initial wealth level. In that eventual case, we offer a precise analytical solution because the SPV is known to be a reciprocal gamma distribution. For the lifetime case, using the Gompertz law of mortality, we provide two approximations. Both involve “moment matching” techniques that are motivated by results in Arithmetic Asian option pricing theory. We verify the accuracy of these approximations using Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, a numerical case study is provided using Canadian mortality and capital market parameters. It appears that the lifetime probability of ruin–for a consumption rate that is equal to the life annuity payout–is at its lowest with a well-diversified portfolio.     

FINANCIAL STRUCTURE AND INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE

This paper explores the relationship between financial structure and industrial structure in a panel cointegration framework, using annual data for 29 countries and 28 industrial sectors for the period 1990–2001. The results indicate that financial structure is to a significant extent related to industrial structure in the long run, yet their relationship is partly consistent with the industrial sectors' technological orientation postulated by the theoretical literature. It is in line, however, with the so‐called ‘financial services view’ that stresses the importance of a well developed financial system for growth, irrespective of its structure. In addition, the results indicate that financial structure does not seem to play a role in a sector’s performance relative to GDP.     

Market frictions: A unified model of search costs and switching costs

It is well known that search costs and switching costs can create market power by constraining the ability of consumers to change suppliers. While previous research has examined each cost in isolation, this paper demonstrates the benefits of examining the two types of friction in unison. The paper shows how subtle distinctions between the two costs can provide important differences in their effects upon consumer behaviour, competition and welfare. In addition, the paper also illustrates a simple empirical methodology for estimating separate measures of both costs, while demonstrating a potential bias that can arise if only one cost is considered.