Entrepreneurship and market size. The case of young college graduates in Italy

We analyse empirically the effects of urbanization on Italian college graduates' work possibilities as entrepreneurs three years after graduation. We find that doubling the province of work's population density reduces the chances of being an entrepreneur by 2–3 percentage points. This result holds after controlling for regional fixed effects and is robust to instrumenting urbanization. Provinces' competition, urban amenities and dis-amenities, cost of labour, earning differentials between employees and self-employed workers, unemployment rates and value added per capita account for more than half of the negative urbanization penalty. Our result cannot be entirely explained by the presence of negative differentials in returns to entrepreneurship between the most and the least densely populated areas. In fact, as long as they succeed in entering the most densely populated markets, young entrepreneurs are able to reap-off the benefits of urbanization externalities: the elasticity of entrepreneurs' net monthly earnings with respect to population density is 0.02–0.03.     

The Regression Analysis of Tax Competition among Local Governments

Although the local government in China is still a lack of an independent tax right,the political decentralization makes local interests increasingly prominent,which contributes to the interests pattern of tax competition among local governments in our country.The implementation of the tax-sharing system may promote the local governments to expand virtual tax competition.This paper attempts to explore the nature and extent of the tax competition among local governments in China,using measurement regression with Chinese provincial panel data from the year 2005-2010 based on the spatial econometric model,and make some empirical analysis.The main findings in research are as follows:Different provinces of fiscal revenue show indistinctive spatial characters,while various provinces of VAT,business tax,personal income tax,business income tax show significantly strategy complementary characteristics over the same period of time.We conduct some in-depth discussion and analysis of these findings combining with the actual situation in China.     

Factors affecting the attitude of tourism-destination local authorities towards sustainable planning tools in a networking context: the Balearic Sustainability Network

Koh Phi Phi, Thailand, and Gili Trawangan, Indonesia, are two islands in Southeast Asia that face several developmental challenges associated with the rapid growth of tourism. Both islands are part of a marine park, are small in size and have several natural resources that need protection. They both face burgeoning tourist numbers that have increased tourism infrastructure development and are leading to environmental degradation. These islands have discussed ways to incorporate sustainability into their management and marketing practices, and they have looked to tourists as a support for change. This study examines the motivations, profiles and perceptions of tourists in island destinations, their level of awareness of environmental issues there, the extent to which they feel responsible about preserving or protecting their natural resources and the role they may be willing to take in their management, including their willingness to pay for environmental protection. The findings showed that the majority of the tourists to both islands were young, had relatively high levels of income and were from English-speaking nations. Tourists in both islands stated that they were willing to pay for sustainability practices, but there were differences around who they felt should be primarily responsible for implementing sustainability measures.     

投资房地产可以对冲通货膨胀风险吗——以中国内地为例

本文基于费雪效应,考察了中国内地过去20余年间通货膨胀率与房地产收益率的同期关系、长期均衡关系,以及在不同收益率条件分布下二者的关系。结果表明,短期内投资房地产不能对冲通货膨胀,但从长期来看,投资房地产却是对冲通货膨胀的有效工具。然而在房地产收益率处于极端情形下,盲目投资房地产不但不会抵御通货膨胀风险,还会带来更大的损失。     

美日贸易摩擦与发展

阐述了美日贸易摩擦的表现与发展状况,并分析了美日贸易失衡的原因。     

Visions for a walking and cycling focussed urban transport system

Walking and cycling can make a considerable contribution to sustainable transport goals, building healthier and more sustainable communities and contributing to traffic and pollution reduction. There have been many national and local initiatives to promote walking and cycling, but without a long term vision and consistent strategy it is difficult to see how a significant change may be achieved. This paper presents three alternative visions for the role of walking and cycling in urban areas for the year 2030: each vision illustrates a ‘desirable’ walking- and cycling-oriented transport system against a different ‘exogenous social background’. These visions have been developed through a process of expert discussion and review and are intended to provide a stimulus for debate on the potential for and desirability of such alternative futures. Each is based on the UK and represents a substantial change to the current situation: in particular, each of the visions presents a view of a society where walking and cycling are considerably more important than is currently the case and where these modes cater for a much higher proportion of urban transport needs than at present. The visions show pictures of urban environments where dependence on motor vehicles has been reduced, in two of the visions to very low levels. The methodological approach for devising visions is informed by work on ‘utopian thinking’: a key concept underlying this approach is one of viewing the future in social constructivist terms (i.e. the future is what ‘we’, as a society, make it) rather than considering the future as something that can be ‘scientifically’ predicted by the extrapolation of current trends.     

Albert Hirschman's Exit-voice Framework and its Relevance to Problems of Public Education Performance in Latin America

This paper applies Albert Hirschman's exit-voice framework to the problems of education coverage and quality in Latin America. It argues that the combination of low direct taxation and high levels of private primary enrolment provides exit options for the wealthy and reduces their incentive to exercise their “voice”, or protest mechanisms, in the face of poor education performance. It also argues that fragmented and clientelist political party structures limit the provision and monitoring of public education, and also reduce the political capacity of the poor to exercise their voice regarding public education coverage and quality. The main policy implication of the paper is that good governance in education cannot realistically be addressed without analysing how the structure of power and voice, and of conflicts of interest within civil society, affect the actual political pressures that state institutions face.     

Born under a lucky star? Latin American CEOs' perceptions about their own career development

This article explores Latin American Chief Executive Officers' (CEOs') perceptions about the influence of career self-management practices and chance events on their career pathways. Through an edited topical life story approach, we investigate the relationship between those variables throughout CEO's career trajectories in the Latin American context. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 22 CEOs working for multinational companies were conducted. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed with the aid of QSR NVivo 7 software. The study showed that even in volatile macroeconomic environments, typical of Latin American countries, CEOs do plan their careers. Career planning constitutes the backbone of the career management process. To deal with low predictability chance events, CEOs relied on active development network as the main career self-management practice. However, choice of mobility was the key career self-management behavior when responding to high predictability chance events. These central strategies were frequently combined with other career self-management practices, taking into consideration the type of chance event being responded to. According to this study, if individuals want to develop their careers in unstable environments, they will need to be proficient in career self-management practices, with particular emphasis on network development and choice of job mobility, as well as in happenstance skills.     

Use of Public Perceptions of Groundwater Quality Benefits in Developing Livestock Management Options

In this study, a dichotomous choice model is used to determine the compensating welfare measure for water quality improvements stemming from livestock waste management in the Abbotsford region of southwestern British Columbia. The benefits of improving water quality are compared with the net costs of composting manure on a large scale, the option for handling livestock wastes preferred by the provincial government. The results indicate that the costs of composting manure exceed the revenue from selling manure (compost) plus the off-site damages avoided.