In search of heterotopia? Motivations of visitors to an English cathedral

This paper explores visitor motivations at an English cathedral, and the role that heterotopia plays in their motives. More than a third of visitors to Chichester Cathedral appear to be motivated by a subconscious search for a spiritual experience, hidden by rational motives such as interest in history. It concludes by examining the management implications that arise from a potential lack of understanding about visitors' motivations. Cathedral managers should acknowledge their visitors' intrinsic sense of spirituality and recognise their spiritual motivations through interpretation, which should encourage them to explore their personal narratives around the emotional dimension of visiting a cathedral. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The increasing importance of public relations in fast moving consumer goods firms

An interesting phenomenon in recent years is the apparent growth in spending and activity on public relations work in fast moving consumer goods firms. This paper attempts to show that in the first instance there has been a shift away from more traditional forms of marketing communications towards public relations. Secondly, it tries to account for this shift in emphasis. The comparative cost‐effectiveness of public relations is highlighted, as is its changing role. The interface and overlap with the more traditional corporate public relations is discussed.     

专家点评汽车配件案 何为贵？“和”为贵

2005年7月，笔者在布鲁塞尔欧盟总部、国会访问。国会的官员透露，欧盟正准备和中国打两个贸易战，一个是针对中国鞋的反倾销，一个就是汽车配件的关税问题。2006年4月初，欧美共同把中国汽车关税案告到了WTO争端解决机制，汽车配件案急剧升级。该案更多具有官方性质，涉及的是关税政策，自然中国政府是案件的第一责任人，所以我们没有见到中国企业的积极反馈，案子一下子就走入了WTO似乎快了点。     

Lottery expenditures in Canada: a regional analysis of determinants and incidence

This article examines two issues; first, it evaluates the statistical significance of a number of socio-economic and demographic variables on the level of household lottery expenditures in the six regions of Canada. While some household characteristics vary in the extent to which they significantly affect the level of lottery expenditures across regions (wealth, age, occupation, mother tongue and urban location, for example), others are significant in every region. Regional consistency exists in the statistical significance of after tax household income, sex and education of the head of household – lottery expenditures increase as incomes increase; lottery expenditures are significantly lower for female heads of households than for their male counterparts; lottery expenditures decline as the education level of the head of household increases. Second, lottery expenditures are found to be regressive, although the degree of regressivity is less than for lotteries in the United States.     

Emerging Stars and Developed Neighbors: The Effects of Development Imbalance and Political Shocks on Mutual Fund Investments in China

This paper examines the influence of regional economic development on mutual funds investment decisions. Using fund holdings from 2003 to 2008, we find that Chinese mutual funds that collectively reside in the developed coastal region have the ability to select “star” firms from neighboring inland areas and overweight them in their portfolios. However, they present a clear local bias within the coastal region. Such investment behavior is robust to political interventions. In particular, changes in political climate make mutual funds seek fundamentals like growth prospects and diversification benefits. Overall, economic and political factors significantly influence mutual funds investment decisions in emerging China.