The impact of tourism: A case from the Bahama Islands

LaFlamme, Alan G., “The Impact of Tourism: A Case from the Bahama Islands,” Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. VI, No. 2, April/June 1979, pp. 137–148. The socio-cultural impact of increased tourism on a small, once isolated island community in the Bahama Islands is discussed. The community's traditions have, for the most part, been maintained. However, material living standards, occupational specializations, and race relations have been significantly altered. For a number of reasons, the local people have not taken on the role of “professional natives.”     

Testimony for the defense—a case for computers

An indictment has been lodged against computers, claiming that computer system implementation tends to usurp attention away from the more pressing problems of urban planning. Furthermore, it has been charged that computers should not be permitted a role in high level bureaucratic and legislative decision making. The troubled times which our cities are experiencing bear bitter witness to the fact that past independent, intuitive judgement has not satisfactorily met the challenge of urban societal planning. Computer technology, coupled with technical advances in urban sciences, provides a powerful tool for use in creative public management. It is administrative inefficient use of resources to relegate the computer to handle only routine clerical tasks.

This paper takes the form of testimony on behalf of the defense, computer technology, against the charges presented by authors Robbins and Harvey [1].     

Rising Wage Inequality, Returns to Education and Labour Market Institutions: Evidence from Ireland

Institutional factors and increased supply of skilled labour have been advanced in an effort to explain why some countries have experienced smaller increases in earnings dispersion and in returns to education than the USA and the UK. Ireland has had a highly centralized wage bargaining structure and the supply of skilled labour has increased sharply in recent years; hence, relatively little change in earnings dispersion might be expected. We compare the distribution of earnings in Ireland in 1987 and 1994 and find a surprisingly large growth in earnings dispersion. In addition, using a decomposition technique, we find that much of this is accounted for by increasing returns to measured.     

Information and Communication Technologies and their Role in Urban Regeneration

The idea that information and communication technologies (ICT) can provide a means to regenerate deprived urban areas is still a relatively new concept in the United Kingdom. There is in fact little empirical evidence to demonstrate what actually happens when ICT projects are designed with regeneration in mind. A case study of ICT regeneration is examined here, one funded through the Single Regeneration Budget and operational in an urban area in the North East of England. What became apparent during this study is how the changing policy environment meant other types of ICT initiative came on-stream before the project could firmly establish a position within its community. The authors challenge the logic of this form of activity and demonstrate that even when there seems to be a need to support ICT-led development the sustainability of such projects is highly problematic.     

Multinationals and trade in services: A transaction cost approach

Zusammenfassung Multinationale Unternehmen und Dienstleistungsverkehr: Ein Transaktionskosten-Ansatz. — In diesem Aufsatz wird eine neue Methode zur Analyse des Dienstleistungsverkehrs vorgeschlagen. Wegen der überragenden Bedeutung der multinationalen Unternehmen (MNUs) für den Welthandel und die Investitionen sollte, so wird argumentiert, eine Klassifikation der internationalen Dienstleistungsstr?me Ann?herungswerte für die Aktivit?ten der MNUs enthalten. Daher wird vorgeschlagen, den üblichen Kategorien des Reiseverkehrs und der mit dem Warenaustausch verbundenen Dienstleistungen die Ertr?ge aus ausl?ndischen Direktinvestitionen hinzuzufügen. Dies erm?glicht es, die unerfa\bare Natur des MNU-spezifischen Wissens und anderer firmenspezifischer Eigenschaften in die Untersuchung des heutigen Dienstleistungsverkehrs einzubeziehen. Diese Methode wird auf kanadische Verh?ltnisse angewandt, und die revidierten Daten für den Dienstleistungsverkehr werden kommentiert.

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Résumé Entreprises multinationales et commerce en services: une approche de frais de transaction. — Dans cet article l’auteur propose une nouvelle méthodologie pour analyser le commerce en services. A cause de l’influence prépondérante des entreprises multinationales (EMN) en commerce mondial et investissements il argue que les classifications de commerce en services doivent incorporer des mesures approximatives des activités de EMN. Il propose que les rendements des investissements directs étrangers devraient être ajoutés aux catégories normales de voyage et services d’entreprises. Cela permettrait que la nature intangible des connaissances des EMN et des autres attributs entreprise-spécifiques pourraient être accessibles à l’analyse du commerce en services d’aujourd’hui. La méthodologie nouvelle est appliquée au contexte canadien et les données révisées sur le commerce en services sont considérées.

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Resumen Empresas multinacionales y comercio de servicios: un enfoque de costos de transacción. — En este trabajo se propone una nueva metodología para el análisis del comercio de servicios. Debido a la influencia predominante de las empresas multinacionales (EMN) en el comercio y las inversiones mundiales, se arguye que la clasificación del comercio de servicios debe incorporar medidas “proxy? para las actividades de las EMN. Se propone que las utilidades de las inversiones extranjeras directas se sumen a las categorás tradicionales de los servicios comerciados internacionalmente, los servicios turísticos y empresariales. Esto permite capturar la naturaleza intangible del nivel de información de las EMN y otros atributos específicos de cada empresa en el análisis del comercio de servicios. Esta metodología se aplica en el caso del Canadá, considerándose datos de comercio de servicios revisados.

     

Time variation paths of factors affecting financial institutions and stock returns

This study finds evidence that three risk factors relating to the stock market, bond market, and real estate market are important in explaining the risk premiums included in financial institutions and bank stock returns. Stock returns for insurance companies are not sensitive to changes in the bond market. The Flexible Least Squares (FLS) results indicate that the stock market factor has the most important and stable impact on risk premiums for financial institutions, banks, and insurance companies. The bond market is the primary source of instability in stock returns for these three groups of stocks. This research adds further support for using market discipline, especially as it relates to equity returns to enhance the prudential regulation of the financial sector.