A Model of a Padi Farming Household in Central Java∗

A model of a padi-producing household is developed permitting effects of changes in exogenous variables to be traced through simultaneous changes in household production and consumption behaviour. The model, applied to a village in Central Java, incorporates both a Cobb-Douglas function to represent production of padi for a representative household, and a linear expenditure system to describe the household's consumption behaviour. Assuming a perfect labour market, the model is used to estimate some elasticities of policy significance. An important finding is that padi output, market surplus, employment and rural wages are all positively related to padi price.     

Redefining Business Success: Distinguishing Between Closure and Failure

New firms are believed to have high closure rates and these closures are believed to be failures, but two U.S. Census Bureau data sources illustrate that these assumptions may not be justified. The Business Information Tracking Series (BITS) showed that about half of new employer firms survive beyond four years and the Characteristics of Business Owners (CBO) showed that about a third of closed businesses were successful at closure. The CBO also made it possible to compare results of models of business survival and business success, but because of non-response bias logit models were used. Similar to previous studies, firms having more resources – that were larger, with better financing and having employees – were found to have better chances of survival. Factors that were characteristic of closure – such as having no start-up capital and having a relatively young owner – were also common in businesses considered successful at closure. Hence, few defining factors can be isolated leading to true failures. The significant proportion of businesses that closed while successful calls into question the use of "business closure" as a meaningful measure of business outcome. It appears that many owners may have executed a planned exit strategy, closed a business without excess debt, sold a viable business, or retired from the work force. It is also worth noting that such inborn factors as race and gender played negligible roles in determining survivability and success at closure.     

Exploring the dialectics of route-based tourism: the Camino de Santiago

In its specific concern with route-based itineraries, this paper examines the complex tensions and conflicts that ensue from the marketing of cultural artefacts as tourism commodities. The paper analyses the characteristics and trends of the contemporary utilization of the medieval pilgrimage routes to the Galician shrine of Santiago de Compostela and distinguishes between the differing tourist sub-markets and their contrasting motivations in consuming this heritage complex. This discussion is linked with an assessment of the more subtle modifications of religious meaning by tourism activity, which pose particular problems in formulating strategies to promote this form of cultural itinerary. In proposing a synthetic model that combines the conflicting motivations and demands of pilgrims and tourists, the paper points to the need for critical awareness among those whose brief and interest lie in sustaining the integrity of route-based cultural tourism.