Understanding interactions between beggars and international tourists: the case of China

Begging exists in developed as well as developing countries and in many jurisdictions is regarded as a criminal activity. In a tourism context, it is not uncommon to see begging-type activities in areas where tourists are present. Surprisingly, the literature has largely ignored begging as an issue of concern. This study examined the reaction of international tourists to encounters with beggars in China with a particular emphasis on the impact that an encounter with beggars could have on trip satisfaction. The study found that (1) elder beggars are still the most common types of beggars encountered by respondents; (2) giving money but refusing further communication with beggars was the most common reaction; (3) begging did not have a significant impact on overall trip satisfaction and (4) begging did not have a significant impact on the likelihood of revisiting China or a negative impact on future recommendations for travel to China.     

The changing profile of caravanners in Australia

Caravanning has been a popular leisure activity in Australia for many decades. In recent years the profile of the industry has changed with a shift from family caravanning to retirees. This change has significant implications for the industry overall as well as the regional areas visited by caravanners. This paper reports on research designed to develop a profile of contemporary caravanning in Australia. One of the most significant findings was the homogeneity of the respondents. The largest groups of respondents were ‘empty nesters’, people who were retired or near retirement and who were attracted to three clusters of activities: nature; shopping and eating; and visiting heritage attractions. Another major finding of interest for regional areas was the relatively low daily expenditure on food and accommodation. The paper discusses a range of options that may be used by regional areas to boost their caravan sector. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An analysis of the profiles and motivations of habitual commodity speculators

The focus of this study is the habitual speculator in commodity futures markets. The speculator's activity broadens a market, creates essential liquidity, and performs an irreplaceable pricing function. Working knowledge of the profiles and motivations of habitual speculators is essential to both market theorists and policy makers. Responses to a 73-question survey were collected directly from retail commodity brokers with offices in Alabama. Each questionnaire recorded information on an individual commodity client who had traded for an extended period of time. The typical trader studied is a married, white male, age 52. He is affluent and well educated. He is a self-employed business owner who can recover from financial setbacks. He is a politically right-wing conservative involved in the political process. He assumes a good deal of risk in most phases of his life. He is both an aggressive investor and an active gambler. This trader does not consider preservation of his commodity capital to be a very high trading priority. As a result, he rarely uses stop loss orders. He wins more frequently than he loses (over 51% of the time) but is an overall net loser in dollar terms. In spite of recurring trading losses, he has never made any substantial change in his basic trading style. To this trader, whether he won or lost on a particular trade is more important than the size of the win or loss. Thus he consistently cuts his profits short while letting his losses run. He also worries more about missing a move in the market by being on the sidelines than about losing by being on the wrong side of a market move; that is, being in the action is more important than the financial consequences. Participating brokers confirmed that for the majority of the speculators studied, the primary motivation for continuous trading is the recreational utility derived largely from having a market position. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 18:765–801, 1998     

Risk and Structural Instability in US House Prices

This paper employs a Component GARCH in Mean model to show that house prices across a number of major US cities between 1987 and 2009 have displayed asset market properties in terms of both risk-return relationships and asymmetric adjustment to shocks. In addition, tests for structural breaks in the mean and variance indicate structural instability across the data range. Multiple breaks are identified across all cities, particularly for the early 1990s and during the post-2007 financial crisis as housing has become an increasingly risky asset. Estimating the models over the individual sub-samples suggests that over the last 20 years the financial sector has increasingly failed to account for the levels of risk associated with real estate markets. This result has possible implications for the way in which financial institutions should be regulated in the future.