United Nations—projects from Benin to Bali

Technical assistance for tourism in developing countries comes under the auspices of the UN Development Programme. Of the about 4700 projects that the Programme runs tourism specifically accounts for 137 although there are also spin-offs from other funded projects such as communications and transport. Tourism is an especially important part of the UNDP's efforts in developing countries as Daphne Miller, of the UNDP Division of Information, reports.     

A note on surplus labour and risk aversion

The necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of surplus labour, as derived by A.K. Sen, have been found to be less plausible in the usual framework of the theory of economic planning and project evaluation than seems to be commonly realized. Under a very reasonable assumption concerning strict risk aversion on the part of peasant family members, surplus labour is an impossibility in such a framework.     

EFFECTS OF INDEX‐FUND INVESTING ON COMMODITY FUTURES PRICES

We develop a simple model of futures arbitrage that implies that if purchases by commodity index funds influence futures prices, then the notional positions of the index investors should help predict excess returns in these contracts. We find no evidence that the positions of index traders in agricultural contracts as identified by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission can help predict returns on the near futures contracts. Although there is some support that these positions might help predict changes in oil futures prices over 2006–2009, the relation breaks down out of sample.     

Evaluating offshore and domestic production in the apparel industry: The small firm’s perspective

This paper extends the existing literature on the potential advantages and drawbacks of domestic and offshore manufacturing strategies to a small firm perspective. The advantages of offshore production to the large corporation have received much attention in recent years, particularly with regards to the apparel industry. The key advantages of offshore production are obvious for the large firm: cost reductions and increased productivity through labour market differentials. Little is known however about the viability and attractiveness of this strategy for the small apparel firm. The high number of small apparel firms who continue to produce in their domestic market, despite labour market differentials, suggests that the cost advantages of producing offshore may not be as critical for the competitive advantage of many of these small firms. Four case studies of small New Zealand apparel firms are used to substantiate and expand on themes developed from the literature.     

Reduced‐fat foods: the shopper’s viewpoint

The inclusion of reduced‐fat foods in the daily diet affords consumers the potential to reduce overall dietary fat. Nevertheless, despite an increased range of these food products throughout the market, there has remained a lack of widespread consumer acceptance. The aim of the study was therefore to understand why consumers choose or reject reduced‐fat foods. Ninety consumers were interviewed by means of a qualitative approach within food retail outlets in the United Kingdom. Thematic content analysis indicated that uptake or rejection of these products is influenced by health concerns, ‘goodness of fit’ with individual dietary health strategies, the preferences of different household members, perceived sensory properties and scepticism towards these products. The results imply a need to explore and innovate ‘natural’ fat substitutes and to improve the sensory quality of reduced‐fat products. Further research is required to determine how these foods are used within the household and incorporated within the overall diet. Policy must seek to restore consumer trust in reduced‐fat food products and the food supply generally.     

No-arbitrage bounds for the forward smile given marginals

We explore the robust replication of forward-start straddles given quoted (Call and Put options) market data. One approach to this problem classically follows semi-infinite linear programming arguments, and we propose a discretisation scheme to reduce its dimensionality and hence its complexity. Alternatively, one can consider the dual problem, consisting in finding optimal martingale measures under which the upper and the lower bounds are attained. Semi-analytical solutions to this dual problem were proposed by Hobson and Klimmek [Financ. Stochastics, 2015, 19, 189–214] and by Hobson and Neuberger [Math. Financ., 2012, 22, 31–56]. We recast this dual approach as a finite-dimensional linear program, and reconcile numerically, in the Black–Scholes and in the Heston model, the two approaches.     

Vertical restraints and horizontal control

This article considers vertical restraints in a setting in which duopoly retailers each sell more than one manufactured good. Vertical restraints by a dominant manufacturer enable the firm to acquire horizontal control over a competitively supplied retail good. The equilibrium contracts produce symptoms that are consistent with a variety of observed retail practices, including slotting fees paid to retailers by competitive suppliers, loss leadership, and predatory accommodation with below‐cost manufacturer pricing for the dominant brand(s). Applications are developed for supermarket retailing, where the manufacturer of a national brand seeks to control the retail pricing of a supermarket's private label, and for convenience stores, where a gasoline provider seeks to control the retail pricing of an in‐store composite consumption good.     

Critical factors to consider in the development of an audit client engagement decision expert support system: a Delphi study of Big Six practicing auditors

The litigious audit environment is driving accounting firms to change their audit client engagement strategies in order to remain viable and successful in a very competitive environment. Firms are realizing the need to make better, more informed decisions regarding client acceptance/continuance decisions. Expert Support Systems are suggested as a useful tool for reengineering the audit client engagement decision. Towards this goal, this study uses the Delphi method with a panel of experts from the Big Six accounting firms to determine critical factors which may cause a firm to reject potential clients. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.