Multimedia mobile services with applications in environment

Increased public access to environmental information contributes to a greater awareness of environmental matters. However, there is no specific structure of public Environmental Information Systems (EIS) for institutions and other social partners to accomplish this goal. Multimedia has been largely used in EIS. Mobile services may play a new role within communicating multimedia environmental information in a citizenship framework. Furthermore, the use of mobile services may promote the development of Mobile Information Society (MIS). Hence, there are currently plenty of technologies to adopt in order to reach the public. This paper is focused on exploring whether Multimedia Mobile Services (MMS) can contribute to augmenting public environmental awareness. A platform of common mobile devices was successfully used to test mobile public access to environmental information in Portugal. This enabled the exploration of real environmental services in mobile contexts. Furthermore, an advanced interactive prototype was developed indoors to simulate a Location-Based Service (LBS) applied to coastal zones. Recommendations for future work are presented.     

Influence of web portals on management support and university performance: an information quality perspective

Quality & Quantity - The objective of this study is to determine the influence of web portals utilization on management support and performance in universities, considering the information...     

When corporate social responsibility (CSR) increases performance: exploring the role of intrinsic and extrinsic CSR attribution

This study investigates whether employees attribute different motives to their organization's corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts and if these motives influence employee performance. Specifically, we investigate whether employees could distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic CSR motives by surveying 229 employee–supervisor dyads from various industries (companies that have reputable CSR programs in Portugal), and the impact of these perceptions on in‐role and extra‐role performance of subordinates. We found that employee task performance increases when employees attribute both intrinsic and extrinsic motives for CSR. Moreover, when employees perceive that their organization invests in a CSR practice that is both intrinsic and extrinsic, they also tend to exert extra effort in their work. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed alongside future research directions.     

Managerial Firms,Entry, and Switching Costs

Empirical evidence shows that switching costs are important in many industries. We analyze the welfare effects of entry into markets with switching costs when firms can be run by managers and the entrant may be partially foreign-owned. We find that with profit-maximizing firms, the welfare effect of entry depends crucially on the ownership of the entrant firm. We also show that entry is less likely with managerial firms than it is with profit-maximizing firms. In the latter case, entry always reduces welfare if the share of the entrant firm owned by foreign investors is high. However, with managerial firms, entry always increases welfare.     

Stakeholder Network Integrated Analysis: The Specific Case of Rural Tourism in the Portuguese Peneda‐Gerês National Park

This study addresses the structure, nature and composition of stakeholder networks related to rural tourism in a Portuguese National Park (Peneda‐Gerês National Park). In particular, it examines their interactions along the following dimensions: marketing information (marketing exchanges such as flyers, tourism information and information on specific events), administrative resources (logistic and technical support), human resources (allocation of human resources), training (training of local stakeholders in the area of promotion) and financial resources (financial support). In terms of methodology, it uses both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The analysis of the type and nature of interactions among different stakeholders within a specific rural tourism destination is the main focus of this study. Among these, the marketing information network shows both a high number of connections and high centrality indices, which may indicate that there is a significant share of information about common projects, products and services among stakeholders. In contrast, the training network evidenced the opposite behavior pattern. The study also contributes to a better understanding of how different local stakeholders are positioned in a complex structure of interactions that are critical in providing useful directions to maximize potential opportunities that may contribute to promote rural tourism and local development efficiently. Several limitations and implications are offered in the final section. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Costly horizontal differentiation

We study the effect of quadratic differentiation costs in the Hotelling model of endogenous product differentiation. The equilibrium location choices are found to depend on the magnitude of the differentiation costs (relatively to the transportation costs supported by consumers). When the differentiation costs are low, there is maximum differentiation. When they are high, there is partial differentiation, with a degree of differentiation that decreases with the differentiation costs. In any case, the socially optimal degree of differentiation is always lower than the equilibrium level. We also study the case of collusion between firms. If firms can combine locations but not prices, they locate asymmetrically when differentiation costs are high and choose maximum differentiation when they are low. When collusion extends to price setting, there is partial differentiation.     

Cointegration with structural changes between per capita product and income inequality in Mexico

The long-run relationship between per capita product and income inequality in Mexico is assessed for the period 1963–2010. The methodology consists of stochastic unit root techniques with structural changes. The integration and cointegration tests suggest that it is not possible to understand this link if the possibility of structural changes is not taken into account. Causality, running from per capita product to income inequality, and a negative and significant overall effect are estimated. However, after the regime shifts – mainly estimated to occur in the 1980s – the connection is no longer meaningful. This result seems to be linked to the slow growth of the Mexican economy after these structural breaks, affecting, in turn, the reductions in income inequality.     

Incentives in decentralized random matching markets

Decentralized markets are modeled by means of a sequential game where, starting from any matching situation, firms are randomly given the opportunity to make job offers. In this random context, we prove the existence of ordinal subgame perfect equilibria where firms act according to a list of preferences. Moreover, every such equilibrium preserves stability for a particular profile of preferences. In particular, when firms best reply by acting truthfully, every equilibrium outcome is stable for the true preferences. Conversely, when the initial matching is the empty matching, every stable matching can be reached as the outcome of an ordinal equilibrium play of the game.     

Support to renewable energy sources and carbon capture and sequestration: comparison of alternative green tax reforms

We compare the economic and environmental effects of several specifications of a green tax reform (GTR) where tax revenues are used to support renewable energy sources (RESs) and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) activities. With this aim, we propose an equilibrium model where final-goods production uses labour and energy, and energy production uses nonpolluting RES and polluting fossil fuels. The comparison is based on three key indicators: output per worker, energy intensity and the ratio of renewables over nonrenewables. We test five variations of the GTR in addition to the no-policy case. Results show that a GTR as the one we propose here never provides a double dividend. There are environmental benefits but at the expense of the economy. Additionally, for lower tax levels, prioritizing RES support has lower economic costs and potential environmental benefits. For higher tax levels, CCS support becomes more competitive.     

ON THE SOURCES OF UNCERTAINTY IN EXCHANGE RATE PREDICTABILITY

In a unified framework, we examine four sources of uncertainty in exchange rate forecasting models: (i) random variations in the data, (ii) estimation uncertainty, (iii) uncertainty about the degree of time variation in coefficients, and (iv) uncertainty regarding the choice of the predictor. We find that models that embed a high degree of coefficient variability yield forecast improvements at horizons beyond one month. At the one‐month horizon, and apart from the standard variance implied by unpredictable fluctuations in the data, the second and third sources of uncertainty listed above are key obstructions to predictive ability. The uncertainty regarding the choice of the predictors is negligible.