Optimal Allocation for Comparing <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis> Test Treatments to Positive and Negative Control with Unequal Weighting Under A-optimality and MV-optimality

Experiments in real life often involve comparisons of test treatments to more than one control. However, the controls may not always be of equal importance. In this paper we introduce weighted MV optimality criterion and present a detailed study using both weighted A and MV optimality criteria, of the problem of optimally comparing a set of test treatments to two controls (positive and a negative) that are of unequal importance to the experimenter.     

Understanding the cultural consumption of a new wave of immigrants: the case of the South Korean community in South West London

The purpose of the study was to develop and test a model explaining the cultural consumption of a new immigrant ethnic group (South Korean) in terms of their highbrow, middlebrow, lowbrow, public/private and ethnic minority cultural pursuits. A core premise of the study was that due to the overall higher socio‐economic standing of the South Korean community (in comparison to many other ethnic minority groups residing in the UK), this particular immigrant group would more closely resemble the omnivore and not the univore cultural consumer. A model was developed on the basis of previous literature in the fields of audience development research, arts marketing and educational sociology and was tested, consequent to qualitative interviews conducted with relevant experts and with South Korean immigrants, on a sample of 351 residents of an area in South West London that contains a high density of South Korean immigrants. The findings indicated that bridging social capital, perceived barriers to the arts, passion for the arts and educational motivation were the strongest predictors of omnivorous consumption amongst this group. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

National disparities and cyclical dynamics in Italy (1892–2007): was the Mezzogiorno a sheltered economy?

The paper presents the evolution of national disparities in Italy in a cyclical perspective, comparing GDP per capita growth rates in the Centre-North and South from 1892 to 2007. The aim is to evaluate the pro-cyclical pattern of macro-area divergences and to measure, with a non-parametric analysis, the degree of the Southern regions (Mezzogiorno) dependence on the whole country. A performance indicator for national growth is used to determine whether the South can be defined as a sheltered economy. Our results show that peripheral regions as a whole had different degrees of dynamism during the period considered and that the South can be defined as unequivocally sheltered only when national policies switched from industrialization and investments into simple transfers. In other periods, including recent times, national disparities do not show pro-cyclical patterns, supporting the conclusion that the Mezzogiorno has been exposed to market conditions and its economy has not always been dependent on external factors.     

The 2012 Olympic Ambassadors and sustainable tourism legacy

This paper examines the capacity of the London (2012) Olympic Ambassador volunteer programmes to create a sustainable tourism legacy. It contributes to the literature on event legacies, particularly the role of volunteers promoting tourism in their home destination. Using an exploratory inductive approach, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted, in 2012 and 2013, with managers of all 11 Ambassador volunteer programmes associated with London and the 10 other regional venues that hosted London Olympic and Paralympic Games events. These show that volunteer Ambassadors enhanced tourist experiences during the Games through the Ambassadors’ pride in their home city, enthusiasm and local knowledge. However, although the Ambassador programmes had aspirations to create a sustainable legacy, in the form of a pool of experienced volunteers to support future events and further tourist visits, this was severely constrained by cuts in local government budgets. The Government Olympic Executive provided a coordinating role leading up to the Games, but neither they nor the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games provided practical assistance for legacy development. This was a missed opportunity to channel the enthusiasm of mega-event volunteers into further volunteering to promote tourism.     

Critical issues in health and wellness tourism: an exploratory study of visitors to wellness centres on Gran Canaria

The growing commodification of health care and therapeutic landscape, as well as the recent growth in international demand for wellness services and treatments, has led to the proliferation of destinations and enterprises that have selected health and wellness tourism as part of their corporate strategy, including coastal tourism destinations such as the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. This study discusses the commodification of health care and landscape, the relationship between everyday life and going on holiday, as well as the motives for medical and wellness tourism. Wellness tourism development on Gran Canaria is also analysed as a case study that could prove useful for those working on diversification within coastal tourism. An exploratory study of European visitors to wellness centres on the island is also presented. Major findings and contributions relate to socio-demographic characteristics, motives for the visit to the island, the importance of the wellness offer, tourist and travel behaviour and wellness behaviour both at the destination and at the place of residence. Another contribution refers to differences in the use of wellness centres and treatments among visitors, based on their place of origin, gender, age, marital status and job situation. Management and marketing implications are also suggested.     

Executives’ Orientations as Indicators of Crisis Management Policies and Practices*

ABSTRACT The paper examines effects of executives’ orientations on crisis management awareness and practices, drawing on the simplicity and paradox management theories. It is suggested that a focus on single‐sided management constitutes an antecedent of crisis proneness. Employing a set of key corporate domains and based on a holistic organizational approach, the study aims at assessing the extent to which companies are crisis prone or prepared. In a sample of 82 Istaeli business and not‐for‐profit organizations it was found that human resource management, strategy, structure, and unlearning factors significantly predicted crisis preparedness. These results suggest that unlearning, despite a mere allusion to this correlate in the simplicity and paradox management theories, correlates better with crisis preparedness. By contrast, traditional strategy‐related and structural effects were marginally related to crisis management policies. Implications and suggestions for further research are proposed.     

Consumer engagement with brands on social network sites: A cross-cultural comparison of China and the USA

To advance theoretical understanding of consumer engagement on social media, this cross-cultural study evaluates how culture influences consumers’ engagement levels and activities on brand pages of social network sites. It further evaluates the underlying motivations and engagement mechanisms in two culturally distinct countries, China and the USA. Specifically, social media dependency, parasocial interaction, and community identification are examined as the key antecedents of consumer-brand engagement. The results confirm the effects of the proposed antecedents and reveal both cultural differences and similarities between Chinese and American consumers’ engagement with brand pages on social network sites.     

The Cosmopolitan Grassroots City as Megaphone: Reconstructing Public Spaces through Urban Activism in Jakarta

Discussions on social movements in Asian cities are inseparable from the abundance of public rallies in the region. In this article, I look at the case of Thamrin‐Sudirman, the main thoroughfare in Jakarta, Indonesia, to uncover how physical urban spaces constituting part of the city as living systems broaden the reach of social movements' agendas. The study involved continuous observation at rallies, interviews with social movement leaders and participants, and a look at simultaneous public rallies in various cities. This article analyzes the sites of public rallies as ‘megaphones’, based on the patterns of issues featured in the rallies, the groups participating, and the nodes and paths that they constructed. Two key dimensions of the megaphone are: (1) the symbolic and historical significance of the sites of rallies; (2) the relationship between the space and the media. Particular sites in cities become places where information is gathered, distributed and transferred through the media, facilitating a network among cities. This article concludes that cities are agents of political actions that amplify ideas and spread them across the globe. The urban centers' megaphonic function results from the synergy between the public space in the built environment and the public sphere, and is reflective of the recentering of the city.     

THE INTERNALISATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXTERNALITIES AFFECTING DWELLINGS: A REVIEW OF COURT CASES IN HONG KONG

In 1960, Ronald Coase suggested that there are many methods to solve the problem of externalities apart from imposing Pigovian taxes. Internalisation is one of those noted in his classic paper, ‘The Problem of Social Cost’. This paper studies the possibility of residents receiving compensation from pollutant generators. Data collected from Hong Kong law reports over the past 20 years show that there is forty‐fold increase in number of water seepage court cases since the first case in 1994. The total amount of compensation has also increased greatly. There are, however, far fewer court cases where residents seek compensation from generators of noise and air pollution. This may reflect a combination of high transaction costs and low expected benefits from such cases.