Tourism development in the SADC region: The opportunities and challenges

This article presents an assessment of recent tourism performance in the countries of the Southern African Development Community region, as well as an evaluation of future prospects. It examines growth rates and source markets in developing a profile of current tourism to the region. It identifies and assesses the current and probable future impact of a range of issues and problems, which are serving either to help or hinder tourism development. It suggests necessary actions for facilitating the accelerated development of tourism. The article also analyses the countries' tourism development policies and their competitive standing with other parts of Africa and other world regions from the market's viewpoint. It evaluates future growth prospects for the region by relating these various strands of analysis to the assessments made in the World Tourism Organization's Tourism 2020 vision study. The conclusion is one of qualified optimism: the natural and sociocultural resources of the region match the growing tastes of the international tourism market but, without concerted action to improve international access and tackle the major (real and imagined) threats to tourist safety prevailing in the region, growth rates will continue to be below their potential. The region's physical remoteness from the military theatre of action consequent to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States could well bring the countries of the SADC, and especially South Africa, some benefit from being perceived in tourist-generating markets as safe from these activities.     

Do international shocks affect small wholesalers and retailers?

Previous research has suggested that the smallest firms are those most vulnerable to international competition, as measured by exchange rate fluctuations and import shares. However, that work—and the overwhelming bulk of the empirical literature on determinants of exit or firm survival—dealt entirely with the manufacturing sector of the economy. This paper analyzes annual US data for 1989–2005 for about 50 wholesale and retail sectors to explain small firm exit rates in several employment size categories. The main result is that wholesalers respond negatively to a stronger currency in a manner similar to that of manufacturers, while retailers are generally unaffected.     

An Examination of Entry and Competitive Performance in Rural Banking Markets

This article explores the change in the level of competition in rural banking markets after the deregulation that occurred following passage of the Riegle‐Neal Act of 1994. Using an empirical model that utilizes both the number of banks and the value of deposits in a cross‐section of 278 rural markets, we decompose the impact of the entry of new banks into resulting changes in per capita demand and the costs/profits of local banks in 1994 and 2004. The results support the view that local banking markets have become more competitive since the mid‐1990s.     

Transparency and the regulatory process in Europe and the United States: two research priorities

Transparency research related to the regulatory process would benefit most from two types of empirical studies. One batch of studies, described in the fifth section of this essay, would focus on the American states and the member states of the European Union to identify the factors that determine whether regulatory processes are more transparent and whether transparency is successful in improving regulations and the regulatory process. In other words, we need comparative state (for the US) and member state (for the EU) studies to develop metrics for the quality of regulations and the role of transparency is advancing or weakening the quality of regulations at the state (for the US) and member state (for the EU) level. The second batch of studies, described in the sixth section of this essay, would explore who uses the information currently provided at the levels of transparency currently available in regulatory processes at the European Union and federal government of the United States. Who benefits from transparency and how are they using the available transparency mechanisms?     

Corporate philanthropy: Insights from the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in China

We explore the equity market impact of board announcements of corporate donations made in response to the May 12th 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China. Our event study uses a sample of board announcements of corporate donations from Chinese A-share listed companies. We find that donor companies providing products and/or services directly to end-consumers tend to enjoy higher abnormal stock returns, thereby documenting a link between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance at least for some corporate citizens. In light of the empirical results, the study suggests that corporate philanthropic involvement should be treated as a differentiated type of marketing tool to obtain social reputation and publicity, as well as a relationship cultivation mechanism with local government authorities.     

Cross-national product value perceptions

Can a psychographic variable, i.e., a value perception of a product, be successfully compared across national boundaries? Using students in four countries, the authors tested for similarity in a two-stage process. Value perception was tested by comparing samples using only the owners of the products first, and then using only the nonowners. Similarities were found that bridge national borders. These similarities are evident where the respondents sampled are owners of the base products or have a high degree of market knowledge regarding these products.