Tourists’ travel time values using discrete choice models: the recreational value of the Teide National Park

Abstract

The value of travel time is one of the most important factors in recreation demand models. Traditionally, the most common approach for its calculation has been the use of different proportions of the wage rate; however, criticisms of this method abound because in a recreational trip the relevant measure is the opportunity cost of leisure time rather than work time. In this paper, we adopt a novel approach in the literature using discrete choice models based on short-term decisions and independent of the labor market. We obtain the value of travel time through the trade-off between time and money considered by the tourist visitors when choosing the transport mode and we present the first calculation of the recreational value of the Teide National Park. Specifically, using a Revealed Preference survey of 801 park visitors, we estimate Mixed Logit models accounting for random preference heterogeneity, derive travel time values and incorporate them into a Zonal Travel Cost Method. This approach allows us to estimate different time values depending on transport mode and stage of the trip and shows that the use of discrete choice models instead of the wage rate approach has a strong impact on the recreational value calculated.     

SME growth in the service sector: A taxonomy combining life-cycle and resource-based theories

The approach to the life-cycle theory has been used as an analytical tool of the firms' growth. Several researchers argue that organisations move across several development stages where different problems are found resulting from different management styles and priorities, and resources. This research aims to develop an empirical taxonomy of small medium enterprise (SME) growth in the service sector based on life-cycle and resource-based theories. The data were submitted to bivariate and multivariate analyses to develop and test an empirical life-cycle model. It was possible to conclude that the firms could be clustered in three life-cycle stages. Some implications and future researches are addressed.     

The impact of immigrant concentration in schools on grade retention in Spain: a difference-in-differences approach

Since the late 1990s, Spain has played host to a sizeable flow of immigrants who have been absorbed into the compulsory stage of the education system. In this article, our aim is to assess the impact of that exogenous increase in the number of immigrant students from 2003 to 2009 on grade retention using Spanish data from PISA 2003 and 2009. For this purpose, we use the difference-in-differences method as a dose treatment capable of detecting whether the immigrant concentration has had a significant effect on student performance. Our results evidenced that their arrival does not on average decrease school promotion rates with respect to 2003 and is even beneficial to native students. However, although the concentration of immigrant students at the same school does have a negative impact on immigrant students generating more grade retention, native students are unaffected until concentrations of immigrant students is above 15%.     

Identification in nonparametric limited dependent variable models with simultaneity and unobserved heterogeneity

We extend the identification results for nonparametric simultaneous equations models in Matzkin (2008) to situations where the observations on the vector of dependent variables might be limited, and where the number of exogenous unobservable variables is larger than the number of dependent variables.     

A narrative exploratory study on the perspectives about physical exercise practise in a sample of Portuguese elderly

Quality & Quantity - The overall prevalence of inactivity among individuals aged 55 or older in Portugal is the highest in Europe therefore it’s important to develop effective strategies...     

Four lessons learned: Employees' perceptions of fundraising via reward-based crowdfunding

An innovative way to support cultural institutions is through reward-based crowdfunding, an online funding mechanism for a specific project, which offers donors a reward for their donation. We explored employees' perceptions of crowdfunding and focused on the question: “How do employees of cultural institutions running a crowdfunding campaign perceive the use of crowdfunding to collect funds?” To answer this question, we focus on interpretive research using semi-structured interviews (n = 15) among Dutch cultural institutions' employees responsible for running the crowdfunding. We used earlier findings on psychological ownership to structure the interviews. Psychological ownership is the feeling that the project has become an employee's extension, and previous research linked it to success on the work floor. Our findings claim four lessons. First, crowdfunding is a full-time job and not an extra activity. Second, crowdfunding differs from traditional fundraising: it contains specific content-related tasks they do not perform as fundraisers. Third, crowdfunding asks for teamwork. While autonomy is valued, one employee should not be responsible for the campaign. Fourth, crowdfunding does not come naturally to all cultural institutions. This research provides a basis for further specification of crowdfunding and its implementation in the cultural sector.     

Green technology co-patenting networks: international dynamics

The present study examined how the multi-country green technology co-patenting network structure evolved from 1997 to 2016. For that purpose, we used Social Network Analysis tools, which allowed us to assess the network structure from a visual and quantitative perspective. The results indicate that the network expanded as the number of participating countries and ties increased. In all periods, the network grew significantly centralized around a small group of countries, in which the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, France, and Canada had paramount weight. Emerging countries like India and China also stood out due to their growth over time, as they eventually managed to gain central positions in the network. Other developing countries remained marginal, such as Brazil.

     

BETWEEN DEPRESSION AND HOPE: Affective Mediations of Urban Restructuring in Leipzig,East Germany

In this article, which is based on an empirical analysis of neoliberal restructuring in Leipzig, East Germany, I describe how the study of affective atmospheres adds to our understanding of urban restructuring, showing how collective moods affect (de)mobilization, contestation and the regulation of urban political economy to shed light on the relation between institutional, political and social processes. I demonstrate the relevance of affect for power relations, political interactions beyond rationality, and the rhythms and temporalities of urban restructuring, as exemplified by two prominent atmospheres that characterize Leipzig—post shrinkage depression (PSD) and anticipatory hope (AH).     

Seeing credit and property rights from below: The experience of Catalan smallholders in the eighteenth century

The Catalan case in south-western Europe offers us the opportunity to take a detailed look at the impact a lowering of the interest rate may have had on the poor of a specific area. It is vital to examine how property rights operated in specific contexts, given the close relationship between land and credit markets. Our working hypothesis is that, in some instances where property rights were redefined, as happened in eighteenth-century Catalonia, the reduction of the interest rate in secured loans benefitted the poorer social groups. The findings of this research, in line with those of some development economists, suggest that only an empirical and bottom-up perspective allows for a proper analysis of the eradication of poverty by placing it within the real picture of social change.     

On the optimality of information sharing between integrated and vertically separated competitors

A manufacturer relies on an exclusive subcontractor for production and competes horizontally against an integrated rival that produces in-house. The exclusive agent is privately informed about the marginal cost of production. When marginal costs are correlated across companies, information sharing benefits both companies due to reduced uncertainty, but it affects the contracting terms within the vertical hierarchy and creates horizontal externalities between companies. We show that the manufacturer who suffers from agency cost benefits more from sharing information than his rival performing in-house production only when costs are highly correlated, and in this case, information sharing may actually benefit consumers.