routledge economics

Alan Jarvis, economics editor of Routledge, outlines his publishing plans for the coming year. He also describes Routledge's role as Hayek's publisher.     

ON MANAGING HYBRIDS: SOME DILEMMAS IN HIGHER EDUCATION MANAGEMENT

This is an exploratory and conceptual paper. It argues that the concept of a hybrid organisation offers a useful way of conceptualising some dilemmas of current higher education management. The process of hybridisation captures some of the internal stresses and management problems facing higher education institutions caught between quasi-market and commercial market pressures. The increasingly widespread contractual management style may offer an inappropriate coping structure for some of these dilemmas. An open, negotiating management style, making explicit the problems of accountability and legitimacy generated by hybridisation, may be the only way to maintain staff commitment, but is very hard to achieve in the current context.     

Sample Selection Approaches to Estimating House Price Cash Differentials

We extend the literature on house price cash differentials in important ways. First, our paper is the first to employ methods to correct for sample selection bias, using both switching regression and propensity score matching of cash vs. non-cash transactions. We use selection models to produce price counterfactuals for cash and noncash buyers. We also include both average treatment effect and a propensity score weighted selection models. From the selection models, we find that previous studies likely overstate the cash discount. Results from counterfactual tests examining cash discounts suggest amplified cash discounts in areas with close proximity to an environmental hazard; and also a pricing differential based on CBG level income, with purchasers in high income areas more likely to pay a cash premium compared to market participants in areas with comparably lower income, where a cash discount is detected. These results provide useful insights for market participants including real estate appraisers, brokers, and buyers and sellers of real estate.     

Professionals in the NHS – a case study of business process re-engineering

Rather than providing evidence of business process re-engineering (BPR) as another example of cultural change rhetoric, this case study shows BPR as a substantive initiative that has had a considerable impact on health care professionals. A hybrid of differing bureaucratic professions allows for a diversity specific to the health service. The study highlights a number of controversial issues unique to health care professionals, particularly in the areas of job redesign, multiskilling and empowerment.     

Park Usage,Social Milieu,and Psychosocial Benefits of Park Use Reported by Older Urban Park Users from Four Ethnic Groups

Structured interviews were conducted with African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American and Caucasian-American park users (N = 463) during one of their visits to a large urban park. The participants varied from 55 to 93 years of age. Most (77%) of the interviews were conducted by interviewers of the same ethnicity as the interviewee, and interviews were conducted in Spanish or Chinese when that was the preferred language of the interviewee. A stratified quota sampling plan was established to ensure that interviews were conducted in all areas of the park, at all times of the day and on both weekdays and weekends. Preliminary analyses indicated that neither gender nor age differences accounted for a meaningful percent of the variance in the dependent variables. Consequently, chi-square analyses and analyses of variance were performed with ethnicity as the independent variable. Significant differences were found among the ethnic groups in their use of park facilities, the social milieu within which they visit the park, and their ratings of the psychosocial benefits of park use.     

Towards a spirituality-based platform in tourism higher education

This conceptual paper contributes to tourism knowledge by proposing a spirituality-based platform in tourism higher education. Through this platform, the authors show how tourism education that supports discussion on spiritual development can help to create global citizens who are able to understand their potential as social, cultural and environmental stewards. This paper reviews recent developments shaping tourism education and examines the contemporary tourism educational landscape that supports a spirituality-based educational approach. The 7th platform of tourism studies is offered through a spirituality-based approach to knowledge and examples are given of how we can develop such a platform in tourism higher education.