Prediction of leisure participation from behavioral,normative, and control beliefs: An application of the theory of planned behavior

Abstract

The theory of planned behavior (Ajzen 1985, 1987) is offered as a comprehensive framework for understanding of leisure participation. Salient behavioral, normative, and control beliefs, theoretically the basic determinants of behavior, were assessed with respect to five leisure activities: spending time at the beach, jogging or running, mountain climbing, boating, and biking. College students completed a questionnaire containing measures of these beliefs and of global expressions of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. One year later the participants reported how often they had performed each behavior in the preceding 12 months. Behavioral beliefs were found to partition into beliefs about affective reactions and beliefs about costs and benefits. Participation in leisure activities was influenced by these affective and instrumental beliefs, as well as by normative beliefs about the expectations of important others and by control beliefs about required resources and other factors that impede or facilitate leisure participation.     

European monetary union and asymmetric shocks in a new Keynesian model

This paper attempts to quantify the costs imposed by asymmetricshocks under European Monetary Union compared to free floating.A simple two-country model is examined where policy is set inan optimal, time consistent manner. Nominal and real rigiditiesare present in both economies, but prices are set in a forwardlooking manner and expectations are rational. Results suggestthat the costs of asymmetric shocks under EMU may be significantlyhigher than under free floating, particularly if fiscal policyis not used for demand management.     

The Influence of Uncertainty on Investment in the UK: A Macro or Micro Phenomenon?

While the theory examining the relationship between uncertainty and investment has suggested new research avenues, it has not had strong predictive power. Nevertheless, at the policy level the benefits for investment of a more stable economic climate are being emphasised. These considerations point to the need for empirical work. Accordingly, this paper draws on industry level panel data, obtained by marrying the UK Census of Production with the CBI Industrial Trends Survey, and applies dynamic panel data methods to distinguish between macro and micro sources of uncertainty and to consider the role of financial factors. It is found that both sources of uncertainty exert a considerable negative impact on investment, while financial factors may be important in some industries.     

Persistence of Capacity Shortage and the Role of Adjustment Costs

This paper finds that plant capital constraints on output in UK industry tend to persist for surprisingly long periods, reflecting a slow response of capital investment. The paper examines the conventional view that this response pattern may be explained by cost of adjustment. Using UK time‐series data for a small number of industry groups, it is shown that the observed dynamics of capital constraints (capital shortage) are not fully explained by a quadratic adjustment cost model or by alternative forms of adjustment cost.     

Linking Technological,Market & Financial Indicators Of Innovation

This paper describes the results of a feasibility study to develop a national Innovation Scoreboard to measure and track the innovative performance of companies in the UK. It begins with a review of potential technological, market and financial indicators of innovation, and using data in the public domain, develops a trial Innovation Scoreboard based on 40 firms from five different sectors. The preliminary findings suggest that product announcements made in the specialist press may be a viable indicator of innovation at the level of the firm. Specifically, the evidence suggests that product announcements represent a useful measure of innovative output, which combined with expenditure on research and development provide a measure of research efficiency. This measure of research efficiency is shown to be associated with higher market to book values.