Advertising,Price and Quality in Self–regulating Professions: A Survey

This paper surveys the theoretical and empirical literature on the relationship between advertising, fees and quality in the self–regulating professions. Much of the literature is derived from the perspective of advertising as an information–enhancing device, helping to reduce the information asymmetry between professional and client. This is consistent with the majority of the empirical studies which suggest that advertising tends to have a downward effect on professional fees, with little if any adverse effect on quality. There are, however, important issues of method and measurement which may lessen the force of this conclusion     

Analysing Materials and Energy Flows in an Industrial District using an Enterprise Input–Output Model

Recent approaches to sustainable development leave much room for policies at a local level. In fact, it is becoming evident that targets such as increasing resource productivity, preserving natural cycles, or extending the present level of welfare, are best pursued within the confines of a local area. In particular, environmental changes are best brought about by considering local systems of firms as cornerstones of cooperative strategies and using data on materials and energy use in physical terms. In this paper, an enterprise input–output model is developed for an industrial district, i.e. a local group of firms specialized in the production of a single final output. The model allows for a detailed quantitative analysis of materials and energy flows and the consequent generation of waste and pollution. As a planning tool, the model may be used to evaluate alternative scenarios, such as the possibility of re- using waste taking account of sustainability requirements. An empirical case study applies the model to an industrial district in Southern Italy producing leather sofas.     

Measuring the liquidity part of volume

Based on the concept that the presence of liquidity frictions can increase the daily traded volume, we develop an extended version of the mixture of distribution hypothesis model (MDH) along the lines of Tauchen and Pitts (1983) to measure the liquidity portion of volume. Our approach relies on a structural definition of liquidity frictions arising from the theoretical framework of Grossman and Miller (1988), which explains how liquidity shocks affect the way in which information is incorporated into daily trading characteristics. In addition, we propose an econometric setup exploiting the volatility–volume relationship to filter the liquidity portion of volume and infer the presence of liquidity frictions using daily data. Finally, based on FTSE 100 stocks, we show that the extended MDH model proposed here outperforms that of Andersen (1996) and that the liquidity frictions are priced in the cross-section of stock returns.     

Tourism at Costalegre,Mexico: An ecosystem services-based exploration of current challenges and alternative futures

Tourism, as all human activities, is dependent on the natural environment and its respective ecosystem services (ES). Different user groups manage and consume these touristic ES differently, resulting in discrepancies and potential conflicts. Despite the urgency to find inclusive local approaches for sustainable development, tourism studies still analyze socio-economic and ecological impacts separately and lack integrated social–ecological approaches to improve foresight in tourism planning. Based on a growing concern regarding the future of Costalegre on the Jalisco coast of Western Mexico, we analyze through interviews, surveys, and participant observation the dependence of tourism on specific ecosystem services and conduct a scenario analysis which shows present and future implications for the social–ecological system. Furthermore, this analysis shows in detail how different scenarios change ES provision and people's livelihoods. Key findings include identifying freshwater provision and cultural ES as the most important touristic ES. At a regional scale, peasants in ejidos are the main ES stewards, whereas high-class tourism facilities constitute important local stewards. Benefits, mainly access to freshwater and the beach, are unequally distributed, provoking conflicts among different ES user groups that may escalate in the near future. Improved communication between all user groups and strengthening of key political actors seem to be the most immediate recommendations to ensure the long term sustainability of this particular region. This work may contribute to improved planning and decision-making as our ES based scenarios are a first step to integrate social–ecological knowledge into improved decision-making. At a local scale, the study reveals the most likely future development options and their social and ecological consequences. It could also serve as a baseline for informed policy making.     

深入社会改革,加快建设和谐无锡——无锡“十二五”社会改革途径探讨

经过三十多年的改革开放以后,无锡和全国一样,经济社会有了巨大的发展,但是,社会发展滞后于经济发展的情况仍然存在,急需深入社会改革,推动社会发展。本文在回顾无锡在"十一五"期间社会改革取得的成就基础上,分析了无锡社会发展存在的问题和面临的挑战和机遇,提出了"十二五"期间无锡深化社会改革的目标以及在政府职能转换、社会管理模式创新、实现公共服务均等化和城乡协调发展等四个方面的改革建议,最后提出了保障改革的一些措施。     

Impacts of peer-to-peer accommodation on the hotel industry: Hoteliers’ perspectives

The sharing economy is a new phenomenon that has considerable implications for traditional industries in general and the hospitality sector in particular. Although some recent studies have investigated the effects of sharing economy on the hotel industry, they primarily focused on quantifying its effects which are not exploratory for a phenomenon. This study attempts to achieve two research objectives. First, an exploratory qualitative method via a semi-structured in-depth interview is employed to investigate the impacts of P2P accommodation on the industry from hoteliers’ perspectives in China. Second, the current study provides valuable insights about traditional hotel marketing and operations. A social science perspective is proposed because prior hospitality research, merely in its commercial sense, fails to capture the essence of hospitality. Results indicate that P2P accommodation has effects on the hotel industry in terms of host–guest interactions, product offerings, staff empowerment, and platform collaboration. The study also suggests that the extent to which P2P accommodation impacts the hotel industry is different in terms of hotel star ratings and operating model. P2P accommodation and the hotel industry in China have a supplementary relationship. This study contributes to social studies of the hospitality literature by gaining insights from hotel senior management level. It also has great implications for the hotel marketing and management practices within the sharing context.     

Reciprocity between soccer events and visited destination in a border context

ABSTRACT

The study proposes a conceptual model based on hypothesized relationships among team fanship, satisfaction with the event, and host city as antecedents of behavioral intentions in the United States–Mexico border context. The analysis used data from 290 visitors who attended three soccer games of the Xoloitzcuintles team of Tijuana. The results revealed (1) the emotions felt at the visited destination had significant influences on fanship, satisfaction with event venue, and intentional behavior; (2) fanship and event satisfaction do not seem to influence the visitors’ intentions to return and recommend the visited place; (3) gender and duration of the stay showed a significant moderating function.     

Tourists’ hotel event experience and satisfaction: an integrative approach

ABSTRACT

Tourists’ hotel event experiences have received little attention in tourism research. By proposing an integrated model of expectation–confirmation theory (ECT) and the experience economy concept, this research explores the relationship between tourists’ event experience and their satisfaction regarding the hotel event setting. The hypothesized model was empirically validated using a sample of 663 tourists who experienced a holiday event at a resort hotel. Results confirmed that the integration of the experience economy and ECT provided a better understanding of tourists’ post-satisfaction in a pleasure-driven setting. This affective–cognitive approach advances the knowledge of tourists’ experiences and satisfaction at hotel events.     

Modelling distribution of aggregate expenditure on tourism

The aim of this article is to obtain a statistical distribution that describes the aggregate expenditure of tourists related to their length of stay at a given location. This distribution enables us to estimate two parameters simultaneously; one controls the length of stay and the other, the expense incurred. We propose two distribution models, for which closed-form expressions are obtained. Covariates are introduced in order to study the factors that affect the aggregate expenditure. The results obtained indicate that the models achieve a reasonably good fit, with and without covariates.     

Estimating the Economic Impact of Convention and Exhibition Businesses,Using a Regional Input–Output Model: A Case Study of the Daejeon Convention Center in South Korea

Past research on the economic impact of convention and exhibition businesses has neglected disaggregated expenditures of these consumer groups. The primary reason for this neglect is that estimating the economic impacts of these businesses is complicated and requires comprehensive surveys of various consumer groups. Thus, this study estimated expenditures based on surveys to different consumers such as convention and exhibition visitors, convention and exhibition organizers, and exhibitors. This study also employed a regional input–output (I–O) model and then matched the types of expenditure patterns with the I–O table. Survey results show that exhibition visitors spent the largest amount (US$153 million), followed by convention attendees (US$48 million), convention organizers (US$47 million), exhibition organizers (US$3.3 million), and exhibitors (US$2.8 million). The results of the I–O model indicate that the Daejeon Convention Center generated US$488 million of output impact, US$102 million of income impact, US$233 million of value added impact, and 10,211 jobs.