An assessment of ‘international best practice’ in visitor attraction management: does Scotland really lag behind?

This paper compares and contrasts selected management practices among visitor attractions in Scotland, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The catalyst for the study was the growing perception that management practices among visitor attractions in Scotland are becoming increasingly outdated and that the sector needs to learn from ‘international best practice’ in this respect. A postal questionnaire was sent to all paid‐admission visitor attractions in the four countries. In total, 1022 visitor attractions replied, representing an overall response rate of 41%. Chi‐square analysis was then used to test various hypotheses relating to the uptake of these management practices. A key conclusion is that although management practices do vary significantly among the four countries, Scotland does not necessarily lag behind. Indeed, Scottish visitor attractions seem to lead the way in many respects. Meanwhile, the study finds no strong evidence to suggest that visitor attractions in the other three countries have indeed identified and are following a common ‘international best practice’. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Independence and the regulatory state—Telecommunications in Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom

In the autumn of 2014 the residents of Scotland, but not other parts of the UK, will vote on whether to leave the UK and to become a separate state, with a positive vote leading to an independent parliament expected to be elected in 2016. It would remain within the EU and in compliance with its acquis communitaire. This paper identifies issues that would have to be addressed in preparing for and creating a new system of governance for telecommunications markets on that tight timescale.     

Demand for Fresh Fruits in Scotland: Potential Implications from Brexit

The need to improve the quality of the diet of Scottish consumers has increased the interest and efforts to understand the determinants of fruit and vegetables, as they may help to prevent a range of diet-related health problems. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the demand for fresh fruit in Scotland, with particular emphasis on the contribution of Mediterranean areas. A further motivation comes from depreciation of the GB Pound with respect to the Euro and the US Dollar following the UK’s decision to exit the European Union (Brexit). This is particularly important in the case of fruit because about 80% of the fruit consumed in the United Kingdom is of foreign origin and therefore depreciation of the currency may increase the price of imported fruit. The demand for fruit was modelled as a two-stage budget to include fruit origin. The results indicate that the demand for fresh fruit is sensitive to changes in prices and the pass-through of GBP depreciation may impact negatively on the Scottish demand for fruit and the country’s nutrition goals.     

Socioeconomic Effects of Reducing Household Carbon Footprints Through Meat Consumption Taxes

Beef and sheep products represent the largest emitters of greenhouse gases within the meat group. One way of encouraging Scottish households to substitute purchasing lower carbon footprint meat products such as chicken is through a carbon consumption tax. In this article, the effects of such a tax were studied using a dynamic per capita error correction version of the almost ideal demand system (AIDS). The data used in the analysis were from a Scottish household panel dataset for the years 2006–2011, which allowed disaggregation by three socioeconomic groups. The results suggest that the net application of meat taxes is likely to reduce demand for beef and sheep products irrespective of socioeconomic group. Application of all meat carbon consumption taxes has the potential to reduce household demand for meat products, resulting in a likely 10.5% reduction in Scottish meat emissions.     

Cultures of service: strategies of Scottish grocers, 1915–1965

Studies of retailing have highlighted its long-run evolution, particularly the emergence of multiples. Such developments were a challenge to the market position of independent retailers, especially owners of small shops. Such retailers responded through collective action designed to justify their commercial and social functions and to counteract the competitive threats. Recent studies have emphasised the significance of trade associations and collective action in grocery wholesaling in Britain and Ireland. A substantial literature has documented the activities of trade associations representing English grocers. This paper examines the responses of Scottish grocers to their changing environment between 1915 and 1965. It highlights similarities to associational behaviour in England and Canada in terms of unifying independent traders and articulating their concerns in public and to governments. But it emphasises the limitations of collective action among Scottish grocers, highlighting their subordinate relationship to government and the difficulties of modernising their business methods. Of greater significance was the gradual adjustment of their concept of the service provided by local grocery stores.     

Development pressure in the metropolitan fringe

Summary

Increasing market demand for new residential development in the urban fringe, together with changes in national political ideology and planning policy over the last decade, have combined to modify a longstanding opposition to development in the greenbelt. This has heightened the need for local planners and decision‐makers to formulate development plans which incorporate a satisfactory trade‐off between pro‐growth and anti‐growth interests. This paper identifies the principal actors involved in the production of the built environment of the urban fringe and employs a multi‐indicator technique to measure the incidence and intensity of development pressure in Glasgow's metropolitan fringe.     

Securing the British State,Indian Surpluses and Agrarian Change in Eighteenth Century Scotland

This important book is structured around two issues. The first concerns the political role and extent of East India patronage in Scotland between 1720 and 1784. The second relates to the ‘fortunes’ amassed by those in receipt of such patronage, the amounts remitted to Scotland, and the use to which these remitted surpluses were put. With respect to the former, a substantive, original contribution is made in four respects: in demonstrating the significance of colonial posts in overall patronage in Scotland; in showing the heavily disproportionate favouring of Scots in this patronage; in revealing that this was substantial and growing from the 1720s (and did not start only in the 1780s or 1770s, as has been previously assumed); and in arguing convincingly that this East India patronage was important in securing the post‐1707 British state. This is a considerable achievement. While the first issue has an impressively substantive outcome, the second, no less important, set of questions, is argued presumptively: to the effect that large fortunes were made by Scots in India, significant amounts were remitted, and these were crucial in the dramatic economic advance in Scotland from the 1750s on, especially in the countryside. A plausible presumptive case is made, but this is not supported by convincing evidence. There is a need for research of the intensity that gave such impressive shape to the first set of issues, if the presumptive case is to be adequately substantiated. A brief agenda for the necessary research on agrarian change is suggested.     

Does community ownership affect public attitudes to wind energy? A case study from south-west Scotland

This paper presents the results of a study of public attitudes to onshore windfarm development in south-west Scotland. Specifically, it explores the influences of different development models on attitudes to windfarms by comparing public attitudes towards a community-owned windfarm on the Isle of Gigha with attitudes towards several developer-owned windfarms on the adjacent Kintyre peninsula. The study, conducted in 2006, used a questionnaire-based survey (n = 106) to test the hypothesis that community ownership would lead to greater public acceptance of windfarms. It also examined the attitudes of both residents and tourists towards the impacts of onshore windfarms on landscapes and seascapes, including cumulative impacts. The data show that the Gigha respondents were consistently more positive about wind power than were the Kintyre residents. However, the differences were differences of degree rather than diametrically opposing viewpoints. The most significant concerns about windfarms were intermittent production and visual impact, but majorities in both areas nevertheless regarded their visual impact as positive. The data also indicate that local attitudes could become even more positive if future windfarms were owned by local communities. The fact that the residents of Gigha have affectionately dubbed their turbines ‘the Three Dancing Ladies’ is indicative of the positive psychological effects of community ownership. These results support the contention that a change of development model towards community ownership could have a positive effect on public attitudes towards windfarm developments in Scotland.     

苏格兰18、19世纪文学作品中的骑士精神研究——以司各特的苏格兰现代骑士为例

以司各特为代表,苏格兰18、19世纪的作家们不仅塑造了具有人文主义精神的古典骑士,而且也塑造了具有骑士精神的现代平民,包括一些优秀的女性形象。他们主要用那些现代平民骑士(没有高贵出身,没有军事生活,也不是男性,甚至是一些边缘人)来再现苏格兰启蒙运动和浪漫主义时代的诗性文化,体现苏格兰民族的骑士精神:忠诚、虔敬、勇敢、礼貌、慷慨和善良。     

Income Mobility and Income Inequality in Scottish Agriculture

The paper explores the distributional consequences of farm income mobility in Scotland, focusing on the extent to which farm income inequality is a chronic as opposed to a temporary phenomenon and on the nature of the dynamic processes driving changes in farm income inequality over time. The empirical results reveal that the majority of farm income inequality was long‐run or structural in nature, reflecting differences in both farm business size and farm‐specific factors such as land quality, managerial ability and business structures. Evidence of absolute convergence in farm incomes is explained by short‐run adjustments towards equilibrium or target incomes conditional upon prices, technology and farm business size, with farm business growth conditional upon survival found to have had no significant redistributive effect.