Construction and validation of a scale to measure tourist motivation to consume local food

Although the importance of the role of local food in tourism has begun to form an academic debate in the last decade, little effort has been invested in understanding what tourist motivations influence consumption of local food and beverages in a tourist destination and to develop a measurement scale for those motivations. Thus, this study adopted the comprehensive procedures of measurement scale development recommended by prior studies. The scale development procedure yielded a five factor measurement scale with acceptable levels of reliability and validity. Five underlying motivational dimensions of local food consumption were labelled: cultural experience; interpersonal relation; excitement; sensory appeal; and health concern. The outcomes and applications of the developed scale are discussed both in terms of theoretical and managerial implications.     

Hawker centres as tourist attractions: The case of Singapore

Cooked food hawkers are a sometimes neglected part of the tourism and hospitality industries, yet can play a significant role as a visitor attraction which offers both inexpensive food and insights into the contemporary society and heritage of the destination. Hawking is ubiquitous in much of South East Asia where it is integral to the life of local residents and this includes Singapore, the focus of the paper which also comments on the relationship between food and tourism in general. The cooked food hawker sector in the city state is described and the results of a survey of tourists about their experiences of dining at hawker centres are presented. Responses appear favourable on the whole, but some concerns are identified. It seems that hawkers may have unrealised potential as an amenity for tourists, although widening their appeal and use is a challenging task compounded by the threat to the survival of hawker centres from urban development pressures.     

我国粮食补贴政策体系的构建与完善

我国的粮食补贴政策,经历了由间接补贴到直接补贴发展的过程。现行的粮食补贴政策,在促进粮食增产、农民增收,确保国家粮食安全方面,发挥了积极的作用。但是在政策的实施过程中,也确实存在着一些不容置疑的问题,针对粮食补贴政策中存在的主要不足,就如何完善我国的粮食补贴政策,更好地实现政策目标,进行了思考并提出相应的建议。     

试论对食品安全监管者的再监管

食品具有入口特征,生命具有不可回复性,所以对食品安全的监管与其他市场监管的最大不同就在于,食品安全监管要重在预防.食品安全监管存在一系列失灵,这也是食品安全事件频发的原因.食品安全监管权配置的不科学"多头性",导致了监管过度、监管不足及监管不当现象同时存在.改进监管效果的最优手段不是设立新的监管部门,而是利用和整合现有监管资源.包括:信息披露、明确监管主体及其职责、加强再监管激励、完善对监管主体的财务及认识监管以及建立有效的问责机制.     

务实、责任、合作——浅析全球性粮食危机的中国应对

中国解决好自身13亿人口的粮食安全问题就已是对世界的一种贡献,而致力于解决全球粮食危机更是使得通过自己的实际行动使大部分国家和全球民众消除误解,更加了解开放的中国,树立良好的正面形象和国际影响。在科学发展观的指导下,从经济到外交,更好地融入到全球化的大潮中,维护国家利益,少树敌人、广交朋友。维护世界和平与安全,特别是通过解决粮食危机的合作,积极推动地区的和平进程。     

Gender,entrepreneurship and food security in Niger

In many African countries, the income generated from the informal sector and the entrepreneurship is particularly important for reducing poverty. Previous studies have not found clear evidence on the relationship between self‐employment by gender and food security. We argue that this may be a result of the gender inequality in resource accessibility. In this paper, we analyze the implication of household entrepreneurship on food security in Niger, where gender disparities in resource accessibility are reduced. We find that owning female‐managed non‐agricultural enterprises is positively related to food accessibility and food availability within female‐headed households. The results draw the attention on reducing gender differences in resource accessibility in entrepreneurship for improving food security.     

Market Incentives for Safe Foods: An Examination of Shareholder Losses from Meat and Poultry Recalls

Meat and poultry recalls, while voluntary, are carried out under governmental oversight. If firms have financial incentives to avoid being implicated in a recall situation, governmental involvement in recalls may cause firms to internalize social costs when making investment decisions concerning food safety controls. To examine these incentives, we analyze federally supervised meat and poultry recalls from 1982 to 1998 within an event study. Results show significant shareholder losses when publicly traded food companies are implicated in a recall involving serious food safety hazards. We find no evidence that the stock market reacts negatively when recalls involve less severe hazards.     

食品检验检测中存在的问题分析及应对措施

食品安全是直接关系人们生活的重要问题,同时也是人们所关注的重点问题之一.实施食品安全管理可以有效减少安全事故发生,保障消费者权益.现阶段,食品市场中经常会存在一些安全问题,实施食品安全管理迫在眉睫,本文主要是针对食品检验检测中存在的问题开展分析,完善市场经济管理.     

Food Scares and Trust: A European Study

The complex interactions between the determinants of food purchase under risk are explored using the SPARTA model, based on the theory of planned behaviour, and estimated through a combination of multivariate statistical techniques. The application investigates chicken consumption choices in two scenarios: (a) a ‘standard’ purchasing situation; and (b) following a hypothetical Salmonella scare. The data are from a nationally representative survey of 2,725 respondents from five European countries: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Results show that the effects and interactions of behavioural determinants vary significantly within Europe. Only in the case of a food scare do risk perceptions and trust come into play. The policy priority should be on building and maintaining trust in food and health authorities and research institutions, while food chain actors could mitigate the consequences of a food scare through public trust. No relationship is found between socio‐demographic variables and consumer trust in food safety information.     

Welfare Effects of Technological Convergence in Processed Food Industries

We develop a monopolistic competition model to investigate effects of international technological convergence on factor rewards, output composition, and welfare. Comparative static analysis indicates technological convergence improves the follower's—but impairs the leader's—international competitiveness. The leader's welfare improves unambiguously; the follower's welfare depends on the relative strength of convergence's income and terms-of-trade effects. We use data from seventeen food industries in thirty countries, 1993–2001, to test these analytical predictions. Evidence of convergence is found in thirteen of seventeen industries. Convergence lifts followers' relative wages and global value-added shares. Followers benefit from convergence's positive income effect. Leaders benefit from higher terms of trade.