Households transport-home energy conservation strategies in response to energy price policies: A stated adaptation experiment based on portfolio choices and cross effects designs

This article explores consumer investment choice in long-term energy conservation technology and assesses trade-offs in energy saving behaviour between the housing and transportation domains. The long-term energy conservation choice problem is conceptualized as a portfolio choice problem. Consequently, to measure trade-offs between investments in housing and transport options, a cross effects choice design is developed in which respondents were shown one or more alternate ways to reduce their current energy consumption: (1) investing in new technology in the house, such as solar panels; (2) exchanging the current car for a more energy efficient car; (3) buying a new energy-efficient car, such as EV or solar car; (4) moving house to reduce current travel distances. To help respondents linking these options to their current energy consumption, a new Web-based survey system (SINA) to implement and administer stated adaptation experiments was developed. The system was used to collect two sets of data. First, data about out-of-home and in-home energy consumption, together with detailed time use data, was collected. Second, using a cross effects design, respondents were asked to select a portfolio of energy-saving strategies in response to different energy pricing policy scenarios. Results reported in this paper are based on 572 respondents who completed the survey and responded to seven adaptation questions based on their current energy expenditures. A random parameters logit model is estimated to predict the probability of choosing a particular portfolio of energy-saving options. Estimation results indicate that individuals from different socio-demographic groups exhibit varied preferences. The saving option characteristics, especially cost related characteristics have significant effects on individuals' preferences. Moreover, the results also showed significant effects of choice set composition on energy saving options. Further, the energy pricing policies had showed mixed effects on individual's preferences.     

Residents’ attitudes toward future tourism development in terms of community well-being and attachment

This study explores residents’ attitudes toward future tourism development based on their community well-being (CWB) and community attachment. Focusing on the case of Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan, South Korea, which was developed during an urban regeneration project in 2009, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted. The main findings of this study are: (1) CWB is supported by five variables including income effects, social participation, safety service, infrastructure service, and environmental effect; (2) not only does CWB influence community attachment but attachment also effects residents’ attitudes; and (3) the most effective variable of CWB is income effect, and safety service for community attachment. These results can help to provide effective strategies to encourage residents to have positive attitudes about further tourism development in a community-based tourism destination.     

Visitor centre staffing: Involving volunteers

Volunteer involvement in visitor centres has received little attention by tourism researchers despite the critical role staff play in welcoming tourists to a destination and promoting tourism activities. The community function of visitor centres - of which volunteering is part - has also been underplayed in previous research. Using data from a survey and interviews with visitor centre managers in Australia, this paper investigates the rationales for staffing visitor centres with volunteers and/or paid employees and, related to motivations for volunteering, the factors influencing the attractiveness of visitor centre volunteer programmes. The dominant rationales for involving volunteers are need, community involvement, visitor experience, and the personal qualities and motivations of volunteers. Visitor centre volunteering is attractive because of location and local pride, interactions with tourists and social relationships with other volunteers, and the reputation of the visitor centre and its volunteer programme.     

Mega-events as drivers of community participation in developing countries: The case of Shanghai World Expo

Within a wide body of literature it has been argued and demonstrated that community participation in tourism development is advantageous in terms of the sustainability and effectiveness of the development policies adopted. However, over time, doubts have been raised about whether community participation should take place in developing countries. There are major concerns regarding the immaturity and the incompliance of the political and social conditions of developing countries in relation to the requirements necessary for an effective participatory planning. In this paper, we argue that mega-events, due to their wide scope and the key role that large groups of stakeholders play in their success, may represent a driver for community participation in developing countries. In order to explore our idea, we will analyse tourism development and the planning of a mega-event within the Yangtze River Delta area, driven by the organisation and preparation of the Shanghai World Expo. According to our evidence, some initial elements of participative decision-making have indeed developed around the organisation of this mega-event, even though China has historically been considered refractory towards community participation. Finally, we discuss the findings in the light of existing knowledge to elicit significant questions about community participation in tourism development within developing countries and to address further research on this topic.     

The public house and its role in society's margins

The aim of this conceptual paper is to explore the contribution of the British public house (pub) to marginalised sections of the community. There is a long tradition that celebrates the pub's quasi-egalitarian ethos as welcoming people from all walks of life. However, increased financial pressures on the pub sector dictate an evolution in this role, especially towards disadvantaged sections of society. This situation merits further examination by researchers, managers and policy makers. The paper draws on evidence from different traditions of research including management, sociology, history and geography, to develop a conceptual framework highlighting the issues facing these stakeholders in today's business environment.     

农民工子女社会适应状况的障碍分析及对策

进城农民工人口数量的不断增长以及流动方式的变化,催生了农民工子女群体的产生。我国二元社会结构下形成的各种障碍性因素对进城农民工及其子女在生活、就学、就业等方面起着限制、排斥等消极作用。改善进城农民工子女社会适应状况要从改革不合理的制度和政策,改变造成农民工子女不良适应的非制度因素影响,提高和改善农民工及其子女的个人素质等方面努力去做。     

组织变革对组织存活的影响研究——基于组织生态学的视角

20世纪以来,科学技术的快速发展,促进了全球经济的增长,给组织带来了发展的机遇,但是市场环境的剧烈动荡,使组织面临巨大的市场挑战和风险。组织为了生存,必须进行变革,但变革的高风险和高成本又反过来影响了组织生存。因此,组织变革与组织存活的关系是一个值得探讨的话题。目前,此问题的研究主要集中在两个视角:适应视角和生态学视角。其中,生态学视角是一种新的分析视角,为组织变革理论的研究提供了重要借鉴。     

It's not what you know but who you know that's important: the influence of social networks on communities

Since its conception in 1945, the UK National Health Service (NHS) has been the focus of extensive political rhetoric regarding the involvement of patients and the public in the provision of health‐care services both locally and nationally. However, achieving substantial user involvement within local communities has proven to be a complex task. The exploratory research presented in this paper investigates the influence of social networks within local communities and its relevance for user involvement. Four main findings emerged: interviewees have strong informal social networks; there is a strong sense of generalized reciprocity; diversity is limited within the social groupings; and there exists a lack of trust in governmental institutions. With regards to health issues, there is an overriding feeling that ‘things like that should be left to the people who know’. If user involvement is to be achieved at the level envisioned by the UK government, achieving a greater relevance for users is essential.     

Moving out or living on a mound? Jointly planning a Dutch flood adaptation project

All over the world spatial flood risk management policies are on the rise. This paper analyses the planning process for the Overdiepse polder, a so-called “Room for the River” project in the Netherlands. After high water in the 1990s, the Dutch government changed its flood risk management policy. While before 2000 it leaned heavily on dikes to separate water from land, after that year spatial measures to “let the water flow” were introduced. This required the integration of two formerly separated policy domains: flood risk management and land use planning. In the densely populated and economically highly developed Netherlands, returning space to the river unavoidably impacts on the lives and livelihoods of those who live and work along the rivers. Therefore, such spatial measures to decrease flood risk have to be negotiated with various stakeholders. The planning process towards making the Overdiepse polder suitable for temporary water storage deserves more in-depth analysis. We describe and analyze the development of relationships between key actors in the planning process, with a focus on planning practices rather than on assumptions about the existence of certain types and qualities of relationships. We conclude, among others, that citizen involvement can, under specific socio-political and institutional conditions, build trust among stakeholders and increase local legitimacy for interventions by government agencies. However, it should not be idealized as “self-governance” or assumed to be part of a unidirectional change in water interventions towards new relationships between actors.     

企业财务适应性的培育发展机制研究

企业财务适应性的实现和增强,需要培育机制和发展机制。培育机制注重企业财务适应性的先天植入与养成、后天培养与育成两个方面,主要解决财务适应性从无到有的问题;发展机制着重解决企业财务适应性由弱变强、由小变大的问题,需要明确企业价值最大化目标、坚定可持续发展信念、运用复杂适应系统理论、调整企业财务管理战略、提高财务适应性效率等。