Factors Associated with Opinion Seeking

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between opinion seeking and cultural values and individual characteristics in the context of electronic products by surveying cosmopolitan adults of 15 nationalities, namely, American, Australian, British, Dutch, Filipino, German, Hong Konger, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Malaysian, New Zealander, Singaporean, Swedish, and Thai. It finds (i) positive correlation between opinion seeking and power distance, category knowledge, category purchase intention, category innovativeness, opinion giving, market maven, brand loyalty, and susceptibility to interpersonal influence, (ii) negative correlation between opinion seeking and the masculinity and uncertainty avoidance cultural dimensions, category ownership, self-esteem, education, and age, and (iii) no correlation between opinion seeking and individualism, long-term orientation, and risk taking. It then discusses the managerial implications of the findings.     

A Community-Based Tourism Model: Its Conception and Use

Community participation in the tourism planning process is advocated as a way of implementing sustainable tourism. There are, however, few studies that detail tangible and practical ways to promote or measure participation. This paper reviews the principal theories used to discuss community participation, including the ‘ladder of citizen participation’, power redistribution, collaboration processes and social capital creation. These theories form the basis for defining a community-based tourism (CBT) model. The paper shows how this model can be used to assess participation levels in a study site, and suggests further actions required. The model is applied in a case study in Palawan, the Philippines, where an indigenous community previously initiated a community-based ecotourism project. The project resulted in a number of problems, including conflicts with non-indigenous stakeholders. The model identifies the current situation of the project and provides suggestions for improvement.     

The MDGs and exit time: the case of the Philippines

This article evaluates whether the Philippines will be able to halve the incidence of poverty between 1990 and 2015. Using the concept of exit time and household‐level data, we find that the Philippines as a whole will not be able to comply with Target 1 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), although 15 of its provinces will be able to do so. These provinces are closer to Manila, characterized by higher per capita expenditure growth rates, and had lower incidence of poverty in 1988. This suggests the importance of policies to mitigate the regional disparity in achieving the MDGs.     

新加坡、马来西亚及菲律宾三国税收征管的特色与借鉴

新加坡税收征管的特色是国内税务局实行董事会管理制度、纳税人的诚信管理制度和对纳税人进行奖励的制度。马来西亚税收征管的特色是自我评估系统。菲律宾税收征管的特色是对大户管理和纳税评估非常到位。我国应在现行"金税工程"管理系统的基础上,加强对纳税人申报情况的管理,并通过日常检查和专项检查,核准纳税人申报收入和经营情况的准确性,防止偷税漏税现象的发生,实现收入应收尽收的目标。同时,还应该利用各种形式的奖励办法,营造良好的纳税氛围,促使纳税人诚信纳税。     

The 6th China-ASEAN Business Council Meeting Held

On February 29th.the 6th China.ASEAN Business Council meeting was held in Beijing.Some 50 deputies attended the meeting,including top officialsCCPITVPYuPing andthe president of the ASEAN Chamber of Commerce and Industry,as well as business and industrial representatives from Thailand,Myanmar,the Philippines and Singapore.Also present at the meeting were representatives from the Secretariat in China of the China-ASEAN Business Council,the Guangxi Branch of the CCPIT,as well as industrial branches and media.     

Struggling with Sustainability—A Comparative Framework for Evaluating Sustainable Development Programs

“Sustainability” is an inherently dynamic, indefinite and contested concept. “Sustainable development” must, therefore, be seen as an unending process—defined not by fixed goals or the specific means of achieving them, but by an approach to creating change through continuous learning and adaptation. How, then, do we evaluate a development program’s contribution to such a process? This paper constructs a framework for evaluating sustainable rural development programs using both process- and outcome-oriented criteria, and demonstrates its application. The SANREM CRSP/SEA research and development program in The Philippines—including ICRAFs efforts to organize communities around agroforestry and environmental conservation—is assessed.     

The Philippine Land Reform in Comparative Perspective: Some Conceptual and Methodological Implications

Using empirical evidence from the Philippine land reform (1972–2005), this paper examines land reform theory and practice, and argues that convention has a priori excluded a significant portion of actually existing land-based production and distribution relationships, while it has inadvertently included in its definition and analysis land transfers that do not constitute real redistributive reform. This problematic framing of 'exclusion–inclusion' has led to incorrect accounting and analysis of the nature, scope, pace and direction of change/reform that have occurred (or not) in the agrarian structure of a particular setting. This problem has prevented the emergence of nuanced comparative land reform studies, with possible further implications for studies that attempt to trace causal relationships between land redistribution and agrarian transformation.     

Household Choice of Drinking–Water Source in the Philippines

The present paper analyzes household choice of drinking–water source for 769 rural households in metropolitan Cebu, Philippines. The study aims to analyze the effects of input prices, tastes and household size on the choice probabilities. For the empirical analysis, a discrete–choice approach is employed, consistent with utility maximization. The findings indicate that the time cost is an important determinant of household choice of drinking–water source and, surprisingly, that taste, proxied by income, has ambiguous effects on household choice. The present study is contrasted to an earlier study in which inconsistency with utility maximization cannot be ruled out.     

Technical Change and Productive Efficiency: Irrigated Rice in the Philippines*

Panel data are used to study the technical efficiency of rice producers in the Philippines. Production efficiency over time is measured using a stochastic frontier regression with error decomposition. Sources of inefficiency are identified and the link between irrigation and productive efficiency is measured. Results suggest that irrigation was associated with higher levels of technical efficiency in the sample.