There is no smoke without a fire: The effect of government interventions in less advanced economies

The lack of liquidity in the interbank market during the crisis of 2007–2011 led governments to impose different policies to rescue their countries’ banking sectors. While in advanced countries interventions in the banking sector were mostly related to a lack of liquidity and significant asymmetric information regarding counterparty risk, in many less advanced countries they had a precautionary motive. In our article, we investigate the effectiveness of policy interventions on healthy banking markets, with possible negative spill-over effects from other countries. To this extent, we use an event study methodology to test the effect of liquidity and financial sector policy announcements on interbank spread changes in six Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries over the period between 2007 and 2011. We find that standard liquidity interventions did not provide effective stabilization. In fact, our evidence suggests that the spread widened after their announcement, probably as a result of the negative signal and consequently increased risk aversion of banks. In such situations, regulators should consider policy instruments that aim to decrease uncertainty in the market.     

The Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Tourist Information and Promotion of the Polish Carpathians in Foreign Tourism Markets

The recent years have been a time of rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in tourism. The objective of this article is to analyse and assess the use of ICTs in tourist information and promotion of selected municipalities in the Polish Carpathians, the largest region of mountain tourism in Poland. Particular attention was paid to the activities taken by DMOs, local entrepreneurs and cultural institutions. The use of ICTs in the Polish Carpathians is at a relatively advanced level, but still not sufficient enough to make these solutions a fully effective tool in building a strong regional brand in the international tourism markets.     

African Stock Markets: Efficiency and Relative Predictability

The weak form of the efficient markets hypothesis is tested for eight African stock markets using three finite‐sample variance ratio tests. A rolling window captures short‐horizon predictability, tracks changes in predictability and is used to rank markets by relative predictability. These stock markets experience successive periods when they are predictable and then not predictable; this is consistent with the adaptive markets hypothesis. The degree of predictability varies widely: the least predictable African stock markets are those located in Egypt, South Africa and Tunisia, while the most predictable are in Kenya, Zambia and Nigeria.     

Off-the-beaten-track tourism: a new trend in the tourism development in historical European cities. A case study of the city of Krakow,Poland

In the recent years, substantial changes in the manner of sightseeing in cities have been becoming visible. Tourists are leaving the old city centres and are deciding to visit places that are not typical tourist attractions. In such places, alternative forms of city tourism described as off-the-beaten-track tourism are developing. In Europe, this pertains especially to historical cities, specifically capital cities and large agglomerations, such as Krakow, one of the biggest cities in Poland, commonly described as the cultural capital. The aim of this article is to analyse the management of tourism in European historical cities in the context of off-the-beaten-track tourism’s development using the case study of Krakow. To illustrate the issue, two districts, Nowa Huta and Podgórze, were chosen as the examples. In both districts one can observe changes affecting the model of city tourism that stems from the shift in motivations of visitors and from alternative ways of spending free time in the city they are visiting. This process necessitates appropriate management of tourism in the city in accordance with the rules of sustainable development and protection of cultural and historical authenticity of places and buildings.     

Migration as a test of the happiness set-point hypothesis: Evidence from immigration to Canada and the United Kingdom

Strong versions of the set-point hypothesis argue that subjective well-being measures reflect primarily each individual's own personality and that deviations are temporary. International migration provides an excellent test, since life circumstances and subjective well-being differ greatly among countries. With or without adjustments for selection effects, the levels and distributions of immigrant life-satisfaction scores for immigrants to the United Kingdom and Canada from up to 100 source countries mimic those in their destination countries, and even the destination regions within those countries, rather than those in their source countries, showing that subjective life evaluations are substantially driven by life circumstances and respond when those circumstances change.