Explaining high transport costs within Malawi - bad roads or lack of trucking competition ?

What are the main determinants of transport costs: network access or competition among transport providers? The focus in the transport sector has often been on improving the coverage of"hard"infrastructure, whereas in reality the cost of transporting goods is quite sensitive to the extent of competition among transport providers and scale economies in the freight transport industry, creating monopolistic behavior and circular causation between lower transport costs and greater trade and traffic. This paper contributes to the discussion on transport costs in Malawi, providing fresh empirical evidence based on a specially commissioned survey of transport providers and spatial analysis of the country’s infrastructure network. The main finding is that both infrastructure quality and market structure of the trucking industry are important contributors to regional differences in transport costs. The quality of the trunk road network is not a major constraint but differences in the quality of feeder roads connecting villages to the main road network have significant bearing on transport costs. And costs due to poor feeder roads are exacerbated by low volumes of trade between rural locations and market centers. With empty backhauls and journeys covering small distances, only a few transport service providers enter the market, charging disproportionately high prices to cover fixed costs and maximize markups.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Rural Roads&Transport,Roads&Highways,Banks&Banking Reform,Rural Transport

Market segments based on the dominant movement patterns of tourists

This paper presents an innovative method for tourist market segmentation-based on dominant movement patterns of tourists; that is, the travel sequences or patterns used by tourists most frequently. There were three steps to achieve this goal. In the first step, general log-linear models were adopted to identify the dominant movement patterns, while the second step was to discover the characteristics of the groups of tourists who travelled with these patterns. The Expectation–Maximisation algorithm was then used to partition tourist segments in terms of socio-demographic and travel behavioural variables. The third step was to select target markets based upon the earlier analysis. These methods were applied to a sample of tourists, over the period of a week, on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. A significant outcome of this research is that it will assist tourism organisations to identify tourism market segments and develop better tour packages and more efficient marketing strategies aligned to the characteristics of the tourists

Building Australia’s comparative advantages

This discussion paper, Building Australia’s Comparative Advantages, builds on the work of the BCA’s 2013 Action Plan for Enduring Prosperity. It seeks to start a conversation about what it will take to build an innovative economy, foster globally competitive industries and identify the types of jobs that can be created in an advanced economy like Australia. The paper focuses on actions government can take to foster an innovative and dynamic economy. The Business Council of Australia will facilitate further discussion on what businesses can do to come to terms with a global marketplace. We will also examine in detail the challenges that each sector faces to becoming globally competitive

Coastal Capital -- Economic Valuation of Coral Reefs in Tobago and St. Lucia

Presents findings on the economic benefits of coral reefs to the local economies of Tobago and St. Lucia, using a new, broadly applicable methodology that focuses on benefits to tourism, fisheries, and shoreline protection. Includes policy applications

Strategies for stimulating poverty-alleviating growth in the rural nonfarm economy in developing countries:

"The rural nonfarm economy (RNFE) accounts for roughly 25 percent of full-time rural employment and 35-40 percent of rural incomes across the developing world. This diverse collection of seasonal trading, household-based and large-scale agroprocessing, manufacturing and service activities plays a crucial role in sustaining rural populations, in servicing a growing and modern agriculture, and in supplying local consumer goods and services. In areas where landlessness prevails, rural nonfarm activity offers important economic alternatives for the rural poor....Three key groups currently intervene in the rural nonfarm economy: large private enterprises, non-profit promotional agencies and governments. Large modern corporations take investment, procurement and marketing decisions that powerfully shape opportunities in the rural nonfarm economy throughout much of the Third World...." The authors put forth three basic principles for policy makers who want to ensure equitable growth of the RNFE : (1) Identify key engines of regional growth; (2) Focus on subsector-specific supply chains; and (3) Build flexible institutional coalitions. They conclude that "a prosperous rural nonfarm economy can contribute to both aggregate economic growth and improved welfare of the rural poor." from Executive Summary.Poverty alleviation Developing countries., Rural population., Employment, Non-agricultural Rural areas., Manufacturing industries., Service industries.,

Millennials as potential creative tourists in South Africa:A CHAID approach to market segmentation

Creative tourism has recently emerged as an important area of tourism development, particularly in the Global North. In the Global South, studies of the profile of creative tourists and their motives for partaking in creative tourism are limited. This paper investigates creative tourism demand among South African millennials, analysing what motivates their participation and developing a descriptive consumer profile. CHAID analysis was used for segmentation, revealing a group with a high participation intention and a second group with a low probability of creative tourism participation. Creative tourism intentions were linked to knowledge acquisition, skills and escape motivations, and demographic characteristics including relationship status and gender. Respondents were more likely to participate in domestic rather than international creative tourism, indicating the potential for creative tourism development in South Africa. The findings could help managers and policymakers meet the needs of creative tourists, addressing shortfalls in product development, experience design and marketing

Estimating community benefits from tourism: The case of Carpentaria Shire

The small rural communities in Australia's tropical savanna landscapes depend upon the region's natural resources for income and employment. Historically primary industries - including mining, grazing and, in the case of coastal communities, fishing - have been the pillars of economic activity in those regions. More recently, tourism has emerged as an additional nature-based industry, which offers new development and employment opportunities for populations in remote regions. Net benefits from tourism accrue from the balance of economic, social and environmental interactions of tourists with a destination. This paper presents a model of tourism impact in the Carpentaria shire of North West Queensland. A methodology is developed for tracking and quantifying social, economic and environmental impacts. Data from an in-progress research project are presented and analysed to test the hypothesis that community benefits could be improved without an increase in visitor numbers, by changing the composition of visitors to the region. Interpretations are offered as to how both, sectorial and regional planning and management can effect improved community benefits from tourism.tourism impact, net benefit, savanna regions, destination management, host community, grey nomads, Environmental Economics and Policy, Marketing,

Building knowledge for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander remote tourism: lessons from comparable tourism initiatives around the world

This report aims to build knowledge about what issues Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may need to consider in remote tourism by reviewing, compiling and drawing insights from comparable tourism initiatives around the world.The report is based on information from a range of sources that highlight remote tourism issues at many different levels of strategy and development , from the micro level of ensuring engagement with local service providers, to the broad level of collaboration strategies with diverse interest groups. The examples identify a wealth of remote tourism roles available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, demonstrating that remote tourism is complicated and people should examine which roles are appropriate and achievable.The report covers the main remote area landscape settings: remote arid and semi-arid areas (deserts), remote rainforests, remote high altitude mountainous areas, and remote cold and warm water islands. Each section discusses a collection of cases and other tourism initiatives by people s indigenous to the respective remote landscape settings. Many cases illustrate the desires of people around the world to preserve natural and cultural qualities while sharing remote areas through tourism. Summaries from each case identify issues that progressively build further insight into the challenges and strategies people from around the world have applied to remote tourism.A limitation of the report is that the review provides a snapshot of remote tourism activity throughout the world; it has not been able to say which of these activities are sustainable. Nevertheless, this approach uncovers the gravity of challenges faced by Indigenous peoples around the world involved in remote tourism, with the common dependence on external sources particularly noted. While presenting the strategies used in the various international contexts to contend with the challenges, the report suggests that local knowledge and insight cannot be underestimated as a major factor in developing successful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tourism businesses

Reforming Trade in Services and Negotiation Processes in Morocco

Arguments in favor of liberalizing the market for services are becoming increasingly widespread. These arguments particularly apply to financial services, telecommunications, and transportation, which are key sectors that significantly contribute to a nation's economic development. However, the challenges of liberalizing the market for services to foreign competition are evident. Furthermore, this liberalization entails a broad and complex set of policies, regulatory instruments, institutions and constituencies, domestically and in the foreign arena, in the public and the private sector. Experience has shown that considerable care must be given to the assessment of the nature, pace and sequencing of regulatory reform and liberalization in order to meaningfully enhance a nation's economic growth and development. Morocco has signed, ratified, and implemented several Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and is engaged in discussions with other partners. Issues that concern the market of services are gaining in importance in Morocco's foreign trade policy. Moreover, Morocco has continued to reform its sectoral policies, making notable progress in services sector performances in a bid to diversify its economy. This paper tries to outline some features that concern the trade in services policies and reforms in Morocco and its negotiation process adopted by enforcing bilateral, regional and multilateral agreements.Morocco; Trade in Service; Trade Policy; Reform, Liberilization, Regulatory impacts.

Inclusive growth analytics : framework and application

This paper argues that inclusive growth analytics has a distinct character focusing on both the pace and pattern of growth. Traditionally, applied country-specific poverty and growth analyses have been done separately. This paper describes the conceptual elements for an analytical strategy aimed to integrate these two strands of analyses, and to identify and prioritize country-specific constraints to sustained and inclusive growth. The authors apply the framework to the case of Zambia. The analysis suggests that income growth in Zambia is constrained by poor access to domestic and international markets, inputs, extension services, and information. High indirect costs - mostly attributable to infrastructure service-related inputs in production including energy, transport, telecom, water, but also insurance, marketing, and professional services - undermine Zambia's competitiveness, limit job creation, and therefore serve as a major constraint to inclusive growth. Improving the quality and access to secondary and tertiary education is essential if the poor are to benefit from future growth of the non-farm economy. Weak governance and, in particular, poor government effectiveness are factors behind the market coordination failures and the identified government failures, and are as such major obstacles to inclusive growth in Zambia.Rural Poverty Reduction,Achieving Shared Growth,,Access to Finance,Economic Theory&Research