Assessment of Tourist Competitiveness by Analysing Destination Efficiency

Recently the notion and the measurement of destination competitiveness have received increasing attention in the economics literature on tourism. The reason for this interest emerges from both the increasing economic importance of the tourist sector and the increasing competition on the tourist market as a consequence of the transition from mass tourism to a new age of tourism that calls for a tailor-made approach to the specific attitudes and needs of tourists. The central subject of this paper – inspired by the conceptual competitiveness model developed earlier by Crouch and Ritchie – concerns the efficiency of tourist site destinations. Using a dataset of 103 Italian regions for the year 2001, an economic efficiency analysis based on a production frontier approach has been made in the present study. The study deploys a measure of tourist site competitiveness in terms of its technical efficiency using parametric and non-parametric methods, a stochastic production function and data envelopment analysis, respectively

Composition of families and subjective economic well-being: an application to Italian context

Using Italian data on Income and Living Conditions for the year 2005, the paper explores empirically whether the determinants of subjective economic well-being (SEW) differ (or not) in four representative typologies of households. By means of a Partial Proportional Ordered Logit Model the subjective economic well-being \u2013 proxied by the capacity of households to make ends meet \u2013 has been explored. Results highlight the variables acting on SEW, common to each typology, are related both to economic status (specifically, the capacity to pay taxes and to afford housing, clothes and holiday expenditures) and to socio-demographic status (specifically, the work-status and the highest level of education). A more in depth analysis, by level of education, shows the economic precariousness of some specific typologies, namely families with one person, with two or more children, and those whose respondent has a very low level of education

Adequação de propriedades rurais ao Código Florestal Brasileiro: estudo de caso no Estado do Paraná.

O Código Florestal Brasileiro de 1965 conceitua e regulamenta as Áreas de Preservação Permanente (APP) e Reserva Legal (RL). Para regulamentar a adequação das propriedades agrícolas ao código florestal, o estado do Paraná instituiu o SISLEG - Sistema de Manutenção, Recuperação e Proteção da Reserva Legal e Áreas de Preservação Permanente. Neste estudo foram quantificadas, com auxílio do sistema de posicionamento global (GPS) e programas de Sistemas de Informações Geográficas (SIG), as APPs e RLs de 147 propriedades em oito municípios das regiões centro-oriental e sudeste do Paraná, visando analisá-las frente ao Código Florestal vigente. Observou-se expressiva cobertura florestal formada por fragmentos de Floresta Ombrófila Mista; as superfícies disponíveis para definição de RL apresentam valores superiores àqueles requeridos pela legislação. Há necessidade de recomposição das APPs em 67% das propriedades; 26% das propriedades estão de acordo com as exigências do Código Florestal. A quantificação da cobertura florestal necessária e remanescente, tal como a pequena demanda de área para readequação de APP (5% da área total) permitem inferir que esses quesitos não são entraves para a regularização ambiental da agricultura familiar, nas propriedades analisadas

Impact of Urban Conditions of Firm Performance of Migrant Entrepreneurs: A Comparative Dutch - US Study

Recent studies on ethnic entrepreneurship have pointed at an increasing share of migrants in urban small- and medium-sized entrepreneurial businesses. These migrant activities are crucial to the urban economy in many countries, as they employ a significant part of the workforce. The main objective of our study is to identify success conditions of ethnic entrepreneurship by using concepts from social capital and human capital from the literature on empirical factors that are responsible for successful ethnic entrepreneurship. The empirical part of the paper is based on a survey questionnaire among migrant entrepreneurs in the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands and in Fairfax, County in the state of Virginia in the US. We present an overview of cultural, ethno-psychological and motivational aspects that contribute to the understanding of similarities and differences between ethnic entrepreneurs in both locations. The analysis is structured around several dimensions of social and human capital including personal and business characteristics, and network participation for improving business performance. The findings of the two studies are compared to explore a possible correspondence in business performance patterns. The research tool used to assess performance is Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a technique for comparative efficiency analysis in various types of corporate organizations. Finally, concluding remarks are presented and possible extensions of the analysis are suggested. © Springer-Verlag 2009

Assessment of subjective economic well-being in Italy

Using the European Survey on Income and Living Conditions for the year 2005, we analyze the subjective economic well-being and its determinants relating to some sub-groups of Italian households by means of an Ordered Logit Model (OLM), whose dependent variable is represented by a perception variable, that is the ability of households to make ends meet. The empirical results highlight that the main determinants of subjective economic well-being are the same for the four typologies of households. The subjective economic well-being is not only related to the economic status, but it is mostly influenced by socio-demographic variables, as work and education conditions. Furthermore, the level of subjective well-being of Italian households changes passing from a specific status of socio-demographic variable to another one