Richard T. Carson: Contingent valuation: a comprehensive bibliography and history

For those of us who have been involved in willingness to pay studies for some time, Contingent Valuation: A comprehensive bibliography and history by Richard Carson is a fascinating read, tracking the early development of the method and debates around it from an insider’s perspective. As someone who has not only been involved in contingent valuation research over many years, but who has also been instrumental in shaping it, Richard Carson is the ideal author of this carefully crafted book

Festival fringe production and the long tail

In the past 15 years, there has been a worldwide proliferation of arts festivals, including so-called "fringe" festivals, which encouraged more experimental and avant-garde productions. While fringe festival productions had the potential to generate significant income for producers, their aims were primarily related to artistic innovation and it is well known that putting on a fringe show is highly unlikely to provide financial gain for most producers. This is what is referred to in statistics and marketing as a "long tail" distribution, in which a minority of producers in a particular market earn the vast majority of industry income. However, for individual producers of live theatre, such a distribution represents high risks and potentially large financial losses. This article uses producer data from two different fringe festivals in South Africa to explore determinants of ticket sales and box-office income. Included in the analysis is a consideration of the impact of genre and pricing strategies on the probability (Logit model) of shows being in the top 10%, 30% and 50% of best-selling and earning productions. Results support the long tail hypothesis

The economic impact of Rhodes University students on the Grahamstown economy

From Executive Summary: This study compares the spending patterns and economic impact of three groups of Rhodes University students: South Africans (SA), Other Africans and students from the Rest of the World (RoW). Data was collected via self-completion questionnaires and the final sample size was 163. Despite differences in spending patterns, total spending was found to be remarkably similar across groups, the major differences being between those students in university residence and those in digs (rented accommodation in town). Total monthly spending for those in residence was highest for SA students (R1034), then Other Africans (R850) and finally RoW (R777). For those in digs, total monthly spending was very similar, but again highest for SA students (R2495), then RoW (R2480) and then students from Other African countries (R2461). SA students have a considerably lower average unearned income than other groups, with students from the RoW having the highest unearned income (R1060 for those in residence and R2300 for those in digs). However, 55% of SA students, compared to 47% of foreign students, have sources of earned income, usually related to the university. Monthly income also tended to be higher for SA students (R654) than for other groups (Other Africa = R557; RoW = R575). The general conclusion that can be drawn is that there is very little difference in total spending between groups, although SA students have a somewhat higher average than others. A straight line ordinary least squares regression showed that, holding all else constant, SA students spent on average R169 more per month than foreign students (significant at the 10% level)

Making rules to live by: Was the proposed regulatory regime for invasive species reasonable? Perceptions of the South African trout industry

Despite considerable economic impact of trout-based aquaculture and recreational fishing, the Department of Environmental Affairs has been focusing almost entirely on ecological criteria in deciding the regulatory regime for trout. We examined whether the proposed regulatory regime for alien and invasive species that was published by the Department of Environmental Affairs in 2014 for public comment was reasonable. The analysis produced factors that might matter in the design of reasonable institutional arrangements that impose a reasonable regulatory burden on economic sectors utilising invasive species. We conducted factor analysis using an online survey that we conducted between May and July 2014. We obtained four clusters of factors: participatory policymaking, people-centeredness, credible scientific evidence for listing species as invasive and contextualisation of international evidence. We then utilised the factors in a logistic regression framework to assess their influence on the probability of perceiving the regulations to be reasonable. The likelihood of a trout sector player perceiving the regulations to be reasonable was 1.2%. We found that a one standard deviation increase in the “credibility of scientific evidence” increased the odds of perceiving the regulations to be reasonable by 1645%. A one standard deviation increase in “participation” increased the odds of perceiving the regulations to be reasonable by 410%. A one standard deviation increase in “people-centeredness” increased the odds of perceiving the regulations to be reasonable by 600%. Lastly, a one standard deviation increase in the variable “contextualising international evidence” increased the odds of perceiving the regulations to be reasonable by 415%. This research demonstrates that properly addressing the socioeconomic aspects of new policies in addition to ecological criteria makes it far more likely that stakeholders will regard them as reasonable, even if the new policies impose increased regulatory transaction cost burden on users or reduced access to a resource

Richard T. Carson: Contingent valuation: a comprehensive bibliography and history

For those of us who have been involved in willingness to pay studies for some time, Contingent Valuation: A comprehensive bibliography and history by Richard Carson is a fascinating read, tracking the early development of the method and debates around it from an insider’s perspective. As someone who has not only been involved in contingent valuation research over many years, but who has also been instrumental in shaping it, Richard Carson is the ideal author of this carefully crafted book

Festival fringe production and the long tail

Publisher versionIn the past 15 years, there has been a worldwide proliferation of arts festivals, including so-called "fringe" festivals, which encouraged more experimental and avant-garde productions. While fringe festival productions had the potential to generate significant income for producers, their aims were primarily related to artistic innovation and it is well known that putting on a fringe show is highly unlikely to provide financial gain for most producers. This is what is referred to in statistics and marketing as a "long tail" distribution, in which a minority of producers in a particular market earn the vast majority of industry income. However, for individual producers of live theatre, such a distribution represents high risks and potentially large financial losses. This article uses producer data from two different fringe festivals in South Africa to explore determinants of ticket sales and box-office income. Included in the analysis is a consideration of the impact of genre and pricing strategies on the probability (Logit model) of shows being in the top 10%, 30% and 50% of best-selling and earning productions. Results support the long tail hypothesis

Flowering of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) is reduced by long photoperiods

Mature kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa ‘Hayward’) vines grown under standard orchard management were exposed to 16-h photoperiods from the longest day in summer until after leaf fall in autumn. Photoperiod extension was achieved with tungsten halogen lamps that produced 2–8 µmols m–2 s–1 photosynthetically active radiation. Long day treatments did not affect fruit dry matter or fruit weight at harvest during the growing season that the treatments were applied or during the following growing season. However, flowering was reduced by 22% during the spring following treatment application. As this reduction in flowering was not accompanied by a decrease in budbreak, the long day effect is not consistent with a delay in the onset of winter chilling. It is suggested therefore, that the observed reduction in flowering may be because of a diminution of floral evocation

Are arts events a good way of augmenting the economic impact of sport?: The case of the 2010 FIFA world cup and the national arts festival in South Africa

Despite the debate about whether arts consumers are also sports consumers, many countries have used cultural events to leverage further tourism spending from sports events, the most famous example being the cultural Olympics. This paper reports the findings of research conducted at the 2010 South African National Arts Festival, which was specifically timed to coincide with SoccerWorld Cup matches being played in a nearby city. Of the 600 interviews conducted with Festival-goers, only 23% reported also attending World Cup soccer matches. Regression analysis revealed that, while there is some overlap between arts and sports attendees, their demographics and consumption habits are significantly different. However, consumption outside of major events showed somewhat more overlap. This suggests that staging cultural events at the same time as major sporting events is not an ideal strategy, since they tend to compete with, rather than complement, each other