National and urban public policy agenda in tourism. Towards the emergence of a hyperneoliberal script?

Following the 2007–2009 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), some national governments have been pursuing a counter-reform of the public sector characterised by further policy centralisation and the ‘hollowing out’ of regional authorities. Public expenditure and sovereign public debt reductions have become the pretext for the implementation of hyperneoliberal development agendas aimed at the attraction of inward capitals and a further ‘competitive’ repositioning of major cities within a global market. Tourism and the visitor economy have been used as leverage for the attraction of capital and skilled people in the long-term development strategies of cities. This article illustrates how crises have led the way in the recent restructuring of the public sector and of destination management organisations (DMOs) in particular. Findings from national and urban development strategies recently implemented in New Zealand suggest a strong, market-driven agenda that follows a hyperneoliberal script

From governance to meta-governance in tourism?: Re-incorporating politics,interests and values in the analysis of tourism governance

Despite its theorization in the political and policy sciences in the early 1990s, the concept of metagovernance has gained relatively little recognition in tourism studies. Nevertheless, its significance in the political sciences and policy literature, especially as a result of the perceived failure of governance systems following the recent global financial crisis, has only served to reinforce its relevance. Metagovernance addresses some of the perceived failures of traditional governance approaches and associated interventions, and has enabled the understanding of central-state led regimes of shadowed hierarchical authorities and local-level micro-practices of social innovation and self-government. In contrast, tourism studies have tended to restrict study of the political dimension of tourism governance and the role of the state under the traditional parallelism between government and governance. Examination of how governance is itself governed enables a better understanding of the practices of planning and policy making affecting tourism and destinations. In particular, the applications of concepts of governance are inextricably linked to a given set of value assumptions which predetermine the range of its application. A short example of the application of the metagovernance paradigm is provided from the New Zealand context. It is concluded that governance mechanisms are not value-neutral and instead serve to highlight the allocation of power in a destination and the dominance of particular values and interests

Historical Statistics of the United States Chapter on Voluntary, Nonprofit, and Religious Entities and Activities: Underlying Concepts, Concerns, and Opportunities

This paper is a draft of the introduction to the chapter on voluntary, nonprofit, and religious entities and activities slated to appear in the Millennial Edition of Historical Statistics of the United States (forthcoming, Cambridge University Press). Conceding the various problematic definitions of the "nonprofit sector," the essay offers a rationale for the broadly inclusive approach to the selection of historical statistics of institutions and activities presented in the chapter. In addition, it reviews the challenges and opportunities for researchers working on the statistical aspects of nonprofit, voluntary, and religious organizations. The essay includes samples of the statistical series that will appear in HSUS.This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 14. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers

A Survival Analysis of Australian Equity Mutual Funds

Determining which types of mutual (or managed) investment funds are good financial investments is complicated by potential surbivorship biases. This project adds to a small recent international literature on the patterns and determinants of mutual fund survivorship. We use statistical techniques for survival data that are rarely applied in finance. Of specific interest is the hazard rate of fund closure, which gives the variation over time in the conditional probability of fund closure given fund survival to date. For a sample of 251 retail investment funds in Australia from 1980 to 1999 we identify a hump-shaped hazard function that reaches its maximum after about five or six years, a pattern similar to the UK findings of Lunde, Timmermann and Blake (1999). We also consider the impact of monthly and annual fund performance (gross and relative to a market benchmark). Returns relative to the benckmark are much more important than gross returns, with hgiher relative returns associated with lower hazard of fund closure. There appears to be an asymmetric response to performance, with positive shocks having a larger impact on the hazard rate than negative shocks.mutual funds; survivorship bias; duration analysis; cox regression

Hedonists, Ladies and Larrikins: Crime, Prostitution and the 1987 America\u27s Cup

This article examines crime and prostitution within the context of the hosting of a hallmark tourist event--the 1987 America\u27s Cup Defence in Fremantle, Western Australia. Although there are substantial difficulties in undertaking research on prostitution, the authors observe there was a substantial increase in prostitution in the Perth metropolitan area during the Cup defence. Similarly, official police statistics indicate that criminal activity was also affected by the hosting of the Cup. However, evidence also suggests that the Cup may have contributed to a more permanent impact on social mores and the expression of anti-social behaviour in Perth and Fremantle

Underreamer mechanics

In the oil and gas industry, an underreamer is a tool used to extend and enlarge the diameter of a previously-drilled bore. The problem proposed to the Study Group is to obtain appropriate mathematical models of underreamer dynamics, in forms that will lead to feasible computation. The modes of dynamics of interest are torsional, lateral and axial. This report describes some initial models, two of which are developed in more detail: one for the propagation of torsional waves along the drill string and their reflection from contact points with the well bore; and one for the dynamic coupling between the underreamer and the drill bit during drilling

²¹⁰Pb- ²²⁶Ra chronology reveals rapid growth rate of Madrepora oculata and Lophelia pertusa on world's largest cold-water coral reef

Here we show the use of the 210Pb- 226Ra excess method to determine the growth rate of two corals from the world's largest known cold-water coral reef, Røst Reef, north of the Arctic circle off Norway. Colonies of each of the two species that build the reef, Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata, were collected alive at 350 m depth using a submersible. Pb and Ra isotopes were measured along the major growth axis of both specimens using low level alpha and gamma spectrometry and trace element compositions were studied. 210Pb and 226Ra differ in the way they are incorporated into coral skeletons. Hence, to assess growth rates, we considered the exponential decrease of initially incorporated 210Pb, as well as the increase in 210Pb from the decay of 226Ra and contamination with 210Pb associated with Mn-Fe coatings that we were unable to remove completely from the oldest parts of the skeletons. 226Ra activity was similar in both coral species, so, assuming constant uptake of 210Pb through time, we used the 210Pb- 226Ra chronology to calculate growth rates. The 45.5 cm long branch of M. oculata was 31 yr with an average linear growth rate of 14.4 ± 1.1 mm yr -1 (2.6 polyps per year). Despite cleaning, a correction for Mn-Fe oxide contamination was required for the oldest part of the colony; this correction corroborated our radiocarbon date of 40 yr and a mean growth rate of 2 polyps yr -1. This rate is similar to the one obtained in aquarium experiments under optimal growth conditions. For the 80 cm-long L. pertusa colony, metal-oxide contamination remained in both the middle and basal part of the coral skeleton despite cleaning, inhibiting similar age and growth rate estimates. The youngest part of the colony was free of metal oxides and this 15 cm section had an estimated a growth rate of 8 mm yr -1, with high uncertainty (∼1 polyp every two to three years). We are less certain of this 210Pb growth rate estimate which is within the lowermost ranges of previous growth rate estimates. We show that 210Pb- 226Ra dating can be successfully applied to determine the age and growth rate of framework-forming cold-water corals if Mn-Fe oxide deposits can be removed. Where metal oxides can be removed, large M. oculata and L. pertusa skeletons provide archives for studies of intermediate water masses with an up to annual time resolution and spanning over many decades. © 2012 Author(s)

Some aspects of the ecological structure of a segmented barrier lagoon system with particular reference to the distribution of fishes

The Wilderness lakes system represents a segmented barrier lagoon and comprises three interconnected lakes; Rondevlei, Langvlei and Eilandvlei. The latter is further linked by the Serpentine channel to the Touw river and Wilderness lagoon. The role of these channels, as well as a sluice in the Serpentine, in structuring certain aspects of the ecology of the system was investigated. An analysis of the salt budget of the lakes suggests that the Serpentine dampens tidaI processes to such an extent that they play only a minor role in the overall budget. Furthermore, the channel between Eilandvlei and Langvlei prevents any tidal salt input to the upper lakes. Their estuarine environments are however maintained by salt inputs which occur when the mouth is closed. This unusual phenemenon means that the sluice may have a minimal effect on the salt budget of the system because it is only closed when the mouth of the lagoon is open. Environmental conditions in each of the lakes, the Touw river and Wilderness lagoon were compared in terms of their physico-chemical characteristics and submerged macrophyte communities. A principal components analysis suggests that the physico-chemical environment of each lake is similar. The Touw river however has a very different environment, whilst that of Wilderness lagoon has some similarities to both the lakes and the river. During the study macrophyte communities recovered from a major recession which occurred between 1979 and 1981 . Biomasses in excess of 1000g m⁻² were recorded in both Langvlei and Eilandvlei. In the latter however, macrophyte growth was less prolific than in the former, as some areas of the littoral supported no growth at all. Macrophyte encroachment in the channels is a major factor inhibiting water flow between the lakes. This encroachment is most severe in the Eilandvlei/Langvlei channel where macrophytes covered 80% of the channel's area.The dominant fish fauna throughout the system is composed of a marine/estuarine migratory component. In the lakes the Mugilidae and Sparidae are the most common families, whilst in the lagoon and Touw river predators such as Lichia amia and Argyrosomus hololepidotus also commonly occur. Eilandvlei serves as the initial nursery area for most migratory species. An estimated 52000 fish migrated up the Serpentine towards Eilandvlei during February 1984 . Most fish do not penetrate as far as Langvlei, and this can be related to macrophyte encroachment in the Eilandvlei/Langvlei channel. However, it is argued that should this channel be dredged and the macrophytes removed, the nursery potential of the system would not be greatly enhanced . This is because environmental heterogeneity, in association with an abundance of food in Eilandvlei, make this lake the most attractive nursery area to juvenile marine/estuarine fish