The Cepheid Phase Lag Revisited

We compute the phase lags between the radial velocity curves and the light curves $\Delta \Phi_1= \phi^{V_r}_1 - \phi^{mag}_1$ for classical Cepheid model sequences both in the linear and the nonlinear regimes. The nonlinear phase lags generally fall below the linear ones except for high period models where they lie above, and of course for low pulsation amplitudes where the two merge. The calculated phase lags show good agreement with the available observational data of normal amplitude Galactic Cepheids. The metallicity has but a moderate effect on the phase lag, while the mass-luminosity relation and the parameters of the turbulent convective model (time-dependent mixing length) mainly influence the modal selection and the period, which is then reflected in the period -- $\Delta \Phi_1$ diagram. We discuss the potential application of this observable as a discriminant for pulsation modes and as a test for ultra-low amplitudes (ULA) pulsation.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ, minor revisions in the text and figures, (black and white version available from 2nd author's website

V39: an unusual object in the field of IC 1613

The variable star V39 in the field of IC 1613 is discussed in the light of the available photometric and new spectroscopic data. It has strong emission Balmer lines, and the observed characteristics could be explained by a W Vir pulsating star with a period of 14.341 d, located at more than 115 kpc, that is in the very outer halo of our Galaxy. It should have an apparent companion, a long period (1118d) red variable, belonging to IC 1613. The main uncertainty in this interpretation is an emission feature at 668.4 nm, which we tentatively identified as a He I line.Comment: 5 pages; accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

The ‘Right’ Price for Art Collectibles. A Quantile Hedonic Regression Investigation of Picasso Paintings

Different art objects are likely to be priced by means of different systems of hedonic characteristics; more precisely, different evaluation procedures for high and low price items are often postulated. However, the empirical evidence on this point is scant. The main purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by using the quantile hedonic regression approach. The empirical evidence, based on a data set of 716 Picasso paintings sold at auction worldwide, highlights the critical role of the price classes in determining the evaluation criteria of art items.hedonic price; auction; quantile regression; painting; Picasso

Assessing visitor satisfaction with tourism rejuvenation policies: the case of Rimini, Italy.

In this paper we assess the appeal of potential interventions on the tourism offer of Rimini, a popular Italian seaside holiday destination, by means of a choice modelling analysis. Tourism can be viewed as a composite good, its overall utility depending on the arrangement of the component characteristics. Our discrete choice experiments incorporate as attributes a number of possible changes to current tourist activities (the subject of public debate), including them in hypothetical alternative holiday packages. The conditional logit analysis indicates that tourists show lesser preference for interventions aimed at protecting the environmental integrity of the beach and greater preference for those, such as the creation of a pedestrianised seafront with late-night opening of amenities and facilities, that are likely to diminish the role of the traditional sea, sun and sand component of the overall holiday experience.

The Economics of Local Tourist Systems

In this paper we analyse the Local Tourist System (LTS) as a particular case of Marshallian Industrial District. The LTS allows the identification of more effective policy tools for managing tourism. First, through the concept of LTS, the policy maker can take into account the complexity of tourism, characterised by a strong heterogeneity of goods, services and subjects involved; second, LTS helps promote a stronger co-ordination between the public and the private sector, by identifying a homogeneous territory and recognising its importance in tourists' decisions; third, through the LTS the policymaker can analyze the externalities and promotes the idea of collaborating networks in a context of local development. In the LTS framework, the anticommon problem can be analysed and contrasted. As the tourist has to buy different but intertwined goods which compose the holiday package, the failure in one of the markets can lead to the overall failure of the package. A LTS policy has to: i) co-ordinate the price policy of the different firms supplying “single components” of the tourist product; ii) fix the price of the whole product; iii) impute a price to each component. We demonstrate that, through price policy co-ordination and under general conditions, the LTS can increase the size of tourism and the firms’ profits, thereby reaching a more effective and efficient target in tourism policy. The recent introduction of LTS in the Italian legislation can be seen as a positive attempt of improving co-ordination in a complex sector such as tourism.Local tourist systems, Tourism policy