Are Australia's tourism markets converging?

In this paper we make an important contribution towards understanding Australia's tourism industry by examining whether or not Australia's tourism markets are converging. We define convergence as the reduction in tourist arrivals' differential, which is calculated as the difference between total visitor arrivals to a country and visitor arrivals from a particular tourist source market. We analyze Australia's thirteen major tourist source markets using monthly data over the period January 1991 to September 2003. To test for convergence, we use the univariate and panel Lagrange multiplier (LM) tests. Our main finding is that when we allow for two structural breaks in the data series, both univariate and panel LM tests provide strong evidence for convergence of Australia's tourism markets. This implies that policies aimed at attracting visitor arrivals from any one of Australia's thirteen tourist source markets will boost the volume of tourists coming into the country.

Tourism and economic growth

This thesis analyses the economic impact of international tourism on society. It is found that while tourism has the potential to add to national wellbeing through the opportunities created for trade, it has the potential to have complex distributional implications. These distributional implications call for carefull policy development by governments.

A dynamic model of tourism, employment and welfare: the case of Hong Kong

The present paper uses a dynamic open-economy model with wage indexation to examine the impact of tourism on employment and welfare. Both short-run and long-run situations are analysed. It is well known that tourism converts non-traded goods into tradable goods. An increase in the demand for a non-traded good raises its relative price, which results in an expansion of the non-traded sector at the expense of the traded goods sector. This output shift raises labour employment in the short run. However, in the long run, the higher relative price leads to higher wages, resulting in a negative impact on labour employment. If the output effect is dominant, the expansion in tourism raises employment and welfare. However, under realistic conditions tourism may lower both labour employment and welfare due to rising costs. These results are demonstrated by simulating a dynamic model for the case of Hong Kong.

Quotas, spillovers, and the transfer paradox in an economy with tourism

This paper examines the welfare implications of quotas for an economy that is small in terms of traditionally traded goods and has monopoly power over the trade of goods consumed by tourists. Inbound tourism converts local nontraded goods into tradable goods, creating a tourism terms-of-trade effect for the touristreceiving economy. Through this effect, quotas result in a spillover to the nontraded sector. Hence, in the presence of tourism, the traditional free-trade prescription for the small open economy is no longer valid. This lends support to the setting of import quotas. Using the optimal quota as a benchmark, we further examine the welfare effect of tied aid. If tied aid brings about an excessive supply of importable goods, then the transfer paradox of the immiserization of the tourist- receiving economy may occur.

Visitor loyalty in sport tourism: an empirical investigation

This paper reports research regarding the relationship between consumer loyalty, satisfaction,and novelty seeking, including an analysis of these constructs as reflected in the published literature. A telephone survey was conducted of 500 city residents, focusing on their visitation of special events, including sporting events. It was found that satisfaction was somewhat positively related to interest in attending the same sporting event, and the intention to actually visit the sporting event again. However, novelty seeking was virtually unrelated to both interest in attending the same sporting event, and the intention to actually visit the sporting event, and unrelated to satisfaction. Novelty seeking in general, or in relation to special events particularly,performed similarly as a predictor. Further research is needed to clarify the role of other moderating variables, such as the feeling of involvement in sporting events, and to investigate segmentation aspects which might be operating in relation to specific sporting events and tourists.

Tourism and regional immiserization

This paper analyzes the consequences of tourism in rural and urban areas on regional incomes, welfare and urban unemployment using a generalized Harris Todaro model. In this model two urban and two rural goods are produced. A distinguishing characteristic of this model is that the urban non-traded good is not consumed in the rural region and, similarly, the rural non-traded good is not consumed in the urban region. The most important result we obtain is that a tourist boom in the urban region may immiserize the rural area. Hence the welfare interests of rural and urban consumers may be in conflict as a result of tourist expansion in the urban region.

Tourism, taxes and immiserization: A trade theoretic analysis

Many countries promote tourism as a device for earning foreign exchange and promoting domestic welfare and growth. In all these countries the non-traded goods (internationally not traded) are consumed by both domestic residents and tourists. It is well known that the relative price of non-traded goods and services is determined in the local market – hence the tourist demand results in monopoly power in trade for the host country. We use a very simple two-country model to demonstrate the specific nature of the offer curve and the trade equilibrium and the difficulties of taxation.

Tourism, guest workers, and resident immiserization

This paper analyses the impact of a boom in tourism on the welfare of the residents in the presence of guest workers. Guest workers are employed in the tourism industry and they consume non-traded goods and services. This consumption by guest workers converts non-traded goods into
exportables and creates guest worker generated monopoly power in trade in the home country. It is established that under certain plausible conditions a tourist boom (in the presence of guest workers) results in the immiserization of the resident population. This result arises due to an adverse movement in the terms-of-trade, specifically those associated with the guest workers consumption of non-traded goods. These results are based on a static model of trade and may not be necessarily
valid in a growth model with guest workers, tourism and labor shortages. It is not the object of the paper to be either anti-tourism or anti-guest worker, but only to show a possible source of resident immiserization that is associated with guest workers. This possibility may require correction via a suitable policy both in static and dynamic models.

Literacy, technology and the economics of attention

This article is based on a project aimed at generating practical suggestions based on research findings about how new technologies might be used to enhance L1 literacy attainment in disadvantagedsettings. The project involved designing,implementing and researching an innovative approach to curriculum and pedagogy using new digital technologies in language and literacy education within classroom settings involving small groups of "disadvantaged'' learners. The paper reports activity and findings from one of four study sites. It focuses on four Grade 9 boys seen by their teachers as troublemakers and at risk of failing in English. The researchers draw on current conceptual and theoretical work associated with the emergence of an Attention Economy theory to design a collaborative activity around constructing a website, and to identify and analyse positive literacy learning outcomes associated with the pedagogical approach taken. The authors show how this new perspective on attention informs a critique of conventional approaches to school organization and classroom learning, and how it can be used to envisage alternative approaches to understanding and teaching students who display literacy learning difficulties at school.

Zipf`s law strikes again : the case of tourism

This paper examines the applicability of Zipf's law to tourism. It is established that a variation of this law holds in this case - a rank-size rule with concavity. Due to this non-linearity, it is shown that a spline regression provides an extremely convenient tool for predicting tourist arrivals in a country. The concavity is explained by appealing to random growth theory (lognormal distribution; Gibrat's law) and locational fundamentals.

Towards a market oriented approach: employer requirements and implications for undergraduate economics programs

The decline in enrolments in economics degrees and majors has been the focus of much concern in recent times. In 2001, two of the current researchers published a paper outlining a framework with which future investigation into this issue could be conducted. Essentially this paper argued that a market oriented approach, which takes into account the value students and employers place on economics studies may point the way to a solution to the problem. As a first step in developing such an approach it is necessary to determine what employers require of the economics graduates they hire. A survey was conducted in 2002. This paper presents the results of this survey and discusses some of the ramifications for the teaching of undergraduate economics.

Analysis of the potential and problems of new institutional economics for third world development

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to provide a critical evaluation of the potential of new institutional economics (NIE) in third world development.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews various theories under NIE from both conceptual and empirical perspectives. It then reviews the various definitions of institutions and show that institutions are essential to overcome problems of information and uncertainty.

Findings – The review finds that weak institutions can undermine development and hence governments in developing countries should strengthen their institutions to provide greater scope for efficient functioning of markets. Where the market does not work owing to high transactions costs, traditional institutions of collective action and group decision making can work and hence need to be recognised.

Research limitations/implications – The major implications of the paper is that in developing countries, a clear understanding of various institutions such as user groups, inter-linked credit markets, rotational irrigation etc. is needed before they are replaced or modified by other institutions. The main limitations of NIE are that there can be capture by elites of various institutional innovations in rural areas, and that it does not explicitly consider income distribution and uncertainty which are glossed over and hence remain areas for future research.

Originality/value – This paper critically reviews the various institutional environments that developing countries face in addressing development issues.