nep-tur New Economics Papers
on Tourism Economics
Issue of 2009‒03‒07
three papers chosen by
Antonello Scorcu
University of Bologna

  1. Foreign informational lobbying can enhance tourism : evidence from the Caribbean By Gawande, Kishore; Maloney, William; Montes Rojas, Gabriel V.
  2. Understanding the implementation of e-business strategies: Evidence from Luxembourg By Martin, Ludivine
  3. Can payments for watershed services help save biodiversity? A spatial analysis of highland Guatemala By Pagiola, Stefano; Zhang, Wei; Colom, Ale

  1. By: Gawande, Kishore; Maloney, William; Montes Rojas, Gabriel V.
    Abstract: There exist legal channels for informational lobbying of U.S. policymakers by foreign principals. Foreign governments and private sector principals frequently and intensively use this institutional channel to lobby on trade and tourism issues. This paper empirically studies whether such lobbying effectively achieves its goal of trade promotion in the context of Caribbean tourism, and suggests the potential for using foreign lobbying as a vehicle for development. Panel data are used to explore and quantify the association between foreign lobbying by Caribbean principals and U.S. tourist arrivals to Caribbean destinations. A variety of sensitivity analyses support the finding of a strong association. The policy implications are obvious and potentially important for developing countries.
    Keywords: Trade Policy,Public Sector Corruption&Anticorruption Measures,Tourism and Ecotourism,Debt Markets,Economic Theory&Research
    Date: 2009–02–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4834&r=tur
  2. By: Martin, Ludivine
    Abstract: Our empirical study aims at identifying the drivers of the implementation of an e-business strategy by firms located in Luxembourg. The setting up of such a strategy is apprehended through the website and the type of strategy through the functionalities available on the Internet. Thus we distinguish an information-oriented strategy from a commercially oriented one. Probit analyses and models derived from count data models are conducted on a dataset of website investments by about 1100 firms located in Luxembourg. Our results show that the sale of online fashionable products like tourism, the ownership of a well-known brand and the follow-up of rivals' behaviours are highly significant determinants of the adoption and development of an e-business strategy. Financial, human and technological resources seem to favour the adoption of such a strategy but have no significant influence on the choice of the strategy pursued. Moreover the use of technologies that make the business process more flexible, public actions that diffuse best practices concerning technologies adoption and being the leader on the market are specific drivers of the deployment of an e-business strategy. Finally, an intense perceived competition negatively influences the decision to invest heavily in e-commerce.
    Keywords: e-business strategies; website adoption and investment; right truncated Poisson regression
    JEL: L21 O33 L86
    Date: 2009–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:13645&r=tur
  3. By: Pagiola, Stefano; Zhang, Wei; Colom, Ale
    Abstract: Payments for environmental services (PES) are a promising mechanism for conservation. PES could either provide additional funding for protected areas, pay land users to conserve biodiversity outside protected areas, or both. For PES to work, it requires a secure long-term source of financing. Obtaining payments directly for biodiversity conservation is difficult, however. In most cases, water users are the most likely such source, either directly or indirectly. Thus the potential for PES to help conserve biodiversity depends, in a large measure, on the degree to which areas of interest for conservation of water services overlap with areas of interest for conservation of biodiversity. This paper examines the extent of such overlap in the case of highland Guatemala. The results show that this potential varies substantially within the country, with some biodiversity conservation priority areas having very good potential for receiving payments, and others little or none. Overall, about a quarter of all biodiversity conservation priority areas have potential for receiving payments. Thus PES is far from being a silver bullet for biodiversity conservation, but it can make a meaningful contribution to this objective.
    Keywords: payments for environmental services; pes; watershed; biodiversity
    JEL: Q25 Q57
    Date: 2009–01–28
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:13728&r=tur

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