Staying Power: What Influences Micro-firm Survival in Tourism?

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how previous experience and location of entrepreneurs influence the survival of new tourism firms. The paper departs from recent evolutionary economic geography advancements, highlighting the importance of routines and skills as well as location-specific knowledge for firm success. While having been well-researched for manufacturing industries characterized by high entry barriers, little knowledge is currently available on the factors influencing survival rates in service sectors with low entry barriers. A quantitative approach applies hazard models to investigate the survival rates over a seven-year period of a total of 133 new micro-tourism firms started between 1999 and 2001 in the four northernmost counties of Sweden. The geo-referenced micro-database ASTRID links information on firm features (e.g. firm births and deaths, spatial coordinates and industry codes) to characteristics of entrepreneurs (e.g. age, education, previous experience). The main finding is that entrepreneurs with previous work experience in related sectors are more likely to survive and, in this case, entrepreneurs without local experience tend to be less successful. We find no evidence that new firms operating in regions specialized in tourism have a survival advantage. Our analysis also indicates that surviving firms improve performance over time. The paper thus contributes new knowledge on the determinants of micro-firm survival in tourism.     

High‐Resolution 3D Marine Seismic Investigation of Hedeby Harbour,Germany

Offshore 3D‐seismic acquisition has been a standard for high‐precision structural imaging in the oil and gas industry for many years. Recently this technique has been adapted by only a few teams to the resolution required for archaeological marine investigation. In contrast to sonar techniques, the 3D‐seismic method produces images below the sea‐floor. We investigate the harbour of the Viking age proto‐town of Hedeby in Northern Germany with the SEAMAP‐3D system. SEAMAP‐3D allows for rapid acquisition and employs an automated data processing sequence. We observe a wealth of archaeologically relevant detail and compare our results with previous work.     

Some notes on water supply in South India

This Article investigates the assertion by many Indian agronomists that methods of water management advocated by various Research Institutes are not being applied in the field. The sample village studies on the coastal plain around Madras and in the Cumbum Valley to the West of Madurai were carried out in 1969. Particular reference is also made to the Coimbatore Agricultural Research Centre in Tamilnad and the value of informed leadership in the villages of South India. “Although India can boast of her gigantic feats in the storage of water for irrigation and the distribution thereof in well planned channel systems, her performance in the actual application within the field continues to be outdated”. — (A. P. Bhattacharya¹).     

我国旅游服务业营业税改增值税的影响机理及影响状况研究

营业税改增值税是我国实施结构性减税政策的重要改革方向。上海已经开始试点,试点范围将由上海市分批扩大至北京、天津、江苏、浙江、安徽、福建、湖北、广东、厦门和深圳10个省、直辖市、计划单列市,并将选择部分行业在全国范围试点。未来,营业税改增值税很可能向旅游服务业推广。在上述背景下,需要研究下列前沿性理论问题：我国旅游服务业营业税改增值税的影响机理是什么？我国旅游服务业营业税改增值税的影响状况是什么？本文运用不同税收特点及影响分析理论,探讨了我国旅游服务业营业税改增值税的影响机理,并通过对上海典型旅游企业的调查研究,分析了我国旅游服务业营业税改增值税的影响特点与影响状况。针对我国旅游服务业营业税改增值税的影响特点与状况,提出了我国旅游服务业营业税改增值税税率与存量固定资产进项税抵扣等的建议。     

武汉市养老设施空间可达性分析

基于Arcgis平台,以第六次人口普查数据为基础,以乡镇街道为分析单元,采用具有不同有效服务半径的改进的潜能模型对武汉市养老设施空间可达性进行测算。结果表明,改进的潜能模型能合理地评价武汉市养老设施空间可达性,有效判断养老设施稀缺程度;养老设施空间可达性从武汉市东南地区向四周逐渐递减;距市中心越远,乡镇街道养老设施空间可达性越低。文章直观揭示武汉市各乡镇街道养老设施空间可达性差异,有效判别武汉市各乡镇街道养老设施稀缺程度,为养老设施空间配置、优化布局提供科学依据。     

基于入境游客感知的中国旅游服务质量演进特征和影响机制

入境游客感知的旅游服务质量是影响入境旅游规模、衡量我国国际旅游竞争力的重要因素。本研究利用历史统计资料、问卷调查数据和结构方程模型方法分析了基于入境游客感知的中国旅游服务质量演进特征和影响机制。研究发现:1990-2012年入境游客对中国旅游服务质量的评价呈现"初步改善-大幅提升-提升趋缓"的趋势,旅游服务质量仍滞后于入境游客不断增长的需求,交通业、旅行社业、旅游公共服务等行业服务质量不高是主要制约因素。从内在影响机制看,入境游客对旅游服务质量比国内游客更为敏感,对入境游客满意度影响最大的因素是各行业服务和旅游公共服务,此外,旅游地形象对于入境游客的感知质量也有很大影响,旅游地形象、游客感知质量和游客满意度最终将影响入境游客的忠诚度,但旅游价格并不是影响入境游客满意度和忠诚度的主要因素。     

城市防灾避难空间安全性的评价——以北京市紧急避难场所为例

本文以城市防灾空间的关键要素-紧急避难场所为切入点,通过NDVI指数法从遥感图像中解译出适合作为紧急避难场所的绿地。同时,结合人口统计数据,利用GIS空间分析,对北京市城六区紧急避难场所的服务距离、覆盖率、人均避难面积等关键参数进行了测算。此外,研究在望京地区,通过实地调查以及问卷调查等方式,深入研究了影响居民避难行为的关键因素。结果表明:避难者的性别,年龄,避难的宣传教育,及避难标识系统等对避难者的成功避难起到了关键作用。据此,研究提出提升紧急避难场所服务水平的规划建议。     

北京金融服务业空间格局及模式研究

利用北京行政区域界限基础地理底图及相关统计年鉴,通过GIS技术及INTERNET查询、调研等途径,将北京行政区内银行、保险、证券及其他金融服务业网点机构进行矢量化。借助区位熵、均匀度指数和空间缓冲区分析,测度北京金融服务业空间分布特征,结果显示:①北京市金融服务业,特别是保险和证券服务业主要集中在中心区和郊区内沿,空间上呈现出以金融街、中央商务区所在的中心区为核心,其他区县(政府所在地)为外围的"核心-外围"结构;②中心区内金融服务业空间布局相对均匀,三环和四环之间金融机构分布较多,与国外大都市服务业的"单中心集聚,总体扩散"区位特征基本相同;③不同类型金融机构空间布局差异较大,各金融机构总部集中在金融街布局,中国人民银行集中布局在金融街-前门广场东西路上,呈线状布局,证券在北二环和北四环之间相对集中,保险服务业相对分散。④以金融街为中心作缓冲区多边形,间隔距离为2km,做10个缓冲区,发现在0-2km内服务网点机构密度最大,6-8km和8-10km内机构数量最多。⑤金融服务业空间布局模式多样化。     

服务导向的组织公民行为

旅游企业员工服务导向的组织公民行为对顾客的满意感有重大的影响。旅游企业应做好员工选聘、入职培训、业绩考核、奖励、员工福利、授权等方面的管理工作,促使员工认同企业服务导向的价值观念,与企业建立长期互信的社会交换关系,增强员工的受权意识,激励员工表现服务导向的组织公民行为,为游客提供优质的服务。     

我国对外劳务输出现状与对策

对外劳务输出有利于增加外汇收入、缓解就业压力、培养锻炼人才 ,也有利于减轻我国环境和生态压力 ,减少非法移民。我国具有发展对外劳务输出的巨大潜力和广阔前景。在扩大对外劳务输出方面 ,除了要加强立法 ,规范管理 ,多渠道改善我国对外劳务输出环境和政策外 ,也要充分利用海外华侨华人的优势和世界华商网络的功能 ,并发挥地方及边境各少数民族在劳务输出方面的优势。