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Job Corps is the United State’s largest and most comprehensive training program for disadvantaged youth aged 16–24 years old. A randomized social experiment concluded that, on average, individuals benefited from the program in the form of higher weekly earnings and employment prospects. At the same time, “young adults” (ages 20–24) realized much higher impacts relative to “adolescents” (ages 16–19). Employing recent nonparametric bounds for causal mediation, we investigate whether these two groups’ disparate effects correspond to them benefiting differentially from distinct aspects of Job Corps, with a particular focus on the attainment of a degree (GED, high school, or vocational). We find that, for young adults, the part of the total effect of Job Corps on earnings (employment) that is due to attaining a degree within the program is at most 41% (32%) of the total effect, whereas for adolescents that part can account for up to 87% (100%) of the total effect. We also find evidence that the magnitude of the part of the effect of Job Corps on the outcomes that works through components of Job Corps other than degree attainment (e.g., social skills, job placement, residential services) is likely higher for young adults than for adolescents. That those other components likely play a more important role for young adults has policy implications for more effectively servicing participants. More generally, our results illustrate how researchers can learn about particular mechanisms of an intervention.

In a systemic approach, a ship is a system in which people and organizations interact directly and indirectly in all processes from construction, during the route and at the destination, throughout its useful life, until eventual scrapping or disposal process. The purpose of this paper is to take on the UN 2030 Agenda ‒ Goal 14 to propose a management model that meets environmental guidelines for assessing impacts caused by the cruise ships.

To verify the proposed model, a quantitative survey using non-probability purposive sampling was conducted among ports, environmental sustainability experts and ocean cruise companies. The empirical data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling.

Findings have confirmed five environmental requirements that shipping companies must manage on their cruise ships to meet Goal 14: input management, waste management, air quality, energy management and water management. Adopting and disseminating sustainable development models provides transparent information about actions taken and results of environmental management, and it may change the perception of the organization’s image, which is relevant to win and maintain environment-friendly customers, adding intangible value to the tourism product.

One of the limitations of the study is the research sample, especially ocean cruise companies, which can have biased results, as they are potential sources of environmental impacts. However, this was not the case, since the answers were similar to those of the other two groups surveyed.

The originality of the study is justified by researchers who argue that information provided by shipping companies on sustainability is very limited, as according to previous research, the convergence between strategy formulation model and environmental sustainability as a principle to be incorporated into the management of oceangoing vessels has not been studied.

The purpose of this paper is to show a bibliographical review of the applications of the MTS throughout the time and the different fields.

The Mahalanobis-Taguchi system (MTS) is an analytical method used for the diagnosis and/or pattern recognition of multivariate data for quantitative decision making.

Its scope is very broad, ranging from engineering, medicine, education, and manufacturing, among others. This work presents a classification of the literature in the following areas of the MTS: introduction of the method, cases of study/application, comparison with other methods, integration and development of the MTS with other methods, construction of Mahalanobis space, dimensional reduction and threshold establishment. It realized a wide search of the publications in magazines and congresses.

This paper is a summary of the main applications, contributions and changes to MTS.

The purpose of this paper is to address a new method to evaluate the competitiveness of tourist destinations based on competitive performance from the consumers’ perspective. The main objective is to assess the sources of relative strength and weakness perceived in a destination, and to evaluate its performance vis-à-vis to the main competitors identified by tourists through measurement indexes.

The strengths and weaknesses of the focal destination were identified by plotting 12 tourism-specific variables (attractors) and 12 business-related variables in importance-performance matrix (IPA) grids. The set of destinations identified as “the main competitors” were built according to the frequency they were mentioned, and the indicators of competitiveness were estimated by averaging variables representing dimensions identified by exploratory-confirmatory factor analysis. The variables were aggregated into dimensions to permit comparisons in relation to the main competitors.

The results suggest that tourism-specific variables converge to “tourist attractions” and “conviviality,” and that business-related variables converge into “accessibility,” “infrastructure” and “macrostructure.” The competitiveness against competition was evaluated twice: by using an IPA grid to evaluate competition against “all others,” and by comparing the factors of performance across the most cited competitors. The results show that the focal destination surpasses most of its main competitors in conviviality, but has some deficiencies in tourist attractions, and that dimensions representing the business-related variables fit in the middle.

The authors acknowledge that competitive performance, used as surrogate for competitiveness, is fairly limited once it does not consider the supply side potential forces that also influence the destination competitiveness (DC) at large. But although limited to the demand side, the proxy used to assess (DC) is in accordance with previous literature.

The results have high value to DMO managers, especially to those ones involved in developing tourism attractions.

This research advances over previous works: by identifying the nearest competitors of a destination; and by representing the competitive distance between the focal destination and its main competitors.

The purpose of this paper is to simulate a pseudo direct drive (PDD) by using permanent magnet arrays.

A 2D finite element model of the PDD was built. The static magnetic torque on air-gaps was obtained by Coulomb’s virtual work method using Ansys Maxwell software. To simulate the relative movement between input rotor and output rotor, two movement bands were applied.

The PDD’s torque relation was proved. The PDD simulated presents low cogging torque.

The manufacturing steps and materials applied in a construction of a coaxial magnetic gear, PDD’s main component, are presented.

The value of this paper is to present the numerical techniques applied to simulate a PDD and the manufacturing steps and materials applied in a construction of a coaxial magnetic gear.

Several studies have been made that analyze factors that affect the demand of tourism from several optics. This paper aims to study the factors that determine the demand for tourism in Mexico, through an econometric analysis, by using the Johansen cointegration model (1991) to determine the long-term elasticity between the demand of tourists and the wealth related to its main markets (the USA and Canada) and the relative prices in Mexico and its two main competitors (the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica).

The authors used econometric analysis using Johansen’s cointegration model (1991), using as a dependent variable the demand of tourists from the main countries of origin (the USA and Canada), taking as data the number of tourists by air in the period 1980-2015, according to information from the SIIMT. The independent variables are the relative wealth of the country of origin of the tourists (wealth of the tourist in Mexico concerning the wealth in their country of origin) and the relative prices of the destination country with respect to the country of competition. The source for per capita income and the consumer price index is the World Bank.

The results obtained in this document show that in the long-term the price is a factor of impact in the purchase decision of both markets analyzed. Presenting an elastic demand to the price, which implies that the market is sensitive to the variations of the price of tourist services, opting for the destination that offers better prices, with a higher sensitivity to the price when compared with Costa Rica. Coinciding with previous studies carried out in other tourist destinations, such as in the work of Patsouratis et al. (2005).

The main contribution of this work is to determine the long-term relationship, through a cointegration analysis of Johansen (1991). A methodology that has not been used to perform a competitive analysis between countries. Additionally, the present work uses variables different from those considered in previous works; the dependent variable is the demand of tourists from the main countries of origin (the USA and Canada) and as dependent variables the relative wealth of the country of origin of the tourists (Wealth of the tourist in Mexico with respect to wealth in their country of origin) and the relative prices of the destination country with respect to the country of competition.

This chapter is about an analysis and reflection on the actions, programs, and regulatory frameworks of the Mexican government for the promotion of entrepreneurial activity during the twentieth century. A documentary review is presented based mainly on the presidential reports available in the virtual legal library of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Center for Documentation, Information, and Analysis of the Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados), and various publications of experts on economic history, considering the twentieth century: from the year 1900 with the end of the Porfiriato until the six-year term of Ernesto Zedillo that ended in 2000. The public policies of these 100 years were reviewed and based on this, was analyzed the importance assigned to the creation, development, and consolidation of companies and their importance in public policies. Special emphasis is given to instruments for the creation of new businesses or the development and strengthening of small- and medium-sized enterprises.

The objective of this study is to analyze the experiences in wine tourism according to narratives shared by the visitors themselves. Furthermore, this study aims to examine the levels of intensity associated with these experiences within a wine destination, considering the segmentation of visitors.

This study uses a mixed-methods approach to analyze data, incorporating a deductive process followed by content analysis. Data collection procedures include a bibliographic review and a data survey conducted through netnography research to analyze 954 visitor reviews on TripAdvisor shared by visitors to Vale dos Vinhedos. Also, statistical analysis is performed to assess whether there are any significant variations in attribute citations among different market segmentation profiles.

The study’s discoveries indicate that there are no significant differences in intensity among profile segments for the dimensions of entertainment, aesthetics, educational and interactions, unlike escapism. The findings reveal that attributes such as “winery,” “wine,” “products and services” and “landscape” are essential for all visitors. In addition, the study shows that social interactions in the wine tourism destination are not as significant as previously assumed.

This research study constitutes a methodological advancement in the field of market segmentation using electronic word-of-mouth data. It provides crucial insights into the experiential nuances of the research locus and the varying degrees of these experiences in relation to visitor segmentation. Additionally, the contributions of this study are not only of theoretical importance but also hold practical implications for market segmentation strategies.