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The purpose of this paper is to add to the body of knowledge on the relationship between consumer behavior and environmental quality. The specific purpose is to gauge the predisposition of Hawaii residents to purchase a hybrid auto and their level of agreement to support legislation that improves ands protects environmental quality.

The research is a case study based on a literature review of relevant Hawaii, national, and international publications and a survey of Hawaii consumers. The survey is an exploratory study using a non‐random sample of 350 Hawaii residents identified as owners of non‐hybrid cars.

Regardless of age and gender, respondents agreed that they would purchase a hybrid car if the cost was the same as a traditional gas fueled car. There were significant correlations between agreement to purchase a hybrid car and agreement to support legislation that provides tax credits to consumers who purchased a hybrid car and other environmentally safe products, tax credits to companies that produce environmentally safe products, and penalties for government agencies, private organizations, and individuals who pollute the environment.

The paper is based on primary data from a survey of Hawaii consumers. Its content is not only valuable to people in the same field, but generates hypotheses for future research.

In the state of Hawaii, it has been shown that certain ethnic minority groups, such as Filipinos and Pacific Islanders, suffer disproportionally high rates of cardiovascular disease, evidence that local health-care systems and governing bodies fail to equally extend the human right to health to all. This study aims to examine whether these ethnic health disparities in cardiovascular disease persist even within an already globally disadvantaged group, the houseless population of Hawaii.

A retrospective chart review of records from Hawaii Houseless Outreach and Medical Education Project clinic sites from 2016 to 2020 was performed to gather patient demographics and reported histories of type II diabetes, obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and other cardiovascular disease diagnoses. Reported disease prevalence rates were compared between larger ethnic categories as well as ethnic subgroups.

Unexpectedly, the data revealed lower reported prevalence rates of most cardiometabolic diseases among the houseless compared to the general population. However, multiple ethnic health disparities were identified, including higher rates of diabetes and obesity among Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders and higher rates of hypertension among Filipinos and Asians overall. The findings suggest that even within a generally disadvantaged houseless population, disparities in health outcomes persist between ethnic groups and that ethnocultural considerations are just as important in caring for this vulnerable population.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study focusing on ethnic health disparities in cardiovascular disease and the structural processes that contribute to them, among a houseless population in the ethnically diverse state of Hawaii.

This paper examines the optimal use of tax incentives relating to the Hawaii sales, use and excise tax. While many states offer exemptions to these taxes, Hawaii is the only known state that ties its excise tax credit to the depreciation method used on the state income tax return. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to use the Hawaii business tax context to illustrate the complex trade-offs and year-by-year analyses that small businesses often must employ in the presence of shifting federal tax policy that indirectly influences state tax structures because of tax coupling. Federal and Hawaii taxpayers can elect to expense depreciable property using the 179 expensing provision or to depreciate using the modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS). We develop a model that will help non-corporate small businesses in Hawaii determine their optimal tax cost recovery strategy: (1) Utilize Hawaii Section 179 immediate expensing on purchases of tangible personal property, or alternatively (2) Employ MACRS depreciation on these purchases combined with the Hawaii Capital Goods Excise Credit. Our modeling separately considers the possibility that the proprietor jointly makes the federal and Hawaii cost recovery decision, as well as the alternative possibility that these cost recovery decisions are made independently.

The study illustrates that the interaction of federal and state law differences exacerbated by frequent tax changes may cause significant tax compliance complexity and resulting confusion for small non-corporate business taxpayers who are generally not equipped to wrestle with such issues. From a policy perspective, states may wish to minimize complexity using coupling efforts with federal law or otherwise routinely revisit outdated state tax statutes that indirectly cause unintended tax consequences. States must be cognizant, however, that their own budget constraints may worsen if they fully couple with recent generous federal Section 179 expensing limits.

A meta-evaluation is an assessment of evaluation practices. Meta-evaluations include assessments of validity and usefulness of two or more studies that focus on the same issues. Every performance audit is grounded explicitly or implicitly in one or more theories of program evaluation. A deep understanding of alternative theories of program evaluation is helpful to gain clarity about sound auditing practices. We present a review of several theories of program evaluation.

This study includes a meta-evaluation of seven government audits on the efficiency and effectiveness of tourism departments and programs. The seven tourism-marketing performance audits are program evaluations for: Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Minnesota, Australia, and two for Hawaii. The majority of these audits are negative performance assessments. Similarly, although these audits are more useful than none at all, the central conclusion of the meta-evaluation is that most of these audit reports are inadequate assessments. These audits are too limited in the issues examined; not sufficiently grounded in relevant evaluation theory and practice; and fail to include recommendations, that if implemented, would result in substantial increases in performance.

The present chapter includes a case study that describes and analyzes three performance audit reports over a three decade period for one U.S. state government's destination management organization's (DMO) actions and outcomes. This report extends prior studies (Woodside & Sakai, 2001, 2003) that support two conclusions: (1) the available independent performance audits of DMOs’ actions and outcomes indicate that frequently DMOs perform poorly and fail to meaningfully assess the impacts of their own actions and (2) the audits themselves are shallow and often fail to provide information on DMOs’ actions and outcomes relating to these organizations largest marketing expenditures. The chapter calls for embracing a strategy shift in designing program evaluations by both government departments responsible for managing destinations’ tourism marketing programs and all government auditing agencies in conducting future management performance audits. The chapter offers a “tourism performance audit template” as a tool for both strategic planning by destination management organizations and for evaluating DMOs’ planning and implementing strategies. The chapter includes an appendix – a training exercise in using the audit template and invites the reader to download a tourism performance audit report of a destination marketing organization and to apply the template after reading the report.

To advance knowledge and application of public and private coordination in the field of homeland security, disaster prevention and management.

A case study approach is utilized combined with a meta‐analysis and general literature review of relevant studies and secondary sources.

Hawaii's unique topography and geography has provided opportunities to experiment with new disaster prevention and management technologies and strategies of public and private sector coordination applicable to the Asia and Pacific region.

The analysis and synthesis of relevant studies relevant and sources from the Department of Defense (DoD) and federal, state and local agencies provide a comprehensive as well as unique context to explore and implement new strategies and improved methods of coordination in disaster prevention and management at the state, national and international level.

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain whether or not there are differences between college students in Alabama and Hawaii based on three questions: are students concerned about the present/future? What do students know about sustainability? Who is responsible for sustainability?

Two approaches were used to address these questions. First, a summary of sustainability efforts at universities in Alabama and Hawaii is provided. Second, a random sample of 406 undergraduate students at two universities in Alabama (n=258) and at a community college in Hawaii (n=148) were surveyed.

The data indicate that sustainable programs and practices are being implemented on a number of college campuses in Alabama and in Hawaii. Students surveyed in both states are concerned about wasteful consumption and pollution. Respondents' were similar in their self‐assessed knowledge about sustainability. Respondents were also similar in their views about who is responsible for sustainability. However, a consistently larger proportion of Hawaii respondents expressed concern for and willingness to participate in sustainable practices. So, there seems to be little or no “knowledge gap” when it comes to campus sustainability, but there does seem to be a “commitment gap.” Possible reasons for this are discussed.

Since the 1980s, many universities in the USA have elected to incorporate sustainability practices into campus development and day‐to‐day operations. They are now emerging as environmental leaders and innovators. An understanding of students' perceptions of sustainability may give insight into whether or not and how they are likely to engage in sustainable practices.

Micro-tipping point (MTP) theory includes the proposal that a specific stream of unconscious and conscious thoughts result in a go/no-go discretionary action in a given context (e.g., whether or not to visit a given destination in a given season or year involving particular persons being included or excluded from the trip; whether to buy a Ford, BMW, or Toyota). The specific stream represents a stream or conjunctive combination of thoughts-in-context that results in a tourist party actually taking the steps that include booking the trip and experiencing a destination first-hand. Building such contingency models that are applicable to real-life combinations of unconscious and conscious thinking requires collecting data from informants on both implicit and explicit beliefs, attitudes, and thinking rules relevant for a specific yes/no context. Chapter 14 illustrates applying the long interview for collecting such data and using quantitative comparative analysis for constructing MTP models.

The purpose of this paper is to present the University of Hawaii at Manoa's (UHM's) initiatives in achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions on campus and at the state level.

UHM has taken a “lead by example” approach to climate change mitigation in terms of working to meet the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, becoming a founding member of The Climate Registry, and providing university leadership in crafting the policy to meet Hawaii's Climate Change Solutions Act of 2007.

Universities are uniquely poised to play a role in not only climate change research, education, and community outreach, but also in the regional and national policy‐making arena. In the absence of federal legislation, states are paving the way to create binding US GHG reduction commitments – making crafting innovative and appropriate policy all the more important and meaningful at the state and regional levels.

The paper discusses the multi‐prong approach UHM is taking in addressing the threats of climate change: from on‐campus GHG measurements and reductions to helping guide overarching state policy.

Islands are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. UHM has taken a comprehensive approach to addressing climate change, from forming strategic partnerships with the electric utility, to developing campus and state GHG reduction strategies, to helping mobilize planning for impacts like sea‐level rise. This paper presents the efforts of UHM, including faculty, student and administration‐led projects, specifically illustrating the role of Universities in meeting GHG reduction commitments through a “lead by example” approach at both the university and state levels.

This report is primarily written for the purpose of showing the methods used in Hawaii