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11 – 20 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 1 March 2006

Stephen N.G. Davies

The purpose of this paper is to outline the intellectual pre‐conditions for meaningful debate about resource management of the sea and its contents.

1557

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to outline the intellectual pre‐conditions for meaningful debate about resource management of the sea and its contents.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is historical and theoretical.

Findings

The argument contends that because of the social and historical status of the sea and those who earn their living from it, comprehensive and accurate knowledge of the sea and its depths is conspicuously lacking, as is a sympathetic understanding. Historically, this has led, where attempts to manage the sea's resources are concerned, to a misconceived application of terrestrial legal concepts and approaches to an indivisible whole upon which, as a whole, Life itself depends.

Practical implications

If the argument is correct, piecemeal local, national and regional attempts to manage marine resources may prove unable to achieve what is intended and may be counter‐productive. Such smaller‐scale regulation must depend on prior global agreement on marine resource management principles.

Originality/value

The paper attempts to lay out the broad framework within which alone constructive discussion of marine resource management is possible.

Details

Property Management, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2006

Marco K.W. Yu

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of social discount rates on the economic significance of CO2 mitigation in the benefit‐cost analysis of recent amendments of…

1459

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of social discount rates on the economic significance of CO2 mitigation in the benefit‐cost analysis of recent amendments of Building Regulations Part L.

Design/methodology/approach

The benefit of mitigating CO2 emission by raising the standard of building in amended building regulations is estimated by an integrated‐assessment economic model called DICE at different social discount rates proposed by economists and government.

Findings

The benefit of CO2 mitigation is highly sensitive to the choice of social discount rate that the value of social discount rate is a crucial factor to decide the economic viability of recent and future amendments of Building Regulations Part L. The more positive the social discount rate used in the benefit‐cost analysis, the less sustainability appears to be because higher discount rate tips the balance in favour of current benefits against future costs.

Research limitations/implications

This paper focuses on the impact of social discount rates on the shadow price of CO2 emission. Further researches are needed to estimate the private benefits and costs to construct and operate buildings complying with amended Building Regulations Part L so as to produce a solid benefit‐cost analysis on the amendment of the building regulations.

Practical implications

If sustainable development, similar to other traditional investment, is subject to feasibility judgement in a common metric, more attentions are needed to be given by sustainability literature on the issue of discounting.

Originality/value

This paper for the first time evaluates the environmental benefits of amending the Building Regulations and the sensitivity of the benefits to the choice of social discount rates.

Details

Property Management, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2006

Peter Gordon

The purpose of this paper is to describe conventional top‐down planning as applied to land markets – and its limitations.

1587

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe conventional top‐down planning as applied to land markets – and its limitations.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper includes a brief survey of recent literature that sheds light on the argument and that puts property management into the larger context.

Findings

Much that is known about positive trends in human wealth and welfare can be ascribed to what might be called bottom‐up planning. Property managers are increasingly part of the latter activity. In light of the trends discussed, the property management activity plays a key part in the ever more important bottom‐up management of land.

Originality/value

This paper links the growth of wealth and welfare in our time with the broadening responsibilities of property managers.

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2006

Wai Fung Lam

Effective irrigation management hinges upon effective collective action among farmers and irrigation managers. The purpose of this study is to examine how the institutional design…

Abstract

Purpose

Effective irrigation management hinges upon effective collective action among farmers and irrigation managers. The purpose of this study is to examine how the institutional design of irrigation agency affects the incentives and ability of irrigation managers to do a conscientious job and to relate to farmers in managing irrigation, and hence affects irrigation performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study compares the Department of Irrigation (DOI) in Nepal and the Irrigation Associations (IAs) in Taiwan. Based upon extensive fieldwork undertaken in the two countries, this study identifies the opportunities and constraints embedded in the institutional designs of the agencies, and analyzes their effects on the behavior of irrigation managers.

Findings

The two irrigation agencies are designed upon very different conceptions of how the provision and production of irrigation can be organized. The DOI is built upon the premises of top‐down control, a reliance on technical knowledge, professional management, and uniform rules and regulations. The IAs, on the other hand, are designed upon the premises of reciprocity among irrigation managers, complementarity between the agency and farmers' efforts, the importance of mobilizing local knowledge and resources, the embeddedness of the agency in local communities, and a problem‐solving orientation.

Research implications/limitations

Irrigation institutions that enable farmers and irrigation managers to cope with the problematics involved in the provision and production of irrigation operation and maintenance (O&M) are better able to nurture and sustain synergistic and productive working relationships.

Practical implications

The findings of this study can inform policy reform in the irrigation sector in specific, and in resource management and development administration in general.

Originality/value

This study provides not only a theoretical perspective for understanding and comparing institutions, but also empirical evidence for understanding how institutions affect irrigation performance.

Details

Property Management, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2006

Richard Fellows

Purpose – This paper sets out to explore the concepts involved in sustainability by investigating the basic meanings of the terms, the primary principles involved and their…

2827

Abstract

Purpose – This paper sets out to explore the concepts involved in sustainability by investigating the basic meanings of the terms, the primary principles involved and their application to practices of development. Design/methodology/approach – A perspective founded in natural science is adopted relating to energy and matter. Issues of pragmatism and human behaviour are considered to determine how the basic essentials are being pursued, with consideration of common project evaluation methods. Issues of culture, human groups and institutions are examined with respect to their impact on sustainability. Contrasts between relativist approaches (“green”) and absolute approaches (sustainability) are explored. Findings – It is concluded that absolutism should form the decision approach in order that real sustainability may be achieved. Practical implications – The paper highlights the deficiencies in the relativist approaches which are adopted currently. By diverting foci to concepts of economic, social etc. sustainability, the real and underpinning imperatives of environmental sustainability – expressed in terms of energy and matter, are diluted in the ensuing pragmatic debates. Real sustainability, it is argued, must concern such essential issues to be effective. Originality/value – This paper addresses the basic, absolute issues of sustainability and so, acts as a focus for addressing the difference between real sustainability and the relativism of current “sustainability” legislation, practices, and, unfortunately, much debate. The paper endeavours to be productively provocative as a catalyst for advance.

Details

Property Management, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 15 June 2012

Abstract

Details

The Spatial Market Process
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-006-2

Book part
Publication date: 15 June 2012

David Emanuel Andersson

In “An Austrian Theory of Spatial Land,” Fred E. Foldvary addresses the disregard of spatial issues in basic Austrian economic theory as formulated by Carl Menger (1871) and…

Abstract

In “An Austrian Theory of Spatial Land,” Fred E. Foldvary addresses the disregard of spatial issues in basic Austrian economic theory as formulated by Carl Menger (1871) and elaborated upon by Ludwig von Mises (1940). Foldvary shows that Johann Heinrich von Thünen (1826) and Henry George (1879/1884), in particular, serve to fill these gaps in the classical Austrian theory of the market process. Moreover, a theory that incorporates spatial land leads to the conclusion that Austrian business cycle theory is incomplete: The “malspeculation” that accompanies urbanization whenever capital and labor rather than land are the main sources of tax revenue will have to be added to the malinvestment that is caused by expansionary monetary policies.

Details

The Spatial Market Process
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-006-2

Abstract

Details

Research-practice Partnerships for School Improvement: The Learning Schools Model
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-571-0

Book part
Publication date: 10 December 2015

Chun Kit Lok

Smart card-based E-payment systems are receiving increasing attention as the number of implementations is witnessed on the rise globally. Understanding of user adoption behavior…

Abstract

Smart card-based E-payment systems are receiving increasing attention as the number of implementations is witnessed on the rise globally. Understanding of user adoption behavior of E-payment systems that employ smart card technology becomes a research area that is of particular value and interest to both IS researchers and professionals. However, research interest focuses mostly on why a smart card-based E-payment system results in a failure or how the system could have grown into a success. This signals the fact that researchers have not had much opportunity to critically review a smart card-based E-payment system that has gained wide support and overcome the hurdle of critical mass adoption. The Octopus in Hong Kong has provided a rare opportunity for investigating smart card-based E-payment system because of its unprecedented success. This research seeks to thoroughly analyze the Octopus from technology adoption behavior perspectives.

Cultural impacts on adoption behavior are one of the key areas that this research posits to investigate. Since the present research is conducted in Hong Kong where a majority of population is Chinese ethnicity and yet is westernized in a number of aspects, assuming that users in Hong Kong are characterized by eastern or western culture is less useful. Explicit cultural characteristics at individual level are tapped into here instead of applying generalization of cultural beliefs to users to more accurately reflect cultural bias. In this vein, the technology acceptance model (TAM) is adapted, extended, and tested for its applicability cross-culturally in Hong Kong on the Octopus. Four cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede are included in this study, namely uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, individualism, and Confucian Dynamism (long-term orientation), to explore their influence on usage behavior through the mediation of perceived usefulness.

TAM is also integrated with the innovation diffusion theory (IDT) to borrow two constructs in relation to innovative characteristics, namely relative advantage and compatibility, in order to enhance the explanatory power of the proposed research model. Besides, the normative accountability of the research model is strengthened by embracing two social influences, namely subjective norm and image. As the last antecedent to perceived usefulness, prior experience serves to bring in the time variation factor to allow level of prior experience to exert both direct and moderating effects on perceived usefulness.

The resulting research model is analyzed by partial least squares (PLS)-based Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. The research findings reveal that all cultural dimensions demonstrate direct effect on perceived usefulness though the influence of uncertainty avoidance is found marginally significant. Other constructs on innovative characteristics and social influences are validated to be significant as hypothesized. Prior experience does indeed significantly moderate the two influences that perceived usefulness receives from relative advantage and compatibility, respectively. The research model has demonstrated convincing explanatory power and so may be employed for further studies in other contexts. In particular, cultural effects play a key role in contributing to the uniqueness of the model, enabling it to be an effective tool to help critically understand increasingly internationalized IS system development and implementation efforts. This research also suggests several practical implications in view of the findings that could better inform managerial decisions for designing, implementing, or promoting smart card-based E-payment system.

Details

E-services Adoption: Processes by Firms in Developing Nations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-709-7

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 December 2015

Dekar Urumsah

The concept and practice of e-services has become essential in business transactions. Yet there are still many organizations that have not developed e-services optimally. This is…

Abstract

The concept and practice of e-services has become essential in business transactions. Yet there are still many organizations that have not developed e-services optimally. This is especially relevant in the context of Indonesian Airline companies. Therefore, many airline customers in Indonesia are still in doubt about it, or even do not use it. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for e-services adoption and empirically examines the factors influencing the airlines customers in Indonesia in using e-services offered by the Indonesian airline companies. Taking six Indonesian airline companies as a case example, the study investigated the antecedents of e-services usage of Indonesian airlines. This study further examined the impacts of motivation on customers in using e-services in the Indonesian context. Another important aim of this study was to investigate how ages, experiences and geographical areas moderate effects of e-services usage.

The study adopts a positivist research paradigm with a two-phase sequential mixed method design involving qualitative and quantitative approaches. An initial research model was first developed based on an extensive literature review, by combining acceptance and use of information technology theories, expectancy theory and the inter-organizational system motivation models. A qualitative field study via semi-structured interviews was then conducted to explore the present state among 15 respondents. The results of the interviews were analysed using content analysis yielding the final model of e-services usage. Eighteen antecedent factors hypotheses and three moderating factors hypotheses and 52-item questionnaire were developed. A focus group discussion of five respondents and a pilot study of 59 respondents resulted in final version of the questionnaire.

In the second phase, the main survey was conducted nationally to collect the research data among Indonesian airline customers who had already used Indonesian airline e-services. A total of 819 valid questionnaires were obtained. The data was then analysed using a partial least square (PLS) based structural equation modelling (SEM) technique to produce the contributions of links in the e-services model (22% of all the variances in e-services usage, 37.8% in intention to use, 46.6% in motivation, 39.2% in outcome expectancy, and 37.7% in effort expectancy). Meanwhile, path coefficients and t-values demonstrated various different influences of antecedent factors towards e-services usage. Additionally, a multi-group analysis based on PLS is employed with mixed results. In the final findings, 14 hypotheses were supported and 7 hypotheses were not supported.

The major findings of this study have confirmed that motivation has the strongest contribution in e-services usage. In addition, motivation affects e-services usage both directly and indirectly through intention-to-use. This study provides contributions to the existing knowledge of e-services models, and practical applications of IT usage. Most importantly, an understanding of antecedents of e-services adoption will provide guidelines for stakeholders in developing better e-services and strategies in order to promote and encourage more customers to use e-services. Finally, the accomplishment of this study can be expanded through possible adaptations in other industries and other geographical contexts.

Details

E-services Adoption: Processes by Firms in Developing Nations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-709-7

Keywords

11 – 20 of over 1000