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Logistic regression techniques for panel data are used to identify factors affecting farm credit transition probabilities. Results indicate that most farm‐specific factors do not have adequate explanatory influence on the probability of farm credit risk transition. Class upgrade probabilities are more significantly affected by changes in certain macroeconomic factors, such as economic growth signals (from changes in stock price indexes and farm real estate values) and larger money supply that relax the credit constraint. Increases in interest rates, on the other hand, negatively affect such probabilities.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss opportunities to obtain more information from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). Specifically, the paper will explore the issue of survey nonresponse, the development of pseudo panels, and more frequent updating of cost of production data on an enterprise basis.\

Researchers from the Land Grant University System and the Economic Research Service have relied on ARMS to evaluate the effect of agricultural, macroeconomic, and other factors on the US farm sector, farm businesses, and the households that manage them. This paper will identify gaps in understanding and proposes approaches to extract additional information from ARMS.

The relevance of ARMS in the future will depend on the ability to continue to understand potential pitfalls and areas of additional research that can develop new procedures to extract additional information. Three issues which are in need of further study include continuing to examine the issue of non‐response, refining methods to develop pseudo panel data, and examining methods to develop commodity specific financial information between the commodity specific surveys.

The National Research Council completed a review of ARMS to address challenges in keeping the survey relevant into the future. However, research that examines the construction of financial statements and other information had not been conducted since the early 1990s. This study fills part of that gap.

This paper aims to examine the competitive strategies employed by two of the largest theme park operators in Florida, based on a content analysis of popular media articles about theme park giants in the USA. It aims to provide a comparative examination of their competitive strategies, to develop a conceptual model of the same and to expand knowledge about current competitiveness in the theme park sector.

This study used directed content analysis to identify and analyze strategies applied in the theme park sector as manifested in the mass media. Each database was searched using the following four key terms: competition, strategy, Disney and Universal Studios. Results were screened for relevance based on their inclusion of all four key terms. At the conclusion of the search, 87 articles from 34 US-based sources were amassed, varying in circulation size and published between 1985 and 2013. Each article was read, and sentences that suggested the use of a strategy were recorded. Although the intention was to leave each data point at a one-sentence maximum, occasionally, a second sentence was included for context and clarification. Each article was read twice to ensure the inclusion of all potential data points.

The findings suggest that the largest US-based theme parks utilize strategies of value, uniqueness, niche markets, innovation, variety and quality as highlighted in the research literature. However, this study also confirms two additional competitive strategies that have heretofore not been examined in tourism studies – currency and convenience – as advantageous management and promotional mechanisms against their competitors.

Limitations to this research include a limited number of popular media articles available for analysis. This precluded a random sample of articles. In addition, the study was based on print media statements and keyword identification, which could also limit the generalizability of the findings. Nonetheless, it is believed that the case studies researched in this paper are indicative of many of the competitive strategies used by theme park managers throughout the world.

The paper developed a competitive strategy model that has utility for them park planners and managers, as they attempt to understand the competitive advantages and those of their direct competitors. The findings in this study have broader implications for other theme parks throughout the world.

The social implications of this study are manifold. They include the notion that theme park attendees manifest certain behaviors and seek out certain experiences as they make decisions on which parks to attend. The notions of value, uniqueness, niche markets, innovation, variety, quality, currency and convenience all reveal how some consumers determine their choice of venue for recreational travel.

This paper provides an original research of the theme park sector by examining two of the USA’s largest theme park giants and the strategies they use in a comparative and competitive manner to attraction clientele and maintain visitation. In particular, the paper develops a conceptual model based upon the review of strategies literature and, then, tests it and modifies it based on the findings of the study.

This paper aims to identify what ethical attributes tourists associate with national parks’ brands shown on food souvenir labels and the influence of such attributes on purchase motivations.

An exploratory study was carried out involving a total of 102 Italian tourists, who were interviewed at two different souvenir shops in Italy. Respondents were first asked to describe what images and values they were associating with the visited Italian National Park. The second level of questions related to the association of food products with national parks and the purchase motivations of food products branded with the national park’s label. The ethical attributes associated with the national parks’ brands and their relevance in purchase motivations were detected and analyzed through content analysis.

The analysis of the national park brand allows highlighting the food souvenir role in communicating ethical values that influence the perceived quality of food as well as tourists’ purchase motivations. The analysis reveals interesting implications for the enhancement of local productions in tourist destinations, more specifically, how the place brand can act as a valuable communication tool. Particular attention is given to the crucial role that national parks’ brands play in strengthening the value proposition of small businesses located within parks. This vision must be implemented from the perspective of mutual promotion of local food and tourism in these parks.

The results of this paper contributed to the literature by filling the gap regarding the role of place brands in promoting food souvenirs.

Severe hazards associated with climate change are threatening human settlements, thereby requiring global cities to implement comprehensive climate adaptation strategies. For sports organizations, adaptive measures may include designing and constructing new stadiums. In this study, the authors explore climate change as a vehicle for urban transformation, particularly as it relates to the replacement of existing stadiums with new, more sustainable and resilient venues.

The authors employed a collective case study approach focusing on three recent cases of stadium replacement: Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas; Oakland Ballpark in Oakland, California; and Marlins Park in Miami, Florida. These cases were selected because an official representative of each team made explicit references to some form of climate adaptation, though each ballpark faces a distinctive climate-related threat.

Each of the cases illustrates the various ways in which climate vulnerability may be deployed by teams and policymakers to replace professional sports stadiums. Although all three examples involved the replacement of an existing ballpark, only in the Texas case was climate adaptation openly cited as the primary reason for stadium replacement. Still, ballpark replacement plans in Oakland and Miami included significant and costly design features to protect the stadiums from extreme weather events.

This study applies the concept of climate vulnerability to illustrate a potential strategy to justify stadium replacement. As cities and metropolitan regions continue to grapple with the grand challenge of climate change, the associated vulnerability of large public assembly facilities such as major sports stadiums – particularly those prominently situated in urban centers – can no longer be ignored.

This study aims to examine community participation in cultural heritage management with regard to sustainable heritage tourism management in Sukhothai Historical Park (SHP) in Sukhothai Province.

The qualitative and quantitative research approaches were applied; in-depth interviews were conducted with 27 key informants, and 104 questionnaires were distributed among stakeholders and local communities.

The results revealed that sustainable park management has made a positive impact upon local economy, social and cultural conservation of the world heritage site. The Park Authority has developed and conserved archaeological sites with local community assistance, particularly for physical management, but it has not yet used archaeological heritage in the park for more benefits of tourism development.

The results reveal that sustainable park management has made a positive impact on the local economy and social and cultural conservation of the World Heritage city. The Park Authority has developed and conserved archaeological sites with local community assistance, particularly for physical management, but it has not yet used archaeological heritage in the park for greater urban tourism development. Sustainable cultural heritage management in SHP is government-led, so community participation is based upon two-way communication in the form of “tokenism.”

Sukhothai is encouraged to find suitable mechanisms to facilitate multisectoral communication and development to jointly face the challenge of more visitors and urbanization.

Guidelines for enhancing community involvement in cultural heritage management of the park were proposed.

Participatory design strategy through post-occupancy evaluation of built assets is a feedback mechanism into the design process. This paper draws upon a wider empirical study that aims at evaluating the University Campus Open Spaces (UCOS) of six federal universities in South-west Nigeria. The purpose of this paper is to generate evidence-based design toolkits for UCOS towards spanning of disconnects between designers and users thereby revisiting and revitalizing their design criteria.

A sample (n=3,016) of users was drawn in a cross-sectional survey through stratified random method. The research instrument was a structured questionnaire in multiple choice and Likert-type scales. The data obtained were subjected to statistical techniques.

Results show that males use the UCOS for active and passive recreation than females. The UCOS are male dominated because the females have higher concerns for lack of safety and inclement weather. Both genders have equal preference for sitting. “Group academic” activities are at peak in the “afternoon”, while “being alone” takes place in the “evening” and “personal academic” in the “morning”. Safety is primary to zoological and botanical gardens. Social interaction spaces enhance successful recreation parks. Coherence and legibility are the highest cognitive satisfaction factors for pedestrian sidewalks.

The research generated design requirements for UCOS, and it is important for informing better design solutions in the future.

The results are synthesized into three-in-two new frameworks to guide future design actions for innovative strategies between design and use/operational phases.

The ecological decline of ancient Near Eastern civilizations and the violent and explosive characteristics of post‐Columbian colonial ecologies might well remain comfortably remote from us in our twentieth century world were it not for the disturbing parallels that such case histories seem to evoke as we consider our contemporary global circumstance. Just as in ancient times and in the age of colonial expansion, it is in the “remote environments,” usually quite distant from the centers of power, that the crucial indicators of environmental catastrophe first become apparent within the system as a whole. These regions are frequently characterized by weak economies and highly vulnerable ecosystems in our time, just as they were in the past. Accordingly, the environmental circumstances in these regions constitute for the modern world a kind of monitoring device that can provide early warnings of ecological instabilities in the global ecosystem.

Africa faces an unanticipated ‘second chance’ at the start of the second decade of the 21st century: how many ‘developmental’ versus ‘fragile’ states by 2020? The interrelated prospects for both BRICs & the continent are being transformed by the current global financial crisis: as the South expands & the North contracts, what S‐N relations in future? The EU of 27 now includes the PIIGS: a disincentive to African regions to sign EPAs unlike the Caribbean? African political economies are now located in second, third & fourth worlds: will they identify with the G20 and/or the G192 (G193 once Southern Sudan independent at start 2011?). Half the dozen fastest growing countries identified in the Economist’s World in 2011 are African (Economist 2010a): from Ghana to Liberia; the CGD in DC now suggests that 17 African countries are ‘leading the way’ & the BCG has identified 40 African corporations as global ‘challengers’. To maximize its development & security, Africa would need to advance ‘network’ or ‘public’ rather than traditional ‘club’ diplomacy, involving civil society & private companies as well as states & intergovernmental agencies. But climate change may yet emerge as the spoiler, hence the importance of COP17 in Durban before the end of 2011! This paper has four parts which stake out paths to a brighter future for the continent, including its myriad diasporas. First: post‐Washington Consensus, ODA from the OECD is of declining importance or attraction. Rather, a range of ‘innovative sources of finance’ are appearing, encouraged by the ‘Leading Group’: global solidarity fund, currency transaction tax, carbon taxes/trading, climate change funds, controls on money laundering & remittance taxes etc. Plus emerging donors like the BRICs & Gulf states, some with SWFs; FBOs; & new private foundation like Gates, Clinton & Ibrahim leading to GAVI etc.Second, Africa has generated an innovative range of ‘new regionalisms’ involving non‐state actors: from Maputo Corridor & Kgalagadi trans‐frontier peace‐park to Nile Basin Initiative/Dialogue; and from International Conference on the GLR to corporate supply chains.Third, ‘new multilateralisms’ or ‘transnational governance’ with African dimensions, from ICBL & Ottawa Process & PAC/GW & Kimberley Process & now DDI to EITI, FCS & MCS to IANSA & ATT; yet coalitions over SALW & children/women’s security are stalled due to US vetoes. And finally, fourth, what implications of this trio of novel directions & players for our analyses & policies, state & non‐state: who are the ‘drivers’, innovators & animators? How to transit from dependency & neoliberalism towards a Beijing Consensus? Where ACBF & its partners in 2030/2040/2050?

The purpose of this case study is to examine the hospitality industry by exploring the activities of a small, independent hotel. The hotel was experiencing disruption in recent years due to technology, intense competition and changes in customer preferences.

This case study uses a qualitative methodology approach by interviewing two generations of family members that were on the brink of failure. Discussions included ways and activities in which the business was exploring that could be identified to address the loss of customers and revenues because of the digitalization of the industry.

The case findings indicate that by creating a new hybrid business model can provide a successful direction for owners facing digitization with an industry. The findings suggest creating a new hybrid business model can provide improvements in areas such as financial stability and cost reductions, attracting new customers, improved usage of assets and the ability to leverage the technology disruption in the hospitality industry.

This study provides a reflective examination of a small, independent hotel facing financial collapse. However, the family members were able to use the threat of new technologies to create a new opportunity by developing a new hybrid business model that other similar businesses could explore in designing.