infonet-economy

Tourism is often introduced as a subject in formal education curricula because of the increasing and significant economic contribution of the tourism industry to the private and public sector. This is especially the case in emerging economies in Asia and Africa (Hsu, 2015; Mayaka & Akama, 2015; Cuffy et al., 2012). Tourism in South Africa – which is the geographical setting of this research – is recognised as a key economic sector. At secondary level, tourism has been widely introduced at schools throughout South Africa since 2000 and has experienced significant growth (Umalusi, 2014). Furthermore, information and communication technology (ICT) has rapidly penetrated public and private sectors of the country. ICT affords novel opportunities for social and economic development, and this has especially been observed in the fields of both tourism and education (Anwar et al., 2014; Vandeyar, 2015). Yet, the many uses and implications of ICT for tourism education in South Africa are unclear and under-theorised as a research area (Adukaite, Van Zyl, & Cantoni, 2016). Moreover, engagement has been identified as a significant indicator of student success in South Africa (Council for Higher Education, 2010). Lack of engagement contributes to poor graduation rates at secondary and tertiary institutions in South Africa (Strydom et al., 2010; Titus & Ng’ambi, 2014). A common strategy to address lack of student engagement is introducing game elements into the learning process: the so-called gamification of learning (Kapp, 2012). The majority of research in this field has been conducted in more economically advanced and developed regions, and there is a paucity of research in emerging country contexts. It is argued that gamification can be effectively utilised also in these contexts to address learner engagement and motivation. This study aims to contribute in this respect: firstly, by investigating the extent to which ICT supports tourism education in South African high schools through the lenses of Technology Domestication Theory (Habib, 2005; Haddon, 2006) and Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1977). Secondly, the study aims to examine gamified learning acceptance within tourism education in a developing country context. The research assimilates three separate studies. Study 1. The Role of Digital Technology in Tourism Education: A Case Study of South African Secondary Schools The study was designed as an exploratory analysis, based on 24 in-depth interviews (n=24) with high school tourism teachers and government officials. An analysis reveals that teachers recognize ICT as essential in exposing students to the tourism industry. This is especially the case in under-resourced schools, where learners do not have the financial means to participate in tourism activities. However, ICT is still limited in its integration as a pedagogical support tool. The major obstacles toward integration include: technology anxiety, lack of training, availability of resources, and learner resistance to use their personal mobile devices. Study 2. Raising Awareness and Promoting Informal Learning on World Heritage in Southern Africa. The Case of WHACY, a Gamified ICT-enhanced Tool The goal of the study was to present the World Heritage Awareness Campaign for Youth (WHACY) in Southern Africa. A campaign was dedicated to raise awareness and foster informal learning among Southern African youth about the heritage and sustainable tourism. The campaign employed an online and offline gamified learning platform, which was supported by a dedicated website, Facebook page, wiki and offline materials. In one year of operation the campaign reached more than 100K audience. For the evaluation of the campaign, a mixed methods approach was used: focus groups with students (n=9), interviews (n=19) and a survey with teachers (n=209). The study attempted to assess user experience in terms of engagement and conduciveness to learning and explored the possibility of a gamified application to be integrated into the existing high school tourism curriculum. The perspectives of South African tourism students and teachers were here considered. Study 3. Teacher perceptions on the use of digital gamified learning in tourism education: The case of South African secondary schools. The study is quantitative in nature and investigated the behavioural intention of South African tourism teachers to integrate a gamified application within secondary tourism education. Data collected from 209 teachers were tested against the research model using a structural equation modelling approach. The study investigated the extent to which six determined predictors (perceptions about playfulness, curriculum relatedness, learning opportunities, challenge, self-efficacy and computer anxiety) influence the acceptance of a gamified application by South African tourism teachers. The study may prove useful to educators and practitioners in understanding which determinants may influence gamification introduction into formal secondary education.

My PhD thesis consists of three papers which study the nature, structure, dynamics and price of variance risks. As tool I make use of multivariate affine jump-diffusion models with matrix-valued state spaces. The first chapter proposes a new three-factor model for index option pricing. A core feature of the model are unspanned skewness and term structure effects, i.e., it is possible that the structure of the volatility surface changes without a change in the volatility level. The model reduces pricing errors compared to benchmark two-factor models by up to 22%. Using a decomposition of the latent state, I show that this superior performance is directly linked to a third volatility factor which is unrelated to the volatility level. The second chapter studies the price of the smile, which is defined as the premia for individual option risk factors. These risk factors are directly linked to the variance risk premium (VRP). I find that option risk premia are spanned by mid-run and long-run volatility factors, while the large high-frequency factor does not enter the price of the smile. I find the VRP to be unambiguously negative and decompose it into three components: diffusive risk, jump risk and jump intensity risk. The distinct term structure patterns of these components explain why the term structure of the VRP is downward sloping in normal times and upward sloping during market distress. In predictive regressions, I find an economically relevant predictive power over returns to volatility positions and S&P 500 index returns. The last chapter introduces several numerical methods necessary for estimating matrix-valued affine option pricing models, including the Matrix Rotation Count algorithm and a fast evaluation scheme for the Likelihood function.

This thesis addresses the topic of influencing factors on the transfer of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices in Multinational Corporations (MNCs), a topic embedded in International Business (IB) and more precise in International Human Resource Management (IHRM). It builds on the debate of international dominance, transfer motives, and the different viewpoints on the triggers, impacts, and processes related to the topic. Recently the institutional analysis of transfer of management practices that seeks the impact in the institutional surrounding of the sending and receiving entities has been criticized of not taking into account the actors on the micro-level. In this sense the (regional) headquarter or subsidiary level or the actors at those levels and their active role in the transfer process of practices need to be paid higher attention to. Especially the detection of actors’ different sources of power needs to be moved to the limelight. The analyitical perspective adopted in this dissertation therefor is a combined approach of macro-level (institutional) and micro-level (actor-related) factors in order to fully catch and understand the transfer flow and outcome. Exploring on this the study is based on a comprehensively developed framework enfolding multiple tested and evidenced models to gain further insight into recently set-off debates. The present study demonstrates that the actor-related approach shall not be neglected as it plays the major part in the transfer process in an MNC context. The study shows that depending on the set-up and involved actors institutional effects can be leveraged or dominated by political action in the majority of all cases. Therefore institutional impacts as such tend to be overrated as stand-alone effects in an HRM transfer process in existing literature. Micro-level impacts are the main driver in a process that had been seen as mainly institutionally impacted. Even though home-country and host-country effects constitute the origin of some differences the main transfer impacts are actor-related. Local mind-sets, preferences and resistances can lead to adoption, hybridization or adaptation of country-of-origin practices as show the transfer outcomes even in less state-coordinated and thus institutionally impacted environments.

Entre 1945 et 2008, le nombre de pays reconnus internationalement a augmenté de 74 à 193 (Spolaore, 2008). Plus récemment, plusieurs pays ont vécu une vague croissante de décentralisation. Dans les pays de l’OCDE, par exemple, le nombre de gouvernements infranationaux a atteint 140 000 en 2014. De plus, ces gouvernements infranationaux ont une influence croissante dans ces pays (OCDE, 2014). Compte tenu de ces tendances vers une décentralisation croissante, cette thèse étudie deux aspects de celle-ci : la concurrence fiscale, et le choix endogène des frontières. En matière de concurrence fiscale, cette thèse étudie la mise aux enchères de nouveaux investissements par une firme à plusieurs établissements. Le but de cette analyse est d’étudier le comportement stratégique de la firme dans ce type de concurrence. En effet, contrairement à la littérature sur le sujet qui ne considère soit que des firmes à établissement unique, ou un continuum de firmes, le premier chapitre de thèse montre que la firme peut modifier l’allocation de ses investissements en les différentiant, pour ainsi attirer des subsides plus élevés. Dans le deuxième chapitre, la thèse étudie comment l’ajout de coûts en infrastructure par les régions avant la mise aux enchères affecte la concurrence entre les régions ainsi que le comportement de la firme. En effet, ces coûts ajoutent un nouveau compromis pour la firme. Elle peut augmenter les subsides espérés en différentiant ses établissements, mais en augmentant la taille d’une des usines, elle peut aussi inciter les régions à renoncer à participer à la mise aux enchères, ce qui peut finalement réduire les subsides. En matière de choix endogène des frontières, cette thèse fournit deux analyses: une empirique, et une expérimentale. Dans le troisième chapitre, la thèse étudie empiriquement la décision d’électeurs dans 213 villes du Québec de quitter une fusion municipale qui leur fût imposée quelques années auparavant. L’analyse révèle que les électeurs choisissent de faire sécession d’autant plus quand les différences de revenus et de langue entre leur ville et les autres villes de la même fusion sont plus élevées. L’analyse révèle aussi que ces deux facteurs ne sont 2 pas indépendants. En effet, les différences de revenus ont un effet plus prononcé sur le vote sécessionniste lorsque les différences de langue sont aussi élevées. Etant donné l’importance de la langue comme facteur déterminant de l’appartenance ethnique au Québec, les résultats de ce chapitre suggèrent que le choix des électeurs est sensible aux différences ethniques, et non seulement à des différences de goût pour les biens publics, comme suggéré par Alesina, Baqir et Hoxby (2004). Finalement, le dernier chapitre présente les résultats d’une expérience en laboratoire sur le lien entre décentralisation et sécession. La littérature sur le sujet suggère l’existence de deux effets contradictoires. La décentralisation pourrait permettre de contrer les mouvements de sécession en permettant aux régions de prendre plus de décisions à un niveau local, mais pourrait aussi fournir des ressources supplémentaires aux mouvements sécessionnistes, ce qui renforcerait les tendances vers la séparation. Nous construisons donc une expérience en laboratoire dans laquelle les sujets sont chacun membre de deux groupes: un local comportant 3 sujets, et un global comportant 9 sujets. Les sujets contribuent à un total de trois biens publics, soit avec les membres de leur groupe local, ou avec les membres de leur groupe global. En variant le nombre de biens de chaque type, l’expérience simule différent niveaux de décentralisation. Les résultats de l’expérience montrent que l’effet total de la décentralisation est de diminuer la probabilité de votes pour la sécession.