Output growth and prices of establishments in the Swedish hotel industry

The empirical analysis of firm growth is a classical field in industrial economics. Insights into the determinants of firm growth are particularly interesting for mature markets. A typical example of a mature market is the lodging industry in high-income countries, characterised by a high degree of competition and concentration and declining entry rates (Kalnins, 2006). This paper contributes to the literature by providing first empirical evidence on the determinants of output growth and output prices of establishments in the Swedish hospitality industry. Special focus is placed on the relationship between the quality of accommodation establishments - measured as revenues per overnight stays - and performance in subsequent years. Growth of establishments is measured as the average annual change in overnight stays between the period 2005?2010. Other determinants of establishment growth include establishment size, establishment age and type of hotel (e.g., city hotel, hostels, cottages). The empirical model accounts for potential endogeneity of output prices through the estimation of the 2 stage least square method (2SLS) and two-stage least absolute deviation model (2SLAD) with the number of competitors in given municipality as instrument for prices. In order to allow for heterogeneity of the effects between low and high growth establishments, we use the quantile instrumental variable method which makes it possible to examine the whole distribution of establishment growth and also address the potential endogeneity issue of output prices. In particular, we employ the control function approach introduced by Lee (2007). As instrumental variables for accommodation prices, we use the number of competitors in a given municipality. This paper also contributes to the determinants of prices on the lodging industry. Recent studies show that age, size, location, geographical concentration and share of foreign travellers play a significant role in hotel prices (Becerra, Santaló & Silva, 2013). Unlike most previous studies, we employ the total population of establishments in the lodging industry rather than a selected sample of hotels listed in online booking systems. The availability of unique establishment data for the total population of the lodging industry for Sweden makes it possible to analyse jointly the determinants of growth of establishments and output prices. Data consists of about 2,440 establishments for the period 2005?2010. 2SLS estimates show that high price establishments show a significantly higher output growth rate between 2005 2010. Growth of establishments is significantly higher for smaller and older establishments and city hotels. Furthermore, quantile instrumental variable estimates show that the positive impact of prices on growth only holds true for low growth establishments. Finally, accommodation prices significantly decrease with the number of local competitors with a non-linear form and increase with size and age. City hotels and accommodation in the capital city achieve higher prices

Importance of early snowfall for Swedish ski resorts: Evidence based on monthly data

TThe major ski markets of the world are reaching a point of stagnation or decline. After a long period of increased demand and expansions, this also holds true for the Swedish ski resorts. Although the apparent stagnation, the main factors influencing the demand for skiing in Sweden are not fully disentangled. One hypothetical explanation is the cost of skiing. Another explanation is that skiing is no longer a growth activity with lift ticket sales rising less than proportionally with economic growth. The increasing occurrence of snow poor winters, particularly in the early season, may contribute to the stagnation of lift ticket sales. In this study we examine the relationship between the inter-annual variation of lift ticket sales and snow depth using monthly data. The model is estimated using the seemingly unrelated regression model (SUR) applied to a first difference specification. This approach makes it possible to account for the correlation of the error terms across the different winter months. In the empirical model the change in lift ticket sales relative to the same month in the previous winter season is related to the corresponding changes in snow conditions, real GDP, relative prices and control variables. An important feature of the model is that the economic factors are restricted to be identical across the winter months while the snow conditions and calendar effects are allowed to differ. Using seemingly unrelated regression models estimated for five months we find, as expected, that lift ticket sales depend significantly negatively on lift ticket prices and significantly positively on real GDP. Both income and price elasticities are quite low in absolute terms. A new empirical result is that a decline in snow depth in the early season has a strong negative impact on lift ticket sales. The effect is also much more pronounced than the impact of economic factors. In particular a reduction in snow depth by one standard deviation leads to a drop in growth of lift ticket sales by nine and five percent, respectively. However, there is a strong decline in lift ticket sales from the season 2010/2011 onwards when controlled for relative prices, real income and snow depth. When the entire winter season is considered the results indicate that the underlying key cause of the stagnation of lift ticket sales is the low income elasticity, exogenous shift in leisure activities from the season 2010/11 onwards and the significant price sensitivity of skiing demand. The future prospects for Swedish ski lift operators are poor given moderate growth in real domestic income and further price increases in lift tickets following huge investments in snow making and new lifts, and the expected increase in green early winter seasons following global warming

Cleaning of ultra-high temperature milk fouling -Structural and compositionl changes

Fouling is the deposit of proteins and minerals formed on equipment surfaces during the heat treatment of dairy products. The concentrations of the components and the structure of the fouling reflect the processing conditions used. The use of a higher processing temperature, e.g., ultra-high temperature (UHT) treatment, promotes a mineral-rich fouling. The fouling layer decreases the transfer of heat from the heating medium to the dairy product. A product that undergoes insufficient heating during processing may contain viable microorganisms, which spoil the product and can be hazardous to the consumer. Therefore, an efficient and cost-effective cleaning process is crucial for maintaining food safety, as well as for optimizing energy expenditure. The main goal of this PhD thesis work has been to understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying cleaning for the removal of mineral-rich fouling, which to date has not been fully elucidated. The current investigations into the cleaning process, as well as the structure and chemical composition of the fouling layer reveal that the fouling of UHT processes has a high mineral concentration and low protein concentration. However, the proteins were found to be extensively interconnected with the fouling matrix and to play a crucial role in cleaning efficiency. Cleaning is one of the major processes in the processing of dairy products. The cleaning has to be efficient, always resulting in a clean surface. It is crucial to remove the fouling from the heated surfaces. In this study, cleaning efficiency is shown to be affected by several parameters, such as temperature, alkali cleaning agent concentration, flow velocity, and time. The focus is on the alkali cleaning process, since the acid cleaning is shown to be a rapid process so the gains achieved through optimization of the process parameters are less impressive. Increasing the temperature and the concentration of cleaning agent is shown to have the largest effect on the depolymerization of the protein network within the mineral matrix and therefore has the greatest impact on cleaning efficiency

ICT infrastructure in firms and online sales

This study investigates whether the underlying information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure of firms affects the development of online sales, based on a novel micro-aggregated panel dataset encompassing a large group of European countries. The dataset includes continuous measures of online sales activities, as well as of standard production function input variables. Dynamic System GMM estimations show positive and significant associations between the proportion of firms selling online and the ICT infrastructure, measured as the proportion of broadband internet connected employees. The magnitude of the effect is stronger in the group of manufacturing than in the service firms, but in both industries, there is a threshold beyond which the positive effects of the infrastructure diminish. In addition, there is evidence that improvements in the infrastructure lead to a stronger effect on medium-sized and large rather than on small firms.publishedVersio

Implicit attitudes and personnel selection : a phenomenological study regarding the implicit attitudes of personnel selectors'in relation to their work and job-applicants

The purpose of this study is to describe and understand how personnel recruiters reason when they select new co-workers to an organisation. A focus is on the implicit thoughts and characteristics the personnel recruiters ascribe to the job-applicant. Another aim is to generate new knowledge in relation to how personnel selection is done in real life. A phenomenological approach is proposed as a way to reach the personnel recruiters' subjective perceptions and feelings about their work. Eleven recruiters from companies and municipalities in Sweden answered two questions each regarding the interview process, of which ten protocols were analyzed. To achieve a better understanding of the meaning constitution and the specific thoughts recruiters have in employment situations we used the qualitative software MCA-Minerva. The results showed a tendency among the recruiters to characterise the applicants on the basis of their own earlier experiences and perceptions, implying that some of the participants manifest implicit attitudes that could, in specific situations, lead to implicit discrimination

Innovation intensity and skills in firms across five European countries

This study attempts to establish the importance of specific formally achieved higher skills for the innovation intensity in firms across a group of European countries. Innovation expenditures are calculated as the ratio to turnover and the main explanatory variable is the proportion of highly skilled employees (tertiary education in ICT-oriented or other fields). The analysis employs official data on innovation activities (Community Innovation Survey) in firms for the period 2004–2010, linked to registers on education and businesses as well as to the Structural Business Statistics including 34,000 observations. Estimation results show a strong significantly positive relationship between the innovation intensity and the proportion of highly ICT skilled employees. Higher skills outside the field of ICT are also important for the innovation activities. Control variables reveal that the innovation intensity significantly increases with joint national and EU funding while the role of firm age varies. The significant and negative link to firm size reveals a lack of advantages of scale, a finding possibly related to the use of a comprehensive measure of innovation activities. There are also indications that industry affiliation is essential for the innovation intensity.publishedVersio

Determinants of CO2 emissions generated by air travel vary across reasons for the trip

This study estimates factors of importance for the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions generated by travellers flying for different reasons based on representative Austrian micro data for the period 2014–2016. The annual average number of flights taken by adults vary between 0.1 (visiting friends) and 0.8 (going on holiday), and the amount of CO2e emissions generated by each return flight is approximately 1100 kg. This leads to a total of 6 million tonnes CO2e emissions per year. Results of the Pseudo Poisson Maximum Likelihood estimations reveal that the amount of CO2e emissions created is related to socio-demographic, locational and seasonal factors, although mainly for the largest group of travellers: the holiday makers. In this group, individuals with university degrees, young persons (16–24 years) and capital city residents generate the largest amounts of emissions, as opposed to persons with children and large households. Residents of the capital region each quarter cause 64 kg more CO2e emissions than inhabitants of rural areas, persons with university degrees create 74 kg larger emissions than those without degrees and young adults instigate 90 kg more emissions than middle-aged persons. CO2e emissions of holiday flights are highest in the first quarter of the year. The importance of education is also pronounced for CO2e emissions related to business travel, as is gender.publishedVersio

In times of restricted mobility: Cancel, change date or change format of tourism conferences

The aim of this article is to examine how tourism conference organizers react to the restricted mobility incurred by the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Do they cancel, change format, or change date for the event? This study contributes to an initial analysis of how organizers of international academic conferences in the tourism and hospitality industry deal with whole groups of participants who are no longer mobile and therefore cannot actively network personally. This uniquely compiled data covers a large representative number of conferences in this field. A Multinomial Logit model is used to estimate the options available. Data are based on unique information on almost 100 conferences, meetings, and congresses in the tourism and hospitality sector, including related fields such as leisure and recreation, planned to be held during the period of March to November 2020. Descriptive evidence shows that approximately one out of five conferences changes to a virtual format, somewhat more than half moves the date (mainly to the year 2021), and the remaining 25% cancel the event without alternative offers. Estimation results reveal that the decision to change to an online format increases nonlinearly over time in the form of an inverse U-shaped curve. This indicates a certain resistance to virtual conferences, although with more time for planning, a gradual adaptation to the actual situation appears to be possible. Longer conferences are less likely to change format. The probability of cancellations is lower for association conferences, which are held regularly.publishedVersio

Artificially Intelligent or Intelligently Artificial? A study on which factors influence the decision to adopt of Artificial Intelligence

Msc in Innovation and Industrial ManagementCompanies have increasingly recognized the potential of incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into their operations, given its potential to optimise and transform various aspects of business. Despite the growing interest, the factors influencing AI adoption and implementation remain complex and multifaceted. The purpose of this study was to explore the determinants of AI adoption in companies, focusing on technological, organisational, and environmental factors. A conceptual framework that is based on the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, is presented to provide a comprehensive lens to understand the adoption process. This study employed a qualitative methodology, utilising case studies and cross-sectoral analysis to gather insights from different industries. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, including executives and technology experts. The results indicate that while technological readiness and organisational support are critical, external pressures such as competitive dynamics and regulatory requirements also play significant roles. The findings suggest that companies with access to high quality data and a proactive management are more likely to successfully integrate AI. However, the study also identified significant challenges related to data management, ethical considerations, and the need for clear regulatory guidelines. The research highlights the necessity for a strategic approach to AI adoption, where focus is put on formulating a clear purpose for implementing AI. Future research should focus on quantitative analyses to measure the impact of these factors more precisely and explore the long-term implications of AI integration in various sectors