Venue Choices Research Articles

THE ROLE OF MUSIC FESTIVALS IN SHAPING DESTINATION BRANDING AND IMAGE IN TWO HUNGARIAN REGIONAL CENTERS

Urban marketing with culture-led urban development has a growing importance for contemporary cities. In a global competition, cities must stand out and attract tourism, investment, and cultural activities. Consequently, their image should be constantly improved. City branding provides strategies for enhancing a city's public image – thus, becoming more and more attractive. Events and festivals, like popular music festivals, offer valuable opportunities for promoting cities and boosting tourism. The aim of this research is to explore the potential of music festivals in building city image and integrating it into the broader branding processes. The results are based on semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey. The findings support the hypothesis that festivals can significantly raise destination awareness, and shape image, and through them, a wider audience can be reached. Festival uniqueness and appropriate venue choices facilitate seamless integration into the host city 's tourism – thus decision-makers should pay attention to this issue and facilitate coordination between stakeholders.

Diversification of Physical Activities: An Exploration of Provision Characteristics of Holistic Movement Practices in a Large Australian City.

Holistic movement practices (HMPs) are an emerging category of physical activity, contributing to the diversification of physical activity opportunities. Purposefully incorporating not only physical but also mental, social, and/or spiritual elements, HMPs have received limited research attention with respect to participation parameters. The purpose of this study was to begin to map HMPs’ participation potential by exploring the provision features of HMPs in Melbourne. Data were collected via internet searches, with a focus on events offered. Event features, including type, cost, duration, venue address, and target groups, were recorded. Associated neighbourhood characteristics were also explored by linking venue locations to selected census information. Provision was documented for Yoga and Pilates in central Melbourne (1011 events), for Tai Chi and Qigong (323 events), and for a range of smaller HMPs (149 events) across Greater Melbourne. Results indicated a wide range in provision features. Affinities with the holistic nature of HMPs were noticeable in venue choices and neighbourhood socio-demographics. Mention of specific target groups was infrequent. Results are discussed in light of implications for uptake. HMPs exemplify the increasing diversity of physical activity opportunities in modern-day societies. Further research to elucidate their place in the landscape of physical activities is warranted.

Behavioral Characteristics of Older Adults in Community Public Spaces: Gender and Aging in Dalian, China

As people age, the community gradually becomes the main place for their daily activities. In old residential communities in China, variations in behaviors and venue choices of older adults reflect gender differences. This study focuses on the behavioral gender differences in old residential communities and the characteristics of venue use under the influence of the unique policies and culture of China. Semistructured interviews, behavioral mapping, and photo recording were utilized for data collection. The results showed that gender differences were reflected in the variability of behaviors and venue use of older adults. These differences are due to people’s living habits and gender characteristics as well as the top–down development of feminism in China. This study highlights the important role played by policies and culture in behavioral differences and stresses that systematically environmental construction could be used as a balanced means to address gender differences in old residential communities. This study also suggests minimizing activities with a strong gender orientation, balancing the gender allocation of service staff for older adults, and emphasizing space flexibility and versatility could help achieve a gender-balanced community environment.

Shop till you drop? Venue choices of business and non-business interests in the European Union

The EU offers a variety of access points through which interest groups can attempt to influence policy-making. In this paper, we analyze differences in the use of these access points, or venues, by interest groups. Considering the roles played by different EU institutions along the policy cycle, we argue that the venues differ by the extent to which they encourage lobbying from different interest groups. Analyzing survey responses by more than 700 European interest associations, we find that the distribution of access-seeking by business and non-business actors differs across venues. Reflecting its pivotal role at the pre-proposal stage, the Commission encourages non-business organizations to spend much of their finite lobbying resources. In the context of the European Parliament, non-business groups are not only interested in influencing its decisions, but also in connecting to ordinary Members of the European Parliament. Business groups, for their part, apply greater resources to the rapporteurs. Finally, we show that business groups also allocate their resources to regulatory agencies at the implementation stage in the policy process, where incomplete legislative contracts are finalized and non-business groups’ resources are depleted.

Inside Lobbying on the Regulation of New Plant Breeding Techniques in the European Union: Determinants of Venue Choices

AbstractIn July 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union decided that new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) fall within the scope of the restrictive provisions on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Previously, various actors had lobbied in order to influence the European Union’s (EU’s) regulatory decision on NPBTs. This study examines the venue choices taken by Cibus, a biotech company that promoted NPBT deregulation. It shows that the firm bypassed the EU level and that it lobbied competent authorities (CAs) in certain member states to gain support for the deregulation of NPBTs. Cibus chose the CAs because their institutional “closedness” reduced the risk of the debate over the deregulation of NPBTs becoming public. However, the CA’s specific competences and their influence on EU decision making were of likewise importance. The firm lobbied CAs based in Finland, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Two factors appear to have influenced Cibus’ choices for these countries: high‐level political support for agribiotech and the high relevance of biotech sectors. In contrast, public support for GMOs turned out to have hardly any influence, and virtually no association could be observed for the agricultural application of biotechnology in the past nor for the weakness of domestic anti‐GMO lobby groups. Finally, the in‐depth study on Germany affirms that “closedness” was important for Cibus’ choices and reveals that technical information served as a venue‐internal factor that influenced the firm’s choices.

TAKING THE MEASURE OF CHANGING LABOUR MOBILIZATION AT THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION IN THE WAKE OF THE EU SOVEREIGN DEBT CRISIS

AbstractThis analysis investigates changing mobilization at the ILO in response to the labour and social rights shock created by EU and IMF demands in the EU sovereign debt crisis (Crisis Europe or euro-crisis). Mobilization means the purposeful use of legal norms and institutions by social movements and civil society groups to advance identified policy goals. It can be contrasted with the use of legal norms and institutions by individuals or entities to settle disputes affecting them. After introducing relevant features of euro-crisis and the ILO, the article develops an analysis that measures changing mobilization at the ILO during euro-crisis. It then shows how such an analysis makes two key contributions: first, to our understanding of the ILO and, second, to how we approach mobilization. First, by viewing the ILO as a rights mobilization structure, it shows the vitality and interest of doubted or neglected ILO supervision and complaints mechanisms. Five elements are underlined: the ILO is more than existing literature assumes; it questions the depiction of the ILO as a ‘toothless tiger’; the sharp divide between unions and NGOs is overstated; certain institutional design features make the ILO a good venue for transnational mobilization; the ILO is not transparent in terms of access to documents relevant to mobilization and compares poorly in this respect with UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies. Second, by setting it against existing literature, it is shown how measuring mobilization is distinctive within the broader human rights mobilization scholarship. The most important insights it introduces are: rejecting the assumption that mobilization inevitably follows a significant rights shock such as euro-crisis; addressing the puzzles of union ‘mobilization’ and motivation; operationalizing measurement of mobilization against the backdrop of venue choices; considering how to deal with an international organization which is both a mobilization venue and an engaged actor.

Taking the Measure of Changing Labour Mobilization at the International Labour Organisation in the Wake of the Sovereign Debt Crisis

This analysis investigates changing mobilisation at the ILO in response to the labour and social rights shock created by EU and IMF demands in the EU sovereign debt crisis (Crisis Europe or euro-crisis). By mobilisation I mean the purposeful use of legal norms and institutions by social movements and civil society groups to advance identified policy goals. It can be contrasted with the use of legal norms and institutions by individuals or entities to settle disputes affecting them. After introducing relevant features of euro-crisis and the ILO, it develops an analysis that measures changing mobilisation at the ILO during euro-crisis. It then shows how such an analysis makes two key contributions: firstly, to our understanding of the ILO and, secondly, to how we approach mobilisation. Firstly, by viewing the ILO as a rights mobilisation structure, it shows the vitality and interest of doubted or neglected ILO supervision and complaints mechanisms. Five elements are underlined: the ILO is more than existing literature assumes; it questions the depiction of the ILO as a ‘toothless tiger’; the sharp divide between unions and NGOs is overstated; certain institutional design features make the ILO a good venue for transnational mobilization; the ILO is not transparent in terms of access to documents relevant to mobilization and compares poorly in this respect with UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies. Secondly, by setting it against existing literature, I show how the angle of measuring mobilisation is distinctive within the broader human rights mobilisation scholarship. The most important insights it introduces are: rejecting the assumption that mobilisation inevitably follows a significant rights shock such as euro-crisis; addressing the puzzles of union ‘mobilisation’ and motivation; operationalising measurement of mobilisation against the backdrop of venue choices; considering how to deal with an international organisation which is both a mobilisation venue and an engaged actor.

Representative democracy and policy-making in the administrative state: is agency policy-making necessarily better?

AbstractThis study focuses on how voters and politicians rationally select a preferred policy-making venue (Politician or Agency), and its implications for the principal-agent relationship between voters and politicians in a representative democracy. This study allows for incomplete information, as well as solving for the comparative static conditions pertaining to the extent that a politician's policy-making venue choices mirror those preferred by a representative voter. The comparative static results highlight when a politician (1) chooses the representative voter's preferred policy-making venue (ActiveorPassive Political Responsiveness); (2) is able to choose freely either policy-making venue without committing agency loss (Political Discretion); and (3) willing to deviate from the representative voter's preferred policy-making venue (Political Shirking). In contrast to the study by Spence, this study analytically demonstrates that one cannot infer that the benefits accrued from agency policy-making will necessarily exceed those from electoral institutions.

Bankruptcy Venue Choice and Creditor Recovery

The agency problem in corporate default has been relatively less studied in the finance literature. Agency conflict can manifested itself in bankruptcy venue 'shopping', which is a heavily debated topic among legal researchers. The bankruptcy courts in the District of Delaware and the Southern District of New York are the most popular venue choices among defaulting companies. Using a comprehensive sample of debt recovery values of 507 defaulted companies from 1987 to 2007, we investigate the agency problem by examining the effect of bankruptcy venue choice on the recovery rate, the adherence to absolute priority rule, and the bankruptcy duration. We find that the court of the Southern District of New York results in a longer processing time and lower recovery rates for the pre-petition debt holders than other courts. Meanwhile, the court of the District of Delaware tolerates a larger extent of deviation from the absolute priority rule. These negative court effects on creditors' welfare are consistent with the argument that the conflict of interests among stakeholders is facilitated by bankruptcy venue choice.

Who Lobbies Whom? Special Interest Politics under Alternative Electoral Systems

Why do some interest groups lobby politicians and others lobby bureaucrats? We theorize lobbying venue choices and intensity as a function of contract enforceability with policy makers, politicians, or bureaucrats. We argue that organizational structures of interest groups, in particular, whether they are centralized or decentralized, substantially affect their lobbying strategies because they are associated with different ability to monitor and enforce contracts with policy makers and punish them when they fail. We further demonstrate that the effect of centralized versus decentralized structure on venue choices is conditional on the types of electoral system: majoritarian, semiproportional (single, nontransferable vote: SNTV), or proportional representation systems. We test this argument using longitudinal survey data on lobbying which span two decades and cover around 250 interest groups in various sectors and issue areas in Japan. The results lend strong support to our argument about contract enforceability under alternative electoral systems.

Algorithmic Trading in Turbulent Markets

As the markets move to a new phase represented by a preponderance of negative news and great spikes in volatility, there is general discomfort with unfamiliar trading patterns of even the most familiar of names. At the same time, regulatory changes and competition have fueled a steady progression of electronic trading automation and venue choices, adding new complexities and pressures. This article discusses the necessity for adopting new trading practices in a market where the forces of automation and uncertainty are rising in parallel with increasing volatility. It investigates market trends by illustrating changes in commonly used trading metrics. <b>TOPICS:</b>Volatility measures, risk management, statistical methods

Boycott Basics: Moral Guidelines for Corporate Decision Making

When one addresses boycotts, the efforts of the Montgomery bus boycotts to end segregation likely come to mind. However, the moral merits of a boycott are not always so clearly determined and how a company reacts to a boycott can have long lasting repercussions for its public image. In this article, I will examine a number of boycotts including boycotts by the American Family Association of both Ford and Proctor & Gamble based on their advertising venue choices. In a politically and morally charged atmosphere, it can be difficult for companies to determine where their moral obligations lie while at the same time being mindful of the bottom line. I␣suggest a number of guidelines to aid in corporate moral decision making when faced with a boycott.

Words that Wound: Defining, Discussing, and Defeating Bankruptcy 'Corruption'

In Courting Failures How Competition for Big Cases Is Corruption the Bankruptcy Courts, Professor Lynn M. LoPucki argues that certain bankruptcy courts, most notably those in New York, Chicago, and Delaware, are competing for large Chapter 11 cases and that this competition has corrupted the bankruptcy system. Not surprisingly, these provocative arguments concerning venue choices for large firms has caused an uproar in the bankruptcy community. Indeed, because many of the lawyers and judges who have read the book perceive that it unfairly attacks the integrity of the bankruptcy bench, the discourse over problems associated with the current bankruptcy venue choices available for large corporations has been overshadowed by the politically loaded term corruption. This review essay attempts to re-characterize the notion of corruption and suggests that reasonable minds rationally could conclude that at least some of the court practices that Courting Failures suggests are corrupt can be explained by reasons having nothing with a court's desire to compete for big bankruptcy cases. The essay concludes by agreeing with the book's findings concerning some of the corrupt management practices that caused the downfall of Enron, WorldCom, and other large firms and proposes that corporate boards should face the risk of a shaming sanction (i.e., being labeled unfit to serve on corporate boards) to give them a greater incentive to monitor those corrupt practices.

Finding the Weak Link: The Choice of Institutional Venues by Interest Groups

We analyze venue choices by interest groups-the extent to which a group lobbies the Congress, executive branch agencies, and the judiciary-and develop two types of models tested with Jack Walker’s 1985 Study of Voluntary Membership Organizations. The first explains the degree to which a group is involved in each venue separately. The second examines a group’s level of institutional involvement in comparison to the other branches. What explains a groups’ greater utilization of Congress than the courts, of Congress than executive agencies, and of executive agencies than the courts?