THE REGIONAL BORDER EFFECT IN SPAIN

Luis LANASPA SANTOLARIA
Department of Economic Analysis, University of Zaragoza.
llanas@unizar.es

Irene OLLOQUI CUARTERO
Department of Economic Analysis, University of Zaragoza.

Fernando SANZ GRACIA
Department of Economic Analysis, University of Zaragoza.

Abstract
This work is an empirical study of the Spanish Autonomous Communities from 2000 to 2010 to quantify the so-called border effect, or in other words, how much more intense are flows of goods between regions and the rest of Spain than between these regions and other countries. For this, we use the gravity equation model of trade. The main conclusions are: One, the border effect exists: the dummy variable which quantifies it is always positive and statistically different from zero. Two, the border effect tends to diminish over time. Three, estimating all the regions together, the border effect is around a factor of 10.5. Four, estimating each Autonomous Community independently, the greatest border effect is found in the Canary Islands (factor of 58.36) and the Balearic Islands (factor of 29.81); meanwhile, the regions with the least border effect are the ones with the two largest cities in the country: Catalonia (factor of 8.11) and Madrid (5.17), with Aragon in third place (8.14). Five, if we distinguish between regions’ imports and exports, the border effect is significantly higher for the former (factor of nearly 17, compared to one of nearly 10).

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CONVERGENCE REVISITED: CASE OF EU AND EASTERN EUROPE

Olcay ÇOLAK
Uşak University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Economics, 1 Eylul Kampusu, 64100/Uşak-TURKEY
olcaycolak10@yahoo.com

Abstract
This paper aims to analyze the convergence pattern of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) and South Eastern European (SEE) to the developed older member countries of European Union. In this context, by performing panel data analysis to 33 countries and each subgroup between 1993 and 2012, results reveal that there is a strong tendency on convergence for the new entrants of European Union after 2004 and for the candidate countries in terms of both convergence types which confirm the findings of neoclassical paradigm states that poorer countries will grow faster than richer ones. The speed of β convergence varies between 1.3 % to 4.2 for each group and the findings suggest that private domestic investment is the most leading determinant of growth and convergence process of Eastern European countries.

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EMPLOYMENT AND HUMAN CAPITAL IN THE GREEK HOTEL INDUSTRY

Efstathios VELISSARIOU
Department of Business Administration – Division of Hospitality management
Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly, GR
belissar@teilar.gr

Christos AMIRADIS
Department of Business Administration Division of Hospitality management
Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly, GR
amic@teilar.gr

Abstract
Tourism can have significant impacts on employment in tourist destinations. It must be also noted that the human capital in the tourism sector, and more specifically in hotels, constitutes a basic factor of quality. The effectiveness of service in the Hotel industry is often linked with the sufficient number of hotel personnel, their individual qualities and efficient Human resources management. The development of the hotel industry in Greece and the resulted employment and characteristics of the human resources in relationship to the hotel classification are presented in the present paper.
The paper presents and compares studies and statistical data related to employment and the human capital in the hotel industry in Greece. Several studies in the last years dealt with the volume and the characteristics of employment in the hotel enterprises in Greece. These studies show that the indicator “employee per bed”, as well as the educational level of the employees, are directly related to the category classification of the hotels. Furthermore the employment in the hotel sector in Greece is calculated at 3.2% of total employment, while the employment in the tourism sector is estimated at 10% of the labor force in Greece. The paper concludes with proposals regarding the employment of personnel in the Greek hotel industry.

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