Month: June 2017

INTER-JURISDICTIONAL COMPETITION FOR SALES TAX REVENUES: A NATURAL EXPERIMENT OF DESTINATION RETAIL OUTLETS

G. Jason JOLLEY

Assistant Professor and MPA Director, Ohio University, Voinovich School of Leadership & Public Affairs

jolleyg1@ohio.edu

Anirudh V.S. RUHIL

Associate Professor, Ohio University, Voinovich School of Leadership & Public Affairs

ruhil@ohio.edu

Stephen KLEINSCHMIT

Assistant Professor, Western Michigan University, School of Public Affairs and Administration

stephen.kleinschmit@wmich.edu

Aleksey KOLPAKOV

Assistant Professor, University of Nevada, Reno, Political Science Department

akolpakov@unr.edu

Abstract

In an age of increased competition for economic growth, attracting destination retail is becoming an increasingly popular development strategy. Local governments engage in inter-jurisdictional competition to attract large-scale retail outlets, which may also serve as a lucrative source of local government sales tax revenue. This study uses a natural experiment design to examine sales tax revenue collections in a seven county region in the state of North Carolina in the United States focusing on the entrance of the Tanger Outlet Mall in Alamance County. After its opening, the county experienced several years of increased sales tax collections, particularly for apparel, relative to the surrounding region. Our evidence suggests that destination retail may prove a desirable strategy for promoting development, though we posit that structural changes in retail and apparel markets, as well as state tax policies, may work to undermine the utility of this approach as means of generating local tax revenue.

Keywords: Tanger, outlet malls, sales tax, LOST, destination retail

JEL classification: H73, H2, R5, R1, L81, Z38

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CABLE AND PIPELINE CORRIDORS UNDER THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF UNCLOS END THE ENERGY TREATY. GEOPOLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS AT THE EASTERN MEDETERRANEAN SEA

Georgios-Alexandros SGOUROS

gesgour@geol.uoa.gr

Ioannis Th. MAZIS

Professor of Economic Geography and Geopolitics,  Dept. of Turkish and Modern Asian Studies. National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

yianmazis@turkmas.uoa.gr

Abstract

This article is divided in three sections; the first is presenting the plethora of fiber optic and power cable geographical distribution, providing to the reader an insight to underwater infrastructure. Readers can bind together the importance of survey, lay, repair and maintenance of underwater cables and pipelines, based on the legal framework provided by the Energy Treaty and UNCLOS. The second section provides a brief report on notions mentioned in the International Energy Treaty. We also mention the Energy Treaty and the Energy Treaty Charter as a case study for pipeline and power cable installations; At the third section, we focus especially at the genesis of UNCLOS with regards to the EEZ maritime zone regime; At this section, we will present the difference between the terms marine research and cable route study, based on the applicable UNCLOS conventional terminology. The last section of this article will be an effort to carefully examine whether these two Treaties are sufficient to regulate transnational cable surveying and laying operations under the current geopolitical frame in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea; as new oil and gas fields are being developed in the region two factors affect the geopolitical equilibrium: 1) The disputed EEZs in the Eastern Mediterranean, 2) The role of Turkey based on its destabilizing and revisionist stand as this is highlighted by extreme geopolitical behaviors causing the present instability in the geopolitical environment of the Eastern Mediterranean, mainly with regards to the supply of energy from discovered gas reservoirs in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Keywords: EEZ, UNCLOS, Energy Treaty, Cables, Pipelines

JEL classification: R21, R32

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CITIES AND ENHANCEMENT OF THEIR HISTORIC CENTRE AND HERITAGE: EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITIES’ AND VISITORS’ PERSPECTIVES

Isabel COSTA

UTAD/Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies (CETRAD), UTAD/Centre for Research and Intervention in Education (CIIE)

isacosta@utad.pt

Veronika JOUKES

UTAD/Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies (CETRAD)

veronika@utad.pt

Francisco DINIZ

UTAD/Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies (CETRAD)

fdiniz@utad.pt

Ana C. CANTANTE

UTAD/Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies (CETRAD)

acordeiro@utad.pt

Abstract

Several movements conceptualise cities’ educational, cultural and urban/regional/transnational development aspects, such as Educating Cities, Children’s City, or URBACT’s. Cultural tourism/Edutourism, seen as a non-formal, lifelong education formula led by the individuals, has also played an important role, enhancing the value of cities in the broader sense. Monitoring people’s opinion about the city and getting them to actively participate also enlightens those movements.  This paper presents a research on the renewal of Chaves’s historic centre (HC), whose rationale considered educational communities as partners. Results showed that teachers value urban renewal processes, while being critical, though. They emphasize the need for information and training. The HC should be a space for families to live in and is referred to as a multiple use educational resource.

Keywords: Cities and learning, historic centre renewal, municipalities and development, cultural/heritage tourism, educational communities’ participation

JEL classification:
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