Tag: Development and Changes

Some Problems of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Albanian Holiday Hotels

Evis Kushi
Xhuvani University, Elbasan,
Albania

Enkela Caca
Eqrem Cabej University, Gjirokaster
Albania

Abstract:
This paper provides an analysis of the main characteristics of MSMEs in this sector and identifies the existing problems using data from 83 holiday hotels during summer 2006 in Durres region, which is the major sun-and-beach segment in Albania. The results of the survey are in line with the general economic situation in Albania which is characterised by the dominance of micro and small-sized enterprises, mainly family businesses. More specifically, the majority of the holiday hotels in the sample (82 per cent) are micro and small hotels and only four per cent are big hotels. One of the main problems arising from this situation is that hotels of this size match only the demand of individual clients or small groups of tourists and are generally not able to work with big tourist groups organised in package tours by the western operators. Finally, this paper provides interesting recommendations for policy makers, public authorities and hotel managers in order to identify the priorities for the development of the holiday hotels sector and tourism in Albania. read more
 
Key words: MSMEs, holiday hotels sector, survey.

Some Supplementary Regional Economic Effects of a Premier League Soccer Club: Theoretical and empirical Considerations beyond Regional Multiplier Analysis

Rudiger Hamm 
Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences

Abstract:

Using a well-known German soccer club  Borussia Monchengladbach  as an example the present article deals with some supplemaentary regional economic effects of soccer clubs. Theoretica considerations suggest that such effects appear, because soccer clubs can raise a citys awareness level itself and can result in a psychic income and improve its image, can be a relevant location factor by accruing to the inhabitants of the city. All these effects are not only of direct interest for regional economic development, but they can indirectly increase the number of firms settling in the region and/or the level of regional tourism. These theoretical considerations are empirically tested by different methodological approaches  survey of households, survey of experts and media presence analysis. The empirical analysis shows that Borussia Monchengladbach releases an impulse to its location city that noticeably exceeds normal demand-side effects. This impulse  is connected with  the mentioned theoretical aspects. Though all attempts to quantifiy the supplementary effects can only give a rough impression of its true dimension of these effects, it can be stated that the supplementary effects of a sport club (or a major sporting event) are at least as important as demand-side effects normally are are. read more

Interregional Differences in Adoptive Abilities: An Alternative Framework

Stilianos Alexiadis
University of  Piraeus

Abstract: 
Although the importance of technology adoption has been acknowledged, nevertheless, at a more general level, a critical question arises: how do the overall infrastructure conditions affect the absorptive ability of a regional economy? This question can be stated alternatively as: what are the implications of a poor or a superior infrastructure for regional convergence? It is possible to provide some answers to these questions by constructing a model of regional convergence that encapsulates the impact of infrastructure in the absorptive ability of a regional economy. In this model the possibility that high technological gaps might act as obstacles to convergence is taken explicitly into consideration. The model developed in this paper indicates that convergence towards leading regions is feasible only for regions with sufficient absorptive capacity, which is assumed to be a function of infrastructure conditions in a regional economy. read more
 
Key Words: Convergence Clubs, Technological Gap, Technology Adoption