Economic convergence versus socio-economic convergence in space

Analysis of Spatial Disparities by a Structural Equations Model

This paper presents a new analytical framework for assessing spatial disparities among countries. It takes for granted that the analysis of a country’s performance cannot be limited solely to either economic or social factors. The aim of the paper is to combine relevant economic and non-economic (mainly social) aspects of a country’s performance in an integrated logical framework. Based on this idea, a structural simultaneous equation model will be presented and estimated in order to explore the direction of the causal relationship between the economic and the non-economic aspects of a country’s performance. Furthermore, an exploration of the trajectory that each country has registered over…

Tourism sustainability and economic efficiency: a statistical analysis of Italian provinces

Place-based attributes and spatial expenditure behavior in tourism

In recent discussions on local sustainable development, notions like “local for local” and “home bias” have often played a role. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether preferences for specific place-based attributes might constrain or support tourism participation and tourism destination choice of distinct socioeconomic groups of visitors. To test this proposition, a large data set from the Italian Households Budget Survey for the period 1997–2007 has been used and, by means of the double-hurdle model, tourism participation and expenditure are modeled over the life-cycle of tourists. These data are next merged with location-specific attributes including natural amenities and in…

Attractiveness and Effectiveness of Competing Tourist Areas; A Study on Italian Provinces