Robert G. Healy

Staged authenticity and heritage tourism.

Abstract Much of today’s heritage tourism product depends on the staging or re-creation of ethnic or cultural traditions. This study analyzes the role of perceived authenticity as a measure of product quality and as a determinant of tourist satisfaction. The event studied was the Flora Macdonald Scottish Highland Games held in North Carolina (United States). Tourists and event organizers were asked to evaluate the authenticity of specific festival events on a Likert scale. The study revealed that high perception of authenticity can be achieved even when the event is staged in a place far away from the original source of the cultural tradition. Important differences in perceived authenticity were observed among various groups of visitors.

The 'common pool' problem in tourism landscapes.

Abstract Management of scenic and historic landscapes and other background tourism elements is problematic because they very frequently are what property rights theorists call “common pool” resources. They are characterized by susceptibility to overuse and resource damage and by lack of incentive for productivity-enhancing investment. Property rights theory describes three property rights regimes for managing such resources: privatization, management by government, and common property regimes. All three regimes are widely found in the case of tourism resources, and mixtures of regimes are frequently encountered. Common property regimes, which involve community control or reciprocal actions among individuals, appear to be the least common, yet such arrangements have interesting potential for addressing common pool problems.

Knowledge in the policy process: Incorporating new environmental information in natural resources policy making

Efforts by both natural and social scientists have brought significant new bodies of information to bear on natural resources policy making. Among these have been new insights in conservation biology and landscape ecology, new methods for valuing intangible resource benefits, and new frameworks for resource accounting. The use of these new sources of information is analyzed from a Lasswellian policy process perspective, with illustrations from recent experience with U.S. national forest planning. A distinction is made between the impact of new information on ‘ordinary’ as contrasted to ‘constitutive’ policy making. This experience suggests that these new sources of information may increase emphasis on sustainable, multiple benefit use of resources, but they can also shift power away from non-expert actors, undermine rights arguments, polarize debates over appropriate resource use, and delay timely decisionmaking.

'Tourist merchandise' as a means of generating local benefits from ecotourism.

Long term protection of national parks and nature reserves is very difficult unless economic benefits can be secured for local people. Ecotourism offers a possible income source, provided that there is a means of local revenue capture from the visitors. This article examines the sale of handicrafts and other ‘tourist merchandise’ as a possible means of generating local benefits. The article considers issues of supply and demand, new product development, marketing, and the sustainability of supply of materials used as inputs. It concludes that strong possibilities exist for market development and creation of new, sustainable, culturally acceptable products. Of particular interest are active linking of tourist merchandise production to agricultural or forestry projects that provide a sustainable supply of inputs, use of ‘craft as performance’ to promote product sale, and development of products that educate tourists about park resources and local cultures.

A classification of economic activities based on location patterns

Abstract The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) groups activities without regard to locational behavior. Any SIC group may—and often does—contain two or more activities that have different locational patterns. Starting with data describing the number of people employed in each of 480 activities in each of 311 metropolitan areas of the United States in 1965, we have devised a new classification based on similarity of locational behavior. The results are presented in the form of a 5-digit classification of these 480 SIC activities. Some of the more interesting clustering patterns are discussed and some patterns that might have been expected but did not appear are mentioned. This paper builds upon earlier research reported in “The Agglomeration Process in Urban Growth,” by Joel Bergsman, Peter Greenston and Robert Healy ( Urban Studies , October 1972) and is part of a continuing inquiry into the economic development of cities.

Rural Land: Market Trends and Planning Implications

Abstract The recent revival of interest in rural planning has highlighted the need to understand the operation of rural land markets and the identity and motivations of rural landowners. Three important land market trends are identified—increased demand for rural properties by “non-traditional” owners, changes in the size-distribution of landholdings, and notable increases in land prices. This article presents original data on the incidence of these trends in five diverse rural areas, explores their potential impacts on resource productivity and the rural environment, and comments on present policies and possible policy improvements.

Environment and Development Conflicts in Coastal Zone Management

Abstract Coastal zone management arose as a response to pervasive conflict between the increasingly well-recognized environmental values of the coastal zone and various development activities. In enacting the 1972 federal Coastal Zone Management Act, Congress explicitly called for a balancing of developmental and environmental concerns, leaving the states and territories considerable leeway in how the balance would be struck. The result has been great variation among the states both in the methods of weighing environmental and developmental objectives and in the emphasis given to each in implementation.

Saving California's Coast: The Coastal Zone Initiative and Its Aftermath

Abstract In 1972 Californias voters gave control over nearly all construction along the states 1,000‐mile coastline to powerful state and regional boards. These boards will administer a permit system for three years, then submit a plan to the Legislature for the future preservation and development of the coast. The permit zone includes a wide variety of natural environments and possible uses, including open water, large tracts of undeveloped land, beach towns and resorts, and some of the nations most valuable urban‐land. In the boards’ brief existence, the coastal regulators have acted on more than 5,000 permits, including controversial issues of beach access, density, agricultural preservation, power‐plant siting, and growth inducement.

Effects of Improved Housing On Worker Performance.

This study is a theoretical and empirical investigation of the impact of housing improvement on worker productivity, health, and absenteeism. A model is proposed which considers the interaction of housing improvement with other forms of human capital investment. Empirical evidence from a four-year study of the performance of a sample of rehoused factory workers in Mexico is presented. It is found that the method of wage determination and the reaction of workers to a changed set of economic opportunities generated by rehousing have an important impact on the return from investment in improved housing.

Forests or fields: A land allocation perspective☆

The assertion that previously cultivated areas now under troplcal forests are particularly suited to conversion for future food production is inconsistent with socially optimal land allocation. With regard to agricultural benefit streams, land cultivated in pre-modern times is not necessarily suitable for cultivation under modern conditions of transportation, crop choice and production technology. With regard to conservation benefits, ecosystem values and ecosystem scarcity are more relevant to land allocation than is the past history of land use.