Are Subsidies to Hotel Investment an Effective Tool to Enhance Regional Tourism? A Firm Level Analysis

Authors

  • Roberto Gabriele Department of Economics and Management University of Trento
  • Enrico Tundis Faculty of Economics and Management Free University of Bolzano Piazza Università 1
  • Enrico Zaninotto Department of Economics and Management University of Trento

Keywords:

hotel industry, public subsidies, regional policy, counterfactual models

Abstract

This paper undertakes an ex-post evaluation of the impact of public subsidies aimed to co-finance capital investments of micro and small hotel businesses in the Province of Trento (Italy) within the Provincial Law 6/99 in the period 2002–2006. We considered two performance indicators: the occupancy rate and the revenues per room. We used a matching approach to quantitatively assess the impacts of subsidies. Our results show that public subsidies have a positive effect on revenues and occupation rates of hotels.

Author Biographies

Roberto Gabriele, Department of Economics and Management University of Trento

Roberto Gabriele is Associate Professor of Applied Economics at University of Trento. He holds a PhD in Economics and Management (Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies). His research interests are in firms and industry dynamics, public policies evaluation. He uses micro econometrics, counterfactual models and agent based models to conduct his studies.

Enrico Tundis, Faculty of Economics and Management Free University of Bolzano Piazza Università 1

Enrico Tundis is a Research fellow at the Faculty of Economics and Management, Free University of Bolzano, Italy. He holds a masters degree in Management Engineering (University of Calabria, Italy) and a PhD in Economics and Management (University of Trento, Italy). His research interests include firm strategy, productivity and efficiency analysis, and industrial policy evaluation.

Enrico Zaninotto, Department of Economics and Management University of Trento

Enrico Zaninotto is professor of Business and Management Economics at the University of Trento, Italy. Among his research interests, there are: Economic theory of organizations, and empirical study of the relationships between firm organization and productivity.

 

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Published

2018-01-16

How to Cite

Gabriele, R., Tundis, E. and Zaninotto, E. (2018) “Are Subsidies to Hotel Investment an Effective Tool to Enhance Regional Tourism? A Firm Level Analysis”, e-Review of Tourism Research, 14(3/4). Available at: https://ertr-ojs-tamu.tdl.org/ertr/article/view/98 (Accessed: 24 April 2024).

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 3/4 (2017): Research and Development in Tourism Mobilities beyond Place

Section

Articles

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