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Although traffic police enforcement is widely recognized as a key action in the road safety field, it can be a costly policy to implement. In addition, governments often impose budget constraints that can limit the resources available for activities such as law enforcement and surveillance. To evaluate the impact of human traffic control resources planning on traffic fatalities on Spanish NUTS-3 regions interurban roads, this paper uses an econometric model to investigate the performance of police enforcement intensity by focusing on two crucial traffic law infractions (i.e., speeding and drunk driving). After controlling for a range of economic, demographic, climate, and risk exposure variables, results highlight the relevance of visible, human, and in-person traffic law enforcement through regular vehicle patrols for reducing traffic crashes, with a non-significant effect of automatic enforcement. Our findings have important implications for traffic police resource management regarding the effective maintenance of patrol cars and plans to digitalize and automatize police administrative tasks and procedures.

Evaluation is a crucial part of the teaching and learning process in any higher education institution and one that has gone through a deep change. This has been particularly true since the Bologna Declaration (http:// www. ehea. info/ page- ministerial-conference- bologna- 1999, 1999) ushered in the European higher education area, with the subsequent major rise in the employment of continuous assessment methods focused on student participation. This article analyses the impact on academic performance of e-continuous assessment based on e-tests on a virtual platform as a previous step towards the substitution of the traditional evaluation system, based on a final exam, with a continuous evaluation system, prescribed as an alternative preferred by the regulations of multiple Spanish universities. Microeconometric models have been applied to a database of 250 first-year students on the Business Administration and Management course at the University of Seville (Spain). Our findings show that e-tests could prevent the risk of students dropping out and could also provide a credible predictor of students’ academic marks in the theoretical contents of the subject, but not in those of a practical or applied nature. Based on the results of this evaluation, an e-continuous assessment has been developed in the subject, which has become the majority option for students, with 90% participation, while also increasing pass rates. Moreover, the positive effect of a computing environment does not appear to be limited to the classroom, but also extends to students’ home environments. This teaching experience shows that the swift feedback that e-tools provides, especially in especially in environments of large class size such as in the class evaluated, could support instructors’ personal tutoring of students’ progress and promote a greater implementation of e-continuous assessment in Spanish higher education.

Michelin-starred restaurants are not only the greatest exponent of haute cuisine in hospitality industry but also key players in the process of the development of gastronomy, food science, tourism destinations, and even regional economies. Despite the impact of this award, the previous academic literature has not addressed the factors and determinants that enable destinations to accrue Michelin-starred restaurants. This paper intends to be the first study that covers this gap using a rigorous econometric analysis (panel data) focused on the case of the Spanish provinces (NUTS-3). Results suggest that the promotion of international tourism (rather than domestic tourism), high-quality supply (such as PDOs), R&D institutions, luxury sectors and hospitality internship among others, might foster the development of appropriate ecosystems for Michelin-starred restaurants in the hospitality industry. The conclusions seek to serve as a basis not only for the development of managerial implications for the hospitality and tourism managers, including a public policy perspective, given their significant and positive socio-economic externalities.

El turismo es un sector económico con un gran peso en la economía mundial, llegando a representar, en 2019, el 10,3% del Producto Interior Bruto (PIB) mundial; unos 330 millones de puestos de trabajo, lo que supone 1 de cada 10 empleos en el mundo; el 6,8% de las exportaciones totales y el 4,3% de las inversiones totales (WTTC, 2020a). Asimismo, ha sido considerado por la literatura académica como motor de crecimiento económico para muchas regiones, fomentando no solo el desarrollo económico, sino también el bienestar y la tolerancia entre la sociedad. En España, en concreto, el sector turístico es de vital importancia por su contribución al Producto Interior Bruto (PIB), al empleo y al equilibrio en la balanza de pagos, entre otras razones. De hecho, todo ello se ha puesto de manifiesto a partir de las consecuencias causadas por la reciente pandemia del COVID-19, que, al limitar la actividad turística incluso hasta niveles cercanos a cero en los meses de confinamiento más estricto, ha azotado con fuerza a la economía española. Al margen de la situación coyuntural provocada por la pandemia, desde hace unos años, la industria turística comenzaba a experimentar un aumento en la competitividad con la aparición de nuevos destinos turísticos, poniendo en peligro la posición dominante de potencia turísticas históricas, entre ellas, España. Frente a ello, se encuentra la constante necesidad de descubrir nuevas estrategias de diferenciación. Una de ellas es la de la certificación de la calidad de los productos; en este caso, del producto/destino turístico, a través de reconocimientos internacionales con una proyección global y de prestigio capaces de respaldar unos ciertos estándares de calidad. Tres de los reconocimientos internacionales más utilizados han sido la Guía Michelin, y en concreto, los restaurantes con Estrellas Michelin, como referentes gastronómicos; los enclaves reconocidos como Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Ed, Tourism is an extremely relevant economic sector in the world economy. In 2019, it accounted for 10.3% of the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), about 330 million jobs, i.e., 1 in 10 jobs in the world, 6.8% of total exports, and 4.3% of total investments (WTTC, 2020a). It is also considered to be a driver of economic growth in many regions in the academic literature, as it not only promotes economic development but also well-being and tolerance in society. In Spain, specifically, among other reasons the tourism sector is of vital importance due to its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment, and the balance of payments. All this has been highlighted by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has severely affected the Spanish economy by limiting tourism activity to near-zero levels for several months. Apart from the situation triggered by the pandemic, in recent years, the tourism industry has begun to experience an increase in competitiveness due to the appearance of new tourist destinations jeopardizing the dominant position of the most important traditional tourist destinations, including Spain. The need to find new differentiation strategies therefore emerges. One of these strategies is the certification of product quality, in this case, of the tourist product/destination, by globally recognized, prestigious international awards that exact certain quality standards. Three of the most sought-after awards are the Michelin Guide, more specifically, restaurants with Michelin Stars as examples of outstanding gastronomy; UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sites as places of exceptional historical, cultural, or natural interest, and lastly, Blue Flags as indicators of the sustainability and quality of beaches. In the context of political debate around the effectiveness of these awards, since their conferral—and continued retention— requires strong political and economic efforts, there is a need to analyze, from an econometric point of view

The current paper deals with the debate over centralization versus decentralization in road safety management, andspecifically in traffic law enforcement. We address the case study of Spain, where a single traffic law acquis isenforced by two systems: road policing decentralized for some regions and national road policing for all others. Oureconometricfindings reveal that the Spanish regions with centralized traffic policing present better safetyfigures,which might be useful for reinforcing the coordinated performance of road safety policy in other traditionallydecentralized countries. Furthermore, our evidence indicates that cautious analyses have to be carried out on a case-by-case basis.