bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gender Earnings Differential in Urban China
Authors: Wang Meiyan , Cai Fang
Published: March 2008

This study uses survey data collected from five large cities in China to describe and decompose the earnings difference between female and male workers. The results indicate that the main source of lower earnings for females lies in unequal pay within sectors, and that the earnings gap due to differences in sectoral attainment is relatively small. The results also reveal that most of the gender earnings differential is attributable to sex discrimination rather than to the gender difference in the endowment of human capital. Therefore, eliminating discrimination against females within individual sectors is effective in narrowing the gender earnings gap.
Explaining the Poverty Difference between Inland and Coastal China: A Regression‐based Decomposition Approach
Authors: Wan Guanghua , Zhang Yin
Published: March 2008

This study proposes a decomposition framework for quantifying contributions of the determinants of poverty to spatial differences or temporal changes in poverty. This framework is then applied to address the issue why poverty incidence is higher in inland than in coastal China. The empirical application requires household or individual income observations which, generally speaking, are not available. Thus, a data‐generation method developed by Shorrocks and Wan is introduced to construct such observations from grouped income data. It is found that inland China is poorer than coastal China, mainly due to lower efficiency in resource utilization rather than less endowment of resources. Also, trade became poverty‐reducing in coastal China in the late 1990s but remained poverty‐inducing in inland China. Policy implications are briefly discussed.
BOEKBESPREKINGEN/REVIEWS
Authors: Schat P. A.
Published: March 2008

K. BUCHANAN, The transformation of the Chinese earth
RECENT TRENDS IN THE LEVEL AND DISTRIBUTION OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN NORTHERN IRELAND
Authors: SALT JOHN , JOHNSON JAMES H.
Published: March 2008

One of the characteristic features of the Northern Ireland economy has been its high level of unemployment. In common with other economically marginal areas of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland's unemployment rate has not only been higher than the national average, but in periods of economic recession the number of people out‐of‐work has also tended to rise proportionately more than in the nation as a whole.
THE CHANGING ELECTORAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE NETHERLANDS: 1946–1981
Authors: JOHNSTON R. J. , O'NEILL A. B. , TAYLOR P. J.
Published: March 2008

The relative strengths of the [Dutch] parties have remained remarkably constant since the first elections under universal manhood suffrage in 1918. Party loyalties have usually been strong and the popular vote very stable.

A. Lijphart 1967

The year 1967 proved to be a watershed. Although it is perhaps too soon to say whether this has been a period of ‘realignment’, it was most certainly one of ‘dealignment’.

G. A. Irwin 1980
‘FUNSHOPPING’ AS A GEOGRAPHICAL NOTION, OR: THE ATTRACTION OF THE INNER CITY OF AMSTERDAM AS A SHOPPING AREA
Authors: JANSEN A. C. M.
Published: March 2008

In high summer, Amsterdam smells of frying oil, shag tobacco and unwashed beer glasses. In narrow streets, where the press of human traffic adds its own pungency, these vapors stand in the air like an aromatic heat mist. Along the Kalverstraat, the ancient and noisy alley that snakes south from the Dam, the swarm of tourists at four in the afternoon coagulates into a single viscid mass. But in Amsterdam, alleys attract; avenues repel. The Kalverstraat's din and cheerful vulgarity are the authentic Dutch answer to the alienating breadth of a boulevard, a piece of urban bombast that has never worked well in their towns. The same tourists who make for the Champs Elysées or Piccadilly, in Amsterdam instinctively shun the pompous space of the Rokin for the sweaty shove and jostle of the Kalverstraat' (S. Schama, The Embarrassment of Riches. An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age, 1987, p. 15).
LABOUR FLEXIBILITY: A TALE OF TWO MILLS
Authors: HAYTER ROGER , GRASS ERIC , BARNES TREVOR
Published: March 2008

In many established industries survival during the 1980s has required productivity improvements, massive job loss and the achievement of new, more ‘flexible’ working conditions. Yet, the search for smaller, more flexible work forces is necessarily an uncertain and contentious process, especially in situations characterized by IN SITU adjustments and entrenched Fordist labour relations. This article focuses on IN SITU restructuring and the search for flexibility in a Fordist labour relations environment, notably the coastal lumber industry of British Columbia, by comparatively analyzing the recent experiences of the Chemainus and Youbou sawmills. The differences in the introduction of new technology reflect the presence of an irreducible local component in labour control which in turn show variations in the strategies of management and labour in imposing and resisting that control. We also note that in contrast to the consistent profitability of the Chemainus mill, at Youbou the failure of management and union to achieve more comprehensive forms of flexibility is a reflection, and cause, of Youbou's marginality.
EFFECTS OF MARKET FLUCTUATIONS ON THE SRI LANKAN TOURIST INDUSTRY: RESILIENCE AND CHANGE, 1981–1991
Authors: O'HARE GREGORY , BARRETT HAZEL
Published: March 2008

Despite the rapid rise of tourism as a major international commercial activity and the marked increase in the numbers of tourists visiting the Third World over the last several decades, the pace of publication of academic papers examining the growth and development of the industry in various tropical locations has remained relatively moderate. This article attempts to redress some of this deficiency and to fill a gap in the geographical literature of Third World tourism. An investigation of market fluctuation within the Sri Lankan tourist industry over the last decade, in particular that of the rapid reduction in tourist arrivals during the period of political instability between 1982 and 1989, and the impressive recovery of the tourist market since 1989, is examined. The progress of Sri Lanka's tourist experience over time is assessed in the light of R.W. Butler's (1980) evolutionary model of tourist development. While the early expansionist development of the Sri Lankan tourist industry between the mid‐1960s and early 1980s fits Butler's model fairly closely, the market response of ‘bust and boom’ since 1983 diverges substantially from his theoretical ideas. The case study also demonstrates that tourism need not exercise a wholly negative influence on an economy; but under the right circumstances can be of benefit to Third World countries. An outline is also given of the methods by which Sri Lanka has attempted to keep in check the negative aspects of tourism in order to ensure that tourism is a positive and successful development strategy. In looking to the future, the tourist industry in Sri Lanka appears to have the potential for continued growth and development provided political conditions in the country remain stable. The industry promises to be an important aspect of Sri Lanka's development strategy, if the negative aspects of tourism can be controlled.
RESTRUCTURING PRODUCTION IN THE WEST EUROPEAN STEEL INDUSTRY
Authors: HUDSON RAY
Published: March 2008

Industrial restructuring is a necessary element in the process of capital accumulation. Restructuring denotes decisive qualitative changes rather than just quantitative changes in the organization of production. In this paper the recent (broadly post‐1974) restructuring of the West European steel industry is examined via consideration of the interplay between processes of change conceptualized as occurring at two levels of analysis: sectoral change on the one hand and the strategies of capital, labour and states on the other.
ACCESSIBILITY AND LANGUAGE CHARACTERISTICS IN CATALONIA
Authors: WESSELS COEN , BECK JAN MANSVELT
Published: March 2008

Castilianization of Catalonia is often thought to be most intensive in the most accessible and central areas. With the help of Geographical Information Systems and characteristics of the road and railway networks, centrality scores for urban municipalities and municipalities near the city of Barcelona have been calculated. The analysis of language characteristics does not show any significant relationship of accessibility on the one hand and the distribution of language characteristics on the other. Instead, Catalonia's linguistic geography is strongly linked with massive in‐migration of Castilian‐speaking minorities. This conclusion may even be valid in a retrospective sense.
TELEMATICS IN LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF MANCHESTER
Authors: GIBBS DAVID , LEACH BRIAN
Published: March 2008

This article examines the implications of the convergence of information technology (IT) and telecommunications into ‘telematics’ for local economies. Despite the crucial importance of such technologies for local economic development, there is increasing evidence that engagement with such technologies is uneven, both between areas and within areas. Peripheral and underdeveloped areas may lose out to the core areas and certain communities and types of firm may be disadvantaged. Several local economic development agencies and authorities have identified telematics development as a key area for strategic intervention. This article investigates the issues involved in such strategies and provides details from a Manchester‐based project ‐the Manchester Host computer network.
CHANGES IN THE GEOGRAPHIC PATTERN OF WESTERN AID1966–1990
Authors: HOLDAR SVEN
Published: March 2008

In the early 1960s, the United States dominated aid‐giving to Latin America; the US, the European states and Japan all disbursed aid to the Asian nations; and the European states provided most of the aid to Africa. Since then, three major changes have occurred in the Western aid regime. First, the international coordination of the Western aid programs has increased. Second, the US role as the dominant aid donor has come to an end. Instead, it is the countries of the European Community and Japan that dominate Western aid‐giving today. Third, a framework for coordination of the aid programs within the EC has emerged. Although these changes fundamentally have altered the geographic distribution of aid from the 1960s, they do not conclusively point to a development toward a tripolar panregional division among the Western donors.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF U.S. URBAN LABOR MARKETS: ASIAN IMMIGRANT GROUPS IN NEW YORK AND LOS ANGELES
Authors: ETTLINGER NANCY , KWON SANGCHEOL
Published: March 2008

This article develops a disaggregate and comparative approach to discern the role of immigrants in urban economies. We disaggregate Asians into four dominant subgroups, and we disaggregate gross industrial employment categories into an industrial‐occupational matrix. Using a relative measure of employment, we compare industrial‐occupational niches for each Asian group in two similar urban contexts, Los Angeles and New York. Empirical findings indicate that neither the supply‐side nor demand‐driven perspectives on immigrants' role in urban economies sufficiently explains the complex patterns we identified. Our results suggest that the neoclassical vision of immigrants ‐ filling particular niches for which they “fit”, by virtue of qualifications or corporate need ‐ overlooks the possibility that immigrants may work to create their own niche or competitive advantage through managing or manipulating the system. This possibility must be explored through interviews. We suggest that interview procedures be preceded by the type of analysis conducted here, so that specific, targeted questions can be developed for the field.
RESHAPING US FOREIGN AID POLICY: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE
Authors: NIJMAN JAN
Published: March 2008

The end of the Cold War and accompanying changes in the global geopolitical order created a vastly different context for US foreign aid. Since American aid was mostly given for geopolitical reasons, foreign aid required a new rationale. These changes in the global environment coincided with waning domestic support for foreign aid and a new tendency to ‘put America first’, as well as mounting criticism of the institutions dealing with US aid and the legislative framework. A clear response to these new demands first materialized in 1994 with the introduction of important new legislation, and the revocation of the Foreign Aid Act of 1961. In writing, the new legislation attempts to honor demands from various constituencies. These include calls for more business oriented aid, for environmentally responsible aid, for a return to true development aid, and for aid that helps promote new security interests of the United States. In practice, there are some notable shifts in aid flows. The most important are those from former strategic allies in the Cold War to the former communist states in East Europe. One of the conclusions is that, despite continued disagreement among constituencies in the United States, geopolitical motives still prevail in US foreign aid policy: it is only the regional contexts that change.
FOREIGN AID AND EASTERN EUROPE IN THE ‘NEW WORLD ORDER’
Authors: MICHALAK WIESLAW
Published: March 2008

Aid to eastern Europe is designed specifically for macro‐economic stabilization and projects in infrastructure, nuclear weapons and nuclear waste disposal, improvement of the environment, training, transfer of technology and acquisition of know‐how related to the functioning of democratic institutions, market economies and administrative systems. Most of these aid programmes are conditional upon adoption of far reaching economic and political reforms. Unfortunately, the donor countries lack coherent strategy and political will to devote substantial resources to the goal of stabilization of eastern Europe. Western aid is often considered in eastern Europe as overly cautious and overdue. Ethnic conflicts, the depth of economic decline and the sheer size of this region contribute to the confusion and shortsightedness of aid policies. Western aid is unlikely to make any significant impact on the process of reforms and stabilization of eastern Europe if it is to continue unmodified.
THE CHANGING GEOGRAPHY OF COUNCIL HOUSE SALES IN ENGLAND AND WALES, 1978–1990
Authors: HOGGART KEITH
Published: March 2008

Since 1980, when public housing tenants in England and Wales were given the right to buy their homes, sales activity has been strongest in Conservative councils and weakest in Labour ones. In recent years, however, this pattern has changed, with Conservative councils recording the lowest sales levels. It is suggested that this owes much to the boom and bust character of local housing markets in the late 1980s, along with growing fears over unemployment. Using a statistical model to control for underlying influences on purchases, this article examines sales rates for every year from 1977/78–1989/90 for all 333 district councils in England and Wales.
IMPACTS OF ACQUISITIONS AND NEW PLANTS ON THE EMPLOYMENT IN US AFFILIA TES OF FOREIGN MANUFA CTURING FIRMS
Authors: PIGOZZI BRUCE Wm. , BAGCHI‐SEN SHARMISTHA
Published: March 2008

Using the polynomially distributed lags model we differentiate, through time, the aggregate impacts of the two major modes of Foreign Direct Investment upon employment within the foreign manufacturing sector in the US. Our results indicate that the impact of FDI is not uniform; it is specific to entry mode. The acquisition of domestic firms by foreign interests appears to have little aggregate positive impact upon employment, while new plants, constructed by foreign concerns, have positive employment impacts on the foreign manufacturing sector in the United States.
SKILL FORMATION AND JAPANESE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
Authors: PATCHELL JERRY , HAYTER ROGER
Published: March 2008

This article focuses on an important research gap in recent literature on the geography of labour market segmentation, namely internal skill formation within firms and how that skill formation is affected by inter‐firm relationships within a production system and among production systems. We address this research gap by drawing on Japanese perspectives and by integrating two approaches to flexibility – that defined in terms of the imperatives of labour market segmentation, and that defined by the imperatives of industrial organization and production. In particular we integrate Asanuma's concept of the relation specific skill, developed within the context of inter‐firm relations, and Koike and Inoki's concept of enterprise specific skills, developed in the context of the role of job training in skill formation. These concepts are illustrated with reference to the Japanese robot industry which has been developed according to a strategy of flexible specialization.
INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COOPERATION: EVALUATION OF ANDEAN PACT COUNTRIES
Authors: MIKUS WERNER
Published: March 2008

This article shows an example of applied industrial geography and policy. Based on statistical data and interviews obtained in South America, the potential of joint ventures as a contribution to more technical, financial and operational interactions in North‐South relations and tendencies towards outward orientation in industrialization are described. The assessment of interviews shows several details of possible joint ventures regarding size, production, manpower, technical equipment and transfer of new enterprises. Joint ventures are an important contribution to economic development, especially to export diversification. EU and Andean Pact institutions now support increased industrial cooperation with various incentives, while at the same time non‐European countries are realizing more projects in Latin America.
SALES OF BUSINESS SERVICES FROM A EUROPEAN CITY
Authors: TOWNSEND ALAN , MACDONALD RACHEL
Published: March 2008

Theoretical and empirical attention to competition between European cities must lay emphasis on the growth of business services. Does it arise from externalisation of work from industry, or from sales to the rest of the service sector locally, nationally or internationally? In a policy survey of 39 ‘business service’ firms for the Scottish City of Edinburgh it was found, despite the prominence of its financial institutions and a few outstanding examples of international sales, that 80% of activity was undertaken for the Scottish market, 24% for private households and only about 10% for the manufacturing sector. It should be policy to maximise export activity of the sector, with the help of continued development of education and training in the City of Edinburgh.
LIVING ON THE EDGE: CHILDREN AS ‘OUTSIDERS’
Authors: MATTHEWS HUGH
Published: March 2008

Cultural geography draws attention to the position of ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ groups in society, each with their own ‘ways of seeing’. This article focuses on a significant outsider group, who have seldom been acknowledged in contemporary geographical studies, older children. Despite a burgeoning body of research which highlights the singular environmental needs of older children, most large‐scale environments are designed to reflect only adult values and usages. The visions of environmental planners and landscape architects implicitly reflect the dominant perceptions of a society, such that groups already on the edge become further marginalised by policy making. Older children are seemingly invisible on the landscape. At best they are provided with some kind of token space, commonly a playground, but otherwise they are required to fit into the alien environments of the adult world. This article evaluates the outcomes of conventional environmental planning, reports on a survey of 9–11 year old children's ways of seeing' familiar outdoor places and argues for an action plan which recognises children as full and active members of society.
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY, LOCAL ECONOMIES AND REGULATION THEORY
Authors: GIBBS DAVID , TANNER KEITH
Published: March 2008

This article examines the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) upon local economic development policies. While ICT policies have been a fast growing area of interest for local policy makers, there has been little attempt to discover the merits, or otherwise, of such policies. In part this can be traced back to the use of either an ‘information economy’ approach or a simplistic post‐Fordist analysis as the theoretical justification for such policies. In this article we explore the use of a regulation theory approach to examine the limits to such policies.
TRADITIONAL‐STYLE FARMING AND VALUES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN MALTA
Authors: SHORT DAVID
Published: March 2008

Contemporary ‘sea‐changes’ in rural policy, particularly in Europe, are promoting a search for diversification and ‘relocalization’ of farming goals, values and systems away from the globalizing model of capitalist industrial productivism. Part of this quest has centred on an insight that some rural areas have ‘lagged behind’ in an uneven modernization process. There, persistence of more traditional styles of farming appears to offer prospects for revival of more ‘ecological’, less environmentally threatening, forms of production. This article presents the findings of a survey of Maltese farm‐based opinion on prospects for development in this new policy setting. It takes rural Malta as a locality exhibiting ‘lagging’ characteristics which recur in other peripheral areas of the Mediterranean realm. The case‐study evidence is used to suggest that defining a strategy which meets the shifting ambitions of policy makers while finding a consensus among highly differentiated local farmers may prove hard, particularly in the very ‘marginal’ settings which appear to have evaded full modernization.
FOREIGN RESIDENTS, HOUSING MARKET AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT STRATEGIES
Authors: THARUN ELKE
Published: March 2008

In order to examine the relationship between the housing market and integration of foreign residents and their families in Frankfurt am Main, it is necessary to look at its socioeconomic structure. The article begins with a brief summary of the spatial and socioeconomic situation of Frankfurt and the foreign residents of the city. Next, the characteristics of urban development and the existing housing stock, publicly financed low‐income housing, and integration strategies are discussed in order to determine how effective the City has been in its attempts to integrate the foreign resident population. It becomes apparent that foreigners are increasingly disadvantaged where urban development is concerned, whenever they have to look for accommodation in those sectors of the housing market which are regulated by theprivate economy.In thepublic sector, there is a structural under‐supply due to the discrepancy between accommodation size and household size of foreigners on the one hand, and a regulation of the proportion of foreigners, as regards a ‘socially compatible’ composition, and the total share of population groups of the city, on the other hand. Finally, the importance of reforming the German nationality law in relation to the integration of foreigners is discussed.
DETERMINANTS OF STATE INVESTMENT IN CHINA, 1953–1990
Authors: MA LAURENCE J.C. , WEI YEHUA
Published: March 2008

Generalizations of regional development in socialist countries based on detailed case studies of important elements of production in different countries are needed. This study focuses on one important force that affects China's regional development: state investment in basic construction. With the exception of the Third Front period (1965‐71), the more developed eastern region always enjoyed a greater proportion of state investment than the central and western regions. Three major factors affected the temporal patterns of regional distribution of state investment in China: the ideological concern for spatial equality, defense considerations arising from perceived international threats, and die practical needs of die national economy. These factors exerted different influence on die investment patterns at different times. Whereas spatial equality and economic pragmatism were major concerns during the First Five‐Year Plan (1953‐57), national defense greatly affected the spatial patterns of state investment during the Third Front period, and these factors brought considerable state investment to die inland regions. Since die 1978 reforms, die concern for economic efficiency, not spatial equality in development or national security, has favored die coastal region.
AFRICAN URBANIZATION: DEPENDENT LINKAGES IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY
Authors: STEWART DONA J.
Published: March 2008

The colonial experience drastically altered the indigenous urban system in Africa, replacing it with a European‐driven urban system designed to facilitate the extraction of resources. The urban system, and the nature of ties with the colonial power, allowed African integration into the world economy only in a dependent fashion. These dependent ties were deepened as the world economy became more globalized in the post‐colonial period. The continent rapidly urbanized, with much of the population concentrating in primate cities. This urbanization was not accompanied by economic growth, as a result Africa will soon become a continent of large cities ‐ with urban populations they cannot physically and economically support. Africa's relationship with die world economy is unlikely to improve, deeply in debt and unattractive to investors, the 1990s will see the continent largely excluded from the world economy except in its colonial role as primary products supplier.
ENTREPRENEURIAL NETWORKING: INDUSTRIAL ESTATES IN GHANA
Authors: MCDADE BARBARA E. , MALECKI EDWARD J.
Published: March 2008

This article looks at networking activities among entrepreneurs of small‐scale enterprises in an industrial district in Ghana. The purpose of the study is to identify the type of inter‐firm interaction that takes place, and to determine the effect it has on die productive capabilities of die firms and die industrialization process. The study is set in the context of research on industrial districts and inter‐firm networks which have been associated with technological change and competitive success for firms in advanced economies. While some believe that were may be little about industrial districts in places such as Third Italy or Silicon Valley which can be transferred to developing countries, die fact remains that small firms everywhere are more similar than different. Therefore, an understanding of die process of networking in Ghana may provide insights on die nature of these activities and their effectiveness in contributing to enterprise growth and die thickening of die industrial base in developing economies.
THE EFFECTS OF REGIONALISATION ON TRADE FLOWS
Authors: POON JESSIE P.
Published: March 2008

Recent research on international trade has highlighted the role of geography in influencing trade patterns. This article seeks to contextualise spatially the traditional gravity model used widely to examine patterns of international trade. It shows that since global trade is increasingly organised around regions, variations in regionalisation or geographical bias affect the levels of bilateral trade. When such biases are not taken into account, then estimation of the gravity trade model fails to discriminate between the relative spatial structures of trading regimes. The above argument is examined in the context of Asia‐Pacific and Europe which are observed to have relatively different forms of regionalisation tendencies.
RESORTING TO KOREAN TOURISM IN AUSTRALIA
Authors: WAITT GORDON
Published: March 2008

Since the late 1980s, tourism has become Australia's most important source of export earnings, surpassing traditional commodities of wool, wheat and meat. Globally, Australia's tourist sector is growing at a rate exceeding all other OECD nations. Arrivals were up 16% when the years 1992 and 1993 are compared. Maintaining this growth requires diversifying the source of tourists. This article explores the growth in the tourist trade to Australia from the Republic of Korea (henceforth Korea). From 1991 to 1993, Korea was one of Australia's most rapidly growing source of inbound tourists. The article examines the growth in tourist flows between Korea and Australia in terms of ‘functional space’ which emphasises the concepts of generation, linkage and attraction between home and destination countries. It is argued that the demand for overseas travel in Korea is a response to the complex interplay of reduced explicit government legislation controlling overseas travel and increasing personal wealth. Marketing is essential to encourage Koreans to visit Australia since it is a marginal location in terms of Koreans' actual holiday destinations. Transforming potential to actual travel is dependent upon the marketing strategies pursued by the Australian Tourist Commission, travel agents, and airline companies.
TERRITORY AND TOURISM: THE CASE OF BANFF NATIONAL PARK
Authors: MINCA CLAUDIO , DRAPER DIANNE
Published: March 2008

This article introduces a model of human territoriality as it pertains to tourism, describes its operation, and illustrates its application to the specific case of Banff National Park. Brief descriptions of the basic concepts of human territoriality, processes of territorialization and the role of image as an index of the evolution of territoriality are provided. Current and historical processes of territory and tourism in Banff National Park are analyzed in terms of the model, revealing the variable influences of developmental and conservation ideologies and pointing to the importance to tourism planning of understanding the human territorialization process.
SPATIAL SOCIO‐ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES IN SRI LANKA: CORE‐PERIPHERY FRAMEWORKS
Authors: O'HARE GREGORY P. , BARRETT HAZEL R.
Published: March 2008

Core‐periphery tendencies within Sri Lanka are examined in the light of recent equity versus efficiency issues. Because of its long‐term welfare programmes, Sri Lanka is well known for its high quality of life indicators compared to other low income countries, and for its attempts to spread the benefits of socio‐economic development throughout the country. Despite IMF‐driven economic restructuring since 1977 and suggestions of core‐periphery intensification, equity issues have not been totally neglected. Evidence is presented here which demonstrates that the country's quality of life indicators have continued to improve both at the district and national level during the last 20 years. Statistical analysis and mapping of recent district level data on 14 economic and social variables indicate a widespread distribution of welfare benefits across the districts. Moreover, when the variables are aggregated and ranked, simple core‐periphery arrangements, with development declining linearly with distance from a south‐west core centred on Colombo are not easily discernible. Core‐periphery frameworks are modified by a corridor of high development levels from the south‐west to the north‐east.
BUSINESS NETWORKS OUTSIDE AN INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT
Authors: PERRY MARTIN , GOLDFINCH SHAUN
Published: March 2008

There is increasing interest in the role that business networking can play in regional and national economic development. While networking is an acknowledged characteristic of successful industrial districts, there is uncertainty as to how networking can be stimulated effectively in less favoured regions. This article reports New Zealand evidence from a survey of small‐firm network behaviour and the impact of an intermediary agency ‐ the Canterbury Business Advisory Agency ‐ in seeking to assist network development. Small businesses were found to engage in various types of networking including information sharing, resource sharing and subcontracting. Little evidence of deliberate strategy about networking was found, however, and most respondents relied on a narrow range of contacts. Network promotion is identified as a way of assisting small‐firm development and several ways assistance can be delivered are identified.
THE BENELUX SEAPORT SYSTEM
Authors: CHARLIER JACQUES
Published: March 2008

The Benelux seaport system is among the most diversified in the world. It includes a series of specialized, niche ports, and two mainports in the full meaning of the word, Rotterdam and Antwerp. In their shadow, a second‐order hub port, Zeebrugge, is gaining increasing recognition in port and shipowners' circles. The future of the ports is partly in then‐own bands, and partly beyond their control, as their prosperity is also conditioned by their hinterland relationships. The most original part of the article deals with a coherent structuring of their West‐East and North‐South intermodal links in a Benelux and European perspective, rather than taking into account sub‐optimal national interests. The case for a new, high‐capacity Rotterdam‐Antwerp‐Lille railway line, with a Zeebrugge‐Ghent branch is explored.
GERMAN SEAPORTS IN A PERIOD OF RESTRUCTURING
Authors: DEECKE HELMUT , LÄPPLE DIETER
Published: March 2008

German seaports are in a phase of far‐reaching structural change. Increasing globalisation of the economy has led to growing international trade volume and a corresponding increase in transport streams. Economic changes are particularly marked in the Baltic region which affects, above all, the German Baltic seaports. The two large container ports of Hamburg and Bremen/Bremerhaven are primarily faced with economic and technical‐organisational changes in intercontinental container transport. Restructuring of the ports is currently governed by an adjustment of port infrastructures to the changed requirements of transport and services, and an extension of hinterland relations. Changes in the institutional and financial structures of German ports are likely in view of the chronic crisis situations of public budgets and the attempts of the European Commission to apply the principle of spreading costs fairly to all European ports, on the basis of standardised cost recording and accounting. The introduction of containers resulted in spiralling labour productivity, with a consequent loss in jobs in the operative core area of the port economy. In view of this forced logistic structural change ports become ‘container floodgates’, a ‘logistic channel’ through which cargo passes. Most port regions are attempting to counteract the job decline in the operative function sector carried out by the seaport through developing the services offered towards “value‐added logistics”. The functional changes of ports modify economic linkages of ports and regions. The immediate linkages of ports and sea‐oriented industries are decreasing and differentiated economic and social networks are emerging in the shape of transport and logistic service centres, although their interlinked relations are no longer one‐sidedly port‐based.
COMMERCIAL PORTS IN SPAIN
Authors: ARQUED ROSA CASTEJÓN
Published: March 2008

The proliferation of ports is a product of history. More than fifty commercial ports form the State Port System. To manage them they are divided between 27 Port Authorities. Their hierarchy is very heterogeneous and the traffic generated is very low compared with other European countries. The main reasons are Spain's lower rate of economic development, the lower population density and the absence of an international hinterland. In the present post‐industrial era, based on worldwide commercial exchanges, the most competitive ports are those specialized in general containerized cargo: Barcelona and Valencia which are active centres of the Latin Arch, Algeciras the most dynamic hub of transhipment in South Europe, and Bilbao which concentrates on a big part of die feeder traffic with the Northern Range. The expected future for the secondary ports is their integration in the European short sea shipping flows.
REGIONAL INDUSTRIAL PROMOTION IN ARGENTINE PATAGONIA: END OF AN ARERA
Authors: MORRIS ARTHUR S.
Published: March 2008

A very powerful set of changes is affecting manufacturing industry in countries of Latin America undergoing market opening. This is particularly true for regions where there has been special protection to encourage industrial location in previous decades. Such is the case for Patagonia, where Tierra del Fuego and Chubut (television and textile industries, respectively) were studied. Current changes, including the tariff reductions associated with the creation of MERCOSUR, but also the liberalisation measures begun earlier by the Menem government, leave these industries very exposed because of their artificial nature and lack of any close industrial structure linking them to the region. Some solutions for these regions are suggested at the end of the article, including the use of tools aimed at the workforce and management rather than capital investment.
THE PROMOTION AND CONSUMPTION OF ARTISTIC PLACES IN FRANCE
Authors: HERBERT DAVID T.
Published: March 2008

Heritage places figure strongly as visitor attractions at a time when both the demand for, and supply of, such attractions continue to grow. Heritage places take many forms, from spectacular sites such as castles and abbeys to sites that have no particular significance until the events or people associated with them are known. Artistic places often fall into this latter category. Their significance derives from links with the life of an artist, a birthplace or former residence, or, by association with the landscapes or scenes depicted in an artist's work. Painting is a visual form of art and particular representations of landscape have some qualities of heritage in themselves, people may feel that they ‘know’ places without ever having been there from their representations in paintings. Connections of this kind allow artistic places to be marketed as tourist attractions. Such marketing raises issues such as the social construction of heritage and the authenticity. There are also questions on the ways in which an artistic place is ‘consumed’ by visitors. Why do they come to such towns in the first place? How much ‘cultural competence’ do they bring with them? How do they use the town and its artistic connections during their visit? Studies of four towns in France which have and use these artistic connections as parts of place promotion strategies are used to examine these questions.
RETRACTED: UNDERSTANDING SUBJECT(S): THE SELF AS CORPORATION
Authors: AMATRUDO ANTHONY
Published: March 2008

This paper aims to make a contribution to work concerning the nature of the subject. The article pays special attention to the work of Parfit but will also cover the work of Hume and Locke. The article seeks to develop an ontological account of persons with important implications to the way in which we distinguish associations, groups and persons in both philosophy and moral theory.
Historical DNA reveals the phylogenetic position of the extinct Alpine lynx
Authors: Gugolz D. , Bernasconi M. V. , Breitenmoser‐Würsten C. , Wandeler P.
Published: March 2008

During the last two centuries, lynx populations have undergone severe declines and extinctions in Europe. The Alpine lynx, once distributed across the whole Alpine arc, became extinct due to direct human prosecution and deprivation of its main prey in the 1930s. Similar to the Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus, its taxonomy has been subject to several controversies. Moreover, knowing the taxonomic status of the Alpine lynx will help to define conservation units of extant lynx populations in Europe. In this study, we investigated two mitochondrial DNA regions in museum specimens (n=15) representing the autochthonous Alpine population and in samples from extant Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx populations in Europe and Asia (n=17). Phylogenetic analysis (cytochrome b, 345 bp) placed the Alpine lynx within the Eurasian lynx lineage. Among all individuals examined, seven different haplotypes (control region, 300 bp) were observed but no unique Alpine haplotype was discovered. Haplotypes of the extinct Alpine population were identical to previously described haplotypes in Scandinavian lynx signifying a recent genetic ancestry with current European populations. Moreover, our genetic data suggest two distinct glacial refugia for the Carpathian and Balkan population. Overall this study demonstrates that historical DNA from extinct populations can help to disentangle the phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography of taxa with only a limited number of extant populations remaining.
Genetic identification of elusive animals: re‐evaluating tracking and nesting data for wild western gorillas
Authors: Bradley B. J. , Doran‐Sheehy D. M. , Vigilant L.
Published: March 2008

Western gorillas Gorilla gorilla have been exceedingly difficult to habituate to the presence of human observers. Nevertheless, researchers have amassed a wealth of information on population densities and group structure for this ape species by locating and counting the sleeping nests of wild individuals. Such nest‐count studies have suggested that western gorilla groups often have multiple silverbacks and these multimale groups occasionally divide into smaller subgroups. However, observational data from forest clearing sites and from a few recently habituated western gorilla groups show no evidence of multimale family groups or of subgrouping. This discrepancy underscores a long‐standing question in ape research: How accurately do nesting sites reflect true group compositions? We evaluated these indirect measures of group composition by using DNA from faeces and hair to genetically identify individual gorillas at nesting sites. Samples were collected from unhabituated wild western gorillas ranging near Mondika Research Center in the Central African Republic and Republic of Congo. DNA extracted from these samples was genotyped at up to 10 microsatellite loci and one X–Y homologous locus for sex identification. Individuals were then identified at nesting sites by their unique multilocus genotypes, thus providing a ‘molecular census’ of individual gorillas. Results confirm that western gorillas often build more than one nest at a nesting site and, thus, nest counts can be highly inaccurate indicators of group size and composition. Indeed, we found that nest counts can overestimate group size by as much as 40%, indicating that true gorilla population numbers are probably lower than those reported from census surveys. This study demonstrates how genetic analysis can be a valuable tool for studying and conserving elusive, endangered animals.
The role of time preference and credit card usage in compulsive buying behaviour
Authors: Norum Pamela S.
Published: March 2008

College students represent a lucrative market for businesses selling a wide array of goods and services, including credit. One area of concern regarding credit debt is its association with compulsive buying behaviour. This study analysed compulsive buying behaviour within an economic framework using a college student sample. Data were collected from 7342 students enrolled in a major Midwestern university. Regression analysis revealed that income, rate of time preference, money attitudes, credit card usage and gender were significantly related to compulsive buying. This study provides useful information for developing, or revising, university policies regarding financial education and counselling, as well as curriculum considerations.
Two aberrant serpent‐eagles may be visual mimics of bird‐eating raptors
Authors: NEGRO JUAN J.
Published: March 2008

Two independent cases of visual mimicry involving snake‐eating eagles as mimics and more powerful bird‐eating hawks as models are proposed. One pair of species is formed by the sympatric West African Serpent‐eagle Dryotriorchis spectabilis and Cassin's Hawk Eagle Spizaetus africanus (=Aquila africana), inhabiting the tropical forests of the African Gulf of Guinea. The second case involves the Madagascar Serpent‐eagle Eutriorchis astur and the Madagascar Goshawk Accipiter henstii, both sympatric and endemics of forests in Madagascar. Similarity in plumage colour and pattern as well as in body size and proportions are remarkable in both cases. The species mimicry pairs are in both cases not closely related phylogenetically and greatly differ in diet, making it unlikely that common ancestry or shared foraging strategies explain the resemblance in plumage coloration and pattern. Mimicry may have evolved because the mimic serpent‐eagles obtain (the following hypotheses are not mutually exclusive): (1) a foraging advantage by deceiving their snake prey as they may not flee from bird‐eating raptors such as the models, (2) a lowered predation or harassment by the models or other predators, and/or (3) reduced mobbing by small birds, which tend to avoid bird‐eating raptors. Alternatively, the similarities in plumage described here may be the result of random convergence due to constraints in the evolution of plumage colours and patterns in diurnal raptors.
Adjusting count period strategies to improve the accuracy of forest bird abundance estimates from point transect distance sampling surveys
Authors: LEE DAVID C. , MARSDEN STUART J.
Published: March 2008

Although point transect distance sampling methods have become widely used in surveys of forest birds, there has been no attempt to tailor field methods to maximize the accuracy of abundance estimates by minimizing the effects of violations of the method's critical assumptions, which are: (1) birds at distance 0 m are detected with certainty, (2) birds are detected at their initial location and (3) distances to objects are measured accurately. We investigate the effects on abundance estimates for Philippine forest birds of varying the count period from 2 to 10 min, and of including and excluding a pre‐count settling down period. Encounter rates were highly sensitive to count period length but density estimates from 10‐min count periods were, on average, only 13% higher than those from 2‐min periods, and in several cases were actually lower than those from periods of 6–8 min. This was because birds tended to be recorded at greater distances from the recorder as the count period went on, thus ‘stretching out’ detection functions while having little effect on detection rates close to the recorder. For some bird groups, including canopy frugivores and upperstorey gleaning insectivores, density estimates were more than twice as high without than with a settling down period. We suggest that movement away from the recorder is more common than attraction to the recorder, and that unless pilot studies show otherwise, similar studies should not use a settling down period for surveying many species. Count periods that maximized probability of bird detection close to the central point while minimizing the unwanted effects of bird movement during the count period were: 4 min for omnivores, 6 min for nectarivores and upperstorey gleaning insectivores, 8 min for understorey insectivores and canopy frugivores, and a full 10 min for sallying insectivores, ground‐dwellers, carnivores and coucals/koels. We use the results to suggest ‘group‐specific’ count period regimes that could help maximize the accuracy of density estimates from similar studies of tropical forest birds.
The separation of Pterodroma madeira (Zino's Petrel) from Pterodroma feae (Fea's Petrel) (Aves: Procellariidae)
Authors: ZINO FRANCIS , BROWN RUTH , BISCOITO MANUEL
Published: March 2008

The taxonomic status of petrels from the North East Atlantic has long been a matter of debate. Breeding colonies of petrels occurring on the islands of Madeira, Bugio and Cape Verde were originally thought to be outlying populations of the polytypic species Pterodroma mollis. Subsequent taxonomic treatments have varied considerably in their classification of birds from these islands. The petrel populations on Madeira and Bugio represent some of Europe's rarest breeding birds and their exact species designation, and hence relation to conservation mandates, is a question of considerable importance. In this study we use molecular techniques alongside more traditional taxonomic characters to confirm the existence of two species of the genus Pterodroma in the Archipelago of Madeira. We also discuss identification of these species in the field and the implications for their conservation management.