bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Spatiotemporal Dynamics of AIDS and TB in the New York Metropolitan Region from a Sociogeographic Perspective: Understanding the Linkages of Central City and Suburbs
Authors: Wallace R , Wallace D , Andrews H , Fullilove R , Fullilove M T
Published: October 2006

Empirical and theoretical analyses based on observed patterns of incidence of AIDS and tuberculosis, on rates of poverty, and on statistics describing a ‘Markov infection’ driven by the ‘commuting field’ around Manhattan, strongly suggest that urban and suburban epicenters within a twenty-four-county metropolitan region, covering eighteen million people and more than 7600 square miles, may be significantly and increasingly linked to outlying affluent areas through a process driven by fundamental social, geographic, and economic structures. AIDS and TB rates outside the epicenter of New York City are found to display similar patterns of spread in space and time, and have been strongly coupled to rates of infection within it for some time, a circumstance which will continue and may intensify as ‘heterosexual AIDS’ becomes more predominant and as multiple drug-resistant forms of TB evolve within disintegrating inner city minority communities. The work reported here, involving a relatively large area and a high population, strongly contradicts the findings of a recent National Research Council report on the social impact of AIDS, which, based on a severely constrained scale of analysis, concluded that the concentration of disease within marginalized urban communities implies many geographical areas and strata of the population are and will remain untouched by the AIDS epidemic. The hyperconcentration of infection in urban epicenters is not containment, but rather a principal force behind further spread. This work, in part a technology transfer from community ecology of ideas on refugia and reservoirs, adds significantly to a growing body of evidence which strongly implies that wide-spread urban reform is an essential, but largely unrecognized, component for any realistic national programs to control AIDS, multiple-drug-resistant TB, and other infectious diseases.
Regulation Theory and Rural Research: Theorising Contemporary Rural Change
Authors: Goodwin M , Cloke P , Milbourne P
Published: October 2006

In this paper we have tried to develop a theoretical and conceptual framework for analysing contemporary rural change. Initial results from a recent research project on changing lifestyles in rural Wales are used to investigate the potential contribution of regulation theory in rural research. The paper consists of four main sections. In the first and second sections, the main theoretical characteristics presented by a regulationist analysis of contemporary capitalist change are discussed in detail, stressing that regulation is a continuous but highly variable process. In the third section, some key findings from recent work on rural Wales—which highlights the cultural, social, and economic elements of change–are presented. In the fourth and concluding section we discuss the potential contribution which regulation theory might make to rural research, but in addition outline the ways in which an analysis of contemporary rural change might contribute to the continuing development of regulation theory. In particular, attention is drawn to several key issues which a regulationist account of rural change will have to consider.
Migration Models Incorporating Interdependence of Movers
Authors: Flowerdew R , Boyle P J
Published: October 2006

Models of migration between regions are often based on the assumption that individual moves can be modelled by a Poisson distribution whose parameter is a function of origin and destination characteristics, and generalized cost; this is true of Poisson regression models and spatial interaction models. The Poisson assumption is that each individual acts independently from others making the same move. In fact, migration is usually engaged in by household groups, not independent individuals, making the Poisson assumption invalid. It is possible instead to construct a model in which the probability of a household moving is given by a Poisson model and the number of individuals in a moving household is given by an observed household-size distribution. This generalized Poisson model is explained and fitted to a set of data on local-level migration within the English county of Hereford and Worcester. However, the sparse nature of the data set raises problems in assessing goodness of fit because the deviance value is unusually low. This is tackled here with a simulation methodology.
Regional Impact on Technological Change: The Evolution and Development of the Twin-Wire Paper Machine from 1950 to 1988
Authors: Ofori-Amoah B
Published: October 2006

In this paper the impact of regions on the evolution and development of technology is examined via a new paper-making technology (the twin-wire machine) as a case study. In particular, differences in raw material and physical environmental conditions, consumer tastes and preferences, and industrial organization and corporate strategies between the two regions, North America and Europe, provided different demand and supply conditions for the development of the twin-wire technology. These conditions initially influenced the development of different twin-wire trajectories in North America and Europe. Later on, these trajectories began to converge as the supply and demand conditions, which had established them, began to change.
Gender, Race, and Class in the Local Welfare State: Moving beyond Regulation Theory in Analysing the Transition from Fordism
Authors: Bakshi P , Goodwin M , Painter J , Southern A
Published: October 2006

In this paper we attempt to provide a conceptual framework which can help inform our analysis and understanding of current transformations taking place within the welfare state. We argue that the French school of regulationist literature, though able to provide a broad frame of reference for analysing contemporary shifts in economy and society, needs to be supplemented by an analysis which focuses on the racialised and gendered character of the welfare state. In the paper the ways in which the ‘universal’ welfare state has operated to exclude minorities and marginalised groups are charted, and we argue that in practice the Fordist mode of social regulation (MSR) operating in Britain generated a hierarchy of oppression. This hierarchy was constituted through the relations of class, race, and gender, and we show how these are currently being redefined as the British state seeks to mediate the crisis tendencies inherent in the Fordist MSR.
Towards a Schumpeterian Workfare Regime in Britain? Reflections on Regulation, Governance, and Welfare State
Authors: Jessop B
Published: October 2006

In this paper I offer various comments on the contributions on economic and social policy in this special issue of Environment and Planning A. The contributions range from general theoretical reflections on regulation, governance, the politics of identity, and the welfare state to rich, detailed case studies of restructuring and reorientation in specific policy areas. Taken together these papers not only provide telling empirical material on recent dramatic changes in the British welfare state, but they also have important implications for a wide range of theoretical and methodological issues concerning the regulation approach. My own comments are also wide ranging but far less detailed. They focus on some key issues which arise in several of the papers and/or which pose more general questions regarding regulation-theoretic and state-theoretic analyses of contemporary Britain. Thus I first consider some methodological issues posed by the contributors' use of the regulation approach to contextualize and/or explain recent changes in the British welfare state. I then address some theoretical issues posed by their relative neglect of the distinctive political dynamic of the postwar British polity and/or the relevance of its distinctive crisis to the recent restructuring of the welfare state. This enables me to address some of the perverse effects of neoliberalism and the extent to which it represents a novel continuation of the crisis of Britain's ‘flawed’ Fordism rather than its resolution. I conclude with some general remarks on the regulation approach.
Corporate Networks and the Spatial and Functional Reorganizations of Large Firms
Authors: Li F
Published: October 2006

In this paper a new analytical framework is developed to examine the emergent spatial and functional reorganizations of large firms that are intimately related to the use of corporate networks. The framework is developed through a systematic analysis of the various types of relationships between information technology and corporate reorganization, and the identification of the key elements and dimensions of corporate reorganizations. It allows for specific organizational changes to be understood within the overall context of corporate reorganization in the firm, and most of all, to be easily seen as in some way related to the use of corporate networks. Unlike previous studies in which the role of space and place has mostly been marginalized, in this inquiry geography is regarded as an integral part of the development of corporate networks and corporate reorganizations. By centrally focusing on the intersections between corporate networks, large firms, and geography, I conceptualize a wide range of phenomena that are observed in real organizations, and speculate on their implications for the future form of organizations and urban and regional development.
A Model of Sustainable Extraction of Nontimber Forest Products in Subsistence Societies
Authors: Dufournaud C M , Quinn J T , Harrington J J , Yu C C , Abeygumawardena P , Franzosa R
Published: October 2006

The shrinking forest in many parts of the world is a problem often blamed on the patterns of ownership and harvesting by the resource owners. We develop a model which demonstrates that holding a resource in common where there is competition among individuals leads to inefficient harvesting of the resource but cannot lead to the destruction of forests. The same model is used to demonstrate that climatic conditions, low wage rates, and increases in the number of people entitled to harvest the resource are more-likely candidates for variables explaining the destruction of the forest. Examples taken from the Sudan and from China provide evidence that communities alter their pattern of ownership and migration so that they do not exhaust the resource. The main conclusion of the paper is that the behavior of the owners of the resource is not the underlying cause of the destruction of the forest.
Information Technology, the Organization of Production, and Regional Development
Authors: Amirahmadi H , Wallace C
Published: October 2006

Information technology (IT) was conventionally viewed as a process that affects the spatial organization of production significantly yet has little impact on technical and managerial structures. Specifically, IT was said to encourage decentralization and centralization in space because the new infrastructure, ‘the electronic superhighway’, both compresses space and reduces turnover time. Regional policymakers were then advised to design measures to enhance the decentralizing effect of IT. Only recently has attention been directed toward the impact of IT on industrial processes. However, such contributions remain limited because of their view of IT as a process phenomenon. We argue that IT is better viewed as a process and as a productive force and that from this perspective its impact is not limited to spatial organization of industries as it also alters production methods. Beginning with this understanding of IT, we have identified and presented two emerging technospatial tendencies, namely, integration and disintegration. Whereas decentralization disengages production stages from a centralized hub of productive activity, disintegration actually alters a centralized production hub into new fragments, each of which incorporates every necessary production stage to create a comprehensive and self-sufficient structure. Likewise, whereas centralization simply collects production stages together, integration restructures groups of production stages into a new whole and leads to comprehensive resource-sharing among diverse industries. The implications of this new formulation for regional development policy are far-reaching. There are also ramifications for the existing theory of new international division of labor, a subject that is not treated in this paper. Regional planners will need to restructure ‘innovation techniques’ specifically to accommodate disintegrated firms and to design policies that correlate with the industrial objective of competitive advantage. The most significant ingredients in this process are the establishment of an intelligent network, high-quality labor training, and support of productivity strategies designed to meet the needs of firms in the 1990s. Policymakers must also introduce regulations to promote universal access to IT and prevent integrated firms from becoming oligopolies, including the creation of countervailing local forces.
Sustainability and the Rural Economy: An Evolutionary Perspective
Authors: Allanson P , Murdoch J , Garrod G , Lowe P
Published: October 2006

The authors define the rural economy not as a functional entity but as a complex, open system, the analysis of which requires an interdisciplinary approach oriented to the study of processes and interactions. This evolutionary perspective is illustrated by two generic studies of rural issues: the role played by the postwar planning regime in the definition and management of rural space in Britain; and the connection between agricultural development and the reproduction of farm structures. The understanding of sustainable development which emerges calls for a holistic and responsive approach to rural policy formulation.
Gap on the Map? Towards a Geography of Consumption and Identity
Authors: Crewe L , Lowe M
Published: October 2006

The current blurring of the boundaries between economic, cultural, and social geography has placed issues of consumption and identity firmly on the research agenda. In this paper, we address the question of the spatiality of retailing and consumption and argue that emergent microgeographies of consumption are challenging the simplicity of the globalisation thesis. We argue that retailers are in the business of creating particular urban landscapes and that qualitative differences are emerging between areas as consumption centres. By focusing on the spatial outcomes of the complex mediation between retailers, advertisers, and consumers, we examine the complex political-economic relations which enable the production of consumption. The project is thus an attempt to mesh production-oriented and culturally derived understandings of consumption and identity.
Regulation, Retailing, and Consumption
Authors: Marsden T , Wrigley N
Published: October 2006

In this paper the interplay between regulation and consumption is explored. Questions are posed about the regulation of consumption by the state and by private retail capital, and the way in which consumption relations influence the operation of the state either directly or through the mediative role of the retailers. We argue in general terms that, since the 1980s, it is the consumption nexus rather than that of capital and labour which has increasingly provided the most attractive location for the abstraction of surplus value and for capital accumulation; that the state had increasingly become an active agent in class formation and class relations through the sphere of consumption; that consumption processes have increased in significance in the legitimation of the state; and that, particularly in the United Kingdom, the major food retailers have played a critical role, not only in delivering new and revised ‘rights to consume’ to empowered groupings of service-class consumers, but in defining consumption interests around their own particular notions. As a result, we argue that regulation by necessity has become far more embedded than hitherto in the consumption process, and that a consideration of the regulation of retail capital offers particularly valuable insights into the regulatory influences shaping the extraction of profits from the ‘situation of exchange’. Above all, our aim is to inject a ‘political economy of consumption’ perspective into the increasing and diverse debates concerning cultural aspects of consumption. We argue, in conclusion, that it is necessary to explore how the political economy and cultural aspects of consumption interact, and how social and political practices embody both. To this end, we conclude our paper by posing questions about the next steps in what we believe is a vitally important emerging dialogue and integration between these two perspectives.
Consumers, Identities, and Consumption Spaces in Early-Modern England
Authors: Glennie P D , Thrift N J
Published: October 2006

In this paper we consider practices of shopping in early modern (17th- and 18th-century) England, and various features of the spaces in which it occurred. We emphasise the density of retail shops in England; the reflexive relationships among ‘consumers’, shopkeepers, and consumption sites; and the inability of current theorisations based on the semiotics of advertising to address questions about consumers' understandings and identities in an age prior to widespread product advertising, department stores, and mass retail outlets. We contend that, then as now, peoples' interpretation of objects and identities involved practical, embodied knowledges rather than the sorts of explicit, intellectualised understandings central to most contemporary accounts of consumption. Such practical knowledges have been underresearched, and we point to some concepts in recent work which can assist in their theorising.
Displacement, Consumption, and Identity
Authors: Crang P
Published: October 2006

Increasingly attention is being paid to the ways in which consumption is a geographically constituted process. In this paper the notion of ‘displacement’ is used to reflect on these constitutive geographies, and in particular as a way of understanding contemporary consumption neither as a homogenising nor a locally bounded social activity. Two aspects of the geographies of displacement within consuming worlds are highlighted: the representations of origins, travels, and destinations—or geographical knowledges—that surround and in part comprise commodities; and the juxtapositional character of the arenas in which consumption takes and makes place. These geographies are illustrated and critically analysed through examples of commodities that deploy representations of the ‘global’, the ‘ethnic’, and the ‘hospitable’.
The Multiple Criteria Location Problem: 2. Preference-Based Techniques and Interactive Decision Support
Authors: Malczewski J , Ogryczak W
Published: October 2006

This is the second of two papers in which multiple criteria location problems (MCLPs) are discussed. In this paper two major approaches to locational decisionmaking are overviewed: optimizing decision rules (utility-function-based methods) and satisficing decision rules (goal-programming methods). Their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. From these two concepts a quasi-satisficing decision rule is developed and operationalized through a reference point method. A framework for an interactive decision support system (DSS) for tackling MCLPs is proposed. The system integrates a network model with the quasi-satisficing approach. It is argued that the DSS data and analytical components can be effectively integrated by means of the interactive decision support concept that involves a feedback exchange of information between a decisionmaker and a computer-based support system. This concept allows for the exploration of the locational decision problem and the alternative solutions both in decision space and in criterion outcome space.
Controlling HIV/AIDS in Ireland: The Implications for Health Policy of Some Epidemic Forecasts
Authors: Smyth F M , Thomas R W
Published: October 2006

This paper is set within the context of growing opiate use, and in it we develop and apply a modelling framework that is designed to forecast HIV prevalences and AIDS incidences that are consistent with various control scenarios related to the medium-term behaviour of the epidemic in Ireland. This task involves, first, fitting a process-based HIV model to AIDS incidence series for both Ireland and the United Kingdom to estimate national variations in the force of infection between the major risk populations. Second, these results are used to calibrate extended models which employ time-dependent parameters to imitate the effects of changed behaviours and other preventative actions. Third, the impacts of such interventions on the size and duration of the epidemic are illustrated by altering the values of the epidemiological or behavioural parameters at some time during the simulation interval. These results are then presented as control charts which record both the magnitude of the preventative action (such as a reduction in the number of sexual or needle-sharing partners) and the timing of its implementation. Last, in the discussion the implications of these findings for the development of health policy for HIV/AIDS in Ireland are considered. In particular, a comparison of the control charts suggests that, if it has not already taken place, the need for stringent interventions amongst intravenous drug users would appear to be imminent, whereas the position for gay men is less critical.
Facilitating Location Independence with Computerized Conversation Systems
Authors: Noble E J Menasse , Adler J
Published: October 2006

Location independence for organizations is desirable if they wish to achieve a given spatial distribution in a regional development plan. An organization's interaction with its environment forms the basis of its daily work and takes the form of ‘information links’ composed of fundamental indivisible blocks called ‘conversations’. To achieve location independence it is necessary for organizations to develop and maintain environment interactions independent of their location. Information technology systems are able to reduce location restrictions by providing distant parties with the conversational structure present in face-to-face interpersonal interactions.
Regional Development and the Production of Space: The Role of Infrastructure in the Attraction of New Inward Investment
Authors: Peck F W
Published: October 2006

The continuous renewal and improvement of infrastructure within Europe are widely regarded as a very necessary part of any regional development strategy, particularly in regions which are economically and geographically peripheral to the core industrialised regions. This paper is a review of some of the problems associated with modelling the relationship between improvements in infrastructure and regional economic growth specifically in the context of the attraction of new inward investment. An illustration from northeast England is used to argue that it is increasingly untenable to regard infrastructure as an independent variable influencing the regional distribution of mobile investment. Although the presence of certain basic infrastructure may be significant in attracting the initial interest of potential new investors, success in winning inward investment projects depends increasingly upon the ability of public authorities to produce spaces which are customised to the changing needs of key firms. This process of infrastructure modification and adaptation challenges simplistic interpretations of the role of infrastructure in regional economic development. Examples demonstrate how inward investment projects can be levered into a region by means of a variety of incentives including promises of rapid infrastructure modifications. The experience of Nissan is used to illustrate how an investor can subsequently engage directly in the production of its own customised space through the control exercised over regional authorities. It is concluded that this area of research and policy formation would benefit from insights into the political processes which occur at local levels in the modification and production of space.
Foreign Manufacturing Investment and Regional Industrial Growth in Guangdong Province, China
Authors: Leung C K
Published: October 2006

In this paper, information from four major studies of Hong Kong's manufacturing investment in China, as well as published statistics concerning foreign investment in Guangdong, and data from a detailed investigation of seven manufacturing firms in Hong Kong are drawn upon in order to detail the locational and sectoral characteristics, the production and linkage attributes, and the regional economic impacts of foreign manufacturing investment in Guangdong Province, China. It is found that, geographically, foreign manufacturing investment clusters in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, with Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhuhai, and Shantou as the secondary centers of concentration. Sectorally, investment from Hong Kong is concentrated in the electronics, garment, and textiles industries, whereas investment from other countries is centered in electronics, construction materials, transport equipment, and chemical industries. Foreign manufacturing investment in Guangdong is directed at a diverse array of activities, of which a significant amount involves work that is technologically similar to that conducted in the source countries. These beneficial impacts are attributable primarily to the extensive production decentralization from Hong Kong, the social affinity between Hong Kong and the Zhujiang Delta, the ability of the state to control foreign investment flows, and the entrepreneurship and ingenuity of individual locales in the province. The impacts are especially concentrated in the Shenzhen region. This region, along with the Foshan and Guangzhou regions, is likely to become a major industrial district in Pacific Asia.
Understanding the Role of Consumer Services in Local Economic Development: Some Evidence from the Fens
Authors: Williams C C
Published: October 2006

Through a critical review of economic base theory, it is argued in this paper that the ability of locally-oriented activities to prevent income from leaking out of an area can be seen as as important to local economic development as the external income-generating function of outward-oriented industries. Given this, consumer-service activities are posited to contribute to the development of a local economy not only in the much neglected role of basic activities which attract external income but also in the nonbasic locally-oriented role of curbing the seepage of income out of an area. With use of a case study of the East Anglian Fens rural economy, the extent to which the consumer-service sector fulfils these functions in practice is investigated, revealing the positive role of these services in local economic development both as generators of external income and as leakage preventers.
The Internal Dynamic of International Migration Systems
Authors: Waldorf B
Published: October 2006

In this paper I provide a conceptualization of international migration networks, which can be used to identify and integrate the internal components of migration systems, and formalize the relationships in an analytic model of the internal network dynamic. With the use of the operationalized model, and microlevel and macrolevel data for guestworkers in Germany during the period 1970 to 1989, we can empirically test the relative influence of internal network variables versus external forces on the attraction of immigrants over time. The empirical results suggest that—as the system matures—network variables have an increasing impact on the attraction of immigrants, while the impact of economic factors declines. The research is concluded with a series of simulations that further highlight the internal dynamic of international migration systems.
The Shattered Dream: Postwar Modernism, Urban Planning, and the Career of Walter Bunning
Authors: Freestone R
Published: October 2006

The vision of modern urban planning after World War 2 was a remarkably standardized project around the world. Implementation was also universally problematic, the heady reformism of 1940s reconstructionism never being comprehensively realized. Moreover, by the 1970s the early ‘heroic’ modernism had evolved into a counterrevolutionary ‘high’ modernism. Exemplifying these themes was the career of the Sydney-based architect—planner Walter Bunning (1912–1977). In this paper I provide an overview of his particular brand of modernist thought, his central planning ideas, and his physical planning work, with special reference to a disastrous redevelopment scheme near the end of his life. The nature and scope of Walter Bunning's professional life represent a virtual microcosm of the uneven course of planning in Australia in the postwar years: genesis in the avant-garde Le Corbusier-tinged modernism of the 1930s, the early priorities, the broadening agenda but ever moderating tone, the difficulties in translating heady dreams into reality, and the crises which led to the emergence of a new paradigm. I will demonstrate how a biographical approach to planning history can illuminate the origins, meanings, hopes, and outcomes of modernist planning in the urban arena.
‘Strategic’ Enabling? Cardiff City Council and Local Economic Strategy
Authors: Valler D
Published: October 2006

In this paper I examine the development of Cardiff City Council's local economic strategy. It is argued that the definition of local policy, of what the policy process means in particular instances, derives from the complex of economic, social, and political conditions found within and beyond a given locality. In Cardiff, the interaction of broad processes of restructuring with specific local forms has historically diluted Cardiff City Council's function in local economic policy. In turn the recent experience of strategy making has been predicated upon a more wide-ranging and deeper involvement in associated service provision, and the construction of legitimacy around enhanced City Council activity. In particular ways this questions the interrelationship of strategy making and service provision promulgated in notions of strategic enabling.
Spousal-Residence Separation among Chinese Young Couples
Authors: Ma Z , Liaw K-L , Zeng Y
Published: October 2006

Spousal-residence separation has become a serious social problem in China since the Cultural Revolution. Apart from housing shortages, the government's migration control, through the restriction on urban-household registration, is a main contributor to the separation. Based on the microdata of the 1987 National Population Survey, we find that the variation in spousal-residence separations among Chinese young couples in the mid-1980s is well explained by personal and household factors within a multivariate model. The separations were aggravated by migrations for the reasons of employment or education. Although marriage migrations reduced the number of separations, those who had been married for a short period of time (particularly newlyweds) were more prone to be separated. It is ironic that the higher a person's level of education, the greater the tendency for them to suffer the pain of spousal-residence separation. Household status could also be a very important factor: the lower the household status of a married individual, the more likely that he (or she) would be separated from their spouse.
Data Protection and Intellectual Property: Information Systems and the Americanization of the New Europe
Authors: Curry M R
Published: October 2006

The introduction of computer-based information systems into the newly emerging democracies—and markets—of Central and Eastern Europe raises important questions. With information seen by many in government and industry as the gold of the future, it is not surprising that it is common in the West to see it as essential that those countries adopt regulations that will encourage its relatively unfettered flow. In fact, in the key areas of data protection and intellectual property we can see strong indications of Western influence. But this is occurring in different ways. In the case of data protection, US influence has been brought to bear through intermediaries, particularly the European Community. In the case of intellectual property, the United States has acted more directly. In both cases, though, the United States is promoting what it sees as its own values despite their being in important ways at odds with those not simply of Central and Eastern Europe but of Europe more generally.
Rules for Random Aggregation
Authors: Steel D G , Holt D
Published: October 2006

In this paper we derive the effect of aggregation on common statistics when the geographic areas used in the analysis are equivalent to randomly formed groups of individuals. Simple rules of aggregation are provided for use when analysis of such groups is performed. The expectations of common statistics such as means, variances, regression and correlation coefficients, are not affected by aggregation. However, the variation of these statistics is affected, mainly as a result of changes in the number of groups. This variation is related solely to random fluctuations associated with the generation of variate values. Weighting by the group population sizes is shown to be important in the calculation of statistics. Generally, unweighted statistics have larger variation than the corresponding weighted version, and the variation depends not only on the number of groups but also on the distribution of group population sizes. Methods for conducting statistical analysis of aggregate data in this situation are described and statistical inferences based on unweighted statistics are shown to be invalid.
Industrialisation, Enterprise Power, and Environmental Change: An Exploration of Concepts
Authors: Taylor M
Published: October 2006

The relationship between the processes of industrial change and environmental change is examined. The focus of the analysis is the business enterprise which is used to ‘reembody’ environment—economy interdependencies and the concept of industrial metabolism. From this, a topography of enterprise and environment interrelationships is examined in terms of interorganisational and intraorganisational power networks and associated pollution signatures. To build a dynamic into the essentially static concept of power networks, the concept of circuits of power is elaborated.
Spatial Aspects of Recruitment Behaviour of Firms: An Empirical Investigation
Authors: Russo G , Rietveld P , Nijkamp P , Gorter C
Published: October 2006

It is widely recognized that employers' hiring standards and spatial search radius are closely linked to their recruitment decisions. A strategy to identify the right people in the right place may save firms a substantial amount of effort and financial resources. Unfortunately, economic theory has often neglected this item when dealing with spatial search and recruitment issues. In this paper firms' recruitment strategies and channels of recruitment are addressed in relation to the spatial search radius for new employees. The spatial radius is linked to the employer's attempt to convey the vacancy-related information to a targeted group of potential applicants, with a focus on the distribution of the distance between the location of the firm and the place of residence of the hired applicant. In this framework, a new statistical model is developed in order to investigate the impact of different recruitment strategies—which differ with respect to both the spatial search radius and the type of information used—on the probability of a match between the vacant position and an applicant located at a given distance from the firm. The model is implemented and tested by means of an extensive micro data set on the recruitment behaviour of Dutch firms. It is found that job requirements with respect to educational level and required working experience are important elements in the recruitment procedure, as they significantly affect the spatial dimension of search. Moreover, the use of interactive information through informal communication channels seems to be effective for short-distance matches, thus suggesting the relevance of local contact networks.
Modeling Constrained Choice Behaviour in Regulated Housing Markets by Means of Discrete Choice Experiments and Universal Logit Models: An Application to the Residential Choice Behaviour of Divorcees
Authors: Timmermans H , van Noortwijk L , Oppewal H , van der Waerden P
Published: October 2006

In present choice models, it is assumed that the composition of individuals' choice sets does not affect their utilities. Preferences and choice behaviour are assumed to be independent of context. The constraints that individuals face are not modeled explicitly in the residential choice literature. In this paper we aim to propose and demonstrate how discrete choice experiments and universal logit models may be used to estimate choice models that permit one to measure and test the effects of constraints on housing choice behaviour and residential preferences. In particular, we wish to test whether preferences of divorcees are invariant with differential access to housing-market segments. The empirical findings obtained in the present study of residential choices of divorcees generally support the idea that access to particular segments affects the preference for other segments differentially. Estimated attribute effects were in anticipated directions, although not all were significant. The choice model, including the effects representing access to particular housing-market segments, outperformed the multinomial logit model at conventional probability levels, and odds ratios were shown to change dramatically as a function of the constraints on residential choice behaviour.
Seeking Competitive Advantage in an Emergent Open Economy: Foreign Direct Investment in Chinese Industry
Authors: Eng I , Lin Y
Published: October 2006

In this paper we explore how foreign investors penetrate China's reforming economy and seek to build a competitive edge for their operations in local and international markets. Basing our study on a comparative analysis of the locational, sectoral, and organizational characteristics and performance variation of industrial firms invested by overseas Chinese and other foreign capital, we posit that effective manipulation of state action holds a key to the economic success of foreign-invested firms in post-Mao China. The role of social networks in influencing the selection and outcomes of foreign investors' strategies, which is emphasized by some existing studies, should be assessed not only in terms of its importance to market transactions, but more importantly, in terms of its utility in gaining ad hoc redistributive advantages and minimizing or containing unfavorable treatments from the still potent yet increasingly porous and localized state apparatus. Disaggregate data from a national industrial firm data set and a survey on the investment activities of Hong Kong manufacturers in China are used to test hypotheses derived from case-study findings with respect to three existing perspectives on the subject.
Mortgage Lending and Race: Is Discrimination Still a Factor?
Authors: Squires G D , Vélez W
Published: October 2006

The significance of race in mortgage lending has emerged as a major public policy issue and focus of scholarly research in the United States. In this paper the experiences of black and Latino mortgage loan applicants in a large midwestern metropolitan area are examined by means of a database on the disposition of individual mortgage loan applications that is now available. It is found that, after controlling for income, age of housing, housing value, and occupancy status, black applicants and applicants from predominantly black communities are less likely to have their loan applications approved than are white applicants or applicants from predominantly white areas. Although no disparities were associated with Latino applicants, those applicants from predominantly Latino communities were less likely to be approved than were others. Specific research and policy recommendations are offered to develop a further understanding of the racial implications of the mortgage market and for reducing racial disparities in accessing credit for home purchases.
Financial Transformation and the Metropolis: Booms, Busts, and Banking in Los Angeles
Authors: Dymski G A , Veitch J M
Published: October 2006

In this paper the implications of the two eras of financial transformation in the 20th century—that of the 1930s and that of the 1980s and 1990s—for urban growth and inequality in Southern California are examined. It is argued that financial structures have profound effects on the pace and distributional consequences of urban growth, in large part because urban development is characterized by widespread spatial spillover effects. The contemporary era of financial transformation has widened gaps between urban communities and banking customer markets. Banking markets that were once segmented by regulation are now segmented by market dynamics. In consequence, a financial system which once facilitated wealth building for households and communities now deepens social inequality and spatial separation. In this paper the historical and contemporary experience of Los Angeles is used to both develop and illustrate the arguments made.
Warehouse and Distribution Facilities and Community Attributes: An Empirical Study
Authors: Sivitanidou R
Published: October 2006

In this paper I examine empirically the largely unexplored proposition that the intraurban location and pricing of warehouse and distribution (W&D) facilities are inextricably linked to the intraurban geography of retailing, production, transportation systems, ‘warehouse’ labor, and local zoning. Estimated reduced-form W&D rent functions suggest that the influence of these predictors varies across small and large W&D facilities, presumably differing in the geographic scope of their operations. Small W&D facility rents are seen to be determined by the multiplicity of location factors already mentioned; in contrast, large W&D facility rents, seemingly unaffected by local market access and local zoning controls, are found to be mostly driven by surface and air-transportation access advantages. Overall, these findings suggest a role for a public policy aiming at facilitating the functioning of the W&D sector within contemporary metropolises.
‘Community’ and Land-Use Planning Debate: An Example from Rural British Columbia
Authors: Halseth G
Published: October 2006

The expansion of urban areas both changes and displaces rural communities along the urban fringe. This is not a new phenomenon and geographic research has paid considerable attention to understanding these urbanization pressures. Previous research, however, has paid less attention to the implications of these pressures and changes on the preexisting rural community and almost no attention to the opposition which local residents may raise in efforts to protect their community from the disruption of change. This paper is about resistance. The example of Columbia Valley, a small rural agricultural area about one hour's drive east of Vancouver, British Columbia, is utilized to explore the opposition this community has mounted against two recent large-scale development proposals. Both proposals would have significantly changed the nature of the area and the local community. In both cases, the resistance mounted by this community played a key role in preventing the proposals from proceeding. Also, in both cases, the resistance was founded to a considerable degree upon residents' desire to protect the lifestyles and livelihoods currently existing within their local community. This rural activism suggests that residents are concerned about urbanization pressures and that local ideas of community and lifestyle may have some force in operationalizing public opposition to radical change.
The Competitiveness of Business Services in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and the South East of England
Authors: Hitchens D M W N , O'Farrell P N , Conway C D
Published: October 2006

In this paper we compare the competitiveness and performance of samples of business service offices located in two peripheral regions of the United Kingdom: Northern Ireland and Wales, and peripheral Republic of Ireland by making matched comparisons with counterparts in a core region—South East England. Offices in South East England are characterised by faster growth, higher productivity, wider markets, and greater export penetration than their counterparts in the other regions considered. The relative strengths, weaknesses, and constraints on raising productivity and competitiveness of peripherally located firms are examined. Special consideration is given to markets served, spatial structure of markets, locational constraints, and the adequacy of equipment and qualifications. An important factor influencing competitiveness is the ability of an office to provide high-quality specialist services, and alternative policies for achieving this aim are considered.
Predicting the Local Economic Effects of Proposed Trip-Reduction Rules: The Case of San Diego
Authors: Treyz G I , Bradley R , Petraglia L , Rose A M
Published: October 2006

The United States 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments set aggressive goals for state-level compliance and mandates for the use of employer trip-reduction (ETR) programs for certain regions. San Diego County, California, has responded to this mandate with its own trip-reduction regulation. The direct effects of the trip-reduction regulation fall into three categories, as follows: changes in spending, changes in costs, and changes in consumer amenities. The total effects on the local economy due to each of these categories are estimated using a Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI) forecasting and simulation model for San Diego County. This study is the first to use such a comprehensive methodology for an analysis of an ETR program. The study results show that spending effects on employment were positive, as local transit use replaced automotive-related expenditures and employees received cash incentive payments. The net increase in costs on business were modest with respect to the overall size of San Diego's economy. Consequently, the negative effects on business location due to these direct effects were also modest. There were significant effects from the program due to consumer utility reductions because subsidies and charges distorted consumer choices.
Low-Income Households and Credit: Exclusion, Preference, and Inclusion
Authors: Ford J , Rowlingson K
Published: October 2006

In this paper it is suggested that current debates on financial exclusion are often too narrowly drawn and institutionally focused. As a consequence, less recognition is given to the availability and use of other regulated financial services such as mail order and moneylending. Drawing on data from a number of recent studies, the authors explore the structures and processes involved in the provision and use of these additional credit sources and assess their costs and benefits. It is suggested that alongside institutional exclusion are processes of self-exclusion, and also inclusion. The implications of such credit patterns for social and economic life in low-income communities are raised.