bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Limits of Property-Led Regeneration
Authors: Imrie R , Thomas H
Published: October 2006

In this paper, the role of property development in city revitalization is considered. Case study material is used to analyze the changing organizational nature of property development, especially the interrelationships between property developers and the traditional purveyors of urban policy: Local authorities. It is shown how the property industry is dependent on the development of organizational capacities with public authorities in a manner not anticipated by the rhetoric of central government, a rhetoric which has pushed the property-led approach as an alternative to development by, and through, the public sector. In contrast to this view, illustrative material is presented which indicates how property-led development is highly dependent on the public sector. Also illustrated is how the process of property-led regeneration has the capacity to undermine a range of local, community, interests in areas affected by redevelopment schemes, a situation which has been exacerbated by the prioritization of the shorter-term development goals of the property industry. In conclusion, it is noted that property-led approaches to regeneration, although a necessary component of urban revitalization, are neither a sufficient nor an adequate response to the multiple tasks involved in the revitalization of cities.
Australian Metropolitan Development: Local Government Reform and Urban Growth into the 1990s
Authors: Jarman A M G , Kouzmin A
Published: October 2006

During the past four decades, many national governments, both centralist and federal, have spent considerable resources on planning for improved types of human settlement. Sometimes, grand schemes of regional planning, ‘New Town’ development, vast subdivisional tracting, and, even, industrial policy have been prepared and implemented in the name of urban and metropolitan development. The developmental role of local councils, as governmental authorities, has been either understated or underutilized; often, both. Australian governments should now reflect upon past policies and, most particularly, reconsider the role of a proactive local government sector in future metropolitan and urban development. In general terms, a multigenerational model regarding Australian urban policy design is considered. The first three, and more conventional, generations consist of: (1) the local government ‘fragmentation’ dispute, whereby local authorities are regarded as being too small, parochial, and ineffective as planning institutions; (2) the ‘New Town’ period, involving centralized planning and funding; and (3) a consolidation era where many different types of corporate, multifocal authority agencies have been created. The fourth generation constitutes the governmentally approved multifunction polis (MFP): A unique Japanese–Australian vision of a 21st century technopolis. It is argued that a further, fifth, model needs to be considered in the context of Australia's continuing outer-(sub)urban development. A linear growth-linkage model is presented; one which enhances the role of local government planning and development near the various state-located capital cities.
The Farm Diversification Grant Scheme: Adoption and Nonadoption in England and Wales
Authors: Ilbery B W , Bowler I R
Published: October 2006

The Farm Diversification Grant Scheme, introduced in the United Kingdom in 1988, encourages farmers to diversify their business activities on the farm. In this paper, the Scheme is described and both the ‘farm’ and ‘farmer’ characteristics of a sample of ‘adopters’ and ‘nonadopters’ in England and Wales are examined as well as the reasons for adoption and nonadoption. The results indicate that adopters are drawn from larger farms, those with higher incomes and levels of borrowing, the younger, better educated farmers, and from farms where spouses are more actively involved in developing the business. Considerable resistance towards diversification was found among nonadopters, who have still to be convinced of the financial viability of this type of business development; to many, it is just not farming.
High-Technology Industries as a Vehicle for Growth in Israel's Peripheral Regions
Authors: Shefer D , Bar-El E (Lambert)
Published: October 2006

This paper is a discussion of the subject of high-technology industrial development in peripheral regions. Findings from the literature are utilized to analyze critically the prospects for promoting high-technology industrial growth in Israel's peripheral regions. Alternative strategies for development are proposed. In section 2, the specific case of Israel, where the development of high-technology industries has recently been given high priority and attracting high-technology industries has been proposed as a viable strategy for promoting growth in peripheral regions, is discussed. This is presented in the context of the history of Israel's industrial development in general and of its high-technology industrial development policy in particular. In section 3, three alternative strategies for development policy are proposed, and the suitability of each to Israel is analyzed. The alternatives—the ‘Silicon Glen’ model, the specific area focus, and local-based development—all pursue strategies that sometimes contradict one another, sometimes overlap, and sometimes reinforce one another, thus generating the possibility of a fourth, and more optimal, policy strategy. In conclusion, it is not proposed that there exists a single policy strategy that could be claimed to be optimal for every peripheral region. Thus, no attempt is made to evaluate the superiority of one strategy alternative over another. This conclusion is reached after comparing the international literature to the case of Israel. It is apparent that high-technology industries are not necessarily always the best solution to the dilemmas of economic development in every region, particularly the ‘outer-ring’ border regions. A separate plan must be made for each peripheral region in light of its specific socioeconomic and locational characteristics. In drafting a regional development policy, planners must then deliberate whether or not high-technology industry is indeed likely to succeed in promoting regional economic growth.
Urban Planning and the Entrepreneurial State: The View from Victoria, Australia
Authors: Winter I , Brooke T
Published: October 2006

It is argued that the state in Victoria, Australia, has pursued five key trends in urban planning throughout the 1980s: Privatisation, liberalisation, subsidisation, commercialisation, and elitism. These trends are a response to conditions wrought by global economic restructuring, the dominance of economic fundamentalism as a political discourse in Australia, the institutional structure of federal–State government financial relations, and a resultant perception of fiscal crisis. These developments in urban planning have resulted in financial costs and a loss of democratic accountability to the Victorian community.
A Review of Recent Structural Changes to District Health Authorities as Purchasing Organisations
Authors: Exworthy M
Published: October 2006

The first year of the National Health Service reforms was characterised by a steady-state situation involving little alteration to existing purchaser–provider organisational structures. However, the second year saw the internal market begin to take effect, though still restricted in many areas. In this paper, some recent developments of district health authority purchaser organisations are explored. The potentially contradictory trends towards (geographically and organisationally) larger purchasers, in the form of mergers and consortia, and the need for locally sensitive purchasing mechanisms are discussed. It is concluded that there needs to be some policy direction concerning the hierarchy of purchasers as the number of general practitioner fund-holders increases and as providers begin to restructure their operations in the internal (managed) market.
Innovative Networks and the Technopolis Phenomenon: The Case of Sophia-Antipolis
Authors: Longhi C , Quéré M
Published: October 2006

An attempt is made, first, to assess the technopolis project of Sophia-Antipolis, and, second, to propose a qualitative means of understanding local systems of innovation. A quantitative analysis based on the evaluation of the Sophia-Antipolis development indicates success, but seems to be insufficient to give an indication of the economic strength of the project. A theoretical analysis of local systems of production and innovation appears to be necessary; such an analysis is carried out, and ends with the definition of a concept of innovative network that is based on the coordination modes of local activities and the related incentive schemes. This framework is then applied to Sophia-Antipolis, and allows a qualitative assessment of the project, revealing some weaknesses in the local context.
Creating Welfare States in Czechoslovakia and Hungary: Why Policymakers Borrow Ideas from the West
Authors: Cox R H
Published: October 2006

Political change in Eastern Europe meant that a policy reform was soon to follow. The initial expectation was that reform would stem from efforts to emulate the Western democratic countries, and that policymakers in Eastern Europe would borrow from the West. In this study it was found that in Czechoslovakia policymakers were attempting to borrow policies primarily from Britain and Sweden, whereas in Hungary the primary models were Germany and Austria. An explanation for this difference is that historical similarities in social-policy development structured the choice of countries, suggesting that historical trends have persisted despite the long period of Communist rule.
Urban Policy in England and Wales and in France: A Comparative Assessment of Recent Policy Initiatives
Authors: Booth P , Green H
Published: October 2006

In the past five years, Britain and France have introduced new policy initiatives with the purpose of tackling the problems of urban regeneration in a comprehensive and strategic fashion. City Challenge and the Contrat de Ville were announced as major policy departures in each country, and the respective governments launched them with the intention of achieving early results. Superficially, there is much in common between the two, and the purpose of this paper is to make a comparison of their stated intentions and of the process by which the two initiatives have been developed. In addition to secondary sources, the text of City Challenge bids for Barnsley and Kirklees and of Contrats de Ville for Dunkerque are drawn upon. It is argued that the two initiatives differ insofar as they are geared to the specific administrative and political circumstances of the two countries. There are, moreover, some distinct differences of scale. That apart, some significant similarities in the approaches emerge. Both, for example, lay emphasis upon partnership to achieve stated objectives. Both give a key role to local authorities. Both involve the integration of existing policies and programmes. Both raise the question of whether they are quite the major departure in policy that the two governments have claimed.
Spatial Shifts and the Emergence of Innovative Milieux: The Case of the Jura Region between 1960 and 1990
Authors: Crevoisier O
Published: October 2006

The idea of ‘regional innovative milieux’ allows us to understand how certain regional actors innovate and manage to create new industrial activities. After this idea has been made more precise, it can be applied to the case of the Jura region. This provides an interesting picture of the numerous industrial transformations of this region. Innovative milieux are compared with some other views about regional development. The implications of this view on the interactions between industry and space are discussed.
Research and Policy: A Northern Ireland Perspective
Authors: Osborne R D
Published: October 2006

Examples of social research having a direct influence on public policy are rare. One such example drawn from Northern Ireland is described in this paper. The case study is located in the particular political and constitutional circumstances of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom and the role that social research can play is discussed. It is suggested that sensitivity to political realities and awareness of divisions between government departments and agencies can often determine the influence research may have on policy matters.
The Standard Spending Assessment as a Measure of Spending Needs in Nonmetropolitan Districts
Authors: Flowerdew R , Francis B , Lucas S
Published: October 2006

Central government assistance to local government in England is based on the Standard Spending Assessment (SSA), which is intended to reflect the spending needs of each local council. This paper is an evaluation of the methodology used in calculating SSA, with particular reference to the district-level service clement of the All Other Services block of SSA. This element accounts for the vast majority of SSA for nonmetropolitan district councils. The first section of the paper is concerned with the overall structure of the SSA methodology, and the second section is an examination of some of the details of how it was implemented. Barrow-in-Furness is used as an illustrative example. In the conclusion some specific problems are high-lighted and some potential improvements are suggested.
The Use of Regression Analysis for Resource Allocation by Central Government
Authors: Goldstein H
Published: October 2006

The use of multiple regression models to determine weights for the prediction of UK local authority spending targets is criticised. It is argued that predictions based upon such regression weights are not valid estimates of ‘need to spend’ and in particular that they should not be used as the basis for decisions about ‘capping’.
The English Standard Spending Assessment System: An Assessment of the Methodology
Authors: Senior M L
Published: October 2006

A critical examination is undertaken of the methodology underlying the controversial Standard Spending Assessments (SSAs), which became a key feature of the local government finance system in England in 1990. Brief evaluations are made of statistical versus judgmental methods of estimating spending needs, and of the use of past outturn expenditures and client numbers to measure local authorities' need to spend on services. The impacts of SSAs on restructuring spending power between individual local authorities are estimated for personal social services and ‘all other services’. Such impacts are found to be substantial and to display some systematic patterns in terms of the characteristics of authorities most affected. More limited evidence for educational services partly supports these findings. Some of the identified changes in spending power appear to be attributable to statistical deficiencies in the existing SSA formulas and to the use of a limited range of need indicators. As central government is unlikely to replace SSAs in the short to medium term, there is a need to improve their methodology, but not to treat them as highly accurate predictions of spending needs.
Population Distribution as a Factor in the Costs of Fire Services
Authors: Coombes M , Charlton M
Published: October 2006

The funding of local authorities in England is done through a formula-based system which seeks to compensate authorities for having to meet higher levels of demand, and/or for facing higher levels of cost, because of the particular conditions of their local area. Differences in the population distribution of areas can affect levels of demand and also the costs of supplying services. The authors begin by questioning whether the measures of population density and sparsity in the current formulae adequately represent the effects of the settlement patterns of an area on service costs in particular. To illustrate the issue, the effects of population distribution on fire services are examined in detail. The differences in principle between the basis of the funding formula for fire services and the criteria by which the detailed activities of fire services are scrutinised by a different government department are discussed. Using a geographic information system, the authors show that the information which underlies the detailed scrutiny of each fire service could also be used to assess the effect of settlement patterns on service costs.
An Inquiry into Lowi's Policy Typology: The Conservation Coalition and the 1985 and 1990 Farm Bills
Authors: Roberts R , Dean L E R
Published: October 2006

In this paper the politics surrounding the adoption and implementation of the conservation titles of the 1985 and 1990 farm bills is investigated. Attention focuses on the Conservation Coalition, where agricultural and environmental interests converged to hammer out the compromises that would solidify the crucial support the Coalition as a whole could offer to a farm bill. The intent is to explore the degree to which Lowi's typology is useful to the analysis of complex relations between political arenas and to suggest avenues for extension of Lowi's typology to such situations. Two conclusions emerge. First, distributive and regulatory political forms, as described by Lowi in his fourfold typology, were much in evidence. Lowi's scheme has considerable ability to link policy proposals, political styles, and political outcomes, and hence to clarify political patterns and conflicts. But, second, an application of the typology to complex political processes requires that the power relations that underlie the typology be made explicit. The typology relies for its predictability on a routinized exercise of power not in evidence in this or many other cases. Explicit attention to power helps to resolve the ambiguities of application that critics have noted and clarifies a dynamic and complex struggle which weaves together the expression of Lowi's policy types.
Regulation and Liberalisation in the UK Scheduled Airline Industry
Authors: Graham B J
Published: October 2006

The general aims of the paper are, first, to discuss the role of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as a regulator of the UK scheduled airline industry, prior to the implementation of European Community liberalisation of air transport on 1 January 1993. Second, the reactions of the industry itself to CAA policies are examined. Prior to a detailed consideration of the principles which illuminated the CAA's strategy, the constraints upon that policy are elaborated. Largely, these derive from the characteristics of airline economics and also from the UK government's commitment to privatisation, even at the expense of industry competitiveness. The three principles constituting the CAA's strategy—namely, the multi-airline industry, the primacy of long-term user benefits, and the promotion of a profitable UK airline industry—which were implemented primarily through a process of route licensing, are discussed in turn. It is concluded that user benefits have been realised from the CAA's regulation of both the structure and the behaviour of the industry, although a more pronounced latter-day emphasis on competition is detected. This may be related to the advent of European liberalisation which places only the most modest constraints on carriers' rights to fly whichever routes they wish.
The Development Plan in Policy Implementation
Authors: Tewdwr-Jones M
Published: October 2006

The ‘new’ planning system introduced in England and Wales by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991 has focused attention on the role of the development plan as a ‘material consideration’. Debate currently under way by planning lawyers and policymakers is concentrated on whether the plan is an effective implementation tool. This paper, through a case-study, provides a consideration of the problems the ‘new’ planning system has sought to tackle and is one of the first pieces of research since the introduction of the 1991 Act to include an assessment of the effectiveness of the British planning policy framework. It has been found that the use in the planning appeals system of what are termed ‘material considerations’ provides a clear indication of the effectiveness of local planning policies and, simultaneously, allows for assessments to be made of both the development control and the forward planning functions of local planning authorities (LPAs). An analysis of planning inspectors' decision letters has been used in this paper to identify the principal considerations in appeal determinations, indicating for the LPA how its development plan policies are operating in practice.

The analysis shows the degree to which local policies are ‘standing up’ at appeal against other material considerations, especially national policy guidance from the Secretary of State. It can be seen that the scope of the term ‘material considerations’ is problematic for LPAs, and the relationship between local policies and national advice as principal considerations in appeal cases has caused a great deal of uncertainty and ambiguity. Finally, suggestions are given as to how local planning procedures can be improved in development control decisionmaking in the future under the provisions of section 54A of the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act.
Institutions, Interests, and Ideology in Economic Policy in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States
Authors: Thomas N C
Published: October 2006

In previous research on economic policy in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s, the author found that the primary determinant of economic policies and their outcomes appeared to be powerful organized interest groups, with differences in governmental institutions having little apparent impact. The ideologies of Thatcherism and Reaganism contributed to the reduction of the role of government and established conservative agendas, but left their postwar welfare state programs intact. This study of economic policymaking in the three countries since the mid-1980s confirms the ‘new institutionalist’ position in political science that institutions—government organizations, political parties, and electoral systems—do matter. Interest groups are also crucial, but they are not as determinative as previously argued. Ideology can be critical, but the influence of ideology is neither pervasive nor continuous. Strong, forceful, goal-directed leadership can also play a vital role.
The Politics of Central—Local Grants in Britain and France
Authors: Keating M , Midwinter A
Published: October 2006

Redistribution of resources through central–local government grant systems is justified as fiscal equalization, the subject of a substantial literature, underpinned by normative assumptions and a rational-synoptic model of the policy process. Goals are known and policy outcomes are measurable. In Britain and France, this approach is not helpful to understanding. Theories of fiscal equalization are problematic and inconsistent. There is no agreed territorial welfare function against which outcomes can be assessed. A politically based interpretation sees grant allocation as part of intergovernmental politics, in which conceptions of fiscal equalization are used largely for legitimation. Politics guides decisionmaking and the main test of policy applied by governments is political acceptability. The two cases of Britain and France do show important differences in intergovernmental politics. In France, change is incremental and negotiated. In Britain it is radical and unilateral, though outcomes often fall short of expectations as policy is modified in implementation.
Central Regulation of Local Government Borrowing: A Game-Theoretical Approach
Authors: Carlsen F
Published: October 2006

In this paper the author considers whether central authorities should regulate local sector borrowing. Local government's debt policy is modeled as the outcome of a two-period game between three agents: Central government, local government, and a bureau which produces services on behalf of local government. A key assumption of the model is that neither central nor local government is able to undertake long-term budget commitments. Two rationales are found for central regulations. First, local government is prevented from using deficits strategically to extract higher grants from central authorities. Second, the debt limit gives credibility to local government's budget policy towards the bureau.
The Privatisation of Social Housing in European Welfare States
Authors: Doling J
Published: October 2006

The literature about the consequences for welfare states of the economic developments of the last twenty-five years has tended to emphasise country differences. In contrast, interpretations of developments in social housing focus much more on similarities, with privatisation often being viewed as the common policy response. The author uses longitudinal data for thirteen countries to examine whether social housing is actually different in this respect. The analysis shows that, whereas in some countries there has been a reduction in social housing's share of total housing production, in other countries there has been an increase. These international differences are not explained by different demographic and economic developments. The author offers alternative explanations.
Local Finance and Economic Reform in Eastern Europe
Authors: Bird R M , Wallich C
Published: October 2006

Extensive decentralization, both political and fiscal, is taking place in many of the countries newly emerging from behind the socialist veil. Decentralization represents both a reaction from below to the previously tight political control from the center and an attempt from above to further the privatization of the economy and to relieve the strained fiscal situation of the central government. Although there are of course many variations in this process from country to country, some important common elements arise from the similar institutional starting point in all countries and the common transitional problems most of them are facing. The on-going reforms of subnational finance in the transitional economies are more important than seems generally to be recognized. The design of a well-functioning intergovernmental fiscal system is key to many of the major reform goals of the transition economies—macroeconomic stability, privatization, and the social safety net.
The Taxation of Natural Resources and the Future of the Russian Federation
Authors: McLure C E
Published: October 2006

This paper is an examination of the vertical and horizontal division of revenues from taxing natural resources, a crucial issue for the future of the Russian Federation. Assigning resource revenues entirely to subnational governments would undermine the fiscal capacity of the central government, Resources arc so concentrated geographically that allocating revenues primarily to jurisdictions where production occurs would create large fiscal disparities among subnational governments. Either of these policies could encourage the disintegration of the Federation—as could a contrary policy.

After a brief review of the concept of economic rent, the theory of tax assignment is examined and applied to taxes on natural resources. Whereas economic arguments tend to favor centralization of resource rents, political realities suggest decentralization. It is noted that there will be many claimants to potential rents from Russian natural resources, including consumers, native peoples, suppliers of oilfield equipment, pipeline companies, foreign investors, and managers and employees in the energy sector and its suppliers. Last, consideration is given to whether resource rents should be placed in trust funds, by either native peoples or the government of producing regions, and the experience of Alberta and Alaska in this area is reviewed.
Implementing Property-Tax Reform in Transitional Countries: The Experience of Albania and Poland
Authors: Kelly R
Published: October 2006

Central and Eastern European countries are undergoing a radical transformation from command to market economics. Although priority has focused on privatisation, these countries have intitiated extensive political and fiscal decentralization. Despite the recent establishment of new local governments, these countries arc struggling to develop rapidly the legislative and administrative foundations related to expenditure and revenue responsibilities, control of state-owned assets, and the relationship between regional and central governments. One remaining obstacle to effective decentralization is the lack of adequate local revenue. Although there is a wide diversity in the structure of local revenue systems, theory and experience indicate that user charges and property taxes traditionally provide the primary base for an effective and stable local revenue system. This paper focuses on the important role which property taxation can play in providing the foundation for stable local revenue systems in the transitional countries. The paper begins with a brief summary of the current international experience with property tax reform. These international lessons are then applied to two transitional countries, namely Poland and Albania.
Decentralization, Privatization, and the Solvency of Local Governments in Reforming Economies: The Case of Budapest
Authors: Alm J , Buckley R M
Published: October 2006

In many reforming socialist economics like Hungary, the ownership of previously state-owned assets has been transferred to local governments as part of the decentralization and privatization reforms. The authors discuss these recent reforms in Budapest, and examine their impact on the solvency of local governments there. The analysis suggests that a continuation of the current pricing policies now in place in Budapest will pose serious long-run solvency problems for the new local governments that have been given ownership of the assets, effectively decapitalizing many of them. Even so, the privatization is unlikely to lead to a change in these pricing policies, and it may well lead the local governments to undertake actions that adversely affect the broader stabilization program.
Does Governmental Termination Exist?
Authors: Greenwood J
Published: October 2006

Despite the cessation of a variety of governmental organisations, policies, and programmes throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the termination concept which emerged during the late 1970s remains heavily underused. This is attributed partly to the effects of the same incremental practices which termination was designed to solve; partly to the difficulties of distinguishing the categories of ‘termination’ from ‘succession’; and partly to Kaufman's assertion that organisational survival was a matter of chance, and therefore not fruitful to study. Academic interest in governmental cessations remains firmly rooted in the termination of organisations; much less attention has been paid to the ending of policies and programmes. Management science research can be used to challenge assertions about the lack of pattern in organisational survival, and the way in which political science has operationalised the concept of incrementalism, suggesting the applicability of semirationalist techniques in an incrementalist world. With a hierarchical reformulation of de Leon's 1978 categorisation of governmental functions, organisations, policies, and programmes it is here suggested that termination and succession are distinct. The aim is to demonstrate the practical utility of the termination concept, both for analysis and for practitioners whose interest is centred on the opportunity-cost savings which cessations can make available.
Total Factor Regional Productivity in Greece
Authors: Vagionis N , Spence N
Published: October 2006

The components of productivity change in manufacturing industry over the regions of Greece in the 1980s are examined. Regional differences in productivity are significant in two respects. They reflect the outcomes of different production processes in space where labour is supplied and combined with various sorts of capital and where specific technologies are used. They also reflect opportunities for developing efficient business operations in space, in that they indicate one important aspect of a region's comparative advantage. Change in value added in manufacturing is represented by change in the factor inputs of capital, labour, and technology. Some of this change in output is accounted for by constant returns to scale. The rest is a result of variable returns to scale, such as produced by agglomeration economies or diseconomies, different levels of infrastructure provision, etc, and technological change. Total factor productivity represents these sources of nonconstant returns to scale. It is shown that for Greece the largest gains in total factor productivity are to be found in the noncentral regions, and especially in those having industrial area projects and industrial grants and incentives. These results are in line with research undertaken in other contexts. Those areas with the most significant productivity gains from the deployment of new technology tend to be the well-established centres housing medium-sized populations. There is some evidence to suggest that new employment opportunities are associated with increases in total factor productivity, although rarely with advances in the use of new technology.
Which Business Establishments are Really Generating New Employment?
Authors: White S B , Binkley L S , Chefalo T J , McMahon W F , Thomas M M
Published: October 2006

In this paper several hypotheses on the characteristics of employers which are contributing to employment growth are explored. Based on the analysis of a new data set for such studies, the Employment Service ES202 Unemployment Compensation data, an attempt is made to analyze empirically the statements of others, most notably Birch, as to the sources of employment growth. Among the issues explored are the contributions to employment growth by size, age, industry, and past employment history of establishments. It is concluded that sources and patterns of employment growth are more complex than past simplistic statements indicate.
The Changing Role of the State in High-Tech Industrial Development: The Experience of Hong Kong
Authors: Yeh A G-O , Ng M K
Published: October 2006

This paper is an examination of the role of the Hong Kong government vis-à-vis governments in Japan and other Asian newly industrialized economies (NIEs) in high-tech industrial development. It is argued that, whereas governments of Japan and other Asian NIEs have played very important roles in facilitating industrial restructuring, the Hong Kong government has so far refrained from direct participation in industrial development. Although the Hong Kong government has assumed an important position in the course of economic development in the territory, especially in terms of land-related economic activities, it has little vested interest and experience in directing industrial developments. It was not until the 1990s that the government switched from a ‘positive nonintervention’ to a ‘minimum intervention with maximum support’ industrial policy and began to play a more active role in facilitating industrial upgrading. The effectiveness of the changing industrial policy and the prospects for high-tech development in the territory are reviewed by examining the challenges and opportunities faced by the Hong Kong government in facilitating high-tech industrial development.
Transportation Planning and Implementation in Cities of the Third World: The Case of Bangkok
Authors: Daniere A G
Published: October 2006

The Bangkok Metropolitan Region is synonymous with unprecedented growth as well as with traffic conditions which rival the worst in the world. The current transportation situation has evolved quickly, yet planners, international donors, and many government leaders were not unaware of the magnitude of the evolving problem. The federal and municipal governments have at their disposal a number of state-of-the-art transportation plans but seem unable to implement the most important of the recommendations. In this paper Bangkok's transportation woes are described in terms of the obstacles that face the agencies charged with implementing improvements. The discussion is focused on institutional issues as well as the political structure responsible for much of the current crisis.
Horticultural Change and the Horticultural Buildings and Orchard Replanting Grant Scheme in England
Authors: Ilbery B W , Bowler I R
Published: October 2006

The Horticultural Buildings and Orchard Replanting Grant Scheme, introduced in the United Kingdom in 1989, encourages horticultural growers to modernise their glasshouse and/or apple and pear enterprises. In this paper, the Scheme is described and the farm and farmer characteristics of a sample of adopters and nonadopters in England are examined, as well as the reasons for adoption and nonadoption. Adopters are shown to have larger, usually owner-occupied, holdings, more specialised farming systems, and higher net profits than have non-adopters; they have a history of making investments in the business. Considerable resistance towards the Scheme was found among nonadopters who, together with many adopters, feel that the Scheme does not address the main problems facing the horticultural industry in the United Kingdom.
City Challenge: Sustainable Process or Temporary Gesture?
Authors: Davoudi S , Healey P
Published: October 2006

In this paper, the processes of governance within the UK government's recent urban policy initiative, City Challenge, are explored. This initiative targets the involvement, through “partnership”, of residents of “areas of concentrated disadvantage” in the processes of programme formulation and delivery. Underlying this is the objective of “incorporating” neighourhood residents in ‘mainstream’ political and economic life. In this paper, that objective is set in the context of contemporary conditions in such neighbourhoods. Experiences of the early stages of two City Challenge programmes are then discussed, in order to assess the character of the partnerships which are evolving. The two examples vary significantly in their style and in the strategy of the local authority, as well as in the characteristics of the areas. It is argued that, although central government's influence over the style of the programmes remains pervasive, the strategy of the local authority and the struggles by the participants in the partnerships have a significant influence on the content and style of the programmes. Further, the style of the programmes affects the balance of power within the programme and the terms of incorporation of the various partnerships in governance processes.
A Consumer Perspective on Performance Indicators: The Local Housing Authority Reports to Tenants Regimes in England and Wales
Authors: Symon P , Walker R M
Published: October 2006

Performance indicators were formally introduced into local authority housing management in England and Wales by Section 167(1) of the 1989 Local Government and Housing Act, which required local housing authorities to circulate annual Reports to Tenants (RTTs) containing information on performance indicators. In this paper, the background to the new regime is discussed, noting the absence of a consumer perspective on performance indicators in much of the research literature. There is an examination of the appropriateness of the concepts of client, customer, consumer, and citizen as descriptions of tenants. The reaction of tenants in England and Wales to the first year of RTTs is then discussed. The impact on tenants was minimal, and consumers did not use the information in the reports in the way central government might have hoped. The value to tenants of the growing number of RTTs regimes is questioned. The paper concludes with a criticism of the concept of tenants as consumers in the context of RTTs regimes, and points to the inherent conflicts within these regimes.
The State of Metropolitan Planning: Decline or Restructuring?
Authors: Yiftachel O , Alexander I
Published: October 2006

In this paper the dynamic relations between the state, society, and metropolitan planning are explored. The changing role and function of the state in the context of rapid restructuring of economic and social relations in Australia during the past decade are discussed, along with the impact of processes such as globalisation, cyclic recessions, and the growing assertion of local communities on the state. The influence of these processes on metropolitan planning, as an arm of the state which mediates between development interests and local communities, is then assessed from a theoretical perspective. Given the identified processes and changes, it is argued that metropolitan planning has become increasingly constrained in its ability to influence the nature and location of urban development in 1990s Australia.

The validity of this argument is examined against the case of metropolitan planning in Perth during the past decade. Three key aspects of the changing nature of planning in Perth are studied in detail: A 1987 proposal for a new metropolitan strategy; a 1990 adopted metropolitan plan which derived from the 1987 proposal; and several redevelopment initiatives currently under consideration. It is concluded that the Western Australian state—and subsequently metropolitan planning—have experienced significant challenges to their ability to influence urban change. The constraints imposed on metropolitan planning are simultaneously due to economic pressures ‘from above’ and community pressures ‘from below’. Finally, it is observed that this process possesses a regresive potential, and that metropolitan planning should restructure in order to respond effectively and equitably to recent economic and social changes.
Industrial Development and Municipal Reorganization: Conflict, Cooperation, and Regional Effects
Authors: Razin E , Hazan A
Published: October 2006

In this paper the nature, outcomes, and regional effects of conflicts over the municipal affiliation of industrial areas and large facilities in urban fringe and rural areas in Israel are examined, based on an analysis of sixty-seven conflicts that took place during the period 1961–93. It is demonstrated that the potential for conflicts has increased because of the growing dispersal of industry into rural space, the increasing reliance of local government on self-income, and unique Israeli circumstances. These conditions have encouraged two contradictory options for local government, both promoted by neoconservative free-market approaches. The first consists of a growing role for local government in economic development efforts, accompanied by intense competition among local authorities and by the establishment of voluntary modes of municipal cooperation in initiating and managing industrial areas. Cooperation is intended to achieve a just distribution of regional wealth and to promote the fiscal soundness of local government. The second option is to remove nodes of economic development from local government to local industrial councils and to free export processing zones, loosely controlled by the central government. These initiatives practically strip local government of its potential industrial base, with the intention of promoting national and regional economic growth. Reforms of the above types tend to originate in the periphery, where the flexibility to change existing structures is greater than in central regions. Despite this pioneering role of the periphery, the specific implications of these reforms for local autonomy and fiscal viability of local government in peripheral regions are, at best, mixed.
A Comparison of the Reagan and Thatcher Administrations' Efforts to Reform Social Security in the United States and the United Kingdom
Authors: Clark A S
Published: October 2006

A comparison is made between the records of the Reagan and Thatcher administrations in their efforts to reform, respectively, the social security program in the United States and the retirement pension program in the United Kingdom. It is found that the Reagan administration was much less successful in attaining its reform agenda than was the Thatcher government. The discrepancies in the records of the two administrations were traced to four central factors: (1) the reform strategy of the two governments; (2) the strength of the elderly lobby in the two countries; (3) the legacy of past policy; (4) institutional structure.
Expenditure Reassignment and Fiscal Decentralisation: An Empirical Study of State and Local Government in India
Authors: Nath S , Purohit B C
Published: October 2006

Reassignment of local functions to state government and fiscal decentralisation seem to be contradictory. Whether these fiscal strategies are compatible policy packages is an empirical question. The crucial issue is as to how local governments respond to reassignment, a response which may be reflected in their willingness to spend on remaining functions. If reassignment stimulates local expenditure such that the extent of decline in fiscal decentralisation (the local share in total state–local expenditure) is less than the amount warranted, the two fiscal strategies can be taken to be compatible. To test this hypothesis, conditions for compatibility are postulated in terms of tax efforts of state and local governments. With use of Indian fiscal data, state and local tax efforts are computed and compared for selected states, as a first approximation. There is no conclusive evidence to show that reassignment has invariably exerted any dampening impact on local expenditure.
Trends in Labour Supply and the Future of Employment in China
Authors: Shen J , Spence N A
Published: October 2006

An accounts-based population model for making population projections for the urban and rural areas of China was developed and reported on in detail in an earlier paper. In this paper the implications of the broad trends in population and labour-force growth over the next fifty years for the employment position in China will be discussed. Unemployment and underemployment are problems facing China today. Ongoing economic reform in the employment system runs the risk of rapidly increasing the number of unemployed, especially in urban China. In this paper, the following main dimensions of the employment problem in China will be discussed: Labour-resource utilization and employment structure, the dual employment system between urban and rural areas, unemployment and underemployment, employment-system reform, and labour-force quality and training.
Size of Municipalities, Efficiency, and Citizen Participation: A Cross-European Perspective
Authors: Martins M R
Published: October 2006

Municipalities in Europe vary enormously in size both between and within individual countries. There is no conclusive evidence, however, that these differences have a significant impact on the efficiency of local public service provision or on the levels of citizen participation in local public life. In this paper it is suggested that flexible and problem-oriented legislative, institutional, and managerial innovation provide meaningful alternatives to local government boundary reform.