bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Attitudes and Social Categories: Complementary Explanations of Innovation-Adoption Behavior
Authors: Brown M A
Published: October 2006

This paper explores the relationships between an individual's attitudes toward innovation adoption, his or her social category with respect to adoption, and innovation-adoption behavior. First the paper describes how attitudes and social categories can theoretically be linked to innovation adoption, and proposes a comprehensive model in which the two sets of variables are viewed as explaining both unique and common variance in adoption behavior. The paper then empirically examines the intercorrelations of attitudes, social categories, and innovation adoption in a real-world situation: The diffusion of five agricultural innovations in a portion of Appalachian Ohio.

The results indicate that some attitudes are significantly related to social categories, whereas others are not; both sets of variables are highly associated with innovation adoption, but attitudes more so than social categories; finally, each set of variables explains some unique aspects of innovation adoption. Thus the findings suggest that comprehensive behavioral models must include psychological as well as socioeconomic and locational variables.
Explorations into the Relationship between Spatial Structure and Spatial Interaction
Authors: Griffith D A , Jones K G
Published: October 2006

This paper explores the relationship between spatial structure and spatial interaction at the intraurban level. To examine this relationship an experimental framework is designed based on the application of a doubly constrained entropy-type gravity model to journey-to-work data for twenty-four Canadian urban areas. The study demonstrates that distance-decay exponents are strongly influenced by geographic structure and the geometry of origins and destinations. As such, both the influence of map pattern and the friction of distance should be explicitly incorporated into spatial interaction models. The paper also explores the impact of city size and the nature of the economic base of the urban area upon distance-decay exponents.
Parameter Instability in Models of Local Unemployment Responses
Authors: Dunn R
Published: October 2006

Following papers by Brechling and Thirlwall, a number of studies have investigated the response of local or regional unemployment series to changes in the national series by means of regression approaches. In this paper a number of statistical tests for regression instability over time are discussed, and then applied to the Brechling model of unemployment responses in thirtynine local areas in the Severnside region. The results suggest marked instability in the regression over time, and moving window regression is introduced to track changes in the values of parameters. The spatial pattern of changing unemployment responses across the region is presented and discussed.
Explaining Manufacturing Shift: A Reply to Keeble
Authors: Sayer A , Keeble D E
Published: October 2006

The paper develops some methodological criticisms of Keeble's recent paper on Britain's changing manufacturing geography. It is argued that causal explanations such as those offered by the literature on restructuring cannot be fairly evaluated if they are recast as putative statistical explanations.
Hierarchical Elimination and Regionalization in Spatial Choice
Authors: Slater P B
Published: October 2006

Spatial choice models have been criticized for their restrictive assumptions. In particular, the independence or constant-ratio axiom of Luce has been questioned because of its failure to account for the effects of similarity between alternatives. Tversky's elimination by aspects model provides a natural explanation of similarity effects, but cannot be estimated from binary probabilities. The elimination by tree or, equivalently, hierarchical elimination model is less restrictive than the constant-ratio model and more parsimonious than elimination by aspects. To estimate this model in a spatial interaction context, a hierarchical regionalization based upon interareal flow data is first obtained. The lengths of the links in the resultant tree structure are reestimated on the basis of choice probability ratios.
Heterogeneity, Nonstationarity, and Duration-of-Stay Effects in Migration
Authors: Pickles A R , Davies R B , Crouchley R
Published: October 2006

This paper briefly outlines the theoretical problem of the identification of duration-of-stay effects in migration. The empirical studies are critically reviewed with particular emphasis upon their treatment of heterogeneity and nonstationarity. New statistical tests developed by the authors are applied to Wisconsin migration data. These tests suggest that although heterogeneity and nonstationarity are strongly present within the data, duration-of-stay effects appear weak.
Industrial Linkage and the Segmented Economy: 2. An Empirical Reinterpretation
Authors: Taylor M J , Thrift N J
Published: October 2006

This paper, the second of two, is a preliminary attempt to translate a theoretical framework based on the concepts of segmentation and networks of power, as outlined in the first paper, to the establishment level. The data used in the empirical analysis, which are drawn from the West Midlands ironfoundry industry, enable surveyed ironfoundries to be assigned to their appropriate segments. The linkage patterns typical of each of these segments are described and this analysis offers a reinterpretation of previous linkage studies.
Proximate Aggregation-Estimation of Spatial Interaction Models
Authors: Batty M , Sikdar P K
Published: October 2006

In this paper the authors introduce a method of approximating the parameter values of gravity models from measures of information or entropy associated with the observed pattern of spatial interaction. The method builds on the previous work of the authors in which parameter values were estimated in a two-stage process which involved utilising the log-linear properties of entropy models through the canonical form of entropy, together with other approximations based on Kirby's method. Here the method is elaborated by adopting a consistent set of information measures to which the parameters of the model are related and this negates the need for other approximations. The original framework is first reviewed and then elaborated through the introduction of a weighted entropy measure. The traditional family of spatial interaction models is sketched and the new method developed for each of these models. The models are then applied to various aggregations of trip data in the Reading (United Kingdom) subregion, and estimates of parameter values based on the old, new, and conventional methods are compared. The new method is demonstrably superior to the old method and various extensions through the spatial disaggregation of entropy measures are noted in conclusion.
Stochastic Panel-Data Models of Urban Shopping Behaviour: 2. Multistore Purchasing Patterns and the Dirichlet Model
Authors: Wrigley N , Dunn R
Published: October 2006

In this paper, the first application of the Dirichlet model of heterogeneous buyer behaviour, in the context of multistore purchasing in a single city, is presented. Empirical results derived from a recently conducted spatially disaggregate consumer-panel survey in Cardiff, the United Kingdom, are reported. The fit of the model is, in general, extremely good, and its potential for studies of urban consumer behaviour is stressed.
Equilibrium Conditions and Solution Procedures for the Production-Constrained Spatial Interaction Model with a General Attractiveness Function
Authors: Crouchley R
Published: October 2006

The consequences of imposing the revenue-capacity condition (which can be interpreted as profit maximization) to determine supply patterns in conjunction with the production-constrained spatial interaction model with a general attractiveness function are presented. Convergence of the quasi-balancing factor method is shown to be an insufficient condition for providing an equilibrium solution; three different sets of results are obtained for an illustrative retailing system. Two of these results are shown to be nonoptimal.
Urban and Regional Change in Australia: An Empirical Introduction
Authors: O'Connor K
Published: October 2006

The distribution of Australian population has changed in recent years, and preliminary analysis has interpreted that change as consistent with North American experience. That interpretation involved an understanding of population change associated with climate factors, and a restructuring of industry which favoured new sectors in new locations. To explore patterns in Australian population change, shares of national population in each state for the period 1971–1981 were analysed. That information showed the shift in population within the nation has been small, though a group of adjoining states have all lost population. To explore the extent to which that shift has been reflected in shifts in economic activity, data on private investment (especially construction expenditure on offices, factories, and other buildings), together with a measure of banking activity, were analysed for the same states over the same time period. Results show there have been only small shifts toward population growth areas. These results are interpreted in part as a consequence of nonlocal multipliers and linkages back to established areas, but also as a reflection of the unique features of the Australian urban and regional system.
Urban and Regional Planning in a Federal System: New South Wales and Victoria
Authors: Logan T
Published: October 2006

Although planning is a function of state governments in Australia, there has been little research into their comparative performance. This paper traces the development of institutional frameworks and policy outputs for urban and regional planning in the two major states, New South Wales and Victoria. Despite marked similarities in resource disposition and processes of structural change, there have been substantial differences between the two planning systems. It appears, though, that the impact of the current economic recession is to reduce those differences.
Environment, Technology, and Organisation: The Restructuring of the Australian Trading Banks
Authors: Taylor M J , Hirst J
Published: October 2006

In this paper, the changing distribution is reviewed of Australian trading bank activities within the business organisations framework currently being developed in geography. Forces of environment and technology are envisaged as acting upon and reacting to the structure and operation of individual banking organisations, with these sets of forces themselves emanating from a constellation of competing controlling and complementary organisations. Major shifts in technology, environment, and organisational structure are identified, leading to major actual and potential changes in Australian trading banks' branch networks.
International Trade Relations and Regional Industrial Adjustment: The Implications of the 1982–86 Canadian-US Softwood Lumber Dispute for British Columbia
Authors: Hayter R
Published: October 2006

To contribute towards a better understanding of the evolving relationships between international trade relations and regional industrial adjustment the author examines the implications of the Canada-US softwood lumber dispute that occurred during the 1980s for the softwood lumber industry of British Columbia. Conceptually, these implications are discussed within a progressively more focused series of trade-relations contexts based on principles of political economy and which are represented by the concepts of complex interdependence, continentalism, and bargaining. Empirically, it is found that the dispute led to an unanticipated and undesirable outcome for the lumber industry of British Columbia. Paradoxically, the dispute provides further encouragement for the lumber industry to diversify its operations, a trend which can be considered beneficial.
Innovation and Technological Change: An Austrian-British Comparison
Authors: Alderman N , Fischer M M
Published: October 2006

Despite a growing body of empirical evidence that demonstrates the nature of spatial variations in innovation and the adoption of new technologies, few studies have been conducted in such a way as to enable direct comparisons between different countries, either to establish international differences in innovative performance or to identify differences in regional patterns in different national contexts, particularly between EC and non-EC countries within Europe. In this paper the results of recent surveys of comparable industries in Great Britain and Austria are used to begin to address this issue, with particular attention to some of the inherent difficulties in undertaking such comparisons. By using a mixture of simple cross-tabulations and multivariate logit models, differences between the two countries in the adoption of a number of new process technologies based upon microelectronics in the spheres of manufacturing production, design, and coordination are identified. It is suggested that, not only does Austria lag Great Britain in the introduction of new technology, but that variations between similar types of region are more pronounced and entrenched in Austria at the present time.
The State, the Market, and Competitive Strategy: The Housebuilding Industry in the United Kingdom, France, and Sweden
Authors: Barlow J , King A
Published: October 2006

The objective in this paper is to compare the competitive strategies of the housebuilding industry in the United Kingdom, France, and Sweden. It is focused on the relationship between the different mechanisms by which the housing market is regulated and the competitive methods adopted by firms in each country. By using a detailed study of over 100 firms in the three countries, it is argued that there is a relationship between the forms of market regulation, the level of uncertainty and risk faced by housebuilders, and their profit-making strategies. Finally, some of the implications of the findings for the UK housebuilding industry in the 1990s are considered.
Competing Structural and Institutional Influences on the Geography of Production in Europe
Authors: Amin A , Malmberg A
Published: October 2006

In this paper the spatial implications for Europe of major structural and institutional changes affecting the production system are examined. The concern is to establish whether these changes are enabling a greater localisation or globalisation of intrafirm and interfirm relations and, associated with this, greater scope for local economic development. The paper begins with a critical survey of an influential paradigm in which it is sustained that the transfer from Fordism to post-Fordism implies a return to regional economies. It is then argued that contemporary restructuring in Europe is very much a matter of a global extension of old and new forms of industrial organisation—a process which does not augur well for self-sustaining development at the local level. This thesis is further sustained and elaborated through a consideration, in the second half of the paper, of the implications for less-favoured regions related to the transition to market forms of spatial governance at the level of the nation-state, and, at the level of the European Community, the policy reforms connected to the completion of the Single European Market.
Spatial Categories, Legal Boundaries, and the Judicial Mapping of the Worker
Authors: Bakan J C , Blomley N K
Published: October 2006

It is argued that there are important parallels and intersections between critical theoretical analysis in legal studies and in geography. Each critical tradition is sceptical about the ontological status of its disciplinary foundation—‘law’ in legal studies, and ‘space’ in geography. Furthermore, the reification of particular distinctions in legal discourse is deepened by spatial distinctions. A convergence of critical legal and geographic analyses can thus have powerful analytical consequences, and the authors attempt to demonstrate this point by investigating judicial approaches to the regulation of worker health and safety in two federal states, Canada and the United States. They conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and political significance of critical legal geography, and suggest some directions it might take in the future.
Place, Power, and Medical Liability Insurance in the United States
Authors: Hay I
Published: October 2006

Following the Western world's economic ‘crisis’ of the early 1970s and the related medical liability insurance calamity in the United States, new spatial and organizational arrangements emerged in the US medical malpractice insurance market. Reorganization gave a major London-based reinsurer—Lloyd's—a great deal of potential influence over the politically powerful US medical profession. At the same time as the prospects of control over medicine and law were being concentrated in London, Lloyd's was confronting immense financial difficulties arising from asbestos-related liability claims in the United States. Through the political influence derived from their economic connection with US physicians and malpractice insurers, Lloyd's seems to have been able to encourage US tort law reforms which minimize its profit-seeking underwriting members' exposure to asbestos-related and medical liability-related claims.
The Restructuring of the Automobile Industry in the USA
Authors: Bingham R D , Sunmonu K K
Published: October 2006

In this paper, the changes in the US automobile industry which have occurred over the 1979–86 economic downturn and recovery are examined within the framework of Markusen's profit-cycle theory. When viewing the automobile indusltry as a whole, some of the findings support the profit-cycle theory and others do not. The theory is supported, however, within the context of two distinct automobile industries in the USA—one ‘Fordist’ and the other a Japanese ‘post-Fordist’ system. The Fordist system is entering the negative profit-cycle phase and the post-Fordist system is in the mature phase. The two systems have very different spatial configurations and are likely to have very different economic futures.
Input—Output Coefficients and Multipliers from a Total-Flow Perspective
Authors: Szyrmer J M
Published: October 2006

In this paper a framework for computing input—output coefficients and multipliers is considered which draws upon the so-called total-flow approach. The total-flow indicators express the total effect of a change in gross output rather than in final-demand deliveries. It is shown that these indicators significantly differ from their final-demand counterparts in their absolute values and in their ranking of input—output sectors. It is demonstrated that the final-demand-based coefficients and multipliers fail to express an overall effect of an industrial activity (economic sector) and caution must be used in their empirical applications and interpretations.
The Cost of Conservation: Comparing like with Like—A Comment on Brotherton
Authors: Hodge I D , Adams W M , Bourn N A D
Published: October 2006

Agreements between individual occupiers of agricultural land and government agencies have become a major element of policy for the rural environment in the United Kingdom. Brotherton has made a comparison between the two most important types of agreement: management agreements on Sites of Special Scientific Interest and participation in Environmentally Sensitive Areas. However, his analysis suffers from a number of limitations which are not fully elaborated in the paper. As a result, there is little justification for the conclusions which he reaches. The comparative analysis of conservation instruments is an important objective, but more complete data and analysis are required.
The British Pottery Industry: A Comment on a Case of Industrial Restructuring, Labour, and Locality
Authors: Rowley C
Published: October 2006

In a paper in an earlier volume of Environment and Planning A Imrie argues that in the 1980s the British pottery industry was restructuring in various ways, not least towards some form of Fordism, post-Fordism, Japanese-style production, and internationalisation. In this paper it is argued that, first, developments are not new to the industry; second, the empirical basis of Imrie's argument is limited; third, some trends have actually been in contradictory directions. In sum, rather than an example of simple change, the pottery industry represents both continuity and change in many respects.
Forms of Technical Change
Authors: Webber M , Sheppard E , Rigby D
Published: October 2006

Technical change arises from three sources: innovation within firms; changes in the relative size of firms with different technologies; and the entry and exit of firms, which again carry different technologies. These sources of technical change have different causes and are controlled by different factors. The rate of technical change therefore depends on the relative mix of these different sources and on the factors that control them. In this paper a method is described whereby the sources may be identified and measured, and an empirical illustration of that method is provided. This example is unique, nevertheless questions are raised about the empirical validity of some interpretations of the productivity slowdown in the 1970s and 1980s.
Consultancy Services and the Urban Hierarchy in Western Europe
Authors: Daniels P W , Van Dinteren J H J , Monnoyer M C
Published: October 2006

A cross-national survey of the relationship between the evolving organisation and structure of consultancy service enterprises and the urban hierarchy in Europe has been undertaken. Primate cities in Europe are still the preeminent foci for business services performing strong national and international control. The relationship between markets for consultancy services and the urban hierarchy is complex, but it is possible to suggest a typology of firms on the basis of client characteristics and location. Caution is necessary about assuming that the provision of consultancy services through networks is organised along hierarchical lines that mirror administrative hierarchies.
Estimating Labour Supply in Policy-Oriented Regional Planning Models
Authors: Fuller D E
Published: October 2006

The importance of integrating policies concerned with the demand and supply of labour within growing regions has long been recognized. However, there are important theoretical deficiencies associated with orthodox methods. In the traditional approach to operational urban and regional models it is claimed that the relationship between labour demand and labour supply is functional and one sided, that is, the growth of labour demand causes population growth and leads to an assured level of labour supply. However it is argued that in the development of regional labour-force policies aimed at recognized objectives, estimates of the number and characteristics of persons available to the labour force are at least as important as estimates of the structure of labour demand. A change in the traditional theoretical framework is therefore necessary to allow for the influence of a particular population structure upon the supply of labour—in aggregate as well as to different occupational submarkets. Presentation of a more independent treatment of methods aimed at estimating the ‘availability’ (and the ‘requirements’) of labour also allows for the possibility, and consequences, of imbalance in the labour market to be recognized.
Why do Shelter Conditions Differ in Ecuadoran Cities and How Do We Know That They Do?: A Comparative Locality Study
Authors: Klak T
Published: October 2006

This paper is an examination of forces operating at geographical scales from global to local which help to explain the shelter conditions of the working class in Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador. To achieve such an empirical understanding, it is necessary to employ concepts and interpretations which themselves are social products and require close scrutiny. Considerable attention is therefore devoted to influences such as regional tension and perspective bias on interpretations of the cities by urban and housing experts. The principal sources of evidence are a household-level survey of shelter in Quito and Guayaquil, and a survey of housing professionals with regard to the interpretation of the shelter conditions and differences. Geographically based biases are prominent in the survey of housing experts, suggesting that research should examine these more carefully than in the past. The study concludes with a richer understanding of both the empirical reality of urban Ecuador and the frameworks and concepts used to interpret it.
Public Sector Employment in Regional Development
Authors: Jefferson C W , Trainor M
Published: October 2006

In this paper, the role of public sector employment in regional development is examined, an area which has been neglected in regional science journals and textbooks. The public sector in all regions is large and diverse, and, consequently, changes in national policy may have major and differing implications for regional economies. The national expansion of public sector employment and the debate on its effects on national economies are considered. Trends in UK regional public sector employment are examined, and an attempt is made to formulate the role of such employment within the regional economy. The policy of civil service dispersal from London is examined as an example of how mobile public sector employment can be used to promote operational efficiency and enhance regional and national development.
Urban Cultural Strategies and Urban Regeneration: A Case Study and Critique
Authors: Bassett K
Published: October 2006

More and more cities have launched urban cultural strategies in the United Kingdom over the past decade. As a result, this has become an interesting and important area of policy innovation. In this paper the author looks at the broader context within which these strategies have emerged, looking at changes in national state policies towards the arts, changes in patterns of cultural consumption, local opposition to central government, and economic restructuring and interurban competition. The author then goes on to illustrate the ways in which these broader processes have interacted with more localised factors to shape the development of recent cultural strategies in Bristol. The paper concludes with some more general comments and criticism on cultural strategies as a whole.
The Use of Artificial Neural Networks in a Geographical Information System for Agricultural Land-Suitability Assessment
Authors: Wang F
Published: October 2006

Agricultural land-suitability assessment involves the analysis of a large variety and amount of physiographic data. Geographical information systems (GISs) may facilitate suitability assessment in data collection. To generate accurate results from the data, appropriate suitability-assessment methods are required. However, the assessment methods which can currently be used with GISs, such as that developed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the statistical pattern—classification method, have limitations which may lead to inaccurate assessment. An artificial neural network is an effective tool for pattern analysis. A neural network allows decision rules of greater complexity to be applied in pattern classification. By formulating the land-suitability-assessment problem into a pattern—classification problem, neural networks can be used to achieve results of greater accuracy. In this paper, a neural-network-based method for land-suitability assessment is discussed, and a set of neural networks is described. The integration between the neural networks and a GIS is addressed, and some experimental results are presented and analyzed.
National Development Paths 1965–1987: Measuring a Metaphor
Authors: Horvath R J
Published: October 2006

The path-of-development metaphor registers in language the idea that the conditions of existence of people get better (or worse in the case of underdevelopment) in particular ways. To measure a metaphor, in this paper, a method of moving between the figurative and the literal is used. Development paths for 150 nations are measured for the period 1965–87 by using a methodology that can be described as historical factorial ecology. The measurement of development paths involves analytically combining the social, historical, and geographical dimensions of the development and underdevelopment process, an interpretation of which requires and encourages a combining of the sociological, historical, and geographical imaginations. The findings indicate that the debates within development theory resulted from different theories focusing upon different types of development paths. Development is complexly multidimensional with economic and social development paths resembling the linear and multilinear claims of orthodox modernization theory and with political development paths approximating the antilinear claims of underdevelopment theories. Development and underdevelopment theorists, like the blind wise men encountering the elephant, each described only parts of the beast, assuming that the economic trunk was identical to its political leg.
Changing Patterns of Corporate Headquarter Influence, 1974–89
Authors: Lyons D I
Published: October 2006

Research on the changing geography of metropolitan corporate headquarters (CH) influence has pointed to a decrease in importance for national centers and an increase in the importance of regional centers throughout the country. Theoretical explanations of this change have posited a linear evolutionary sequence from spatial and hierarchical concentration to dispersal. In this paper, the nature of change in metropolitan CH influence between 1974 and 1989 is examined, with a focus on three aspects of this process. First, the detailed sequence of dispersal within types of metropolitan region is explored. Second, the issue of how metropolitan CH influence changes over space is examined. Third, the impact of the recent restructuring of the US economy on metropolitan corporate influence is investigated. The results suggest that the linear evolutionary sequence model needs some modification. The major proportional shifts in CH influence are from New York to a select set of diversified regional centers that may be emerging as national centers in their own right. Dispersion of CH influence is not simply a matter of shifts from one level of the hierarchy to another, rather it is the outcome of a continuous struggle by existing and new corporations in metropolises among and within all levels of the hierarchy to capture new growth opportunities as older opportunities decline. Finally, the impact of restructuring was twofold. Among some metropolitan regions dominated by sectors that declined during the period 1974–89 the consequences were a dramatic decrease in influence. The CHs of the new growth sectors were concentrated among national centers and hence contributed to increased influence at the apex of the hierarchy.
Modeling the Choice of Telecommuting: Setting the Context
Authors: Mokhtarian P L , Salomon I
Published: October 2006

In this paper a conceptual model of the individual decision to telecommute is presented. Key elements of that decision, including constraints, facilitators, and drives, are defined and the relationships among them described. The major types of constraints (if negative) or facilitators (if positive) include external factors related to awareness, the organization, and the job, and internal psychosocial factors. The major types of drives are work, family, leisure, ideology, and travel. It is argued that the absence of constraints is a necessary but not sufficient condition for telecommuting to be adopted by an individual. The presence of one or more drives, assumed to be associated with some dissatisfaction, is necessary to activate the search for a solution to that dissatisfaction.

The choice set contains those alternative solutions perceived to be feasible by the individual. It may or may not contain telecommuting (depending on whether all constraints are nonbinding or not), and probably contains other alternatives having nothing to do with telecommuting. Each alternative is evaluated in terms of how effectively it satisfies the drive, and the individual's attitudes toward it. The alternative (or bundle of alternatives) which maximizes individual utility becomes the preferred behavioral pattern. However, short-term constraints may prevent the preferred behavior from being chosen. The process is a dynamic one, in which previous choices affect attitudes and constraints and alter drives. Work directed by the authors is under way to operationalize the conceptual model.
A Fractal Model of HIV Transmission on Complex Sociogeographic Networks. Part 2: Spread from a Ghettoized ‘Core Group’ into a ‘General Population’
Authors: Wallace R
Published: October 2006

Study of the initial stages of HIV transmission along a ‘sociogeographic network’—a large, complex, spatially focused social network with possibly fractal geometry—is extended to include interaction between a low-dimensional ghettoized ‘core group’ within which the disease spreads very rapidly and a higher dimensional, more loosely structured ‘general population’ in which spread is relatively slow. A mathematical modeling exercise suggests that contextually modulated interaction between them can be highly nonlinear and may greatly increase the initial rate of disease transmission within the general population. This work contributes to a growing body of literature which suggests that programs to control HIV infection within the majority heterosexual population of the United States will fail spectacularly without particular focus on the coupled physical and social stabilization and rehabilitation of the urban ghettoes of marginalized populations which are the present, and rapidly expanding, disease epicenters. Evidence suggests their continued disintegration can both increase disease rates within the epicenters and increase the coupling between core groups and general populations by creating large numbers of spatially or economically displaced refugees.
Measuring Equal Opportunities in European Employment
Authors: Perrons D
Published: October 2006

The European Community has developed various social policies to compensate for the uneven effects of economic integration, and to bring about greater equality between women and men. In addition, the member states have their own policy traditions and institutional frameworks which likewise affect general employment conditions. In order to bring about greater economic and social cohesion in the European Community there have been moves to harmonise social policy. Clearly, if greater equality between women and men is a desired goal then it is important that the harmonisation should take place around those policies that are more progressive in this respect.

Two ways of measuring gender inequality in paid work are proposed and applied to EC data. The results of this preliminary study indicate that those countries with more formal regulatory frameworks are more conducive to greater gender equality than those where market-based policies prevail.
Changes in Air Service Connectivity and Employment
Authors: Ivy R L , Fik T J , Malecki E J
Published: October 2006

In this paper the relationship between air service connectivity and a subset of professional employment as defined by administrative and auxiliary workers for the fifty-nine largest metropolitan areas in the USA for the period 1978–88 is examined. The importance of airline service connectivity as an industrial location factor for company facilities is highlighted. Restructuring of the air service network and the emergence of the postderegulation hub-and-spoke system are also discussed. It is argued that connectivity affects, and is simultaneously affected by, administrative and auxiliary employment levels. Empirical findings suggest that changes in connectivity have a greater influence on administrative and auxiliary employment levels than changes in administrative and auxiliary employment have on connectivity.
Are Jobs and the Quality of the Environment Mutually Exclusive?
Authors: Izraeli O , Mobley L
Published: October 2006

In this paper it is shown that there is no support in economic theory for the suggested trade-off between jobs and the environment. Moreover, improved environmental quality may accelerate economic growth via improved health and productivity of workers, lower maintenance costs, and enhanced productivity of capital inputs. Also, empirical evidence is presented on the preference of the general public regarding environmental quality. The empirical evidence indicates that people are ready to trade part of their income for improved environmental quality.
Housing Associations, Private Finance and Risk Avoidance: The Impact on Urban Renewal and Inner Cities
Authors: Crook A D H , Moroney M
Published: October 2006

In this paper a case study of the link between housing and urban policy in Britain is presented. The impact that policy on housing associations has had on inner cities and on urban renewal is examined. The impacts of recent changes in government policy about capital and revenue funding (which expose housing associations to risk), on the type and location of housing schemes are also investigated. It is shown that these impacts are inconsistent with the government's inner city and housing renewal objectives.
Globalization and the Production of New Urban Spaces: Pacific Rim Megaprojects in the Late 20th Century
Authors: Olds K
Published: October 2006

In this paper the complex and increasingly global processes which underlie the production of contemporary urban megaprojects (UMPs) in Pacific Rim cities are examined. The UMP development process is interesting to examine because it can be viewed as a microcosm of broader general processes which are impacting cities throughout the world. After a brief overview of the key dimensions of globalization processes [the development and restructuring of the international financial system; the globalization of property markets; the changing role of the transnational corporation; the stretching of social relations, world social networks, and epistemic communities (including the overseas Chinese); and travelling and networking] contemporary urban development trends in the Pacific Rim Basin are outlined to provide a context for UMP development. Three UMPs—in Vancouver (Pacific Place), Yokohama (Minato Mirai 21), and Shanghai (Lujiazui Central Area, Pudong)—are then examined in order to tease out complexities of globalization processes and the global—local dialectic. Attention throughout the paper is focused on international linkages and global context in influencing the production of these new urban spaces—spaces often designed (at extraordinary expense) to symbolize a global urban ‘utopia’ for the 21st century.
The Rediscovery of Accessibility and Economic Potential: The Critical Issue of Self-Potential
Authors: Frost M E , Spence N A
Published: October 2006

Economic potential measures of accessibility seem to have been rediscovered in the research literature recently, as well as in research that informs policy formulation. These new applications are using more and more sophisticated sources of data but are in large measure still operationalising the familiar concepts of market potential. Such potential is calculated for any zone by summing the representative economic mass of all other zones in the system each divided by some measure of the intervening travel impedance between that zone and every other zone. In this straightforward calculation it becomes necessary to incorporate the economic mass of the zone under consideration itself and to decide on the appropriate travel impedance. This apparently simple task is the focus of this paper. Most research of this type uses a weighting of the radius of the circle equalling the area of the zone in question to approximate the travel impedance. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the choice of weighting is important in determining the nature of the resultant potential surface.
Local Exchange Trading Systems in the United Kingdom: A Case of Re-Embedding?
Authors: Thorne L
Published: October 2006

In this paper a recent type of social and economic organization to appear in the United Kingdom—the local exchange trading system—is examined. From comparative research based on interviews with coordinators of six systems the motivation for involvement, the nature of the local money, and the relationship to business and state regulation are explored. The internal coherence of the systems and the relevance of the ‘local’ is assessed. Contextualized by debates on the nature of economics, where the notion of embeddedness of economic life in social relations is gaining ground, the concept of an active ‘re-embedding’ is introduced in order to explore the significance of local exchange trading systems.
Modelling Urban—Rural Population Growth in China
Authors: Shen J , Spence N A
Published: October 2006

The population of China is still growing despite a dramatic decline in fertility in the past two decades. There are marked urban—rural differentials in fertility and, as a result, the pace of urbanization has significant effects on population growth. In this research an attempt is made to model urban—rural population growth in China. A demoeconomic model of urban and rural sectors is calibrated to account for the long-term trend of urbanization in China. Two important components of urban population growth—rural to urban migration and transition—are considered. In previous research, rural to urban population transition was ignored and thus urbanization levels may be significantly underprojected. An accounts-based urban—rural population model, in which rural to urban migration and transition are driven by the foregoing demoeconomic model, is established in this research. These models are used to make urban—rural population projections for the period 1988–2087 under various fertility rate assumptions.
Gender and Class Identities in Process and in Place: The Local State as a Site of Gender and Class Formation
Authors: Chouinard V
Published: October 2006

In this paper I argue that gender and class formation within local states involve processes of conflict, accommodation, co-optation, and transformation, which are simultaneously conceptual, discursive, practical, and material, and hence subjective as well as objective. Variations in material conditions of struggle over local state policies and procedures, both within and between localities, contribute to the uneven development of practices of dissent and to ‘fragmented’ or contradictory experiences of gender and class relations in and against local states. The meanings assigned to these experiences and how they are incorporated into political identities, views, and action strategies play a vital role in determining whether and how collective opposition to gender and class biases in local states will proceed. Two Canadian examples are used to illustrate this approach to understanding gender and class formation in local states. The first example is that of recent feminist and working-class struggles within Ontario's legal-aid clinic system. The second example is that of the development of a women-only housing cooperative in Hamilton, Canada.
Moving Plans of the Elderly: A Test of the Stress-Threshold Model
Authors: Fokkema T , Van Wissen L
Published: October 2006

The aim of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical model for the explanation of moving plans among elderly persons. This model of moving behaviour of the elderly is more or less similar to the ‘residential satisfaction model of relocation’, developed by Speare, and consists of three sets of variables: (1) background characteristics (personal characteristics, discrepancies with regard to several housing and neighbourhood characteristics, and social bonds); (2) level of housing and neighbourhood dissatisfaction; and (3) moving plans. The main feature of this model is the intervening role of the two dissatisfaction variables: it is assumed that the background characteristics influence the levels of housing and/or neighbourhood dissatisfaction, which in turn affect the moving plans.

In order to test this model, covariance structure analysis is utilized among a sample of elderly residents in two districts of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Although the results support the residential mobility model to a large extent—the levels of housing and neighbourhood dissatisfaction act mostly as intervening variables—some unexpected findings emerge. In addition, the percentage of unexplained variance in moving plans is relatively large. For this reason, a number of suggestions are given to extend the theoretical model towards a better explanation of moving plans of elderly persons. One of these suggestions, that is, including the appropriateness of the dwelling in the near future as an intervening variable, is tested. It is shown that this factor plays an important intervening role, which implies that the elderly do not consider to move only because they are dissatisfied with their living conditions at the moment, but that those who expect their house to be inappropriate in the short term are more inclined to move. Therefore, in future research on the moving behaviour of the elderly it is necessary to take this anticipatory behaviour into account.
Reworking the Geography of the Long Boom; The Small Town Experience of Restructuring in Reefton, New Zealand
Authors: Conradson D , Pawson E
Published: October 2006

During the postwar long boom, the economic, political, and cultural configurations adopted to regulate the crisis tendencies of capitalism in New Zealand were broadly those of social democracy. Key features of social democratic policy in this period were the assistance of primary production through subsidies, the protection of domestic industry, a well-developed welfare state, and the promotion of economic development in marginal places and regions. These regulatory arrangements found expression as a distinctive geography of the long boom. In small towns this was typified by clusters of agencies associated with the state's intervention in production and its provision of infrastructure. Local employment was often concentrated in these agencies. We examine the nature of such a geography during the long boom in Reefton, a small town on the West Coast of the South Island, and its subsequent reworking during the restructuring of the 1980s. This reworking is explored through a focus on the major state and private sector workplaces within the town's economic base and their employees. As key influences upon the newly emerging geography of the town, the forms of local governance that are being adopted in order to attract the spending and investment lost during restructuring are examined.
Environmental Equity in Canada: An Empirical Investigation into the Income Distribution of Pollution in Ontario
Authors: Jerrett M , Eyles J , Cole D , Reader S
Published: October 2006

In this paper, we attempt to contribute to the growing environmental justice debate by exploring environmental equity in the forty-nine counties of Ontario, Canada. We use multiple regression analysis to address a central research question: what variables predict the location of pollution emissions? Data were extracted from the 1993 National Pollutant Release Inventory and the 1991 Census of Canada to assess relationships among socioeconomic class variables, industrial and land-use variables, and pollution emissions. The results agree with the findings of recent US studies. Manufacturing employment, urbanization variables, dwelling value, and household income were all significantly related to pollution emissions. These relationships took the same direction as in most of the US studies. In total, the four variables account for about 63% of the variation in pollution emissions (adjusted R2 = 0.626, p< 0.0001). Contrary to a hypothesis of environmental inequity, the household income variable displayed a positive relationship with pollution emissions. A conceptual model of the development process is formulated to explain the positive relationship between pollution emissions and income levels. We conclude the paper with suggestions for future research.