bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Extending the Boundary of the City of London? The Development of Canary Wharf
Authors: Daniels P W , Bobe J M
Published: October 2006

The problems associated with the regeneration of London's Docklands have recently come under intense scrutiny following the collapse of Olympia and York, the developer of Canary Wharf. The authors of this paper attempt to place the development of Canary Wharf in a broader context, relating it to other ‘similar’ projects, the growth of the City of London during the 1980s, and changing demands of office occupiers, and then address the issue of whether its problems could have been anticipated in the light of earlier property development cycles.
Whose Environment? Which Perspective? A Critical Approach to Hazardous Waste Management in Sweden
Authors: Lidskog R
Published: October 2006

Starting with a description of six general interpretations of this kind of hazardous waste siting, and with a description of the policy for hazardous waste management in Sweden, the author examines the decisionmaking process regarding the siting of the central plant for hazardous waste in Sweden. The paper ends with the conclusion that a locational conflict is to be seen mainly as a struggle concerning the perception and definition of the issue. Thus the question is which perspective on the issue and what definition of the suitability had predominance in respect of the choice of site.
Contextualizing State Housing Programs in Latin America: Evidence from Leading Housing Agencies in Brazil, Ecuador, and Jamaica
Authors: Klak T
Published: October 2006

The policy literature offers many valid criticisms of government housing programs, but does not adequately trace housing-agency failures to their causes in the broader political and economic contexts of peripheral capitalist countries. The literature especially lacks an understanding of the role of interests within the state which benefit from housing programs in their current distorted form. In response to these analytical shortcomings, the author of this paper adapts a geographically hierarchical and comparative framework from locality studies that is capable of revealing both structural commonalities and contextual particularities of housing-agency behavior. The research is an examination and comparison of the performance of the major housing agencies in Brazil, Ecuador, and Jamaica. The diversity of economic resources and political regimes in these countries during the last three decades provides a spectrum of regional experiences. The investigation unfolds with the setting of the context of dependent capitalism, without which it is not possible to understand either the prominence or the incapacity of Latin American housing agencies. Next, the research adopts an historical vantage point to reveal key actors and events in housing-agency institutionalization. Having set the structural and historical contexts, the author then examines motives related to the state and its agents that help to explain why working-class housing programs have become self-centered patronage bureaucracies, to the neglect of their socially progressive goals. The author then explains how housing agencies have primarily used rhetoric, plans, and images, not material investment, to legitimize themselves to the disenfranchised working class. The final section synthesizes the paper's main points thereby establishing a political economic context for understanding Latin American housing programs.
The Producer Service Complex of Edmonton: The Role and Organization of Producer Services Firms in a Peripheral City
Authors: Michalak W Z , Fairbairn K J
Published: October 2006

In this paper the authors examine the subcontracting behaviour of producer service firms in a peripheral metropolitan city. The objective of this empirical investigation is to uncover spatial and organizational linkages of producer services that have developed in response to changes in the industrial organization of a modern capitalist production system. The focus is on three types of linkages, namely subcontracting, inputs of producer services, and inputs of goods and final services. The data collected through a survey of producer services in Edmonton reveal that subcontracting rather than internalization is the main mode of production. Therefore the producer service sector can play an important role as a supplier of indigenous higher-order services and innovations, inducing better productivity rates in other industrial sectors including resource-oriented local producers.
The Development of a New Gravity—Opportunity Model for Trip Distribution
Authors: Gonçalves M B , Ulysséa-Neto I
Published: October 2006

In this paper the development of a new gravity—opportunity model for trip distribution is presented. Wilson's formalism to obtain the gravity model, and Schneider's intervening-opportunities model are used as the basis for deducing the new model. The notational difficulties associated with the amalgamation of the gravity and opportunity models are circunvented via the definition of an intervening-opportunity matrix. The conventional gravity model is shown to be a particular case of the new gravity—opportunity model. The calibration of the new model is reached by using Furness's matrix calibration procedure together with Hooke and Jeeves's nonlinear optimizing method. Finally, a practical application of the model for estimating intermunicipal passenger flows by public transport, in Southern Brazil, is reported.
Contemporary Industrial Restructuring and Linkage Change in an Older Industrial Region: Examples from the Northeast of England
Authors: Phelps N A
Published: October 2006

In this paper, the literature on ‘flexible production’ and on branch-plant-led regional development are drawn upon to outline a number of different forms of contemporary backward material linkage change. Then, an empirical examination of the spatial implications of these forms of linkage change at four branch plants in one older industrial region is provided. These examples of linkage change suggest that a process of linkage simplification is an integral part of contemporary industrial restructuring in the peripheral region setting. It is suggested that this process of linkage simplification is one facet of the continued integration of peripheral region manufacturing industry into increasingly spatially dispersed networks of production.
Composing Robot Production Systems: Japan as a Flexible Manufacturing System
Authors: Patchell J
Published: October 2006

In this paper, case-study evidence of the composition of four robot production systems is provided to reveal the linkages between local, regional, and national social divisions of labour. The relation-specific skill epitomizes the sophisticated procedures used to compose production systems, and the four case studies provide evidence of the communalities and varieties of these procedures. The geography of the interrelationships of the vertical divisions of labour of design-supplied suppliers and of the horizontal division of labour of design-approved suppliers is discussed. The cooperation and competition within this social division of labour allows Japan to function as a flexible manufacturing system.
Exercising the Condominium Tenure Option: A Case Study of the Canadian Housing Market
Authors: Meligrana J
Published: October 2006

With data from the National Survey of Condominium Occupants conducted by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the relevant differences between a sample of renters who decided to purchase a condominium and a sample of homeowners who decided to sell their dwelling to buy a condominium are described. The subpopulation differed with respect not only to life-cycle stages and household economic resources but also to stated housing preferences and future housing plans. For example, previous renters were found to be younger households in the earlier stages of the life cycle who purchased lower priced condominiums with more borrowed funds than previous homeowners. A proportion of previous renters, however, were found to be entering the condominium sector late in life. Previous owners, the majority of whom moved from the freehold ownership market, preferred condominium ownership as means of gaining greater physical security and less direct maintenance responsibilities and, therefore, searched for only condominium housing. On the other hand, tenants sought initially to gain entrance into the freehold ownership market before deciding on the purchase of condominiums. Previous tenants are planning to use the equity of their condominiums to move into single detached houses within a short period of time, whereas for previous owners the condominium sector presents a final stage in housing demand. It is concluded that life-cycle stages and household economic resources continue to dominate a household's tenure transition, but this must also be combined with tenure and housing preferences as well as long-term or future housing plans.
PRIDE and Prejudice: The Economic Impacts of Growth Controls in Pasadena
Authors: Richardson H W , Gordon P , Jun M-J , Kim M H
Published: October 2006

Whereas most debates about growth controls have focused primarily on the impacts of land and house prices, this study examines anticipated job and output losses. Using the example of the proposed nonresidential and residential controls approved by the voters of Pasadena, California, as a case study, the authors employ a spatial allocation/regional input-output model (the Southern California Planning Model) that allocates highly disaggregated sectoral impacts (direct, indirect, and induced) to 219 zones (cities and unincorporated areas) in the Los Angeles metropolitan region.

The largest economic losses are the result of denied nonresidential construction, and these are cumulative over the ten years of the proposed ordinance (now defunct after the 1992 elections). The lowest-skilled occupational groups are the hardest hit in terms of lost jobs, and almost three fifths of the employment losses occur in the city of Pasadena itself. These results offset the favorable claims for growth controls made by their advocates.
‘It's Gotta Be Da Shoes’: Domestic Manufacturing, International Subcontracting, and the Production of Athletic Footwear
Authors: Barff R , Austen J
Published: October 2006

An apparent paradox exists in the geography of athletic footwear production. The industry is highly labor intensive; it is also locationally volatile. Although most production now takes place in Southeast Asia, the United States nevertheless still contains significant enclaves of athletic footwear production. Moreover, the cheapest shoes continue to be produced in the United States whereas more complex, expensive models tend to be manufactured in Asia. To understand this geography, we must move beyond the basic consideration of international labor-cost differentials. By means of two case studies, it is shown that domestic production involves very different labor processes from those of production based in other countries and, like many other sectors of the economy, domestic producers gain advantage by carrying smaller inventories through faster lead times. The best explanation, though, centers on the shoes themselves. Athletic shoes produced in the United States tend to have many fewer stitches in them than those manufactured elsewhere, which minimizes the most expensive component of the production process. Furthermore, tariffs on athletic shoes massively discriminate against imported shoes of a particular construction.
The Latin American Inner City: Differences of Degree or of Kind?
Authors: Ward P M
Published: October 2006

It is often assumed that the globalization of the world economy will drive societies and societal change in a broadly similar direction, leading to convergence in the process of urbanization. The observed diversity between places is the result of the engagement of the macroeconomic process with local social and political structures. Inner-city decline in many older metropolitan centers of the USA and the United Kingdom has occurred through economic restructuring and job loss, with smaller urban centers and amenity-rich areas benefiting concomitantly. Demographic processes have accentuated this decline: most notably suburbanization, counterurbanization, inner-city renewal programs, and urban resettlement to new towns. Since the early 1980s, however, selected inner cities have been the focus of reinvestment, and a return of population through so-called ‘gentrification’. In the United Kingdom, in particular, public policy has played an important role in the reinvigoration of inner cities.

The substantial literature on UK and US cities is reviewed insofar as it might shed light on convergent processes in Latin American inner cities. In fact, the evidence suggests little convergence. The demography is different, with relatively low levels of visible population decline; and the economy of the inner city remains vibrant, focusing upon services and small-scale artisan activities, with no corresponding decline in heavy industry. Although large-scale redevelopment projects in and around the downtown were common during the 1940s to the 1960s, the demise of authoritarian and dirigiste-type leaders, 1980s austerity, and a growing democratic base, have imposed severe limitations on the extent of large-scale urban redevelopment and reinvestment. Cultural and aesthetic influences also militate against a demand from the middle-income and upper-income groups to gentrify the inner city; nor is the ‘rent-gap’ sufficient to stimulate private-sector supply of new or refurbished homes a likely option in the city center. Policy prescriptions in Latin America should take account of this divergence and fundamental differences in kind, and should aim to develop existing opportunities and land uses for an incumbent working-class population, rather than seeking to attract new uses and better-off populations into the core.
The Time Perspective of Contextual Effects: The Case of a Language-Stimulation Programme in Education
Authors: van den Eeden P
Published: October 2006

In this paper the hypothesis is developed that the time perspective is an important factor in the explanation of contextual effects, starting from sociological resource theory. This contention is illustrated by means of an empirical case consisting of the decade-long implementation of a programme of appropriate language acquisition to raise the educational chances of children with a low socioeconomic status. The data, which concern secondary education in the Netherlands, show that the programme has a positive effect on the transition from primary education to secondary education and a negative effect on the throughflow in secondary education.
Modelling Sparse Interaction Matrices: Interward Migration in Hereford and Worcester, and the Underdispersion Problem
Authors: Boyle P J , Flowerdew R
Published: October 2006

Recently, it has been argued that migration models in which ordinary least squares regression is used are inappropriate, because the dependent variable (number of migrants) is a count. Instead, a Poisson regression approach can be adopted. Goodness of fit can be evaluated by using a deviance (log-likelihood) or X2 statistic, whose significance can be compared with a χ2 distribution with appropriate degrees of freedom. In this paper, such an approach is used to model ward-level migration flows within the county of Hereford and Worcester. However, it is shown that for this exceedingly sparse data set the deviance figures attained are very low, suggesting that there may be a problem of underdispersion. This is in contrast to the overdispersion which has been identified as a common problem in Poisson models. The low deviance figures arise from the large number of zeros and small flows in the data matrix, which invalidate the usual χ2 goodness-of-fit test. A simulation approach to the assessment of model goodness of fit is suggested, and the results from applying it to the Hereford and Worcester data set are described.
The Role of Strategic Alliances in the International Organization of Industry
Authors: Ahern R
Published: October 2006

In this study the motivations for entering international strategic alliances are investigated. The reasons for alliance entry reflect the ways firms are restructuring economic activities. A theoretical basis for the study is built from the conceptual arguments of transaction-cost theory and resource-dependence theory. A partial synthesis of the two approaches suggests that alliances are especially well suited to the combined pursuit of increased efficiency and reduced uncertainty. The empirical investigation is based on a series of thirteen case studies, each involving a small Canadian firm and a foreign partner. Growth resulting from efficient access to foreign markets was an important reason for Canadian firms to enter alliances. Collaboration enabled small firms to learn about market demand. This information reduced the uncertainty of international marketing, and was used to guide the development and modification of products. Complementary abilities, where the Canadian firms offered technology and their foreign partners had marketing capabilities, were at the heart of most alliances. In general, alliances were considered necessary to protect proprietary information and to forge strong links with firms taking over important downstream functions.
Radon and Lung Cancer in Cornwall and Devon
Authors: Haynes R M
Published: October 2006

The relationship between average indoor levels of radon and lung cancer mortality in the counties of Cornwall and Devon, England, are investigated. The associations of population density, social-class distribution, and regional smoking prevalence with lung cancer mortality in the local-authority districts of England and Wales were estimated by regression analysis. Low rates of lung cancer in Cornwall and Devon were predicted from the relationship. The differences between observed and predicted mortality in Cornwall and Devon districts were compared with average indoor levels of radon, which varied considerably between districts. Residual variations in lung cancer mortality were not significantly correlated with average indoor radon measurements. The current advice of the National Radiological Protection Board to government is to concentrate radon measurements, remedial action, and preventive action principally on Cornwall and Devon, but cross-sectional geographical data do not support the hypothesis that raised levels of radon indoors in southwest England have an important effect on lung cancer mortality.
Moves into Supported Private Households among Elderly People in England and Wales
Authors: Grundy E M D
Published: October 2006

Data from the Longitudinal Study (LS) of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys have been used to examine differentials in the proportion of elderly people living in ‘independent’ households (alone or with only a spouse) in 1971 but in ‘supported’ households (with relatives or friends) ten years later. Overall, 6% of men and 8% of women aged 65 years or over in 1971 and then in independent households were by 1981 living in a supported private household, slightly higher than the proportion who had moved into institutions. Children predominated among the coresidents of elderly people in supported households. Rates of transition to supported private households were higher in older age-groups, higher among the widowed than the currently or never-married, and, in general, higher for owner-occupiers and private renters than for local authority tenants. Elderly people living in Wales in 1971 were more likely to be in supported households ten years later than their counterparts in England. Transitions to supported households were strongly associated with geographic mobility. Among elderly people aged 75 years or over and in independent households in 1971 over half of those living at a different address in 1981 were by then in supported private households or institutions. LS members who moved from independent to supported private households between 1971 and 1981 had an elevated mortality rate, observed over the period 1981–85. However, the mortality of those who had moved to institutions was even higher, suggesting that in terms of health status the elderly population living with relatives is not equivalent to the institutional population.
Short-Term Forecasting of Internal Migration
Authors: Frees E W
Published: October 2006

Models for short-range forecasts differ from those for intermediate and long-range forecasts because of the possibility of introducing lagged exogenous factors as explanatory variables. It is widely believed that certain exogenous variables, in particular estimates of state income, are useful leading indicators of migration rates. In this paper, panel-data (or longitudinal-data) models are used to represent the relationship between destination-specific out-migration and several explanatory variables. The introduction of this methodology into the migration literature is possible because of some new and improved databases developed by the US Bureau of the Census.

In this paper, data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis are used to investigate the incorporation of exogenous factors as variables in the model. One aim in the paper is to use graphical techniques in the understanding of the relationships between migration and these exogenous factors. These techniques provide insight into the strong relationships suggested by the many gravity models that have appeared in the literature. However, when one also includes additional parameters that are estimable in longitudinal-data models, it turns out that there is little additional information in the exogenous factors that is useful for forecasting.
A Model of Neotropical Land Use with Endogenous Malaria and Preventive Ecological Measures
Authors: Jones D W , O'Neill R V
Published: October 2006

Malaria is a serious problem limiting agricultural colonization in the neotropics, especially in the Brazilian Amazon. We analyze a model that links the disease with deforestation and ecological measures to control the mosquito. In the model the probability of contracting malaria increases with population density, which is a principal endogenous variable in land-use decisions. A higher incidence of malaria reduces labor productivity. Farmers maximize profit by allocating labor between cultivation and health activities that reduce the incidence and severity of malaria. Commodity price changes, transportation improvements, and land clearance costs all affect the prevalence of malaria, and health and labor productivity. A reduction in land clearance costs will improve health and labor productivity but will exacerbate deforestation. An increase in the commodity price and a reduction in transportation costs exacerbate deforestation but reduce the prevalence of malaria, although the resultant change in the equilibrium levels of health and labor productivity is ambiguous.
The Growth of an Indigenous Electronics Industry: Scottish Printed Circuit Boards
Authors: Turok I
Published: October 2006

The growth and development of the Scottish printed circuits industry is examined in this paper. It is an unusual case of strong indigenous growth with limited foreign ownership. The sector produces a quarter of all UK sales of open-market printed circuit boards (PCBs) and employs 1800 people, 50% more than a decade ago. Its growth is explained in terms of four key interrelated factors: the special nature of PCB production, local demand conditions, the sector's organisational structure, and government support. The sector is best conceptualised as part of a wider division of labour within the regional electronics industry rather than as a distinct, closely connected cluster. Contemporary pressures promoting the sector's restructuring are discussed in the conclusion. A more active policy response may be required to secure the sector's future. Closer cooperation between the firms may also be important in overcoming present fragmentation.
Strategy and Structure: Corporate Restructuring and the Scope and Characteristics of Sunk Costs
Authors: Clark G L
Published: October 2006

Most studies of industrial restructuring and regional adjustment are focused upon the local consequences or causes of restructuring. Few studies are focused upon corporate strategy, an essential ingredient for a better understanding of the motive forces behind restructuring. This paper is an attempt to redress the balance, beginning with the relationship between structure (the inherited configuration of production) and strategy (the design and implementation of restructuring). As part of this analysis, three types of strategy are distinguished: structure-dependent, structure-limited, and structure-focused strategies. To appreciate better the connection between the choice of strategy and corporate form, a series of models of corporate control are developed that distinguish between ownership and management. These preliminary arguments are then used to analyse the scope of sunk costs—that portion of fixed costs which are non-recoverable. To illustrate the scope of the framework used, recent examples of restructuring from northeast Asia and North America are interpreted in the light of the analytical model.
A Tale of Two Industries: The Restructuring of Hong Kong's Garment-Making and Electronics Industries
Authors: Lui T L , Chiu S
Published: October 2006

In different ways, newly industrialised economies (NIEs) in East Asia are restructuring their industries in response to changes in their comparative advantages and to the changing environment of the global economy. In this paper, an attempt is made to examine the case of Hong Kong through intensive case studies of its garment-making and electronics industries. It is argued that the way the manufacturing industries respond to rising production costs, increasing protectionism, and growing competition from other NIEs is essentially shaped by the ‘politics of production’, at the structural, institutional, as well as organisational levels. With a noninterventionist state, the dominance of small local capital, the arms-length relationship between industrial and financial capital, and the underdevelopment of shop-floor unionism, Hong Kong's manufacturing responds to the changing business environment by developing flexible, labour-intensive production strategies. The success of such strategies hinges upon the ability of the industries to find niches in the world market of consumption which is increasingly characterised by rapid changes in styles.
EC Mergers Regulation and Regional Economic Cohesion
Authors: Love J H
Published: October 2006

Despite the fact that the European Community (EC) is committed to reducing the economic inequalities between and within its member states, EC mergers policy has no clear mechanism by which the regional economic consequences of takeovers can be assessed or taken into account during merger investigations. This is important, because there is clear evidence that external takeovers are one method by which regional economic imbalance may be exacerbated. In this paper, proposals are put forward for the explicit inclusion of an economic cohesion clause into EC mergers regulation. Also, the advantages such a clause would have are discussed, and the possible objections to the consideration of regional issues during merger investigations are assessed.
Urban Policy and Property Development: The Institutional Relations of Real-Estate Development in an Old Industrial Region
Authors: Healey P
Published: October 2006

The impact of public policy on the opportunities available for property development in an urban region and the effect of such policy on the institutional organisation of the property-development sector are examined. Also explored are the problems of generating autonomous private-sector development capacity in a fragile local economy (Tyne and Wear in North East England) experiencing decline in its traditional industrial base, within which active property markets may only exist with respect to certain types of properties and locations. The tension between a financial orientation and a production orientation towards property development is highlighted. During the 1980s, planning and urban policy in Britain promoted the former orientation, but the needs and opportunities of the local economy emphasised the latter. The importance of understanding the specificities of local property-development organisation and relations for the design and evaluation of public policy directed at the property sector is stressed.
Property Finance in Japan: Expansion and Collapse of the Bubble Economy
Authors: Oizumi E
Published: October 2006

This paper provides an analysis of the recent property boom and collapse in Japan. Central to the analysis is the role of financial institutions in financing the boom. The extraordinary rise in land prices and the land concentration by capital, which were brought about through expansion of property finance, is examined. It is contended that the domination of land markets by finance capital, which was accomplished through urban redevelopment in the 1980s, is not in decline as a result of the collapse of the bubble economy, but is, on the contrary, growing stronger.
Government Programs for Commercial Redevelopment in Poor Neighborhoods: The Cases of Spitalfields in East London and Downtown Brooklyn, NY
Authors: Fainstein S S
Published: October 2006

Since the economic crisis of the mid-1970s, urban governments in the United States and Great Britain have used programs to stimulate office development as their main vehicle for encouraging economic growth. Two cases of government-sponsored redevelopment are compared: Spitalfields in East London and downtown Brooklyn, New York. Both are in impoverished peripheral areas and involve the creation of large projects that require a transformation of land uses; each involves the activity of a public-private partnership. Despite some differences in types of governmental activity that result from different ideological and institutional traditions, the elements of the two projects are strikingly alike.
Looking Back on the Space of a Boom: (Re)developing Spatial Matrices in the City of London
Authors: Pryke M
Published: October 2006

This paper is focused on the (re)development of the global financial space of the City of London during the mid-1980s. Although the financing of this process is the chief concern, the influence of the social space through which this funding was taking place is not ignored. Therefore, an interpretation is provided of, first, the ways in which a range of economic agents within a ‘structure of building provision’ interact with given sets of spatial practices to capitalise an established social space. And, second, the way in which these agents then realign to develop around newly emerging sociospatial relations is examined. The underlying influence of changes in the wider economic ‘setting’ of these agents is highlighted, with particular reference to how their economic calculations are mapped onto social space and the overall consequences of these processes.
Concentrated Economic Power and Silicon Valley
Authors: Harrison B
Published: October 2006

Silicon Valley is the computer and microelectronics capital of America. To analysts from different academic disciplines and ideological persuasions, the economy of Silicon Valley has many faces. In the most romantic characterization, the Valley's astonishing success as home base for a myriad of companies that design, produce, and export computers, workstations, microchips, disk drives, and software is mainly a story about supremely—even belligerently—independent entrepreneurs. According to a second interpretation, the Valley is a full-fledged ‘industrial district’ on the north central Italian model, made up of a dense thicket of mostly small and medium-sized (but also some quite large) ‘flexible specialists’ that alternately cooperate and compete with one another, that are embedded in a local political economy with a shared culture and norms, and that may be well connected to the rest of the world but whose interfirm production relationships are thought to be highly localized.

There is also a third perspective. Silicon Valley was created by, and remains profoundly dependent on, major multinational corporations and on the fiscal and regulatory support of the national government—especially in the ‘person’ of the US Department of Defense. The Valley is fundamentally a world headquarters of, or at least an important node within, global networks of big firms and their small firm subcontractors and suppliers, and, as such, is subject to the same contradictory tendencies toward concentration of power but decentralization of production that are coming to characterize the entire global market-based economic system.

The three aspects of Silicon Valley's political economy—rampant entrepreneurship, an unusually high degree of interfirm circulation of engineering labor and other signs that have become associated with district-like behavior, and the visible hand of major corporations and their government—university partners in shaping the region into a base from which to manage operations that are executed beyond the Valley's domain—are in fact not mutually inconsistent. In this paper, however, I argue that the third constitutes the dominant tendency driving the reproduction of this vibrant regional economy, and has done since the years after World War 2.
Deregulation of the Motor Carrier Industry: A Canadian Example
Authors: Woudsma C G , Kanaroglou P S
Published: October 2006

Recent changes in the economic regulation of the for-hire trucking industry in Ontario (Truck Transportation Act, 1988) have provided a new opportunity to investigate the associated impacts of deregulation or regulatory reform. Two main areas of concern are the overall charge rate levels for trucking service and the charge rate levels for shipments involving small remote communities. To investigate these areas of concern, the makeup of shipment revenues before and after the initiation of regulatory reform is analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the variation in intraregional shipment charge rates with respect to commodity type as well as the size and remoteness of the communities involved.

The results of the multivariate analysis indicate that the overall charge rate levels have not declined in the majority of industry sectors examined. With respect to charge rate levels for small communities, the basic question concerns the existence of cross-subsidization. This can occur when carriers, ‘obliged’ to serve remote communities under regulation, subsidize shipments to such areas from revenues earned in busier markets. The analysis of data in this paper provides evidence that cross-subsidization was present in some sectors of the industry but not in others.
Efficiency and Equity in Externalities: A Partial Equilibrium Analysis
Authors: Verhoef E T
Published: October 2006

Externalities comprise efficiency aspects and equity aspects. The potential Pareto improvement criterion usually applied in analysis of the economics of externalities is solely concerned with efficiency aspects because it bypasses the question of interpersonal utility comparison. However, in the practice of policymaking, equity issues are often at least as important. This paper contains a partial equilibrium analysis of the question of to what extent optimization and compensation of an external cost are compatible under different schemes of regulation and internalization, and in different model settings: the standard textbook model, a model in which defensive activities on behalf of the victim are allowed for, and a model in which dynamic aspects of entry—exit behaviour are investigated.
A Partial Equilibrium Analysis of the Impact of Introducing More-Efficient Wood-Burning Stoves into Households in the Sahelian Region
Authors: Dufournaud C M , Quinn J T , Harrington J J
Published: October 2006

Two models of the village firewood-gathering economy are developed: one where the firewood is treated by households as a common-property resource and one where it is treated as a private asset. Under both models, rebound of consumption occurs as a result of distributing more-efficient wood-burning stoves into households. It follows that policies premised on the assumption that the use of scarce resources can be curtailed simply by raising the energy efficiency of appliances used in the household are flawed. The same policies, however, when judged according to their contribution to the utility of the household appear to be better.
Corporate Strategy and Corporate Strategists: Power, Identity, and Knowledge within the Firm
Authors: Schoenberger E
Published: October 2006

In this paper it is argued that, to explain why whole groups of once-successful firms in a particular nation or region fail to react appropriately to new competitive conditions, we need to take a closer look at the people who devise and implement corporate strategies. That is to say, we need to analyze corporate strategists as social agents in a particular time and place, and try to understand what aspects of their social being might tend systematically to produce inappropriate corporate strategies. The argument centers on questions of power and identity and on how these shape knowledge and the ability to act. In this way an explanation of the origins and the power of the managerial commitments that shape strategic decisions is sought.
Restructuring of Items within a Product Line: A Case Study of Japanese Multinational Enterprises in the Electric Machinery Industry
Authors: Hayashi T
Published: October 2006

Through an examination of the intrafirm division of labour between the parent companies of Japanese multinational enterprises (MNEs) and their Asian affiliates in the electric machinery industry, it is illustrated that the restructuring of items within product lines has been the dominant pattern of restructuring behaviour. There are three characteristics to this pattern: (1) vertical restructuring, that is, upgraded items are continually innovated by Japanese parents; (2) horizontal restructuring, that is, the production of each item is transferred to Asian affiliates after a certain time lag; (3) the time lag in the transfer of the production of an item to Asian affiliates has been shortened, and Asian affiliates have achieved product upgrading at a faster pace than have the Japanese parents. These characteristics will be described in detail for two product lines: video cassette recorders and capacitors. Then some supporting evidence is presented for the third characteristic of this pattern of restructuring. Further, this third trend is explained in association with the change in cost conditions which have arisen from recent high-growth performance in the region. In other words, in the recent dynamism in the Asia-Pacific Basin, the horizontal restructuring of Japanese MNEs has tended to become faster in terms of production transfer.
Restructuring of the Footwear Industry and the Industrial Adjustment of the Pusan Economy
Authors: Lim J D
Published: October 2006

The manufacturing sector is the major industry of the City of Pusan and is dominated by the footwear industry which holds the position of the largest exporter of leather sports shoes in the world. The labor-intensive footwear manufacturing industry has been quickly losing its competitiveness, causing problems for the Pusan economy. The restructuring of the footwear industry is closely related to the restructuring of the Pusan economy. Factors contributing to the growth and decline of the industry and the region are discussed. Measures to restructure at firm, industry, and government level are introduced and discussed. The recent government designation of the footwear industry as the ‘industry for rationalization’ is also discussed and evaluated.
Achieving Population Dispersal through Tailor-Made Community Planning: An Israeli Experiment in the Galilee Region
Authors: Carmon N
Published: October 2006

Public programs for population dispersal are usually based on macro approaches to economic development in the target area. Such programs have failed to reach their goals in many countries, and, therefore, there is a demand for knowledge regarding alternative forms of intervention. In this paper an innovative micro approach is suggested, the principles of which are based on findings reported in the economic and sociological literature on individual migration decisions. This approach was implemented in the central Galilee region in Israel. In the early 1980s fifty-two small communities were established in the Galilee, each with a unique organizational, social, and economic structure suited to the specific requirements and expectations of its settlers. The plan succeeded in attracting the desired type of population (young, highly educated) to the region, and the newcomers viewed the new communities as their permanent homes. Based on this experience and on the analysis of relevant literature, a development strategy of tailor-made community planning is hereby recommended for future projects. It is especially appropriate in the context of developed countries with a slow to zero population growth and with spreading social norms of the postindustrial society.
The 1980s Property Boom
Authors: Ball M
Published: October 2006

In this paper the causes and consequences of the property boom of the late 1980s are considered that in one way or another affected most developed economies and several industrialising ones. It is suggested that technical change in key service industries caused an upsurge in building demand from the mid-1970s onwards. Shifts in employment patterns then generated repercussions in housing markets. The classic conditions were created for a ‘Kuznets style’ building cycle. The detailed effects of these changes in specific countries depended on the responses by agents involved in the process of building provision, which in turn were affected by the changing economic and institutional contexts that they faced. Property development, financial liberation, housing markets, property taxation, and land-use planning are all considered in this context, with examples drawn from several countries.
The Integration of Property and Financial Markets
Authors: Coakley J
Published: October 2006

In this paper, the nature of property and the growing links between property and financial markets are addressed. It is argued that property must be viewed as a commodity with use-value and exchange-value aspects. Property has been affected by two developments in the 1980s: the shift to services (especially financial services) and waves of deregulation. The increase in demand during the 1980s boom stemmed both from investors such as property companies and from end users, especially those engaged in or expanding into securities business following Big Bang. As property markets, including the housing retail finance circuit, became increasingly intertwined with wholesale financial markets they became more susceptible to the vicissitudes of these markets and tendencies toward crisis. The exchange value of property became disengaged from its use value as property took on the attributes of a quasi-financial asset.
Capital Switching and the Built Environment: United States, 1970–89
Authors: Beauregard R A
Published: October 2006

In this paper, a ‘weak’ test of the capital-switching argument developed by David Harvey is offered. With data on construction investment activity for the USA and on various alternative investments, a temporal analysis was used to assess whether evidence exists for the movement of capital from the primary to the secondary circuit. The investigation is focused specifically on the building boom of the 1980s, as that expansion has been the focus of recent theoretical and empirical work centered on the relation between urbanization and the restructuring of capital. Little support was found for the claim that capital switching has occurred, but the data do point to a delinking of real-estate investment from nonspeculative investment criteria and use-value considerations.
Capital Markets, the Development Industry, and Urban Office Market Dynamics: Rethinking Building Cycles
Authors: Leitner H
Published: October 2006

In this paper it is argued that more attention should be paid to the role of supply-side factors in accounting for the spatiotemporal evolution of urban office building cycles, particularly during the recent boom of the 1980s. Urban office building dynamics are critically related to changes in the structure and operation of finance capital, the development industry, and state intervention; changes which in turn are related to shorter term macroeconomic fluctuations and longer waves of economic and political restructuring at different geographic scales. A comparative analysis of the timing, periodicity, and magnitude of booms and slumps in downtown office construction activity between 1963 and 1986 in major metropolitan areas of the United States reveals a convergence in the timing of booms and slumps in downtown office construction between individual cities and on the national trend in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and a persistence of important differences in the relative volume of downtown office construction between cities. The convergence in timing can be traced to an increased degree of national and international integration of capital markets and the development industry, and the increased flow of capital into commercial real estate. Analysis of interurban differences in the volume of building activity suggest ways in which powerful international and national trends are mediated by locality-specific local economic and political structures and conditions.
Modelling the Land Conversion Process: A Realist Perspective
Authors: Ganderton P
Published: October 2006

Land conversion is a difficult issue to resolve at either a theoretical or a practical level. By virtue of the range and diversity of information there are problems in synthesising data to obtain accurate models. It is argued that as a result many models of the conversion process are partial. With data obtained from studies in Basingstoke and Deane District, Hampshire, a new model, based on realist perspectives such as those of Lévi-Strauss, is proposed. It is argued that such a perspective offers a more accurate insight into land conversion.
The Work of City Politics: Citizenship through Employment in the Local Response to AIDS
Authors: Brown M P
Published: October 2006

In this paper I examine the public sphere as it has come to be theoretically framed in city politics. My focus is on the distinction between citizen and bureaucrat. Working from ethnography and oral histories of individuals involved in AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) issues in Vancouver, I explore the social processes through which citizenship is structured and expressed. Identity politics and the politics of urban services are found to overlap considerably. Specifically, people's paid employment in the state and shadow state is relayed in several ways as one channel for their citizenship. Social and political restructurings in British Columbia concurrent with the AIDS crisis are traced to show how and why some people have come to exercise their politics through their work. The political and theoretical implications of (shadow-)state employment as a location of citizenship are then considered.