bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Housing Benefit and Tenant Coping Strategies in the Private Rental Housing Market
Authors: McLaverty P , Kemp P A
Published: October 2006

In this paper we report findings of interviews with housing benefit claimants whose eligible rent for housing benefit was less than the contractual rent ‘agreed’ with their landlord. Linking into debates about the usefulness of the concept of ‘strategy’ in social analysis, we consider whether the claimants interviewed pursued strategies in coping with the shortfalls in their eligible rent for housing benefit. Though claimants often had difficulty in pursuing ‘strategies' successfully, the research shows that most of those interviewed did try to act strategically. They were not simply the passive victims of circumstances beyond their control.
Environmental Communication and the Cultural Politics of Environmental Citizenship
Authors: Burgess J , Harrison C M , Filius P
Published: October 2006

This paper presents a comparative analysis of how representatives from the public, private, and voluntary sectors of two cities [Nottingham (United Kingdom) and Eindhoven (The Netherlands)] responded to the challenge of communicating more effectively with citizens about issues of sustainability. The analysis is set in the context of literature about the need to widen participation in the determination of Local Agenda 21 policies, and the drive for more inclusionary forms of communication in planning and politics. Workshop members discussed the results of surveys and in-depth discussion groups with local residents which had revealed considerable scepticism and mistrust of environmental communications and environmental expertise. Three themes are explored. First, there is consensus in attributing responsibility for public alienation and resistance to environmental communications to the content and styles of media reporting. Second, there are contrasting discursive constructions of the ‘public’, which reflect different political cultures—with the Nottingham workshop supporting a strategy to share power and knowledge more widely than hitherto, whereas the Eindhoven strategy proposed greater rigour, clarity, and authority from the local state. Third, responding to evidence of public resistance to calls for more sustainable practices, workshop participants in both cities focused on what institutions themselves can and should do to progress environmental goals. Workshop participants in both countries acknowledged the urgent need for public, private, and voluntary sector organisations to match their own practices to their environmental rhetoric.
The Indianapolis ‘Fortune 500’: Lilly and Regional Renaissance
Authors: Walcott S M
Published: October 2006

The reasons for and consequences of the location of a flourishing industrial anomaly ouside the predominant region of concentration is of continuing geographic interest. This paper is an examination of both structural and agency factors for the historical establishment and consistent success of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company. Along with its recent medical device spinoff, Lilly is the only ‘Fortune 500’ firm in Indianapolis, and one of few outside the Mid-Atlantic states cluster. Industry-locational exceptionalism is sustained by a cross-sectoral concentration of related manufacturing and service companies to create a health ensemble. A consciously constructed local metropolitan and state sociopolitical niche further nurtures industry-specific and mutually beneficial growth. Theories on agglomeration-sustaining patterns are considered in light of this empirical study.
The German-American Pharmaceutical Business Establishment in the New York Metropolitan Region
Authors: Schreuder Y
Published: October 2006

Between World War 1 and World War 2, the New York metropolitan region became the main region for the production of organic synthetic pharmaceuticals in the United States. The leaders in this area of specialization were subsidiaries of foreign—mostly German—companies which had established distribution networks in the 19th century and had begun manufacturing pharmaceuticals in the region at the turn of the century. By looking back to the mid-19th century, the author analyzes the relationships between the German professional and business immigrant community in New York (among them the Forty-Eighters), the development of the New York hinterland, and the success of the German-American pharmaceutical business establishment, in an effort to discern one possible explanation of the concentration of the pharmaceutical industry in New York metropolitan region.
Industrial Change and Regional Development: The Case of the US Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries
Authors: Gray M , Parker E
Published: October 2006

We examine the arguments surrounding the location and organization of innovative firms and examine the prospects for industry renewal and regional rejuvenation. We examine the effect of technological breakthroughs in the biotechnology industry on the organization and location of production with respect to mature and emergent regions. We find that, despite losing much of their preeminence in research and development, traditional firms in mature regions have managed to ‘capture’ a substantial amount of manufacturing and marketing. The drug-development experience, manufacturing capabilities, and marketing channels of more established companies in mature regions are turning out to be major sources of competitive advantage.
Spatial and Temporal Variation of Mortality and Deprivation 2: Statistical Modelling
Authors: Senior M L , Williams H C W L , Higgs G
Published: October 2006

Building on the tabular analyses exemplified in our first paper and widely used in the medical literature, we use generalised linear models to provide a formal, statistical approach to the analysis of mortality and deprivation relationships, and their change over time. Three types of fixed effects model are specified and estimated with the same ward-level data sets for Wales examined in our first paper. They are: Poisson models for analysing mortality and deprivation at a single cross section in time; repeated-measures Poisson models for analysing mortality–deprivation relations, not only at cross sections in time, but also their changes over time; and logit models focusing on temporal changes in mortality–deprivation relationships. Nonlinear effects of deprivation on mortality have been explored by using dummy variables representing deprivation categories to establish the connection between formal statistical models and the tabular approach.
Rethinking Elites: Networks, Space, and Local Politics
Authors: Woods M
Published: October 2006

Recent years have witnessed a revival of interest in researching elite groups; however the term ‘elite’ has remained largely untheorised and unproblematised in much of the resulting literature. I attempt to question what is meant by the term ‘elite’, how the term may be given a deeper conceptual relevance, and what the consequences of this might be for the study of elites. Through a critical review of conventional elite theory, and a discussion of concepts of society and power, three elements of elite definition are identified, focusing on access to resources, networking, and discursive construction. These are then illustrated with reference to local political elites in Somerset. I discuss the potential for a distinctively geographical contribution to the study of elites, through an exploration of the places and spaces in which elites are formed and interact.
‘Their Masters’ Voice': Communitarianism, Civic Order, and Political Representation
Authors: Low M
Published: October 2006

Etzioni's communitarian project is considered in the context of a wave of writings on ‘civic’ themes in recent years. His views are outlined, with a particular emphasis on their political implications, and on his figuration of a politics based on reflecting community voices. It is argued that it is less helpful to view this new communitarianism in the context of sociology, or social science more generally, than to see it as a revival of civic republican ideas which have long influenced discussions in the US public sphere. The implications for democratic arrangements of such a revival are examined: there are problems of compatibility between a politics of civic virtue and modern representative arrangements. In conclusion, the importance of locating and explaining the success of exhortatory public philosophies in complex and far from communal policy processes is emphasised, because whatever flaws this kind of work may exhibit in academic terms are outweighed by its apparent political utility.
Beyond Manila: Walls, Malls, and Private Spaces
Authors: Connell J
Published: October 2006

Suburbanisation in the extended metropolitan area of Manila has produced new middle-class consumer landscapes of exclusive suburbs—alongside tower blocks, offices, residential estates, shop-ping malls, and golf courses—linked by freeways and flyovers. Economic growth, the emergence of a new and mobile middle class, and the lack of public planning have emphasised individualism and privatisation. Enclosed homogeneous suburbs, designed and marketed as fragments of Europe in a global era, enhance security, exclusivity, and isolation. Suburban village associations regulate community life through private legal regimes and strengthen class divisions. Malls and freeways are further forms of privatisation and social segregation as the city has become more fragmented and divided whilst public space diminishes. Social divisions are particularly acute in cities like Manila where uneven development is considerable, the public sector is weak, and metropolitan government is absent.
Oxford Collegiate Landownership, Commoditisation, and the State: A Case of ‘Real’ Regulation
Authors: Spencer D
Published: October 2006

In this paper I focus upon the increasing tendency of the Oxford colleges to treat their landed property as a commodity. I begin by arguing that the theory of action in context offers considerable potential for studying the nature of their landownership and the manner in which they have formulated and pursued their property interests. Following this, I examine the extent to which the colleges have shifted their capital out of landed property and into higher yielding sectors. This can be partly explained by the changing economic environment within which the colleges operated, especially the downturn in real returns from agriculture. However, their more business-like behaviour is also a product of the structural circumstances under which their ownership strategies have been formulated and pursued. This is examined by fusing the action-in-context approach with theoretical principles developed by the regulationist school. I show that opportunities to shift capital from low-yielding to high-yielding sectors arose as a result of the gradual loosening of restrictions which prevented the colleges from participating fully in capitalist economic relations. These changes were the outcome of a series of political—ideological struggles between the colleges and the central state over what kinds of institutions the colleges should become, their property rights and interests playing a key role in these disputes.
Computerized Analysis of Distortion in Visual Perception (Application to Hall Design)
Authors: Charit Y
Published: October 2006

This paper examines the problem of distortion which arises when a projection on a screen is viewed at an angle. A quantitative parameter—the rate of variation of the viewing angle as function of the projection angle—is defined and this is used to produce ‘distortion surfaces’ by means of a computer program. Plane and cylindrical screens are examined.
3-Rectangulations: An Algorithm to Generate Box Packings
Authors: Krishnamurti R
Published: October 2006

3-rectangulations are spatial representatives of assemblies of boxes into a box. Algorithms to generate various classes of 3-rectangulations are developed. The method is extended to specify the generation of higher-dimensional d-rectangulations, d ≥ 4.
Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Gips J
Published: October 2006

The field of artificial intelligence is reviewed. The work of George Stiny and myself on design and criticism is discussed briefly in terms of a paradigm of artificial intelligence research.
Overconstrained Linkages
Authors: Waldron K J
Published: October 2006

Overconstrained linkages, not satisfying the Kutzbach mobility criterion, are considered. A mathematical technique is presented for the derivation of overconstraint conditions. Although these are essentially geometrical, the model employs algebraic methods normally used for the displacement analysis of spatial linkages. A complete list of all known four-bar overconstrained linkages with lower-pair joints is given.
Modelling the Operation of Urban Passenger Transport with the Help of Spatial Matrices
Authors: Liberman S Iu
Published: October 2006

This article addresses the problem of mathematical modelling of the operation of urban passenger transport, a problem that has great practical importance for both the design of urban transport networks and the organisation of transport services for the urban population. It demonstrates that a model of urban passenger trips will only be adequate for this task if it reflects the distribution of those trips over the twenty-four-hour time period, as well as their distribution between different parts of the city: in other words, that it will only be adequate if it is dynamic. It is thus impossible to apply here classical (plane) matrices accommodating only two dimensions of the system—in this case zones of departure (origins) and arrival (destinations). For modelling urban passenger movements we have therefore to move to spatial (three-dimensional) matrices, and the article describes such a model which has been built. A method is proposed for processing the spatial matrices by carrying out partitions of them. A new operation of the superposition (short multiplication) of plane and spatial matrices is introduced, which makes it possible to solve the problem of mathematical modelling of complex systems. A method is described whereby the dynamic model of urban passenger journeys has been used to optimise design solutions of urban transport networks and to improve the operation of urban passenger transport. Other possibilities for the use of spatial matrices in the modelling of complex urban systems are also indicated.
A Class of Grids
Authors: March L
Published: October 2006

A class of grids is defined and catalogued for a restricted set of dimensional values.
Births and Deaths of Regional Planning Agencies
Authors: Hebbert M
Published: October 2006

Most assessments of the poor performance of regional planning agencies have focussed on the policy problems of putting development theory into practice. This paper looks instead at the institutional aspect. Abstracting from the diversity of policy contexts, it asks whether there are common political and administrative features in the process of organizational reform which first creates and then dissolves regional planning agencies. In a broad comparative review of published case studies an intrinsic dilemma of such agencies is identified. As planning units they trespass on the jurisdictions of established departments who in the long run have the proven ability to starve them of information, effectiveness, and credibility. Their only power-base is a regional political constituency; but developing this may prove equally fatal, for reforms which amplify interregional cleavages threaten the political integration of the state, making the political cost of regional planning unacceptably high to national governments.
A Summary of Results on Mean Distance in Shapes
Authors: Doyle J K , Graver J E
Published: October 2006

The average or mean of the distances between pairs of vertices in a connected graph is a natural measure of the compactness of that graph. Using graphs to represent shapes, or corridor arrangements, we arrive, through a limiting process, at a concept for mean distance in shapes. This paper gives the mean distance for eight specific shapes and six infinite families of shapes.
Soft Multicriteria Analysis as a Tool in Urban Land-Use Planning
Authors: Nijkamp P
Published: October 2006

This paper deals with the use of qualitative multicriteria analyses in physical planning. After a survey of various ‘soft’ multicriteria evaluation methods, a new technique—the so-called regime analysis—is presented. The use of this method is illustrated by means of a case study in urban housing and land-use policy in the Netherlands.
On the Geometry of Orthogonal Prefabricated Building Systems
Authors: Haller F , Lenart M
Published: October 2006

This paper is a description of a model of building systems in architecture. The general aim of this paper is to show how a construction system can be analyzed and planned by the help of rules derived from the topological and geometrical properties of its elements. First are presented some general problems which arise in construction from prefabricated elements. Because orthogonal construction systems are used most frequently, consideration is confined to these. More concretely, a model is constructed which represents feasible construction systems; the construction rules of this model are generalizable to other orthogonal systems.

The model is built up from square slabs of four kinds. All possible different cells generated by the slabs are obtained and the cells are put together totally filling the space in a compact way. Because of the importance of building systems which have only a few kind of elements or connecting parts, consideration is restricted to cell systems with only one kind of slab.
The Structure of Paintings: Formal Grammar and Design
Authors: Kirsch J L , Kirsch R A
Published: October 2006

Although substantial literature exists on the properties of formal grammars, much less has been written on the use of grammars for describing the languages which they are capable of explaining. Thus we see a well-developed theory concerning the expressive (generative) power of different kinds of formal grammars and powerful algorithmic methods (analytical) for the languages defined by these grammars. For natural spoken and written languages, grammars have been used for explaining their structure but for the two-dimensional generalization to designs, pictures, images, and fine arts, which has been known since 1964, almost no use has been made of grammars.

The purpose of this paper is to call attention to the powerful dormant tools that can be used in the design arts. Some of the benefits of using these tools for describing existing (natural) design languages are discussed. How such uses may direct us from the more formal design arts into the fine arts is discussed by reporting progress on building a grammar for a class of contemporary paintings.
The Second Generation of the California Urban Futures Model. Part 2: Specification and Calibration Results of the Land-Use Change Submodel
Authors: Landis J , Zhang M
Published: October 2006

In this paper, part 2 of a three-part series, we present the formal specification and calibration results of the land-use change component of the second-generation California urban futures model. The land-use change component consists of a series of nonordinal multinomial logit models of site-specific land-use changes. These models incorporate spatial measures (for example, mix of adjacent land uses, and proximity to similar activities) as well as local policy and accessibility measures. Various model forms are developed and explained, as are multiple approaches to evaluating the equation for goodness-of-fit.
Measures of Architectural Mass: From Vague Impressions to Definite Design Features
Authors: Stamps A E
Published: October 2006

Architectural mass is widely discussed and regulated but there have been few experimental studies on just which design features influence impressions of architectural mass. I investigated the effect of four design features (visual area, partitioning, fenestration, and facade articulation) on comparative choices made on the basis of the criterion of mass. Results suggest a large effect for visual area, a moderate effect for fenestration, and very small effects for facade articulation and partitioning.
A Study of Style Recognition and the Operation of Products in Which Ming-Style Chairs are Used as Examples
Authors: Chuang M-C , Shiau K-A
Published: October 2006

In this study Ming-style chairs are used as examples to investigate the critical factors constituting the style of products. In an experiment, subjects were asked to compare varied pairs of Ming-style chairs. These comparisons were then analyzed by using the methods of multidimensional scaling and multiple regression analysis. The results show that the perception of Ming-style chairs between designer subjects and nondesigner subjects are similar and that the three main dimensions constituting the subjects' perceptual space are ‘elementary feature’, ‘emotional image’, and ‘use feeling’. There exist some common critical elementary features among Ming-style chairs. The degree of style similarity (being perceived as the same style) between a pair of chairs will increase with an increase in the number of critical features shared. The influential powers to this perception of similarity are different among these features.
Assessment of the Buffer-Induced Setback Effects on Riparian Scenic Quality by Digital Tools
Authors: Xiang W-N
Published: October 2006

Under a typical riparian landscape structure where a vegetated buffer is sandwiched between a greenway trail and the river bank or lake shore, a trail user's perceptions about riparian scenic quality are influenced by, among other factors, buffer-induced setback effects. As a trail is set back to leave enough space for the vegetated linear area, both the subject and the composition of a trail user's viewshed can change significantly. This may in turn affect his or her perceptions of the lakescape or riverscape. For greenway trail planners, the buffer-induced setback effects become most relevant when they have the option of allocating trails behind either a legislature-regulated buffer with constant width or a scientifically recommended buffer of variable width. In North Carolina's Piedmont region, the discrepancy in width between constant and variable buffers may range from 10 to 200 m, large enough to cause significant visual variances. In this paper a method to investigate these setback effects is presented. Based on Shafer's landscape-photography approach, a technique called BISEA (buffer-induced setback effect assessment) is designed to inquire and represent two pieces of information about the setback effects. These are: (1) the subject and composition changes in prospective trail users' viewsheds caused by buffer-width variations; and (2) the impacts of these changes on riparian scenic quality as perceived by trail users. Implementation of the method is facilitated by a computer-based support system that comprise tools for landscape photography (a digital camera), survey [a global positioning system (GPS) receiver], image processing (a digital image-processing program), database management and visualization (a GIS), and scenic quality assessment (a spreadsheet program).
Land Use and Travel Behaviour: Expected Effects from the Perspective of Utility Theory and Activity-Based Theories
Authors: Maat Kees , van Wee Bert , Stead Dominic
Published: October 2006

Assumptions about the effects of various land-use characteristics on travel patterns have found their way into diverse concepts of planning and design, such as the compact city and neighbourhood-design principles. In general, these concepts aim at reducing travel distances and reducing car-travel speed, as it is assumed that as travel distances are shorter, individuals will travel less, and the relative competitive position of slower modes is increased. Although some literature supports the link between land use and travel behaviour, for the greater part limited effects have been concluded, whereas in others it has been concluded that there is virtually no effect. We argue that the effects fall short of the expectations advocated by the land-use concepts, because of shortcomings behind assumptions concerning the relationships between land use and travel behaviour. We argue that utility-based and activity-based theories add some extra insights. Various behavioural responses in terms of travel-time changes are possible, depending on whether travel time is minimised, benefits maximised, or activity patterns optimised. It is concluded that the contribution of compact urban designs to reduction on travel may not be as straightforward as is suggested by their advocates. In any case, a simplified distance-oriented and trip-oriented approach is unable to examine complex behaviour, and a broader framework of space and time is needed.
Approaching Scenario-Based Studies: Three Perceptions about the Future and Considerations for Landscape Planning
Authors: Shearer Allan W
Published: October 2006

Scenario-based investigations of possible futures have been used since the middle of the 20th century to help decisionmakers cope with alternative courses of action and elements of uncertainty. Since the early 1970s, they have been increasingly used for landscape planning. Each scenario-based study is founded on assumptions of possible change. Often these beliefs are only implicit among scenario creators and scenario users. I discuss the beliefs and perceptions about the future of scenario creators and scenario users, and argue that they should be explicitly addressed before an investigation is undertaken in order to avoid methodological biases in the creation of the scenarios and misunderstanding of the results. As part of this discussion, the basic features of a scenario-based study are reviewed, and applications to landscape and environmental planning are considered, with examples drawn from two studies that were focused on the same concerns and in the same region but which employed different kinds of scenarios.
Using the Self-Organising Map to Identify Regularities across Country-Specific Housing-Market Contexts
Authors: Kauko Tom
Published: October 2006

The aim of exploring and monitoring housing-market fundamentals (prices, dwelling features, area density, residents, and so on) on a macrolocational level relates to both public and private sector policymaking. Housing market segmentation (that is, the emergence of housing submarkets), a concept with increasing relevance, is defined as the differentiation of housing in terms of the income and preferences of the residents and in terms of administrative circumstances. In order to capture such segmentation empirically, the author applies a fairly new and emerging technique known as the ‘self-organising’ map (SOM), or ‘Kohonen map’. The SOM is a type of (artificial) neural network—a nonlinear and flexible (that is, nonparametric or semiparametric) regression and ‘machine learning’ technique. By utilising the ability of the SOM to visualise patterns, one can analyse various dimensions within the variation of the dataset. Segmentation may then be detected depending on the resulting patterns across the map layers, each of which represents the data variation for one input variable. Utilising an inductive modelling strategy, the author runs cross-sectional and nationwide data on the owner-occupied housing markets of Finland (documentation presented elsewhere), the Netherlands, and Hungary with the SOM technique. On the basis of the resulting configurations certain regularities (similarities and differences) across the three national contexts are identified. In all three cases the segments are determined by physical and institutional differences between the housing bundles and localities. The exercise demonstrates how the inductive SOM-based approach is well-suited for illustrating the contextual factors that determine housing market structure.
The Geography of Federal Fiscal Politics in the United States of America: An Exploration
Authors: Archer J C
Published: October 2006

Two of the major tasks of government are representing the interests of citizens and making budgetary allocations for the provision of public goods and services. In the United States of America, these two tasks are interdependent and both have a territorial base; elected members represent particular parts of the country and, in performing their representational role, advance the interests of the people living in the areas they represent. The result, according to both popular and academic theory, is pork-barrel politics, whereby representatives seek to direct a substantial portion of that part of the budget under their control to the benefits of their constituents. Academic analyses seeking the consequent geographical element to federal spending in the USA have failed in general however to substantiate that hypothesis. In this paper, I review that literature and suggest reasons for the failures.
Pork-Barrelling in Britain: A Review
Authors: Hoare A G
Published: October 2006

Pork-barrelling (PB) is defined as that subset of political resource allocation decisions that is both overtly vote-catching and has an explicit spatial component. From comments on the implications of this definition, the prospects for PB being present in Britain are discussed from a back-cloth comparison between political systems in Britain and the United States of America. The ‘motives’, ‘means’, and ‘opportunities' for PB in Britain are adjudged, and a review made of possible areas of such political activity, among individual members of parliament, in one-off Westminster decisions, in more continuous streams of central government policy, in the spheres of parliamentary boundary reform and the Rate Support Grant, and among the political activities of local authorities. There is little indisputable evidence for PB in Britain, and the conclusion suggests this may be consequential on a number of different factors.
Regional Variation in the Determinants of Food Stamp Program Participation
Authors: Kodras J E
Published: October 2006

In this paper I investigate the degree to which determinants of participation in an American welfare program operate differentially throughout the country to create disparities in program use. A spatially expanded model is specified to examine areal variations in the use of the US Food Stamp Program. The regionally varying response of Program participation to conditions of economic need and the presence of minorities appears to reflect different degrees of urbanism among sections of the country. Regional variations in the response of Program participation to benefit levels appear to be a result of different intergovernmental arrangements between the federal government and state welfare agencies. The often-made assumption of spatial stability in the influence of welfare determinants is not justified, given the regional complexities within which the welfare system operates in the United States of America.
The Geographical Impacts of a Local Income Tax in the United Kingdom
Authors: Thompson C
Published: October 2006

In this paper, some of the first-round impacts on UK local government budgets which would result from the hypothetical replacement of domestic Rates by a local income tax (LIT) are explored. This switch increases the tax base and reduces its per capita spread between areas. Variation in LIT products is found to be influenced more by the representation of different case-types in an area, and hence centrally determined national income tax policy, than by local wage levels per se. With other items held constant, replacement tax rates vary from 0.8% to 5.9%. Stimulus to fiscal migration occurs in only a few places, but is significant for those areas involved.
The Evolution of Tax Advice and the Taxation of Capital Income in the USA
Authors: McLure C E
Published: October 2006

In this paper, a description is given of the most important statutory changes in federal taxation of capital income that have occurred in the USA since 1978, and of the changes in the predominant views of academic tax experts that preceded them. In addition, selected quantitative analyses that may have been influential in gaining reduction in the taxation of capital income are reviewed. It is shown that recent shifts in federal tax policy are broadly consistent with pervasive changes in the dominant thinking of professional tax economists, and especially consistent with the well-publicized writings of particular highly visible quantitative economists who hold the newer nontraditional views on tax policy.
Community Development Dynamics: National Goals and Local Priorities
Authors: Liebschutz S F
Published: October 2006

The dynamism of US federalism has been the object of considerable scrutiny among scholars in recent years as federal aid to states and localities increased dramatically. Among the various forms of aid that emerged over the past decade were block grants designed to give greater autonomy to local decisionmakers. However, it is possible to undermine that process goal by aggressive federal administration of the funds. In this paper, the question posed is: ‘whose policy preferences—national or community—have the greater effect’? Data from the field network evaluation study of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program by the Brookings Institution for the period 1974–1980 are used to examine local decisionmaking during the Ford and Carter administrations. Analysis of the decisionmaking process indicates the domination of local, as opposed to national, actors over the content of local CDBG programs. Findings concerning program choices and beneficiaries show the exercise of considerable local autonomy, at the same time that localities are responding to the preferences of the national government. The paper is concluded with a discussion of the future of community development processes and programs, given the preference of the Reagan Administration for greater local flexibility.
The Governance of British Public-Housing Investment in the Late-1970s: Central Encouragement of Comparative Local Diversity
Authors: Prentice R
Published: October 2006

The thesis of this paper is that in the latter 1970s central government encouraged diversity in housing investment by English and Welsh local authorities. This was so particularly in Wales. This diversity was encouraged on the basis of local performance, rather than on the basis of measured local needs. Was this diversity encouraged to further local ‘autonomy’, or simply to achieve expenditure targets when local authorities were underspending in the central government's view? This thesis raises questions as to the role of consensus between central departments and local authorities, and about the constitutional location of public-housing provision in Britain.
Legal Aid Policy: A Time for Reflection
Authors: Cooper J
Published: October 2006

In this article, I reflect upon the new pressures placed upon legal services systems in different countries over the past few years through a combination of economic recession and political hostility. I seek to argue that, although the short-term effects of these pressures upon legal aid structures may well be very harmful, in the long term a number of benefits may accrue. I argue that there are three distinct ways in which legal services schemes can reap positive benefit from attack. First, cutbacks in legal aid provide a real-life framework in which to test the validity of the theoretical and political critique of the philosophy of legal aid put forward by legal sociologists over the past decade; second, the need for a delivery system to be justified in terms of cost has led to surprising results that indicate the cost-effectiveness of more radical delivery models; third, economic restraint within the radical fringe of legal aid activity has itself stimulated a creativity of approach, and a forging of original and effective alliances, that would have been less likely in a more financially stable framework.
The Determination of Legal Services Policy in the United Kingdom and the United States of America
Authors: Economides K , Garth B
Published: October 2006

In this paper, factors are analysed which will influence the formation and implementation of legal services policy in the United Kingdom and the United States of America over the coming years. Despite important political differences between these countries and between the political parties operating inside them, a broad consensus about the aims and, to a lesser extent, the delivery of legal services has emerged, which is closely allied to the political assumptions of the welfare state. The authors contend that the parameters of current political debates in relation to legal services have been narrowly circumscribed, with the result that fundamental policy choices existing beyond the legal aid consensus have rarely been confronted by policymakers. To understand future developments it is important to consider not only current policy agendas but also the wider environment within which policymakers must operate. The authors conclude by identifying those forces underlying the political and policy processes which may cause the legal aid consensus to collapse and so pave the way for new, not necessarily ideal, policies. In this context, the authors pay particular attention to the commitment to the welfare state, the market for legal services, the revolution in information technology, and legal research and education.
Regional Movements in Britain: A Review of Aims and Status
Authors: Bennett R J
Published: October 2006

In this paper the activities of regional and nationalist movements in Britain are analysed with respect to five hypotheses: The degree and form of representation, including the role of elites; the extent of participation in regional identity; the form of existing and desired forms of decentralisation; the extent of specificness of regional issues; and the extent of central economic and political dominance. Seven major areas are analysed: Shetland, Orkney, Western Isles, Cornwall, Wessex, the North, and North Devon, with some analysis also of Scotland and Wales. The existence of a considerable level of participation in regional identity in some regions, and a remarkable degree of success, by working through existing institutions, of movements in Shetland, Orkney, and North Devon will be demonstrated. For other regions, however, participation is ‘dormant’.
Some Issues in Australian Land Taxation
Authors: Prest A R
Published: October 2006

The main features of Australian land taxation at state and local levels are set out first and emphasis is put on the limited role it plays today. Various conceptual problems such as the reasons for imposing special taxes on land, the distinctions between different taxes, such as site value rating, taxes on increments in land values, and charges aimed at the recovery of infrastructure and servicing costs, are explored in some detail. A final section looks at policy alternatives in Australia in the light of the preceding discussion.
Better Value for Money? Britain's 1984 Regional Industrial Policy Package
Authors: Chisholm M
Published: October 2006

The 1984 regional policy package is expected to save £300 million per annum compared with previous arrangements. An attempt is made to itemise the sources of this saving. It can be seen from the results that it is hard to reconcile the various stated expectations of Government. Discussion of certain data problems highlights deficiencies in the regular supply of information, and leads to the conclusion that when major policy changes occur it should be normal for explicit consideration to be given to the supply of information needed to monitor the operation of the new policy.
The Forgotten Dimension of Central-Local Relations: Theorising the ‘Regional State’
Authors: Saunders P
Published: October 2006

It is argued that the regional level of the state in Britain has been neglected in recent work on intrastate relations. The aim in this paper is to develop, through the application, development, and amendment of a ‘dual politics’ thesis, a middle-range theory of the political processes which characterise the regional state level. On the basis of a review and discussion of primary and secondary research materials relating to English Regional Water Authorities and Regional Health Authorities, it is suggested that the ‘politics of production’ at regional level are characterised by class domination organised through corporatist forms, whereas the ‘politics of consumption’ at this level tend towards a pattern of bureaucratic and professional closure. Explanations for such a divergence are put forward and the implications for democracy of a growth of state functions at a regional level are briefly explored.
Costing Inpatient Health Care in Britain: A Review of Methods
Authors: Forte P G L
Published: October 2006

Recent British governments have stressed the importance of achieving greater cost efficiency in the nation's health service, but the information which is currently available is largely unsuited to the needs of more effective management. This is particularly the case with hospital inpatient costs, which form the single most important component of a health authority budget. An understanding of the structure of these costs and their implications for service planning and management are crucial given the current financial environment in which health authorities find themselves. In this paper, approaches to estimating hospital costs are reviewed in more detail and a new approach being developed at Leeds is outlined.
Job Generation among Independent West German Manufacturing Firms 1974–1980—Evidence from Four Regions
Authors: Hull C J
Published: October 2006

This paper provides a West German contribution, with the use of firm-level data, to the emergent international ‘job-generation’ or ‘employment-accounts’ literature. The basic question is about the relationship between firm-size and employment-change, the central hypothesis being that smaller firms generate more new jobs faster than larger firms do. The findings are limited in their interpretation by data-base and methodological constraints. Within these constraints, they tend to confirm the higher job-generation performance of smaller firms. Further analysis, however, shows that it is not so much the size of a firm as its age which ‘makes’ a smaller firm grow. The paper also shows that there are substantial differences in job-generation behaviour between the four localities under study, differences which are not explained by the three factors of age, size, and sectoral affiliations of firms.
Budgeting in a Newly Established Agency: The First Twenty Years of the United States Civil Rights Commission
Authors: Cowart A T , Gilliam F D
Published: October 2006

Contemporary research on the budgetary process places a strong emphasis on the striking regularity of budgetary decisionmaking in established governmental agencies. Newly formed and politically controversial public-agencies, however, may play the budgetary game by a different set of ground rules. Our expectation is that agencies of this type are likely to be more sensitive to variations in their political and economic contexts than are well-established agencies. In this paper we analyze the United States Civil Rights Commission as an example of a newly formed public-agency. Our findings suggest that the budget for the Commission has been sensitive to fluctuations in its policy-relevant conditions in the first twenty years of its existence.
On the Flypaper Theory of Local Government Response to Grants-in-Aid
Authors: Barnett R R
Published: October 2006

Positive models of local government response to grants-in-aid must be judged on their ability to give predictions which are supported by empirical findings. In this respect, one of the most widely used models of local response has recently been criticised because of the apparent lack of correspondence between one of its predictions and the empirical facts. This failure on the part of what is referred to in this paper as the conventional theory has led to the development of the flypaper theory of local fiscal response. It is suggested in this paper that the flypaper theory also gives a prediction which is not supported by the facts and thus cannot be seen as a suitable replacement for the conventional theory. It is further suggested that it is by no means clear that the criticism of the conventional theory which led to the attempt to replace it is well founded.
Are Green Electricity Certificates the Way Forward for Renewable Energy? An Evaluation of the United Kingdom's Renewables Obligation in the Context of International Comparisons
Authors: Toke Dave
Published: October 2006

The author analyses the performance of the United Kingdom's ‘Renewables Obligation’ (RO) in the context of other renewable energy procurement regimes. Prevailing wisdom suggests that market-based procurement regimes for renewable energy are more cost-effective than fixed-price (‘feed-in tariff’) arrangements. In addition, market-based regimes are thought to favour corporate, rather than locally owned, schemes. However, the analysis in this paper disputes these strands of conventional wisdom. An analysis of the returns to wind-power developers under the British market-based RO and the German ‘renewable energy feed-tariff’ (REFIT) reveals that financial returns per MW of installed capacity are much higher in the case of the market-based British RO than in the German REFIT. On the other hand, there is evidence that cultural factors are a bigger influence on the patterns of ownership of wind-power schemes than whether procurement systems are market based or fixed price.
Reform of the Business Tax in Germany
Authors: Karrenberg H
Published: October 2006

In this paper the fiscal problems of local authorities in Germany are outlined with particular reference to recent reforms of the business tax and with special emphasis on the larger cities. The decline of tax revenue from autonomous sources is shown to undermine severely the freedom of actions of local authorities. Criteria for a good finance system, from a local authority perspective, are outlined. It is concluded that (1) renovation of the business tax is essential to increase those components which are not related to business profits, (2) inclusion of transfer payments in the assessment of the income tax base is necessary. Reform might include reinstatement of the payroll tax.
Financing Regional Government in Spain: Main Trends and a Comparative Perspective
Authors: Oliveres A Castells
Published: October 2006

Under the Spanish Constitution of 1979 the existence of an intermediate level of government, the Autonomous Communities, has been recognised, and during the period 1979–1985 an important process of decentralisation has taken place. However, the establishment of a pattern of autonomous finance has demonstrated significant deficiencies, and a revision of the system has been approved recently which could lead to improvements in some of the relevant respects.
Locational Conflict and the Siting of Nuclear Waste Disposal Repositories: An International Appraisal
Authors: Shelley F M , Solomon B D , Pasqualetti M J , Murauskas G T
Published: October 2006

The industrialized nations of the world have begun to plan for the storage and eventual disposal of their increasing volumes of nuclear wastes. In this paper the authors inventory the progress made by these nations in planning for nuclear waste disposal. A typology based on the adoption of spent-fuel reprocessing programs and of progress toward selection of permanent disposal sites is developed, and the world's nuclear nations are located within this typology. However, those countries which have been active in determining and constructing disposal sites have faced considerable internal and international political conflict. Conflict over nuclear waste disposal site-selection is both a geographical and a political problem. There is a review of various factors which contribute to the articulation and resolution of political conflict, including public participation in siting decisions, veto power of local governments, and prospects for international cooperation in siting decisions. It is concluded that decentralized democratic procedures, which emphasize public participation in siting decisions, have the strongest potential for conflict resolution.