bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conceptualising the Evolution of the European Union's Agri-Environment Policy: A Discourse Approach
Authors: Clark J R A , Jones A , Potter C A , Lobley M
Published: October 2006

Recent studies of the ‘greening’ process in contemporary agricultural policy have been focused chiefly on its outcomes, rather than on an assessment of the public policy significance of the underlying process. We address this question by conceptualising how greening has been mediated by agricultural policy precepts of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU). We examine how farmers' responsibilities pertaining to environmental protection and nature conservation were formalised by policy elites at the supranational level to be supportive of the core principles of the CAP. We suggest that this formalisation, culminating in 1992 with the EU's agri-environment Regulation, has enabled farming interests to use their new environmental management brief as a key element in the industry's struggle to legitimise its historic policy entitlements in the postproduction area. The theoretical basis of this paper draws upon Majone's discourse model of policy change, founded on political science and social learning literatures. We use the explanatory concepts of this model to clarify the evolution of the agri-environment initiative through textual analysis of published and confidential EU agriculture documents from the period 1973–91. Documentary evidence is corroborated by responses from semistructured interviews with senior European Commission officials in the agriculture Directorate, Directorate-General VI, involved in the policy's initiation. The core principles of the CAP emerge as crucial in shaping evolution of the EU agri-environment policy. We define the most important of these principles as occupancy of agricultural land with the aim of ensuring rural stability; and the perceived centrality of the small-scale and family farmer to the (re)structuring of rural space.
Peripheral Vision: Cultural Industries and Cultural Identities in Turkey
Authors: Aksoy A , Robins K
Published: October 2006

We consider recent developments in the cultural industries in Turkey, with particular reference to television broadcasting. We seek to show how recent transformations in the industry have been associated with significant developments in Turkish cultural identity. Historically, broadcasting has existed under the monopoly of the state-run Turkish Radio and Television Authority (TRT), and functioned very much as a voice of the Kemalist ideology of the Republic. From 1990, however, there was a rapid proliferation of illegal, commercial television channels, broadcasting signals from outside the country. This led to a new vitality in Turkish television culture, as the new commercial interests sought to develop programming that would appeal to audiences tired of the ‘official’ fare of TRT. Television began to reflect the popular culture of Turkey in ways that were quite creative. Since 1994, and the passing of new broadcasting legislation, the turbulence of commercialisation has quietened. There has been a degree of concentration in the industry, and commercial programming has become less innovative. The momentum of change has slowed, though it has by no means been halted.
The Cultural Industries Production System: A Case Study of Employment Change in Britain, 1984–91
Authors: Pratt A C
Published: October 2006

The cultural industries sector employed 4.5% of all employees in Britain in 1991; that is, it was equal in size to the construction industry, or to the combined employment in the agricultural, and the extractive industries. However, this sector has remained relatively underanalysed both in the geographical and in the planning literature. The author begins by defining the cultural industries production system (CIPS). In the second part he operationalises this definition with respect to secondary sources on employment in the CIPS in Britain. In the third part he considers the change in the employment structure of the CIPS between 1984 and 1991, and goes on to address the regional patterns of employment in the CIPS with particular emphasis upon London and the South East.
Civic Boosterism in the Politics of Local Economic Development—‘Institutional Positions’; and ‘Strategic Orientations’ in the Consumption of Hallmark Events
Authors: Boyle M
Published: October 2006

The author sets out to interrogate the manner in which cultural festivals have been theorised in the context of accounts of the role of civic boosterism—or what he terms ‘Urban Propaganda Projects' (UPPs)—in the politics of local economic development. Attention is focused primarily upon how authors account for the way in which ‘locals' respond to boosterism. Based upon the thesis advanced by the Ohio School, and a review of later work, the central argument pursued is that work to date has operated with remarkably impoverished conceptions of the antecedent material and cultural contexts within which hallmark events are being organised. In regard to their conception of the ‘audience’ for UPPs, authors have worked with the unacknowledged assumption that locals consume and relate to events largely in terms of the extent to which they buy into, resist (culturally or economically), or become disoriented, by the versions of local identity which are being promoted. Even when critical or Marxist in nature, this form of analysis limits enquiry to the terms of reference of the boosterist agenda itself. The author argues that more imaginative conceptual frameworks might orient analysts to look for other modes of consumption—modes which indeed might refuse to recognise the language of boosterism (for good or bad) and which might require a different entry point to analysis. Using a case study of Glasgow's role as European City of Culture 1990, the author develops the contours of one such framework, with the aid of key concepts of institutional positions and strategic orientations. Although amenable to appropriation within existing critical or Marxist accounts, these concepts are not the products of that framework and thus generate, at the very least, a problematic relationship with it. It is concluded that accounts of local reactions to cultural festivals in particular, and to civic boosterism in general, must escape the epistemological straightjacket that the Marxist/boosterist agenda presents.
Geographical Variation in the Labour-Market Adjustment Process: The UK Coalfields 1981–91
Authors: Beatty C , Fothergill S , Lawless P
Published: October 2006

During the 1980s and early 1990s the UK coal industry shed more than 90% of its workforce. In this paper we explore the consequences for different coalfields and individual districts by means of comprehensive ‘labour-market accounts’. The impact of job loss on recorded unemployment shows remarkably little variation, but this disguises considerably greater diversity in other labour-market flows. There is evidence that much unemployment has become ‘hidden’ and that the disparities between areas are much larger than official figures suggest.
The New Service Class: Housing, Consumption, and Lifestyle among London Bankers in the 1990s
Authors: McDowell L M
Published: October 2006

In this paper I draw on a survey of professional employees in three of the City of London's merchant banks to assess arguments about the residential preferences and lifestyle decisions of the ‘new’ middle class. It has been argued that an increasingly polarised workforce within producer service industries has, in part, led to greater social polarisation in inner areas through the mechanism of gentrification. Further the effects of the feminisation of the labour market, especially the rise in the numbers of professional women in employment, have been adduced as a significant factor in housing-market change. A number of commentators have suggested that women in professional occupations are key players in inner-area gentrification, although the evidence here is limited. Further, middle-class anxiety about employment prospects has been identified by Lyons in a recent article in this journal as a further reason for increased preferences for inner-area locations. In this paper I assess these arguments.
State, Discourse, and Development in India: The Case of West Bengal's Panchayati Raj
Authors: Williams G
Published: October 2006

In this paper, I use the example of West Bengal's Panchayati Raj (local government reform) to address a number of wider issues of concern for geographers commentating on India's politics and development. Taking the work of Kaviraj as a point of entry, I examine the impact that the decentralisation of government has had on people's access to the state and on the internal politics of three rural communities in West Bengal. The complexities of the processes involved suggest that, rather than there being the unidirectional penetration of society by an ‘alien’ developmental state, rural Bengalis are able to make knowing use of the language and structures of modern government for their own ends. I end the paper by suggesting the possible consequences of these findings for Kaviraj's thesis, for accounts of a ‘crisis' of India's developmental state, and for the discursive turn in development studies more broadly.
Space, Mobility, and Collective Action: India's Naxalite Movement
Authors: Routledge P
Published: October 2006

Contemporary theories of social movements have failed adequately to address the spatiality of collective action. I argue that an analysis of collective action that pays due attention to the spatiality of movement practice can provide an important complement to social movement theories. This spatiality of social movement agency involves an analysis of how spatial processes and relations across a variety of scales, as well as the particularities of specific places, influence the character and emergence of social movements, and how social movements use space strategically. Using the notions of locale, location, and sense of place as an interpretive framework I argue that a spatialized analysis of conflict provides important insights into social movement experience. First, it informs us of the broader spatial context within which social movements are located; second, it informs us of the spatial and cultural specificity of movements; third, it informs us of the cultural expressions of social movement agency; and, fourth, it informs us of how the strategic use of space may constrain or enable collective action. I contextualize these arguments by analyzing the Maoist insurgency of the Naxalite movement, which first emerged in India during the late 1960s.
Understanding Store Development Programmes in Post-Property-Crisis UK Food Retailing
Authors: Wrigley N
Published: October 2006

This paper contrasts conflicting interpretations of the UK food store development process in the late 1990s. In particular, an attempt is made to unpack critical dimensions of the debate which surrounds the Department of the Environment's Planning Policy Guidance Notes 6 and 13 and the so-called ‘Gummer effect’ which is seen as having actively discouraged green-field out-of-town development and provided a mandate for reinvestment in town centre retail development. By exploring new evidence on the changing economics of superstore development, the impact of tightened land-use planning regulation, and shifting patterns of capital investment, I provide a conceptual framework in which to understand a radically transformed retail development picture.
Retail Saturation: The Debate in the Mid-1990s
Authors: Langston P , Clarke G P , Clarke D B
Published: October 2006

In an earlier paper we presented a picture of the provision of British food retail floor-space which was attentive to both the debate on retail saturation and the underlying competitive processes shaping the geography of the grocery sector. There we argued that there was still considerable variation in the provision of food retailing floor-space in the United Kingdom, with analyses presented at the regional (county), interurban, and intraurban levels. We concluded that saturation can only ever be a local phenomenon and that there was still considerable potential for retail expansion. However, we also suggested that such expansion was unlikely to occur without a notable degree of change in the complexion of the sector. The aim of this paper is to update that analysis and to present arguments pertaining to food retail change during the middle of this decade—that is, following the property crisis that halted the earlier ‘golden age’ of store expansion—by focusing on recent change in terms of both retail fascia and locality.
Exact Testing for Spatial Autocorrelation among Regression Residuals
Authors: Hepple L W
Published: October 2006

This paper develops the exact distribution of the Moran or Cliff-Ord test for spatial autocorrelation among regression residuals. It shows how practical, computational methods can be used to implement the exact test. Higher order approximations to the distribution are also discussed. Empirical applications are provided, and the value of exact testing is discussed.
Internationalisation by Business Service Firms: Towards a New Regionally Based Conceptual Framework
Authors: O'Farrell P N , Wood P A
Published: October 2006

In this paper we critically review the applicability of the dominant paradigm of international production theory, internalisation theory, and the eclectic paradigm, concluding that they are of very limited utility in analysing the process of internationalisation by business service firms. The principal aim is to conceptualise the influence of three key dimensions of business service activity on internationalisation: the external relations and patterns of interfirm networking adopted by business service firms; their close relationships with clients; and the significance of these relationships in home-region markets, affording regional externalities which also strongly influence their propensity to export. Evidence from Scotland and the South East of England shows a regional influence on the mode of foreign-market entry, although few firms explicitly choose particular foreign markets to enter. The most common entry mechanism involves responding to particular orders. Similarly, the entry-mode decisions of 70% of the firms were made without consideration of any alternative modes. The evident importance of interfirm, including client corporate networks, and the influence of regional conditions upon internationalisation, leads to a conclusion in which we draw on a recent socially based interpretation of business behaviour.
The Optimum Size of a Producer Service Firm Facing Uncertain Demand
Authors: Phillips D , MacPherson A D , Lentnek B
Published: October 2006

In this paper we present a theory of optimum size and number of clients for a producer service firm performing maintenance and repair services for clients in the manufacturing sector. The theory holds that scale economies vary directly with the level of contact requirements for service delivery. This is illustrated by a model of a monopoly repair specialist in which frequency of breakdown (and therefore client demand for service) is stochastic. Comparative statics are used to draw testable hypotheses from the model which, if extended to a multisite case, may serve as a portion of a general model of producer service location.
The Port Network as a New Stage in Port Development: The Case of Rotterdam
Authors: van Klink H A
Published: October 2006

As a result of fundamental developments in economy, technology, and society the location behaviour of economic actors is changing. Traditional boundaries no longer hold. One category of locations confronted with these changes is seaports. Port-related activities are increasingly located in secondary centres at a distance from the port, resulting in the development of a ‘port network’. The rise of port networks is considered a new stage in the development of ports. To cope with the transition towards the new stage, port authorities need to revise their strategy. In this paper, the development of port networks is considered as an example of new spatial patterns and organisational structures in a borderless world. The factors behind the rise of port networks are identified and the contours of a new port strategy outlined. The theoretical model is illustrated by the case of Rotterdam.
The Impact of Daikyo as a Foreign Investor on the Cairns — Far North Queensland Regional Economy
Authors: Stimson R J , Jenkins O H , Roberts B H , Daly M T
Published: October 2006

Foreign investment has played a major role in the development of tourism in the Cairns-Far North Queensland region of Australia, one of the nation's most internationalised regional economies. As the owner of a significant number of hotels and tourism operations, the Daikyo Corporation from Japan is the major foreign player, contributing substantially to employment and regional production. In this paper we use input-output analysis to estimate the contribution of Daikyo to the regional economy, which is shown to be positive and considerably greater in its export-to-import ratio effects, than is the case for the total industry sectors.
Rhetorics of Environmental Sustainability: Commonplaces and Places
Authors: Myers G , Macnaghten P
Published: October 2006

Although a rhetoric of sustainability is now widely used by government, nongovernmental organisations, and business in addressing the public, there is no evidence of a broad shift of behaviour in response to it. Yet most sustainability programmes at international, national, and local levels require broad public participation if they are to reach their goals. We argue that organisational communication with the public is central to defining the form of participation that is expected, and that rhetorical analysis can show relationships that are implicit in these attempts to persuade. We analyse leaflets from a range of organisations to identify some of the elements that are common between them, both in their explicit content and their implied models of participation. Then we analyse the responses in focus groups to these common appeals. Our findings show that the generalised appeals and the rhetoric of crisis tend to distance policy organisations from the immediacy and dailiness of the public's own experiences of and talk about the environment. Because of this distance, the rhetoric does little to encourage participation and practical action.
Globalization, Agriculture, and Rural Social Change in Japan
Authors: Jussaume R A
Published: October 2006

Increasingly, globalization is being used to conceptualize ongoing transformations in agrofood production systems. One focus is to understand how globalization expresses itself at the local level. In this paper I contribute to the examination of this issue by analyzing how Japan's agrarian sector is being altered as a consequence of increased activity on the part of transnational corporations. By doing so, I address the question of whether Japan's national agricultural production system is being globalized, despite its comparatively unique agrarian history and Japan's role in the global agrofood trading system as a major food importing, rather than an exporting, nation. The evidence presented demonstrates that transnational firms are beginning to expand their presence in Japanese agricultural commodity production. As these are transnational firms, and as the result of this process is to force Japanese agriculture to compete against foreign agricultures for its ‘home’ market, it is argued that this process indicates that Japanese agriculture is being globalized, although in a manner that does reflect an adaptation to local conditions.
Cultural Change and Conflict in Rural Wales: Competing Constructs of Identity
Authors: Cloke P , Goodwin M , Milbourne P
Published: October 2006

In this paper we suggest that understandings of social and cultural recomposition in areas of rural Wales need to consider issues of interacting and competing identities. We explore notions of cultural identity, change, and conflict in four areas of rural Wales, based on recent research involving interviews with around 1000 households. Attention is focused on the interplay between different scales of identity constructs: national-scale constructs of English and Welsh identities; regional constructs of Welsh identity; and more localised identity constructs. In the context of the first of these identity constructs, we consider Cohen's notions of significant ‘others’ and symbolic boundaries as a means of understanding processes of English in-movement to areas of the Welsh countryside.
Creating Competitive Space: Exploring the Social and Political Maintenance of Retail Power
Authors: Marsden T , Harrison M , Flynn A
Published: October 2006

The authors explore the processes by which British corporate retailers are maintaining their predominance in food provision in the 1990s. Taking the ‘new retailing geography’ literature as a context, they first outline the key features (spatial, sectoral, and supply related) of retailers' dynamic competitive space. They then examine the regulatory mechanisms used to influence policy development. The authors begin to address the ways in which combinations of regulatory and consumer culture influence the uneven development and maintenance of corporate retailing and food provision in the United Kingdom, focusing specifically on retailers' definitions and strategies associated with the provision of food quality.
Determinants of Individuals' Willingness to Pay for Perceived Reductions in Environmental Health Risks: A Case Study of Bathing Water Quality
Authors: Georgiou S , Langford I H , Bateman I J , Turner R K
Published: October 2006

A contingent valuation (CV) study was undertaken to investigate individuals' stated willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce perceived risks of illness from the quality of bathing water at two beaches in East Anglia, United Kingdom. One beach, Great Yarmouth, failed to meet the EC (European Community) Bathing Water Quality Directive standard, whereas the other at Lowestoft passed. The analysis focuses on determinants of individuals' WTP, including measures of risk perception and attitudes to health not usually measured in CV studies. A conceptual model is then presented which sets the valuation of individual preferences in the context of personal worldviews, and external cultural, societal, and environmental factors which may influence, directly or indirectly, an individual's stated WTP.
Assessing Spatial Equity: An Evaluation of Measures of Accessibility to Public Playgrounds
Authors: Talen E , Anselin L
Published: October 2006

Geographical and political research on urban service delivery—who benefits and why—has proliferated during the past two decades. Overall, this literature is not characterized by a particular attention to the importance of method in drawing conclusions about spatial equity based on empirical studies. Specifically, there has been scant interest in the effect of geographic methodology on assessing the relationship between access and socioeconomic characteristics that are spatially defined. In this paper we take a spatial analytical perspective to evaluate the importance of methodology in assessing whether or not, or to what degree the distribution of urban public services is equitable. We approach this issue by means of an empirical case study of the spatial distribution of playgrounds in Tulsa, Oklahoma, relative to that of the targeted constituencies (children) and other socioeconomic indicators. In addition to the ‘traditional’ measure (count of facilities in an areal unit), we consider a potential measure (based on the gravity model), average travel distance, and distance to the nearest playground as indicators of accessibility. We find significant differences between the spatial patterns in these measures that are suggested by local indicators of spatial association and other techniques of exploratory spatial data analysis. The choice of access measure not only implies a particular treatment of spatial externalities but also affects conclusions about the existence of spatial mismatch and inequity.
Linking Household Transitions and Housing Transitions: A Longitudinal Analysis of Renters
Authors: Withers S Davies
Published: October 2006

In this paper I use discrete-time proportional hazards models of competing risks to assess the association between household transitions and housing transitions for individuals in the rental sector. Specifically, moves within the rental sector are treated as a competing risk with moves to homeownership. A series of longitudinal models indicates the differential role household transition serves in predicting each of these movement types. This research confirms the association between relative household stability, relative income level, and the move to homeownership. Conversely, homeownership remains unattainable for individuals with relatively low incomes, in relatively transient household types, and especially for minorities.
Computer Simulation of Household Activity Scheduling
Authors: Gärling T , Kalén T , Romanus J , Selart M , Vilhelmson B
Published: October 2006

An operational model of household activity scheduling is proposed. The model is based on a theory entailing behavioral principles of how persons acquire, represent, and use information from and about the environment. Choices of destinations and departure times are consequences of the scheduling of a set of activities to be executed in a given time cycle. Illustrative computer simulations of the operational model show realistic effects of work hours, living in or outside the center, and travel speed. Several necessary improvements of the theory and operational model are discussed, such as incorporating learning effects and choice of travel mode for home-based trip chains. Strategies outlined for empirical tests include comparisons with existing models, psychological experiments illuminating basic assumptions, and the use of geographical information systems to process travel-diary data for single cases.
The Value of the SARS in Spatial and Area-Level Research
Authors: Dale A
Published: October 2006

The papers in this issue exemplify in various ways the value of the Samples of Anonymised Records (SARs) for Britain and Northern Ireland to spatial and area-level research. Before highlighting some of the strengths of the SARs for this type of analysis we give a brief overview of the structure and content of the SARs.
The Estimation of Population Microdata by Using Data from Small Area Statistics and Samples of Anonymised Records
Authors: Williamson P , Birkin M , Rees P H
Published: October 2006

Census data can be represented both as lists and as tabulations of household/individual attributes. List representation of Census data offers greater flexibility, as the exploration of interrelationships between population characteristics is limited only by the quality and scope of the data collected. Unfortunately, the released lists of household/individual attributes (Samples of Anonymised Records, SARs) are spatially referenced only to areas (single or merged districts) with populations of 120 000 or more, whereas released tabulations are available for units as small as single enumeration districts (Small Area Statistics, SAS). Intuitively, it should be possible to derive list-based estimates of enumeration district populations by combining information contained in the SAR and the SAS. In this paper we explore the range of solutions that could be adapted to this problem which, ultimately, is presented as a complex combinatorial optimisation problem. Various techniques of combinatorial optimisation are tested, and preliminary results from the best performing algorithm are evaluated. Through this process, the lack of suitable test statistics for the comparison of observed and expected tabulations of population data is highlighted.
Using Census Data to Investigate the Causes of the Ecological Fallacy
Authors: Tranmer M , Steel D G
Published: October 2006

The authors show how data from the 2% Sample of Anonymised Records (SAR) can be combined with data from the Small Area Statistics (SAS) database to investigate the causes of the ecological fallacy in an Enumeration District (ED) level analysis. A range of census variables are examined in three ‘SAR districts’ (local authority districts with populations of 120 000 or more, or combinations of contiguous districts with smaller populations) in England. Results of comparable analyses from the 1986 Australian census are also given. The ecological fallacy arises when results from an analysis based on area-level aggregate statistics are incorrectly assumed to apply at the individual level. In general the results are different because individuals in the same area tend to have similar characteristics: a phenomenon known as within-area homogeneity. A statistical model is presented which allows for within-area homogeneity. This model may be used to explain the effects of aggregation on variances, covariances, and correlations. A methodology is introduced which allows aggregate-level statistics to be adjusted by using individual-level information on those variables that explain much of the within-area homogeneity. This methodology appears to be effective in adjusting census data analyses, and the results suggest that the SAR is a valuable source of adjustment information for aggregate data analyses from census and other sources.
Ethnic Minority Unemployment and Local Labour Market Conditions in Great Britain
Authors: Fieldhouse E A , Gould M I
Published: October 2006

British ethnic minority unemployment rates are considerably higher than those of the white population. In 1991 the ethnic minority unemployment rate was more than double that of the white majority. One possible explanation is that Britain's ethnic minorities are concentrated in areas of economic disadvantage. The authors use the 2% Individual Sample of Anonymised Records (SAR) in conjunction with area-based census data for pseudo travel-to-work areas, to explore the relative importance of individual characteristics and area characteristics on ethnic minority unemployment rates. Multilevel modelling techniques are employed to estimate simultaneously variations between individuals and between areas after allowing for variables measured at both levels of analysis. The most important differences in the propensity to unemployment are shown to be between individuals, and, compared with whites, ethnic minority groups are shown to be disadvantaged wherever they live. In general, there is also evidence of greater variation in ethnic minority unemployment between areas than there is for whites. However, there is the same underlying geography of unemployment for the black and white populations, but a slightly different pattern for Asian ethnic groups. These differences can be explained only partially by area-level characteristics. In all, it is argued that at the spatial scale which is identifiable in the Individual SAR, ethnic minority unemployment cannot be attributed to geographical distribution, though data at a finer geographical scale are needed to test this hypothesis more fully.
Exploring Corporate Culture and Strategy: Sainsbury at Home and Abroad during the Early to Mid 1990s
Authors: Shackleton R
Published: October 2006

In this paper the UK food retailer, J Sainsbury pic, is used as an example to illustrate the intimate power relationship between corporate culture and corporate strategy, and it is argued that corporate culture plays a key role in determining the economic performance of firms. Specifically, it is shown how corporate culture can concurrently be advantageous and burdensome within the same firm. Indeed, it is argued that the strength of Sainsbury's corporate culture prevented it from reacting to competitive changes rocking its ‘home’ market in the early 1990s. However, the very corporate culture that was becoming increasingly inappropriate within the UK food retailing market was being successfully employed ‘abroad’ by Sainsbury. In the paper it is demonstrated that the ‘Sainsburyisation’ of its US subsidiary, Shaw's Supermarkets, released Shaw's from its limited trajectory of growth. It is suggested that this move will allow Shaw's to become an increasingly important source of capital accumulation for the Sainsbury Group once opportunities within the ‘home’ market decline further.
Spatial Nonstationarity and Autoregressive Models
Authors: Brunsdon C , Fotheringham A S , Charlton M
Published: October 2006

Until relatively recently, the emphasis of spatial analysis was on the investigation of global models and global processes. Recent research, however, has tended to explore exceptions to general processes, and techniques have been developed which have as their focus the investigation of spatial variations in local relationships. One of these techniques, known as geographically weighted regression (GWR), developed by the authors is used here to investigate spatial variations in spatial association. The particular framework in which spatial association is examined here is the spatial autoregressive model of Ord, although the technique can easily be applied to any form of spatial autocorrelation measurement. The conceptual and theoretical foundations of GWR applied to the Ord model are followed by an empirical example which uses data on owner-occupation in the housing market of Tyne and Wear in northeast England where the problems of relying on global models of spatial association are demonstrated. This empirical investigation of spatial variations in spatial autocorrelation prompts a further discussion of several issues concerning the statistical technique.
“Women of Broad Vision”: Nature and Gender in the Environmental Activism of Australia's ‘Women in Agriculture’ Movement
Authors: Liepins R
Published: October 2006

The author examines the construction of nature and gendered subjectivities occurring in environmental activism. The paper follows recent thinking in rural geography in attending to the discourses and agency of activists. Such an approach enables a reading of Australian agricultural women's environmental activism. Initially it is shown how the ‘women in agriculture’ movement engages with the range of discourses that contextualise the agri-environmental arena. This is then followed by a critical reading of the gendered subjectivities the movement employed. No specific environmental issues galvanised the movement. Instead, it is argued, particular constructions of nature and women's place in rural space are assembled as activists canvassed their broad environmental concerns.
Mad Cows and Hounded Deer: Political Representations of Animals in the British Countryside
Authors: Woods M
Published: October 2006

The author explores the place of animals in rural politics. Recognising that rurality is socially constructed by its participants, he examines how animals are represented in constructs of the rural and in political debates arising from contests between conflicting constructs. In particular, two case studies are discussed—one concerning an attempt to ban staghunting on public-owned land in Somerset; the other concerning the so-called ‘BSE crisis' in Britain in 1996. In both cases representations of animals are mobilised in support of discourses of rurality and nature and particular political objectives. Yet, although animals are central to these debates, they are also voiceless and powerless and remain marginalised from the political process.
The Anatomy of Corruption: The Practice of Pension Fund Trustee Decisionmaking
Authors: Clark G L
Published: October 2006

The model of pension plan trustee decisionmaking introduced in a previous paper is extended here emphasising aspects of the social psychology of investment decisionmaking, including collegiality and the necessity of justification. To give the analysis structure, I begin with the framing logic of Kahneman and Tversky and introduce three different frames structuring decisionmaking, starting with the ‘weapons of influence’, the ‘strategies of justification’, and, finally, the ‘emotions of relationships’. The focus of the paper is on how and why corruption occurs in trustee decisionmaking, especially concerning community development projects. Implications are drawn from the model of corruption for current debate over the proper scope of regulation. It is argued that the current system of trust law and case-by-case adjudication is inadequate in the face of the systematic nature of corruption and the potential harm occasioned by corrupt trustee decisionmaking. It is also argued that the model of corruption sketched in this paper can be applied to a wide range of investment decisions, not just community development projects (the initial reference point for the paper).
The Optimum Timing and Maximum Impact of Full Rehabilitation of New Zealand Housing Stock
Authors: Johnstone I M
Published: October 2006

The author develops a simulation model to estimate the optimum timing and maximum impact of full rehabilitation of New Zealand housing stock. The model is based on the theories of classical population dynamics. Data used in the model include empirical estimates of the mortality of New Zealand housing stock, assumed schedules of depreciation of dwelling services, and assumed schedules of annual maintenance costs. The dwelling service years provided by dwellings serve as a proxy for benefits of rents or imputed rents (excluding rent for land). The cost to construct one dwelling and fractions thereof serve as a proxy for costs of maintenance, rehabilitation, replacement, and new construction. Optimum timing of rehabilitation can increase the quantity of benefits provided by the housing stock per unit total cost but a reduction in the growth rate of new dwellings has a greater impact in achieving the same objective. A stationary and stable housing stock can provide 45% more dwelling services per unit total cost than a housing stock which doubles in size every 35 years.
Business Associations and Their Potential to Contribute to Economic Development: Reexploring an Interface between the State and Market
Authors: Bennett R J
Published: October 2006

This paper is an examination of the role of business associations as agents to facilitate economic development through (1) provision of selective services to their members, and (2) through collective benefits. The author assesses the extent to which associations offer solutions to collective action problems. Business directories and other sources are then used in order to assess the role played by UK associations. All major business associations are examined: trade associations, professional associations, associations of the self-employed or sole traders, and Chambers of Commerce. This paper contributes the first assessment of the population of associations. The author concludes that, although there are strong contrasts between types of association, they are all strongly focused on one or a few services, and there is considerable fragmentation and range of size of associations which appear to relate to two overlapping submarkets (one for ‘collective’ goods, another for selective ‘services’). Associations appear to be quite stable over time, demonstrating a strong path-dependency. The author concludes that if government wants associations to play a larger role in economic development little more will be achieved by voluntary action alone.
‘Managing Urban Air Quality’: Language and Rational Choice in Metropolitan Governance
Authors: Rydin Y
Published: October 2006

The author examines the contributions of linguistic analysis and rational choice analysis to understanding the urban policy process, with the aid of the issue of air-quality management and a specific case study of metropolitan London. She argues that these theories can complement each other in providing empirically grounded analyses at the urban level. By means of the rational choice approach, she considers the choice situation facing local and central government in dealing with urban air pollution. However, forestalling some central criticisms made of the rational choice approach, she also considers the way in which the problem of urban air quality is constructed and the rhetorical structure of the policy solutions that can be discussed. It is shown how the constrained-choice situation of key policy actors meshes with the construction of the problem as one of urban air-quality management and the preferred policy solution of enhanced monitoring. This is characterised as diversionary and symbolic policy action which devolves much policy responsibility to the level of the individual—a potentially contradictory strategy for government.
The Dynamics of Neighborhood Age Composition
Authors: Rogerson P A , Plane D A
Published: October 2006

In this paper we investigate the changing demography of neighborhoods. We focus upon the dynamics of the age structure of neighborhoods, paying particular attention to the roles of (a) the magnitude of mobility and (b) the age composition of in-migrants and out-migrants. A model for studying the changing age composition of neighborhoods is developed, and alternative scenarios characterized by the nature of in-movement and out-movement are examined to make statements about the age of householders in neighborhoods. We find that high rates of mobility may serve to bring about a relatively youthful equilibrium age structure quite rapidly, whereas low rates lead to a higher mean age and to damped harmonic fluctuations both in the mean age of householders and in the magnitude of the age heterogeneity of the neighborhood. In addition, we compare the evolutions of age structure in neighborhoods with age patterns of in-movement and out-movement that could typify areas of renters and areas of homeowners.
Foreign Investment along the Lower Yangzi: Nanjing 1988–93
Authors: Romsa G , Blenman M
Published: October 2006

China's approach to restructuring from a state-socialist-run economy to one based upon market forces is an ongoing process with a number of adjustments. Adjustments reflect pressures arising from foreign investors, economic bottlenecks, management, and labour as well as from local, regional, and national political interests. Spatial reallocation of resources and opportunities has enabled China to sustain rapid growth without major internal constraints. Nanjing is a case in point. Investment patterns reflect a regional variation in development but, notwithstanding local inputs, the end result fits in with the overarching federal model. Expansion in the Nanjing region is driven by foreign investors searching for new opportunities and the need for state enterprises to restructure. Growth is diversified among a number of sectors and balanced between the domestic and foreign markets. Management and technological transfers are providing a solid foundation for continued expansion. Nanjing appears to have found a niche in the Yangzi basin as a regional centre and possibly as a future gateway city.
Functional and Spatial Segregation in the Swiss Financial Sector: Pink-Collar Ghetto and Male Bastion
Authors: Mez J , Bühler E
Published: October 2006

Our purpose in this paper is to show the circumstances and consequences of the extensive growth in employment in the Swiss financial sector that occurred in the 1980s, which are to a large extent responsible for the current patterns of restructuring and dismissal in Swiss banks. Four study areas were chosen: Switzerland as a whole; the city of Zurich; its surrounding suburban regions; and one particular suburban region. All these areas are highly identified with the financial sector. First we evaluate the changes in numbers of employees between 1980 and 1990 and the gender breakdown within different occupational categories in the three study areas. The data for the analysis were gained from the Swiss censuses of 1980 and 1990. Second, we look at the circumstances that caused the suburbanisation of bank back-office functions and the impact on office employment, putting special emphasis on women occupied in clerical–secretarial work. The focus is on one suburban zone around Zurich which experienced the most noticeable growth in office employment of all suburban regions over the last two decades. The findings of this study suggest that the Swiss banks are a male bastion. Women are mainly found in the lower qualified occupations, such as clerical–secretarial work. Moreover, the suburban belt is characterised by a high percentage of women in pink-collar jobs whereas the city is dominated by male employees.
Spatial and Temporal Variation of Mortality and Deprivation 1: Widening Health Inequalities
Authors: Higgs G , Senior M L , Williams H C W L
Published: October 2006

In this paper we examine the relationship between premature mortality and material deprivation both over time (the intercensal period, 1981–91) and over space (for the population in wards and ward groups in Wales). Our focus is on the methods of analysis for small area (ward-based) multiple cross-section mortality data and their application to the substantive issue of the persistent and widening inequalities in Wales. In this paper we examine all-cause deaths and mortality by specific disease classes for groups (quintiles) of wards ranked according to standard measures of material deprivation. Although there have been reductions in premature mortality across all deprivation groups in Wales, over the decade, the gap has widened between the most and least deprived areas. Mortality decline in the largest disease category (circulatory) was found to be significantly lower in the most deprived quintile of wards than in the rest of Wales. Compared with results from the North of England, mortality decline in Wales has been rather greater.
Boundary Objects and the Social Construction of GIS Technology
Authors: Harvey F , Chrisman N
Published: October 2006

The social construction of geographical information system (GIS) technology requires two-way relationships between technology and people. GIS technology, like any other technology, is more than a tool; it connects different social groups in the construction of new localized social arrangements. We examine several instances of how GIS technology involves social negotiation by using a construct of boundary objects developed in a social constructivist framework. Much like geographic boundaries, boundary objects separate different social groups at the same time that they delineate important points of reference between them. Boundary objects stabilize relationships through the negotiation of flexible and dynamic coherences. The negotiation of differences between different groups is fundamental to the construction of GIS technology. Social-constructivist theories and the concept of boundary objects open new ways to understand the relationships between technology and people. We illustrate the application of boundary object theory through studies of the use of GIS data standards and the definition of wetlands.