bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Boolean and Fuzzy Classification Methods in Land Suitability Analysis by Using Geographical Information Systems
Authors: Hall G B , Wang F , Subaryono
Published: October 2006

In this paper the information content of Boolean and fuzzy-set-based approaches to the problem of analyzing land suitability for agriculture within a geographical information system (GIS) is assessed. First, the two approaches to this problem are stated and formalized in the context of land-suitability evaluation. A database comprising 642 unique areas, 7 land qualities, 13 land characteristics, and 2 crop types is defined and described. Land-use suitability ratings for two crops, wetland rice and soybean, are generated by using Boolean and fuzzy methods. Results produced by the two methods are compared in terms of their usefulness for agricultural land-use plannning. The ARC/INFO vector-based GIS software package is utilized. The study area is the Cimanuk watershed in northwest Java, Indonesia.
Residential Choice Behaviour of Dual Earner Households: A Decompositional Joint Choice Model
Authors: Timmermans H , Borgers A , van Dijk J , Oppewal H
Published: October 2006

The residential location decision process has been studied for several decades with use of different approaches. One such approach that has received considerable attention in urban planning is the decompositional approach. This approach involves measuring individual preferences. Residential choice behaviour is, however, often the result of a joint decisionmaking process, especially in the case of dual earner households. In the present paper, the original modelling approach is therefore extended to a model of joint decisionmaking. The results of an empirical application in the context of residential choice behaviour in the Netherlands are described.
An Application of Linear Programming and Geographic Information Systems: Cropland Allocation in Antigua
Authors: Campbell J C , Radke J , Gless J T , Wirtshafter R M
Published: October 2006

This paper is focused on the application of linear programming (LP) in combination with a geographic information system (GIS) in planning agricultural land-use strategies. One of the essential inputs for planning any agricultural land-use strategy is a knowledge of the natural resources. This is even more critical in small countries such as those in the Eastern Caribbean, where land-area limitations dictate a greater need for careful assessment and management of these resources. The first step of the proposed methodology is to obtain an assessment of the natural resources available to agriculture. The GIS is used to delineate land-use conflicts and provide reliable information on the natural-resource database. This is followed by combining the data on natural resources with other quantifiable information on available labour, market forecasts, technology, and cost information in order to estimate the economic potential of the agricultural sector. LP is used in this step. Finally, the GIS is applied again to map the crop and land-allocation patterns generated by the LP model. The results are concrete suggestions for resource allocation, farm-size mix, policy application, and implementation projects.
Britain, the European Community, and the Centralisation of Production: Theory and Evidence, Freight Movements
Authors: Chisholm M
Published: October 2006

The rapid growth in Britain's trading relationships with Europe in the postwar period is often interpreted to imply a significant shift in the relative advantages of locations in the southeastern part of the country. Such a shift ought to be evident in the pattern of traffic through the ports. At the aggregate level, there has indeed been some shift in the relative importance of ports in favour of the southeast. Closer inspection shows, however, a complex pattern of change, in which port location is only one factor. The evidence of the port data, when considered in conjunction with evidence on transport costs and other factors, suggests that theories of the centralisation of production miss much of importance; competitive efficiency can generally compensate for any transport-cost disadvantages arising from location.
Labour-Market Dualism: Evidence from a Survey of Households in the Southampton City-Region
Authors: Pinch S P , Storey A
Published: October 2006

Empirical research in Britain has failed to keep pace with the profusion of theorising about tendencies towards dualism in labour markets. This paper attempts to improve upon previous aggregate studies of labour-market change with a detailed questionnaire survey of the economically active in the Southampton city-region. The research suggests that the decline of employment in both manufacturing and public services, together with the expansion of employment in private sector services, has been associated with trends towards dualism in respect of incomes, promotion prospects, fringe benefits, skill levels, job security and levels of job satisfaction.
Problematic Status of Corporate Regulation in the United States: Towards a New Moral Order
Authors: Clark G L
Published: October 2006

Evidence on the geographical dimensions of corporate restructuring in the United States suggests that, if left to themselves, corporations often break the law or at least the spirit of law in furthering their economic interests. The design and implementation of restructuring involving the spatial relocation of work is in many instances conceived with the goal of circumventing corporations' social obligations. Workers' pension entitlements (and their contractual agreements with corporations on many other matters) are at risk when the economic imperatives of competition and technical innovation are the driving forces behind corporations' actions. These issues are explored with respect to rational choice theory, advancing an argument to the effect that if corporate restructuring is only understood in these terms, the prospects for effective public regulation are bleak indeed. A regulatory framework that explicitly references moral standards could be, however, more effective because the terms of evaluation would be legitimately other than simple benefit-cost analysis. This last argument is briefly illustrated by reference to the moral component inherent in making contracts between agents.
‘Real’ Regulation Reconsidered
Authors: Marden P
Published: October 2006

The concept of regulation has become critical to recent debates about the nature of restructuring in geographical and economic contexts. This paper is an exploration of the theoretical implications of viewing regulation as social practice as opposed to economic imperative. Emphasis is placed on French regulation theory and those attempting to reconstruct an understanding of regulation from within a hermeneutic—interpretive framework. By definition, these two approaches represent contrasting points of view. However, the author warns against setting the context of regulation within such oppositional parameters. The commentary is not about providing a definitive approach to regulation, but, rather, is an exploration of the methodological and epistemological issues arising from the divergent approaches to regulation that have emerged in the literature. The author draws heavily on the debate between interpretivists and legal positivists and argues that this domain provides a new and exciting avenue for research on the nature of regulation in the spatial sciences.
From the Weber Problem to a ‘Topodynamic’ Approach to Locational Systems
Authors: Tellier L N
Published: October 2006

In any given space, a sequence of interdependent Weber problems of a certain type leads to a pattern of locations which can be mathematically characterized. Conversely, the observed evolution of a given locational system corresponds to certain characteristics of an analogous Weberian locational system. Determining such characteristics leads to the simulating and forecasting of the evolution of the observed locational system. A model corresponding to such a ‘topodynamic’ approach is presented and an application is made. Three different effects are integrated into the model: an interdependency effect which determines the polarization level; an ‘attraction — repulsion’ effect which determines the center — periphery equilibrium; and a distance deterrence effect which determines the diffusion process and the inertia level.
A New Consumption Cleavage? The Case of Residential Care for the Elderly
Authors: Hamnett C , Mullings B
Published: October 2006

Peter Saunders has argued that Britain, and other countries, are seeing the emergence of a major new consumption cleavage between those who pay for private provision through the market and those who rely on state provision. In this paper this thesis is examined by looking at changes in residential care for the elderly in Britain. It is argued that although there has been a rapid growth in private provision during the 1980s, the consumption cleavage thesis is inappropriate for a number of reasons. First, as with education and health, residents do not own the means of consumption but pay for their use. Second, there is no evidence that the quality of care is better in the private sector than in the public sector. Third, owing to the rapid expansion of state financial support for private care, most private residential homes how accommodate a large proportion of publicly financed residents. In addition, local authority homes also provide for residents who pay for care from private funds or the sale of their house. There is therefore no clear-cut divide between the public and the private sectors in terms of residents or financing.
Regional Variations in the Adoption of Computer-Numerically-Controlled Machine Tools by Small Engineering Firms: A Multivariate Analysis
Authors: O'Farrell P N , Oakey R P
Published: October 2006

In this paper those factors that influence the adoption of computer-numerically-controlled (CNC) machine tools by small mechanical engineering firms in three regions: the South East of England, Scotland, and Wales are investigated. Evidence is presented on CNC machine adoption in the three regions. A logistic regression model of the probability of CNC lathe adoption is developed and a regression model of the data of first adoption is calibrated. Welsh firms recorded lower adoption probabilities than firms based in either South East England or Scotland; and Scottish companies adopted some two years earlier than companies in the other two regions.
A Stochastic Cumulative Scaling Method Applied to Measuring Wealth in Indonesian Villages
Authors: Zinn F D , Henderson D A , Nystuen J D , Drake W D
Published: October 2006

Stochastic cumulative scaling (SCS), sometimes called Mokken scaling, is a technique for converting several dichotomous variables into a single ordinal or interval measure of some latent trait. After a brief review of scaling approaches developed by Guttman and Mokken, the usefulness of SCS is illustrated by applying it to measure individual household wealth in two provinces in Indonesia: East Java and Bali. Recommendations are also offered regarding the application of SCS.
A Model of Homeless Migration: Homeless Men in Skid Row, Los Angeles
Authors: Rahimian A , Wolch J R , Koegel P
Published: October 2006

Homeless people are popularly portrayed as highly mobile, but their migration behavior has never been systematically analyzed. In this paper a conceptual model of homeless migration is developed that links migration behavior with the coping status of homeless individuals. The model is evaluated by using data drawn from a recent random probability sample of men surveyed in Skid Row, Los Angeles, CA. Results indicate that homeless migrants tended to be young, never married, white, mentally disabled, and either newly or cyclically homeless individuals. Long-term residents, in contrast, were apt to be older, physically disabled or suffering from a health-related problem, and had been homeless for some time. The dominant reason given for moving was to find a job or improve life opportunities in some other way. Findings also indicate that the majorty of homeless men in the sample were ‘stayers’ rather than ‘movers’. This obviates a common political strategy by localities of attempting to avoid obligations to provide support to homeless individuals on the basis of their transiency.
The Effect of Data Aggregation on a Poisson Regression Model of Canadian Migration
Authors: Amrhein C G , Flowerdew R
Published: October 2006

A Statistics Canada data set for Canadian migration data at the census division level incorporating information on income tax for 1986 has already been presented. This matrix of 260 × 260 flows was used to calibrate a set of Poisson regression models by utilizing flows for the aggregate population. In this paper, the relatively high spatial resolution is used to test for aggregation effects as the original 260 units are combined to form fewer, synthetic regions with larger areas. A series of simulation experiments are performed with three different aggregation algorithms to create 130, 65, and ultimately 10 (corresponding to the provinces) synthetic regions. Average results from the experiments are compared with the original model. Results are obtained that suggest that, in this case, obvious aggregation effects similar to those observed elsewhere (by Openshaw) are not observed.
Conceptual Foundations of Spatial Choice Models
Authors: Leonardi G , Papageorgiou Y Y
Published: October 2006

As the location choice of an individual determines his or her feasible consumption set, it can be modelled as a two-stage procedure. First, the individual finds an optimal consumption bundle for each one of the feasible consumption sets that correspond to the locations considered. Second, he or she compares the resulting location-specific optimal utility levels and chooses a location for which the optimal utility level is a maximum. It is imagined that an observer applies costless sampling of the feasible consumption sets involved and records the individual's utility level associated with each trial. As the sample can be arbitrarily large, the asymptotic theory of extremes may be used in order to compute the probability that the consumption bundle associated with the highest overall utility level will correspond to any particular location. The way in which different sampling designs generate different choice probability models either in discrete or in continuous geographical space is explained. The multinomial logit model emerges when perfectly even sampling is applied on a discrete spatial choice set.
The Effects of the Timing of Nitrogen Fertilizer Application and Irrigation on Yield and Nitrogen Loss in Cotton Production
Authors: Huang W-Y , Hansen L , Uri N D
Published: October 2006

Nitrogen losses associated with the timing of the application of nitrogen fertilizer and the use of irrigation in the production of cotton in the United States are investigated. For nonirrigated production of cotton, nitrogen fertilizer applied during the fall or the spring realizes a significant loss compared with that applied during the growing season. There is no (statistically) significant evidence that more nitrogen fertilizer applied in the fall is unavailable for plant use relative to nitrogen fertilizer applied in the spring for either nonirrigated or irrigated production of cotton. Irrigation practices result in a significant loss of nitrogen fertilizer because of the increased leaching associated with the irrigation process. Irrigation does reduce, however, potential loss of nitrogen fertilizer by increasing its uptake by plants.
Imperfect Competition in Regional Labour Markets: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis
Authors: Harrlgan F , McGregor P G , Swales J K , Dourmashkin N
Published: October 2006

The system-wide impacts of imperfect competition in the regional labour market are examined by means of a macro-micro simulation model (AMOS) parameterised on Scottish data. A number of theories of the operation of the regional labour market are reviewed and it is indicated how these can be operationalised within AMOS through the adoption of different labour-market closures. Two sets of simulations are performed. The first involves nominal and real wage shocks to the regional economy. In the second, a demand disturbance is introduced under various labour-market closures. The sensitivity of the results to assumptions concerning the openness of the regional economy and the flexibility of the production technology is also discussed.
An Evaluation of the REMI Model for the South Coast Air Quality Management District
Authors: Cassing S , Giarratani F
Published: October 2006

This paper reports an evaluation of the econometric model developed by Regional Econometric Models Inc. for the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The analysis is focused on the in-sample performance, forecasting ability, and characteristics in impact analysis of the model. The trade-offs implicit in the performance of this model relate directly to questions of explanatory power. In particular, the model is characterized by well-specified structural equations that enhance its ability to formulate policy-relevant simulations. This may come at the cost of predictive ability in a statistical sense. Choices related to this trade-off are at the heart of applied regional analysis.
Weight Variations within a Set of Demand Points, and Location-Allocation Issues: A Case Study of Public Libraries
Authors: Beguin H , Thomas I , Vandenbussche D
Published: October 2006

The purpose in this paper is to explore the consequences of weight variations in a given set of demand points on the following p-median results: the average and maximum distance between demand and supply, the geographical pattern of supply points, and the amount allocated to every supply site. By using a real-world case study (intraurban location of public libraries), two different estimations of demand associated with the same set of demand and potential supply sites are compared. Results show only small differences in the p-median outputs in spite of rather large discrepancies in the distributions of demand weights. This invites further and systematic research about the robustness of p-median results with respect to variations in the geographical distribution of demand.
Costs and Prices, Corporate Competitive Strategies and Regions
Authors: Clark G L
Published: October 2006

This paper makes a number of contributions to our understanding of industrial restructuring and regional adjustment. A distinction is made between restructuring and economic growth and development, with the author arguing that restructuring is more than autonomous economic change; it is a process of deliberate or planned structural reconfiguration. An analytical framework is used to understand the logic of restructuring from the vantage point of the competitive strategies of firms; how firms plan their market strategies given the nature and costs of production, market prices, and the temporal pattern of economic events. The author is also very much concerned with understanding the role of regions in restructuring, moving from the spatial impacts of restructuring through to an understanding of why regions have a significant role in shaping the design and implementation of restructuring, and then to an appreciation of the increasing status of regions in the competitive strategies of corporations. Throughout, reference is made to the experience of North America. In conclusion, however, some observations are made about the relevance of this framework to other countries.
Industrial Restructuring and Regional Adjustment in Asian NIEs
Authors: Kim W B
Published: October 2006

The Asian newly industrializing economies (NIEs) are currently experiencing a shortage of unskilled labor, which makes it difficult for them to remain competitive in low-technology, labor-intensive industries. They are also under pressure from the industrialized economies to open up domestic markets and to readjust the value of their currencies. The lower cost economies of Southeast Asia and China are rapidly catching up with these NIEs in manufactured products, posing challenges for the NIEs to readjust their export strategy. Because of their heavy reliance on exports, the NIEs are vulnerable to exogenous shocks such as price and exchange-rate fluctuations. All these pressures require difficult structural adjustment of industries in the NIEs. Against this backdrop, this author surveys the process of industrial restructuring and its aggregate consequences in the NIEs. Also discussed are macro-level adjustment strategies including offshore investment, upgrading the technological level of industries, expanding the hinterland, and labor importation. More specific questions concerned with labor market and employment are addressed, given the trend of enterprises' adopting a more flexible labor strategy. Finally, the need to look into local variations in enterprise adjustment strategy is discussed, in particular, with a focus on the local context.
Industrial Restructuring and Labour-Market Adjustment under Positive Noninterventionism: The Case of Hong Kong
Authors: Lui T-L , Chiu S
Published: October 2006

This paper is an attempt to probe the interactions of economic restructuring and labour-market development in the process of industrial development in contemporary Hong Kong. The discussion is mainly divided into two parts. First is an examination of the development of the Hong Kong economy in the context of the changing world economy and, in particular, the effects of the structuring of the global division of labour on changes in the economic structure of Hong Kong in the 1980s. The growth of the tertiary sector and the concomitant process of deindustrialisation stand out as the two most important features of the Hong Kong economy in the 1980s and the years to come. Second the kinds of labour-market strategy developed in response to changes in the economic structure are examined. The recent debate on the importation of labour and the growing concern of industrial relocation reflect the developing pattern of labour-market adjustment. It is contended that in order to grasp the dynamics of the structuring of labour-market strategies, the interactions among the international economic environment, state policy, the formation of industrial capital, and the bargaining power of labour must be probed. The case of Hong Kong is one characterised by the dominance of small local manufacturing establishments, a noninterventionist state, underdeveloped shop-floor or labour organisations, and an industrial economy heavily dependent on exports. All these factors contribute to the constitution of the ‘Hong Kong way’ of continuing labour-intensive production and making adjustments in labour-market strategies to cope with the process of economic restructuring.
A Fractal Model of HIV Transmission on Complex Sociogeographic Networks: Towards Analysis of Large Data Sets
Authors: Wallace R
Published: October 2006

A paradigm of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) transmission along very large ‘sociogeographic’ networks—spatially focused nets of social interaction—is extended to include fractal (dilationally self-similar) structures upon which a metric of ‘sociogeographic’ distance can be defined. It is conjectured that, by proper definition of such a metric, the complex filamentary structure of a spreading infection may be mapped onto a simple, radially expanding, relatively compact set, providing a more direct characterization of disease transmission. Inverse transformation then provides maps of disease dynamics in ‘real’ geographic and social spaces.

Techniques are sketched for determining the sociogeographic structure of a large, geographically centered social network, providing a possible empirical basis for predicting forms and rates of spread of the initial, rapid, stages of an HIV outbreak for networks not yet infected, and perhaps greatly expanding the utility of routinely collected small-area administrative data sets in the design of mutually reinforcing, multifactorial disease-control strategies.
Simulation Evidence Bearing on the Structure of Errors in MRIO Analysis
Authors: Vali S
Published: October 2006

In this paper the results are presented of a simulation concerning general tendencies of the MRIO (multiregional input-output) model toward overestimation or underestimation (positive or negative estimation errors). With the forecasts based on Isard's interregional input-output model as a standard, the frequency and volume of the sectoral outputs and intermediate outputs (INOU) estimation errors of the MRIO model are measured under two different economic structures and two different types of final-demands shocks. It is shown that under the condition of strong interconnectedness and overall increase in final demands, the MRIO model underestimates intraregional INOUs and overestimates interregional INOUs. In the case of economies with weak spatial interconnection and subject to a mixed change in the direction of final-demands shocks, the general tendency seems to be toward overestimation of sectoral outputs and INOUs of any sector that experiences a decline in demand for its final product. The model underestimates the other sectors.
Analysis of Urban-Rural Population Dynamics of China: A Multiregional Life Table Approach
Authors: Shen J
Published: October 2006

This is the second of two papers in which the urban-rural population dynamics of China is analyzed. Urban-rural population life tables are constructed in this paper. The differential urban and rural population dynamics are revealed by the calculations of life expectations, net reproduction expectations, and net migraproduction expectations in the urban and rural regions of China.
Information, Interindustry Dynamics, and the Service Industries
Authors: Romanoff E , Levine S H
Published: October 2006

To understand the role of services in the interindustrial system, themes common to explanations in the literature on the increase in prominence of services are explored. Four related themes are suggested by the outcome. Growth in services is associated with increases in the demand for information, in instability, in complexity, and in externalities. These suggest a synthesis of the explanations for subsequent modeling of the role of services by means of the Sequential Interindustry Model (SIM), developed for examining transient processes. Services are viewed as distributive, servicing, and informative, each group with a successively larger information portion relative to materials in its output. System regulation by information flows is presented. With the focus on informative service industries, in response to perturbations these services inform producers, facing imperfect market information, of the adjustments necessary in order to approach equilibrium.
Factor Subsidies, Employment Generation, and Cost per Job: A Partial Equilibrium Approach
Authors: Holden D , Swales J K
Published: October 2006

Factor subsidies in a perfectly competitive setting are analysed. A very general model is used to derive expressions for the effect of a factor subsidy on the price and quantity of output and the two factor inputs. These expressions are differentiated to generate qualitative results for the impact of changes in the product-demand, production-function, and factor-supply parameters on the subsidy effects. A similar procedure is used to investigate the exchequer cost per job of general labour and capital subsidies in an industry with Cobb — Douglas technology. The analysis is relieved with illustrative simulations in which ‘representative’ parameter values are used.
Univariate Classification of Differentiated International Markets
Authors: Hanink D M , Cromley R G
Published: October 2006

Hotelling initiated the use of spatial analogies in assessing market differentiation. In this paper, this line is followed to analyze differentiated international markets. Most of the economies in the world are arrayed as if they are a continuum of points of demand. In this paper, this continuum of demand points is partitioned into homogeneous segments by use of a classification algorithm that minimizes within-group variation. The criteria used for classifying are two indicators of market overlap that have been suggested as important by the new trade theory, proximity of gross national product (GNP), and proximity of per capita GNP. Several of the derived market partitions are compared with other classifications of international markets in the form of existing and planned geographically discriminatory trade arrangements.
Predicting Air-Transport Demand
Authors: Pitfield D E
Published: October 2006

In this paper, the efficiency of autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and regression models in simulating air-transport passengers by route are compared and constrasted. It is concluded that ARIMA models are far superior not only in their simulation capabilities but also in their applicability to such data. In the context of the UK Civil Aviation Authority's approach to forecasting, it is suggested that ARIMA models, including those with intervention terms, bear closer examination.
Geographic Influences on the Uptake of Infant Immunisations: 2. Disaggregate Analyses
Authors: Senior M L , New S J , Gatrell A C , Francis B J
Published: October 2006

This is the second of two papers in which the effects of transport, time—space, and gender-role constraints on the uptake of immunisation are assessed statistically. In the first paper, it was concluded that aggregate analyses, conducted solely at the District Health Authority level, provide unreliable explanations of uptake. In this paper, individual-level analyses are described in which information from interviews with mothers resident in the districts of Salford and Lancaster is used. Childcare commitments, illness, educational attainment, and possibly lone-parent status are found to be significant determinants of immunisation uptake. A future research focus is given.
Retail Rents and Market Areas
Authors: Bacon R W
Published: October 2006

A model of the equilibrium spatial size of a market, in which shop rents are determined endogenously, is constructed on the lines of previous studies of market areas. Two cases are considered: the shop rents in the first model are determined by competition with the housing sector, whereas in the second the licensing of sites for retail use by a planning authority landlord which has as its aim the maximization of its receipts from all shops in the town is modelled. The models developed are solved for a range of parameter values. It is shown that allowing for the endogeneity of shop rents, as opposed to treating them as a fixed cost, reverses some well-established comparative static results—when income is increased the market area increases with an endogenous planning authority, whereas with exogenous shop rents the market area decreases. Differences are also established for variations in population density and the costs of travel to the shops.
Development Interests and the Attack on Planning Controls: ‘Planning Difficulties’ in Bristol 1985–1990
Authors: Punter J V
Published: October 2006

In this paper the impact of central-government policy on development-control practice in Bristol in the 1980s is examined. Through an examination of a local campaign by development interests against control practice, the ways control practice changed during the period is revealed and the criticisms made in local campaigns against the planning authority are evaluated. Then the imposition of an urban development corporation and the local fight against designation are explored, revealing how this also affected control practice, and a preliminary evaluation of the performance of the corporation is made. The author shows how a tough negotiating stance with developers has been progressively eroded to ensure that planning has become more of an enabler of development and less preoccupied with community impact or environmental quality.
An Hierarchical Approach to the Segmentation of Residential Demand: Theory and Application
Authors: Feitelson E
Published: October 2006

Despite its importance for housing-market forecasts, residential demand segmentation has received only little systematic scrutiny. In this paper a hierarchical approach is proposed whereby households are segmented by three levels determined by the likelihood of household shifting among strata as defined within the level.

First, households are differentiated according to societal constraints (the most difficult to overcome). Second, groups facing similar constraints are stratified by the basic life-style choices made by households. Last, households are stratified according to their situation, which includes their stage in the life cycle and income (the most likely to change over time).

An empirical comparison of a hierarchical segmentation which includes life-style elements (the least understood level of the hierarchy) with cross-sectional sociodemographic segmentation shows the hierarchical approach to perform better on several criteria.
Regional Patterns of Small Firm Development in the Business Services: Evidence from the United Kingdom
Authors: Wood P A , Bryson J , Keeble D
Published: October 2006

The growth of business services in the United Kingdom during the 1980s is reviewed, and especially the role of small firms. Reports the results of an intensive questionnaire survey, undertaken in 1991, of a sample of small management consultancy and market research companies in three areas; inner London, the outer south east, and north west England. In interpreting the demand and supply characteristics of these firms, emphasis is placed on their interactions with the internal labour market strategies of predominantly large client organisations. Generally, the sample firms offer consultancy and marketing expertise which such clients do not provide from their own skill resources. Their founders were also often originally employees of such organisations, especially outside London. Regional economic and social characteristics mould the activities of these firms, even though many engage in a significant degree of interregional trade. The markets served, types of specialisation, the originating process, and the ages of founders show marked differences between the two sectors and the three areas.
Industrial Restructuring and the Future of the Small Firm: The Case of Canadian Microbreweries
Authors: Milne S , Tufts S
Published: October 2006

The dramatic flourishing of small-scale enterprise in recent years has stimulated a great deal of academic interest. Indeed many researchers have given the small firm pride of place in theories designed to explain the growth of a new, more ‘flexible’, economic environment. Recently, however, commentators have questioned whether these analyses are perhaps not overly optimistic in the role they ascribe to small firms. We add to the debate through a study of small Canadian brewers (microbrewers). Whereas Canada's major brewers have been forced to restructure and rationalise their operations in the face of new competitive pressures, including trade liberalisation and changing consumer demand, microbreweries have found themselves catering to a growing niche market and have expanded rapidly in number. Although much of the microbrewery ‘success story’ appears to support theories of small-firm growth, we argue that a cautionary note must be added for the future. Improved efficiency and flexibility is making it easier for large brewers to break into the high-profit-margin niche markets that were once the preserve of their smaller counterparts. As a result, the next decade may not witness the same levels of small-firm growth that characterised this sector in the 1980s.
Russia on the Way to a Housing Market: A Case Study of St Petersburg
Authors: Boyce N
Published: October 2006

The Russian government has launched a privatization program with the aim of creating a housing market in place of administrative allocation. Very few, including reformers at the top level of government, realize the economic, social, and political value of housing reforms. At this stage, their goals are very narrow: to free the state of its construction and maintenance burden, and to collect revenues from real-estate owners to support the activities of local governments. These reforms yield little, if anything, given cumbersome and contradictory private-ownership laws, power squabbles between interest groups at different levels of the local and federal governments, and resistance at the grass roots. For the above reasons any market-oriented policies although effective in the countries of the ex-socialist block, may be impossible in Russia. Thus, in St Petersburg, the second largest Russian city, a short-lived privatization program collapsed in early 1993. In this urban community, as in a microcosm, the interaction of political, economic, and social factors is reflected, which sheds light upon urban affairs in a broader context of a postsocialist Russia. A number of questions are asked in this paper. What is behind the all-Russian privatization program? What forces are pushing for reforms and who opposes them? Will privatization relieve the housing crisis, and is it a workable alternative to the centrally administered housing-allocation system?
Land-Use Planning and the Housing Market in Britain: The Impact on Housebuilding and House Prices
Authors: Bramley G
Published: October 2006

The impact of the British style of land-use planning upon the outcomes of private housing development and the housing market is examined. A unique cross-sectional database is constructed, and the medium-term elasticity of new housebuilding supply is estimated as a locally variable function of prices, costs, and land supply, with an explicit planning function. The model developed enables quantified projections to be made of the effect of specified changes in planning policy. The policy changes examined include large-scale increases in the volume of land released, changes in the mix of land released, and the use of planning agreements to pay for infrastructure or social housing.
An Argument for Critical and Comparative Research on the Urban Economic Geography of the Americas
Authors: Lawson V , Klak T
Published: October 2006

The authors identify problems associated with the treatment of Latin American topics in the Anglo-American social science literature, particularly in geography. Latin American research has been peripheralized and the flow of concepts and learning between Latin and Anglo America has been almost entirely from North to South. To explain why research by Latin Americans, and by Latin Americanists, has had relatively limited influence on recent geographic debates over theory and method, the authors employ contemporary discourse analysis. This method assists us in (1) deciphering how development geography presents Latin America, (2) in posing questions about the character and origins of the concepts that shape writing and, indeed, thinking, and (3) in identifying the perspective biases that must be confronted for interregional dialogue to occur. This critical commentary on Latin and Anglo-American research is highly relevant to reconstructed regional geography. It, too, is confronting issues such as the role of theory in contextually grounded research, and how to operationalize research that spans several geographical scales of analysis.
The Ties That Bind. Informal and Formal Sector Linkages in Streetvending: The Case of Peru's Ambulantes
Authors: Hays-Mitchell M
Published: October 2006

The nature of the various and diverse linkages that bind informal traders in Peru to the institutional, economic, and social contexts in which they work and live is examined. Ground-level analysis is related to broad-based processes occurring at the national and international scales and the importance of integrating contextual information into broader analytical conceptualizations is stressed. It is argued that informality in Peru must be conceptualized as an historically and culturally rooted process that interacts dynamically with contemporary forces operating at the local, national, and international scales.
The Canary Wharf Debacle: From ‘TINA’—There is No Alternative—To ‘THEMBA’—There Must Be an Alternative
Authors: Merrifield A
Published: October 2006

In this paper, the recent failure of the Canary Wharf project at London Docklands in the wake of the financial collapse of Canadian property giant, Olympia and York, is critically examined. Some theoretical pointers are offered as to how the Canary Wharf affair arose, the logic through which it was implemented, and the political and financial mechanisms deployed to ride the storm are highlighted. The shifts occurring in the global political economy since the mid-1970s are charted, particularly the massive explosion of the financial sector. These developments have, in turn, rendered commercial real estate a pure financial asset. It is argued that it is this mechanism that spurred the frenetic speculation and overinvestment in the property sector throughout much of the 1980s. This was especially so at London Docklands as investment activities there were further catalysed by an urban and economic policy that endorsed market-driven, speculative short-term practices. The contradictions and instabilities this process engendered at Canary Wharf itself, and how the ensuing ‘fallout’ has been minimised and legitimated in the United Kingdom through effective nationalisation are examined. The paper is concluded with a discussion on the implications the débâcle has for critical theory and progressive politics.
The Mapping of Small-Area Census Data—A Consideration of the Role of Enumeration District Boundaries
Authors: Morphet C S
Published: October 2006

Census enumeration districts (EDs) are not ‘natural’ areal units, and a strong presumption exists against their use for cartographic or analytical purposes. There is, however, some reason to suppose that their boundaries may coincide with divisions in the underlying social geography of an area, and that they therefore contain information which should not be lost in processing. A study of Newcastle upon Tyne EDs shows that ED boundaries do not, in fact, mark the boundaries of distinct areas. The presumption against the use of ED boundaries for cartographic representation is reinforced.
Labour Management Space, and Restructuring of the Australian Coal Industry
Authors: McGrath-Champ S
Published: October 2006

This paper contributes to our understanding of industrial change by developing a crucial area of interface—industrial restructuring and the management of labour. Until recently, labour management has been underrecognised in geographical studies of industrial development and change, yet management decisionmaking and strategic choice permeate all aspects of capital—labour relations. Similarly, spatial dimensions have rarely been acknowledged as an element in labour research. The author adopts a ‘restructuring framework’ which integrates spatial insights from industrial geography with the agency of capitalist management and an investment approach to employment relations. After the study has been situated within the vast literature on coal, the strengths of this joint conceptual approach are demonstrated in the context of the Australian coal industry.
The Restructuring of the US Steel Industry: Changes in the Location of Production and Employment
Authors: hUallacháin B Ó
Published: October 2006

Recent reorganization of the US iron and steel industry provides a useful setting for an analysis of the relationship between industrial location and institutional forms. Regression analysis shows that institutional shifts in the organization of production dominated geographical shifts in employment and product value as integrated maxi-mills sought to raise productivity. The reorganization of production includes mill abandonment, increased subcontracting by maxi-mills in the initial stages of production, horizontal penetration by mini-mills in the sheet-steel market, and the growing integration of steel finishing and automobile assembly as firms that belong to Japanese corporate groups expand their operations in the USA. Maxi-mills are concentrating investment and production in the Midwest states as their joint ventures with Japanese steel firms specialize in the mass production of galvanized sheets for the automobile industry. Locational shifts also include the national spread of scrap-processing mini-mills and the rapid decline of raw-steel production in Pittsburgh as maxi-mills close furnaces and mills producing construction-grade bars and rods.
An Introduction to the OPCS Longitudinal Study
Authors: Dale A , Creeser R , Dodgeon B , Gleave S , Filakti H
Published: October 2006

The Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS). Longitudinal Study (LS) is introduced, and its value for migration and area-based studies is highlighted. The LS is a 1% sample of records drawn from the 1971, 1981, and 1991 Censuses for England and Wales, to which are linked information on certain vital events (for example, births, deaths, and cancer registration) for the same individuals. The basis for selection is having one of four birthdates in the year. Although confidentiality constraints mean that individual-level data from the LS cannot be released, OPCS welcome analysis of the data, and arrangements for access and user support are described in the paper. Because most of the data sources that go to make up the LS contain some area coding, it is of considerable importance in urban and regional research and in migration studies. Those aspects of the LS of most relevance to this research area are reviewed, and the different geographical bases available are highlighted. Also, examples of the kinds of research that can be supported by the LS are provided.
Socioeconomic Characteristics of Interregional Migrants in England and Wales, 1939–71
Authors: Leon D A , Strachan D P
Published: October 2006

Data from the Longitudinal Study (LS) of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys are used to examine patterns of regional migration in England and Wales between 1939 and 1971. The source of information on region in 1939 is from a national population register established shortly after the start of the Second World War. Of the 146 444 women and 129 267 men in the LS born before the register was established, 83.5% of the women and 50.1% of the men could be assigned to a region in 1939 and were included in the migration analyses. The effect of the exclusion of a considerable proportion of the study group from the analyses is discussed, as is the effect of wartime evacuation. It is concluded that although these factors may affect the results, they are unlikely to have a substantial impact. Overall, 18% of persons in the analysis moved between region from 1939 to 1971. Migrants tended to be socioeconomically advantaged compared with nonmigrants. Moreover, those moving to regions where the nonmigrants were the most advantaged, were themselves the most advantaged of the migrants. This paper illustrates a new source of data on long-term migration that deserves further exploration.
Formulaic Follies Revisited: Or, Why Geography Researchers Get Almost Twice as Much Money as do Town Planners in English Universities
Authors: Johnston R J
Published: October 2006

The funding for research activities in English universities from 1993/94 on is based on a formula allocation which has many apparent anomalies: variations in the standardised sums available per discipline bear little relationship to interdisciplinary differences in research costs. Using data released by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, I seek to understand how those differences have come about. Only 43% of the variation could be accounted for statistically by a simple classification of disciplines into clinical, science, and social science/humanities. A further 17% was associated with four other factors reflecting institutional differences in aspects of the disciplines which could have been taken into account when the allocation formula was determined—but which were not. The conclusion is that a much fairer system can and must replace that currently operated.