A Synoptic View of Regional Growth and Unemployment: I - The Neoclassical TheoryMcCombie, J.S.L.
doi: 10.1080/00420988820080391pmid: N/A
This paper is the first part of a consideration of the implications of the current controversies in macroeconomics for regional growth theory. It is concerned with the neoclassical explanation of disparities in regional growth and unemployment rates. The one-sector and two-sector neoclassical models are surveyed and it is shown how this approach explains differences in productivity growth in terms of the progressive eradication of an initial misallocation of resources (both interregionally and intraregionally). Involuntary unemployment is ascribed to the classical view that real wages are too high. The effect of the spatial diffusion of innovations on productivity growth is also examined.
Upgrading in Chawama, Lusaka: Displacement or Differentiation?Rakodi, Carole
doi: 10.1080/00420988820080411pmid: N/A
Provision of security of tenure and infrastructure in unauthorised residential areas of Third World cities may render such areas more attractive to higher income households. The danger of displacement is increased if regularisation involves additional costs to residents. The impact of upgrading in a squatter area in Lusaka is evaluated, to ascertain the extent to which it improved living conditions, benefited all residents equally and led to displacement of existing residents. Living conditions had improved for all residents of the area and there was little evidence of displacement or increased rents. However, upgrading had necessitated resettlement of some households in an adjacent overspill area, with a slightly better residential environment and the benefit of larger housing loans, leading to a process of differentiation within the area.
Service Industries and Local Labour Markets: Towards 'An Anatomy of Service Job Loss'Buck, Nick
doi: 10.1080/00420988820080421pmid: N/A
A consequence of the basic non-basic distinction in industrial geography is the treatment of the non-basic sector as a form of black box, from which predictable employment change outcomes emerge as a result of changes in demand induced by changes in the basic sector. Implicitly there are assumptions of static and spatially uniform organisation, technology and labour process. This paper argues that important changes in production process, industrial organisation, technology and forms of employment do take place in all service industries just as they do in manufacturing, and that they have spatially variable effects on local labour markets. It applies the production change strategies of Massey and Meegan's Anatomy of Job Loss to the service sector, and shows that with modifications, and the addition of a number of strategies specific to service industries they can contribute significantly to our understanding of change in local labour markets.
Valuing Urban Lakeview Amenities Using Implicit and Contingent MarketsBlomquist, Glenn
doi: 10.1080/00420988820080431pmid: N/A
Amenities influence individual location decisions and affect overall social well being. This comparative study focuses on the potential complementarity of implicit and contingent market approaches to valuing amenities. Lakeshore residents in Chicago were surveyed to collect data to estimate implied housing hedonic values and contingent values for two view-related amenities. The consumers in the housing market and the bidders in the contingent market are the exact same people. Presumably differences in estimates are primarily due to the different approaches. For willingness to pay, contingent values are found to be within a factor of two of implicit values. The difference is consistent with sorting which occurs in the housing market. The results provide further evidence of progress in valuing amenities.
Variable Transportation Rates and The Profit-Maximization Location Theory of The FirmShieh, Yeung-Nan
doi: 10.1080/00420988820080441pmid: N/A
This paper examines the role of variable transportation rates on the independence between optimum location and demand. When transportation rates are a function of quantity and distance, it shows that the independence between optimum location and demand crucially depends upon whether the elasticities of transportation rates with respect to quantity are constant and identical ; and the ratio of marginal products is equal to the ratio of marginal transportation costs. This is quite different from the well-known Miller and Jensen result.