Market analysis in regional economic development: The Bradford case

The application of market analysis procedures to problems of regional economic development has long been neglected. This paper presents a framework for regional economic analysis and then proceeds to a detailed examination of the City of Bradford in Yorkshire within that framework. The authors worked for a period of four years on behalf of the Bradford Area Development Association (BADA) to identify ways in which economic growth within the City could be stimulated. Eight major studies were undertaken which explored both the extant structure of Bradford's industry and resources and its external economies, and the most viable directions for growth.The studies led BADA to the conclusion that, although new employers could be attracted to the area, the greatest effort should be applied to accommodate, facilitate and encourage the growth of indigenous companies. The strategy which was evolved within the City led to the establishment of an Industrial Officer within the City Hall; to the founding of a regional Merchant Bank; to a determined series of political lobbies to get the City's problems aired within the Planning Region and at Ministry level in London; and to much more besides.By late 1973, when the City of Bradford will be absorbed into a Metropolitan District within the Metropolitan County of West Yorkshire, and when BADA is to be formally would up, a considerable record of success can be reported. These achievements must be seen against the background of sluggish economic growth within the U.K. economy over the period.     

The regional economic impacts of voluntary pollution prevention in New Jersey

Recent experience with voluntary pollution prevention (P2) for five industries in the state of New Jersey is examined. Using a regional econometric model, it is estimated that P2 will increase regional value added between $3 million and $5 million per year between 1994 and 2005 (1994 US dollars). Most of this gain is in the chemical sector. While small, given the size of the industries studied, the level of P2 in these industries is also small. Furthermore, these estimates exclude environmental benefits and returns from recycling. One significant contribution of the research is to examine the economic impact on the chemical industry of P2-related reductions in sales. Surprisingly, it is found that P2 may well increase the demand for chemicals locally, because increased efficiency will allow local firms to expand exports. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.     

契约型区域规划的困境

在行政性分权的市场环境下,规避或漠视地方间利益冲突是指令型区域规划失灵的根本原因。契约型规划强调规划是集体行动的契约,倡导构建一个不同利益主体表达、交流的平台,以减少规划实施过程中各自为政的阻力。基于利益博弈的视角,分析了区域规划的跨区性、综合性特征与规划实施的可操作性之间的内在矛盾,指出随着地方政府数量和规划内容的增加,区域规划成为集体行动契约的可能性越小,其实施的可操作性越低,契约型区域规划难以使城市合作摆脱囚徒困境。     

都市圈规划:地域空间规划的新范式

作为一种新的地域空间结构,都市圈的规划需要不同于传统的新理念和新方法.文章在论述了都市圈相关概念和萌生背景之后,参考国外都市圈规划案例,总结了都市圈规划异于城镇体系规划的特质要求,并对都市圈规划的理念、方法做了探讨.     

Output variability and economic growth: The case of Australia

This paper looks at the relationship between output variability and economic growth in Australia using the ARCH-M model. Quarterly data for growth rates of industrial production and of GDP are used for the analyses. However, the growth of GDP does not show any ARCH effects. The variability is found to be significantly negatively related to the growth rate of industrial production. Unlike Caporale and McKiernan (1998), our empirical results do not support Black's (1987) hypothesis, which is that there is a positive relationship between output variability and economic growth. Our results support the Keynesian position. The authors thank the anonymous referee for helpful comments on an earlier draft of the paper.     

The use of control groups in evaluating regional economic policy

A major difficulty in measuring the impact of regional policy is the identification of what would have happened in the absence of the policy. Regional science may benefit from the use of quasi-experimental approaches. The specific method presented here combines the concept of control groups with the widely used shift-share framework for evaluating regional policy. Control areas are selected on the basis of their similarity to the aided region in the pre-policy period. The resulting method is sensitive to changing cyclical conditions and other exogeneous factors and traces out the time pattern of impacts.     

Recent developments in French economic planning

Conclusions French planning seems to have had a very real effect on the economy in its early years. Industrialists' expectations were raised and new ideas were disseminated in a subtle way, and not merely because people believed the numerical values of published forecasts. In the early 1960s the idea of a consensus was extended beyond the need for greater private investment and the plan became the focus for a national debate on priorities. This exercise was valid and effective in a period of fast and accelerating growth but later the authorities chose instead to impose their own priorities, which included turning away from planning at the industrial level. This was partly because the underlying techniques of traditional French planning were seriously flawed in an open economy, but it probably also represented ideological preferences. However the consultative mechanisms continued to exist through the 1970s, though largely restricted to the macro-economic sphere. The 7th Plan generated a serious and powerful debate about responses to the recession but this was ignored by the authorities. Somewhat surprisingly, the reduced circumstances of planning did not affect the respect for its institutions in the eyes of other social actors: unions and business.¹⁰ In calling for a restoration of planning, the Socialists were therefore responding to a real need in a society with very limited channels for dialogue between social partners who nevertheless were forced to confront one another in the macro-economic sphere. But at the time of writing it looks as if an opportunity has been lost to carry out a detailed multi-scenario reflection on medium term economic policy.     

A network model of economic growth: A regional analysis

In this paper we consider a linear model of economic growth in which production and consumption occur at specific sites represented by nodes, and commodities can be shipped from one node to another along arcs. It is shown that under fairly reasonable conditions a stationary optimal growth plan will exist and that it can be computed by means of Lemke's linear complementary algorithm.     

Structural change and economic behaviour: The case of UK exports

In this paper Stephen Hall, Giovanni Urga, and John Whitley apply a new econometric technique to date unknown breaks in UK export behaviour. They show how the evidence points to a structural shift in 1979. Although there is some support for a supply-side interpretation in that there have been changes in the behaviour of prices, there has also been a shift in the underlying demand for UK exports. They also find that variables which proxy changes in the quality of UK exports, or other supply-side influences, do not properly account for the observed structural break in UK export performance.