A METHOD FOR MEASURING THE SPATIAL ASSOCIATION BETWEEN POINT PATTERNS

Evaluations of a variety of types are increasingly being incorporated into the process of public policy formulation. A conventional role of evaluation has been to assess expected or actual consequences of policy strategies relative to policy objectives. This paper describes an additional type of evaluation in which policy objectives are assessed relative to perceived resource use policy problems. This type of evaluation is applicable to a wide range of policy issues at various scales.     

LOCAL LABOR MARKETS: THEORIES AND POLICIES IN THE U.S. DURING THE 1970s*

Local labor market policies of the federal government are critically evaluated with respect to their target efficiency and underlying theoretical assumptions. Policies of the Economic Development Administration are considered to be target inefficient compared to those of the Comprehensive Employment Training Act. Experimental mobility policies of the Department of Labor appear to be have questionable impact locally as opposed to nationally. Some local hybrid programs offer improved place and people targeting.     

STATE POLICY AND URBAN SYSTEMS :THE CASE OF CHINA

Ｃｉｔｙｓｉｚｅｄｉｓｔｒｉｂｕｔｉｏｎｏｆｎａｔｉｏｎａｌｕｒｂａｎｓｙｓｔｅｍｓｈａｓａｔｔｒａｃｔｅｄｃｏｎｓｉｄｅｒａｂｌｅｒｅｓｅａｒｃｈｉｎｔｅｒｅｓｔ.Ｔｈｅｉｓｓｕｅｉｓａｌｓｏｃｒｉｔｉｃａｌｔｏｇｏｖｅｒｎｍｅｎｔｐｏｌｉｃｙａｓｉｔｉｓａｓｓｏｃｉａｔｅｄｗｉｔｈｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎｄｉｓｔｒｉｂｕｔｉｏｎ,ｕｎｅｖｅｎｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔ,ａｎｄｇｅｏｐｏｌｉｔｉｃｓ.Ｐｒｅｖｉｏｕｓｒｅｓｅａｒｃｈｅｆｆｏｒｔｈａｓｇｒｅａｔｌｙｅｎｈａｎｃｅｄｏｕｒｕｎｄｅｒｓｔａｎｄ…     

RURAL POPULATION LOSS AND CROPLAND CHANGE IN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS: IMPLICATIONS FOR CROPLAND RETIREMENT POLICY*

Given steadily increasing federal expenditures to manage surplus crop production, it would seem to make economic and environmental sense to concentrate production on the best acreage and to retire marginal crop acreage to alternate uses. A major obstacle constraining adoption and implementation of cropland retirement programs in the past has been the fear that cropland retirement threatens the viability of rural communities. Regression of change in population and retail establishments on changes in farm structure, nonfarm employment, and agricultural land-use in the rural Southern Plains between 1930 and 1970 provides only weak evidence to support this fear. In fact, short-term cropland idling under post-1960 price-support programs appears to pose more of a threat to rural communities than does cropland retirement.     

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT ON VANCOUVER ISLAND: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE CORE-PERIPHERY MODEL *

This paper examines tourism development on Vancouver Island, B.C. in terms of the core-periphery approach to regional planning. It examines whether a core area (Victoria) is willing to share its tourism business with the rest of the island, and then focuses on the situation in a peripheral region (the Cowichan Valley Regional District–CVRD). A discriminant analysis of CVRD residents reveals they have different views regarding tourism's potential and future in their region. A follow-up analysis, reflecting a change in the scale of enquiry and local core-periphery conditions, shows residents'perceptions and priorities will change according to their respective area groupings. This analysis reveals that residents of a peripheral region, who are expected to participate in and welcome tourism development initiatives developed by senior levels of government, will in fact have different opinions regarding the industry and its potential. These differences are linked to present levels of tourism activity within the periphery and the varying community aspirations linking tourism's development potential with local needs and priorities.     

RURAL REGIONAL GOVERNANCE IN THE UNITED STATES: THE CASE OF THE RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM*

Rural governance has drawn considerable attention from both local government officials and scholars in the United States since the early 1990s. It is touted as a way to mitigate the limitations of the traditional government unit‐based approaches to problem solving and decision making and to foster partnerships across both jurisdictional boundaries and sectors (public, private, and nonprofit). Established in 1962, the Resource Conservation and Development (rc&d ) program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides a unique model of rural regional governance. Acting as a coalition of governments, private businesses, individuals, and interest groups, the rc&d program provides the flexibility needed to deal with issues at the appropriate spatial scale. It incorporates aspects of both grassroots and governmental organizations and can bring together local interests and expertise with governmental policy and support in service provision, problem solving, and economic development. The approach does not necessarily entail loss of power on the part of the state, but it does provide a mechanism for local people to exercise their agency, to tackle their problems, and to decide which elements of their lives they want to sustain.     

THE INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY OF LABOR: NORTH AFRICAN MIGRANT WORKERS IN FRANCE*

Since World War II, migrant labor has contributed significantly to Western Europe's economic growth. Initially, industries recruited and hired migrant workers to overcome labor shortages and downward demographic trends within the domestic work force. Since the recession of the mid-1970s, however, migrant labor has faced increasing job loss and restricted entry to many Western European countries. Throughout the postwar period, state immigration policy has supported industry, initially by assisting in the recruitment, and more recently, facilitating the repatriation of migrant workers. Economic and social disparities between developed core and underdeveloped peripheral countries are linked to international labor mobility. Certain sectors in the core benefit from the reserve labor force while emigration from peripheral countries partially contributes to these countries' economic problems. These issues are explored through a case study of the employment of North Africans in the French automobile industry.     

BUILDING A COLONIAL RESOURCE MONOPOLY: THE EXPANSION OF SULPHUR MINING IN NEW SPAIN, 1600–1820*

The discovery, extraction, and monopolistic control of key natural resources was a priority of New Spain's colonial administration. Managing the region's abundant resources, however, often proved difficult for the Spanish Crown. Human and environmental challenges impeded protoindustrial growth and development, and monopolistic control of resources often met resistance. In this article I examine these processes in the context of New Spain's little‐known monopoly on sulphur—a yellow, powdery mineral the Crown jealously guarded as its own. Sulphur was critical for gunpowder and explosives production, yet the Crown often failed to produce enough of it to meet the growing demand by its military and the silver blast‐mining industry. Colonial documents reveal administrators’ attempts to improve sulphur production through reform measures, which included advising sulphur miners on how to discover sulphur deposits and, eventually, how to develop their mines. Efforts to improve sulphur production were moderately successful, although the process was messy and inefficient.