FISCAL IMPACT ANALYSIS AND THE PYRAMID MALL CASE

States and towns are increasingly using a new impact analysis technique (one that shows many of the virtues and vices of impact planning generally): fiscal impact analysis. In a recent celebrated case in Vermont, the Pyramid Mall case, in which a shopping center was refused a development permit under “Act 250”, Vermont's state–wide land use law, heavy use was made of fiscal impact analyses. This case raised serious issues about the financial and technical capability of the state – indeed any state – to administer fiscal impact analysis, and about the adequacy of the law to properly guide the use of impact analysis. The central question running throughout the Pyramid Mall case and the use of fiscal impact analyses in that case is whether the administration of land use controls pursuant to fiscal impact analysis is improper government control of competition. The Pyramid Mall case offers an illustration of the effort to control both competition among private units and competition among municipalities; a study of the case reveals the extent to which the effort is effective, optimal, and equitable. The inadequacy of the Vermont laws enabling fiscal impact analysis emerges, and the shallowness of existing judicial review of fiscal impact analysis becomes evident. Guidelines for a proper legal approach to fiscal impact analysis are suggested and alternative mechanisms of review are suggested.     

A FRAMEWORK FOR REGIONAL MODELING AND IMPACT ANALYSIS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY BY LARGE MUNICIPALITIES IN ONTARIO,CANADA*

ABSTRACT. We propose a mixed fixed and random coefficients framework for regional modeling. The framework allows the presence of both the region-specific effects and commonality of responses across regions. Bayes solutions for estimating parameters of interest and for generating predictions are derived. Within a Bayesian framework a predictive density approach to evaluate the impact of changes is suggested. We apply the methodology to evaluate the impact of new rate structures on Ontario regional demand for electricity.     

AGENCY FRACMENTATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON IMPACT: A BORDERLANDS CASE*

The US-Mexico border is both a line of potential separation and a span of contact and blending of cultures. National and local perceptions and intentions about this boundary often differ, and the formulation and implementation of border policy is thus subject to many conflicting pressures. Not the least are those generated by government agencies with border responsibilities. Perspectives as local, border, and field offices, combined with inter-agency rivalry and uncertain jurisdictions, lead to border management operations that are inconsistent with apparent national (central) policy, illustrated by the complex bureaucracy present in El Paso—the largest urban site on the border. Proposed solutions cluster around improvement of the existing structure (with better equipment, budgets, or staffing) or reorganization of the primary border agencies. Recent efforts by the federal government to introduce changes based on both of these approaches have been markedly unsuccessful, reflecting a continuing inability to resolve fundamental differences of opinion (both intracentral and central-border) on the goals of border policy.     

THE IMPACT OF JUDICIAL IMPACT STATMENTS*

Judicial impact statements, if used indiscriminately, can do little either to protect federal and state judiciaries or assist legislatures. This conclusion emerges clearly from well documented case material available with respect to federal executive experience, the California experience with impact statements, as well as independent interview data which is summarized here. As a result, the broader issue of the reasons and the possible meaning of the currency of such a strategy emerges. Two such issues are addressed here: the behavioral assumptions and power relations that underlie judicial reform.     

STRUCTURE AND AGENCY: CONTESTED CONCEPTS IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

The concepts of ‘structure’ and ‘agency’ have been of central significance to geographic research. This paper focuses on recent debates in critical social geography, and the contributions of Marxist, feminist, and postmodern perspectives to rethinking the structure-agency question. Significant changes in conceptualizing structure and agency are outlined, from early work in Marxist geography to current efforts to grapple with postmodern culture and identity. The paper demonstrates that critical geographic approaches to structure and agency have become more inclusive and nuanced, as researchers have addressed challenges posed by critiques and new perspectives. It concludes by considering the significance of place, space, and social difference in mediating processes of social change and thus in concrete explanations of how the ‘dialectical dance’ of structure and agency unfolds within particular locales. Les concepts de «structure» et d' «action» ont une importance capitate dans les recherches en géographie. Cet article porte sur les débats qui ont récemment eu cours dans le domaine de la géographie sociale critique et sur les contributions apportées par les tenants des points de vue marxiste, féministe et postmoderne dans la reconceptualisation du rapport entre la structure et faction. On y mentionne les importants changements qui ont eu lieu dans le domaine de la conceptualisation des structures et des actions, des premiers travaux effectués en géographie marxiste jusqu'aux récents efforts dé-ployés pour mieux saisir la culture et I'identité postmoderne. Ce texte démontre que dans le domaine de la géographie critique, on voit la structure et faction d'une manière plus englobante et plus nuancée à mesure que les chercheurs se sont penchés sur les défis soulevés par les critiques et les nouvelles perspectives. Nous finissons par évaluer la place qu'occupent I'endroit, I'espace et la différence sociale dans la médiation des processus du changement social - et ainsi dans les explications concrètes des variations de la « danse dialectique » de structure et de faction dans des milieux particuliers.     

COMPARATIVE REGIONAL POLICY IMPACT ANALYSIS: EX POST EVALUATION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND*

ABSTRACT. This paper addresses the issue of ex post impact analysis of regional policies in the European Community. The analysis is both methodological and applied in nature. After a concise overview of existing impact assessment methods, a two-step approach by means of an exploratory frequency method and an explanatory rational expectations-based model is proposed in order to provide an empirical framework for cross-regional comparative evaluation of the performance of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The seope and applicability of the method is illustrated by means of a case study for Dutch regions.