TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE, INDUSTRIAL EVOLUTION, AND REGIONAL REPERCUSSIONS: THE CASE OF BRITISH SHIPBUILDING

A variant of the structural contingency model is applied to the post-war experience of the British shipbuilding industry to show how technological change has affected the market for ships and compelled shipbuilding firms to adopt a number of responses. These include changes in industrial organization and the promotion of government intervention. Some of the ensuing outcomes are explored in detail by focusing on the industrial impact of the introduction of large tankers and standard ship designs. The regions that have benefited from the interaction of technological change and market demand are also identified.     

EMPLOYMENT CYCLES AND PROCESS INNOVATION IN REGIONAL STRUCTURAL CHANGE*

Regional employment cycles, the demand for skilled and unskilled labor, and process innovations are analyzed in the context of an industry product cycle. Employment fluctuations caused by endogenous technological change lead to spatial decentralization of production facilities through capital relocation and spatial divisions of labor. A capital investment profile suggested by the product cycle scenario is related to employment cycles. A price system for output is outlined in terms of wages and profits over the product cycle.     

REGIONAL CAPITAL FORMATION IN U. S. MANUFACTURING DURING THE 1970s

ABSTRACT The study quantifies the impact of changes in input prices on regional net investment in manufacturing. A neoclassical investment model is estimated for the nation and three regions: North, South, and West. The data base is pooled state observations for the period 1974-78. The regional elasticities of net investment with respect to both input prices and the technology index are computed. The results indicate that net investment is mare sensitive to changes in input prices in the South and West than in the North. The biased technical change affects capital formation the mast in the West.     

WELFARE GAINS FROM REMOVING LAND-USE DISTORTIONS: AN ANALYSIS OF URBAN CHANGE IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA*

ABSTRACT. This paper analyzes the effect of eliminating apartheid land-use restrictions in South Africa using a simplified version of the standard urban model. When freedom of residential location is granted, black township residents compete for land near the center of the core cities, pushing white residents to less accessible locations. Black consumption rises and white consumption falls in response, but the increase in total land rent is sufficient to compensate for white losses. The resulting aggregate welfare gain is a natural consequence of eliminating the distortion imposed by the apartheid system. These conclusions are robust to a number of modifications of the basic model.     

TECHNICAL CHANGE AND PROFITS IN CANADIAN MANUFACTURING: A REGIONAL ANALYSIS

Manufacturing profitability and growth declined sharply in Canada between 1955 and 1984. The spatial extent of this decline has not previously been documented. This article examines manufacturing performance in six regions of Canada. The analysis reveals significant interregional performance differences that appear to be increasing. Two different types of inter-firm competition are identified in the article: competition in production and competition in the market. Empirical investigation reveals that changes in production conditions had a greater impact on regional profitability in five of the six regions studied. In the remaining region, poor market performance was the primary cause of the reduction in profits after 1955.
Au Canada la rentabilité et la croissance industrielle ont profondément diminué entre les années 1955 et 1984. L'ampleur spatiale de cette baisse n'a jamais été docu-mentée. Cette étude examine le comportement et les performances de fabrication dans six régions canadien-nes. De considérables différences inter-régionales, qui semblent toujours s'accentuer sont mises en évidence. Dans cette recherche, deux genres de concurrence entre les societes son identifiés: la concurrence dans la production, et la concurrence dans le marché. L'analyse empi-rique montre que certains changements dans les conditions de production ont eu un effet considérable sur la rentabilité régionale pour cinq des six régions en question. En ce qui concerne la dernière région, la baisse des profits a partir de 1955 est dûe essentiellement à la mauvaise performance du marché.     

THE DEBATE ON WHETHER THE 1980s PRODUCED A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE IN U.S. POLITICS AND POLICIES

John L. Palmer, ed. 1988, Perspectives on the Reagan Years
John E. Chubb and Paul E. Peterson, ecs. 1985. The New Direction in American Politics
Richard Reeves. 1985. The Reagan Detour     

THE BUILD-UP AND DURATION OF SUBSIDY-INDUCED EMPLOYMENT EVIDENCE FROM U.K. REGIONAL POLICY*

ABSTRACT. The paper takes microlevel data on U.K. regional policy instruments and other financial assistance payments to industry to examine the time profile of assisted employment up to five years after the date of assistance. The theoretical analysis indicates factors bearing on the employment effect of industrial assistance and highlights the possibly key role played by the firm's access to private funds. The results from the regression analysis indicate that both the build-up and duration of subsidy-induced jobs vary between assistance form and firm, and that assistance is generally ineffective in large firms. Elsewhere, assisted jobs accumulate over a period of three years, but then are lost to policy at high rates.