A NOTE ON NEIGHBORHOOD SIZE AND THE MEASUREMENT OF SEGREGATION INDICES*

This note examines neighborhood segregation measures with respect to size and validity. Conventional measures, while related to within-neighborhood homogeneity, are not necessarily related to neighborhood size. An empirical test examines racial segregation for Baltimore in 1970 and 1980 using both census tract and specially formulated neighborhood aggregates. For both years, and for all measures of segregation, the values and trends are essentially unchanged by the level of aggregation.     

A NOTE ON THE LOCATION OF MEDICAL FACILITIES

In this note, I present a method to estimate the desired distance between medical facilities. The survival rate of patients improves when the facility is larger, however larger facilities result in a longer driving distance to the facility which decreases the survival rate. I identify the desired distance between facilities for which the survival rate is maximized.     

A NOTE ON TRANSPORTATION RATES AND LOCATION OF THE FIRM IN A TWO-DIMENSION,n-INPUT SPACE*

This paper examines the theoretical implications of quantity-discounted transportation rates on the optimum location decision of the firm. It shows that the linearly homogeneous or homothetic production function is not a sufficient condition for the independence between the optimum location and the output level, unless (i) the elasticities of transportation rates with respect to quantity shipped are constant and identical, and (ii) the ratios of marginal products 60 the marginal transportation costs are equal for each input.     

IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MEASURES ON THE U.S. ECONOMY

A rapid deterioration in the quality of the environment in the United States has compelled the Government to take a series of actions, including the enactment of remedial legislation. However, the environmental protection measures taken have begun to markedly influence the country's economy, resulting in redistribution of some industries, e.g., the coal mining industry, and in a reduction in the output of some products, for example, a decline in lead production due to the use of nonleaded gasoline. The problems of environmental protection are not purely natural-scientific or technological, but also socio-economic and, hence, class problems. In a capitalist society, environmental protection measures have to be implemented under conditions of sharp conflict between a public value, such as the environment, and private ownership of the means of production, which pollute that environment. (The paper is based largely on materials gathered by the author during a stay of nearly six months in 1974–75 at the University of Illinois. The translation is by R. Bruce Wood, University of Illinois, Urbana.)