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.     

THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON THE INCIDENCE OF LUNG CANCER AMONG RURAL RESIDENTS

Lung cancer mortality in the rural areas of Moscow Oblast is found to be virtually identical with data for urban areas. In an effort to establish a set of potential causative factors in rural areas, selected factors are correlated with lung cancer mortality by Moscow Oblast rayons. The highest positive correlation is found for the use of farm pesticides from the carcinogenic dithiocarbamate group, followed by the percentage of workers employed in agriculture, the amount of smoking per capita, the amount of dust-causing plowing, the use of farm machinery (producing exhaust gases) and the use of kerosene (producing household soot). A negative correlation is found between lung cancer and the percentage of white-collar workers employed in rural areas. The selected set of factors accounts for 45 percent of the variance in lung-cancer incidence, but no single specific factor can be isolated to explain the high mortality in rural areas, which evidently stems from a combination of causes.     

THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, AMENITIES AND FISCAL FACTORS ON AGE-SPECIFIC MIGRATION RATES

ABSTRACT. Migration models have considered several different categories of determinants, including economic opportunities, amenities, and state and local fiscal factors. Migration has also been shown to depend on the individual's position in the life cycle. This paper represents a first attempt to integrate all three categories of determinants of migration into a life-cycle framework. Empirical findings generated from a countrywide model of white male migration, over the period 1970 to 1980, reveal that all three types of determinants are important. Specifically, economic opportunities are most influential for males during their working years. Amenities are also found to follow a life-cycle pattern with older migrants more attracted to amenable locations than their younger cohorts. Finally, state income and death taxes display life-cycle effects; working males in their peak earning years are detracted by high income taxes while all migrants aged 55 to 69 avoid counties in states with high inheritance and estate taxes.     

THE IMPACT OF MIGRATION ON MOBILITY OF OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS IN THAILAND

The effect of initial migration of a household member on the subsequent migration of other household members is investigated. Previous research has documented the strong impact of migration experience in predicting future migration. This article builds on this experience by adopting a social network approach to explain the association between an initial migration from a household and the subsequent migration of other household members. Differentials in socio-economic characteristics of subsequent migrants and factors associated with the encouragement of subsequent migration by initial migrants are analysed. Longitudinal data from the Kanchanaburi Demographic Surveillance System, which allow for accurate modelling of the flow and pattern of subsequent migration, and which help to highlight the importance of household social networks on the migration decisions of left-behind household members, are used. The results indicate that the number of male and female initial migrants in the household, duration of initial migration, relationship to initial migrant, and number of migrants in the village are factors most likely to predict a subsequent move.     

MEASURING CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO INTERREGIONAL AGRICULTURAL LABOR PRODUCTIVITY DIFFERENTIALS: A JOINT PROFIT FORMULATION*

ABSTRACT Using Taylor series approximations of joint profit functions, a methodology is outlined to quantify interregional differentials in the Canadian agriculture sector by region and to quantify the contributing factors to regional labor productivity differences. These contributing factors are output price differentials–both crop and livestock, differentials in “land and buildings” capital deepening, “other” capital deepening, energy prices, other material prices, and efficiency. The joint profit formulation permits the analysis of effects of regional specific output price and output mix differentials.     

TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN MANUFACTURING FURTHER EVIDENCE FROM THE STATES*

In this paper, we first develop a measure of total factor productivity (TFP) growth and summarize a source-of-growth analysis for the manufacturing sector of 48 states. As have others, we find little association between TFP growth differentials and output growth differentials for census regions. At the staterather than the regional level, however, we find a positive association between TFP growth and output growth. We use cross-sectional data to estimate the determinants of the variation in TFP growth. Two results emerge that are important for regional policy and for understanding national productivity trends. First, state investments in education and in transportation infrastructure may affect TFP growth. Second, energy price increases in the early 1970s had no differential effects on productivity growth across states. We also explore the determinants of manufacturing output growth and find that TFP growth, demand growth, wage growth, wage levels, and state corporate income tax rates are significant.     

LOCATIONAL FACTORS IN THE DECLINING INDUSTRIAL COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF THE NEW YORK URBAN REGION*

This paper investigates the locational factors that contributed to the decline of the New York urban region's industries during 1972-1975. Based on the static concept of a specialization index, a dynamic comparative advantage index is constructed. A model is then formulated to test the hypothesis that regional competitive advantage (vis-à-vis the nation) is a function of relative disparities in the change of these locational factors. Regression results show that the region's competitive advantage is influenced positively by the differential rate of change in market size, by the differential profit rate before tax, and negatively by the differential rate of change in unit labor cost and in unit energy cost. The differential tax rate does not seem to affect the region's competitive advantage. Nevertheless, a progressive corporate income tax structure tends to neutralize the beneficial effects of the economies of agglomeration and the urban attraction of the region.     

ALMA-ATA CONFERENCE ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF A DROP IN THE LEVEL OF THE ARAL SEA

A large body of empirical data on the dynamics of local travel in the USSR is surveyed to illustrate the influence of commuter movement on the formation and spatial interaction of settlement systems. Correlations are established between commuting patterns and the population levels of cities of different size cateogries. (Translated by Marcia Levenson, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.)