The Role of the Resource Base in the Location of Extractive Industry

Despite its close linkage with the resource base, extractive industry displays a pronounced tendency to be located in areas of raw-material consumption. Simple regression analysis suggests a higher correlation coefficient between the distribution of extractive industry and explored reserves than between the industry and total estimated reserves. This alone bears out the significance of economic factors since geological exploration tends to be more active in developed areas than in undeveloped regions. A four-group classification of resources is proposed in terms of the impact of the resource base on the location of extractive industry. The analysis suggests that economic factors are particularly significant in shaping the distributional pattern of widespread bulk resource extraction while the resource base becomes more significant in determining the location of extractive industry using less widespread, high-cost resources.     

THE LOCATION OF METAL-INTENSIVE AND LABOR-INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES IN THE EASTERN REGIONS

The author argues against the widespread view (stated in several articles in Soviet Geography) that labor-intensive industries should be kept out of Siberia because of the shortage of labor resources in that region. Taking the specific example of labor-intensive machinery industry such as instrument-making, as opposed to steel-intensive industry, he points out that labor-intensive plants, by virtue of their smaller size, usually have smaller labor requirements than large heavy-machinery manufacturing plants. Moreover, he argues, location must not be based on total population or total labor resources of a region, but on the availability of so-called free (nonemployed) labor resources, which consist largely of women and of young people just entering upon a career. This category of labor resources happens to be greater in the eastern regions than in the western regions of the Soviet Union. In fact, one reason for the net out-migration from Siberia, according to the author, is that second and third members of households find it difficult to obtain jobs in a regional economy that is largely oriented toward male employment (in extractive industry, timber felling, etc.). The introduction of labor-intensive industries into existing Siberian industrial complexes would thus help provide employment to other household members and eliminate one reason for out-migration.     

Economic Geography in the USSR on the 50th Anniversary of Soviet Power

Economic geography has, since the inception of the Soviet state, played an important utilitarian role in the planning and development of the national economy. The basic research of economic geographers in the preplanning stage should, however, be distinguished from the actual selection of an industrial site or of a railroad alignment, which must be the province of government design and planning agencies. Two approaches can now be noted in Soviet economic geography. One, closely related to economics, deals with the economic factors of economic location; the other, closely related to physical geography, emphasizes the regional approach to the man-environment system.     

Peculiarities of the Geography of Primary Processing

The locational pattern of primary processing industries in the USSR is analyzed in terms of their relationship to the distribution of resource bases of different magnitude and to level of development of extractive industry. Some industry groups, such as coal-based power generation, iron and steel, coke chemicals, sawmilling, tend to gravitate toward regions with large resource bases. Other groups of primary processing, such as glass, ceramics, woodworking, tend to be localized in areas with small resource bases or no local resource base whatever. However, some industry groups that tend to be pulled toward large resource bases (nonferrous metallurgy, oil refining) are also located in part at some distance from raw-material sources under the impact of various economic factors. Conversely, other industry groups that are generally less dependent on local resource bases (woodworking, basic chemicals) also tend to gravitate toward large resource bases that have achieved a high level of extractive industry.     

An Analysis of Factors in the Location of Primary Processing

An analysis of locational factors in the distribution of primary processing industries of the USSR seeks to determine the relative significance of resource location and nonphysical factors such as labor supply, level of industrial development and availability of transportation. Although it is commonly assumed that primary processing industry tends to be oriented toward resource sites, as much as 43 percent of the output of Soviet primary processing originates outside areas of resource extraction. In examining the pull of resource sites, the analysis distinguishes types of spatial processing complexes that are subject to strong, moderate and slight resource orientation. Measures are then developed for the impact of nonphysical factors. Finally, the 129 major civil divisions of the Soviet Union are grouped in a spatial classification of primary processing industry that combines the varying effects of resource location and the nonphysical factors. It is concluded that favorable resource base and favorable nonphysical factors tend to reinforce each other in determining location, but that favorable nonphysical factors may give rise to large-scale primary processing even in absence of a significant resource base.     

四川平武白马生态脆弱地区经济模式变迁评析

历史上白马地区的经济发展经历了从原始的农牧业到消耗型的伐木经济,再到今天的民俗生态旅游和生态农牧经济的变迁。半个多世纪白马人的经济发展告诉我们,凡是以高度消耗自然资源为代价的经济活动都难以持续。白马地区的经济变迁还显示,生态脆弱地区理想的经济结构应当是适应环境特点的多元复合结构,而不能是一条腿走路的单一结构;同时,生态脆弱地区发展生态经济还应当根据当地的自然地理条件,充分发挥当地人民的创造性,走内源发展之路,避免盲目移植外来的经济模式。     

试论经济地理学的研究创新

本文受相关学科的研究启发,并根据作者从事经济地理学的学习和研究体会,提出关于经济地理学研究创新的六点建议:建好基础数据,创新研究方法,激励思维创新,营造创新环境,培养扎实的学风,选择特殊的研究对象。     

The Present State and Future Tasks in the Theory and Method of an Evaluation of the Natural Environment and Resources

The needs of optimal resource development policy in the Soviet Union have given rise to a new interdisciplinary research discipline concerned with the evaluation of the physical environment and natural resources. Evaluations are made of particular environments or resources or an integrated natural complex as a whole (the “object” of the evaluation) from the point of view of particular elements of society or society as a whole (the “subject” of the evaluation). Evaluations may be in terms of social utility, economic cost, technological feasibility, or medical-biological requirements. A number of methodological problems remain to be solved in evaluative research: (1) comparability between evaluations of particular elements and of integrated environments or resource complexes, (2) commensurability of various categories of evaluation (social, economic, technological) of a particular type of environment or resource, (3) the problem of weighting individual elements in integrated evaluations; and (4) the question of converting physical measurements into evaluations on a point scale.     

A Quantitative Approach to Designing a System of Economic Regions of the USSR

The authors state the rationale and describe the technique used to devise a system of seven economic macroregions of the USSR for long-term planning purposes. Since broad resource groups determine the specialization of regional complexes and their specialization in the geographical division of labor, the macroregions were constructed on the basis of homogeneity in key resources, such as manpower, fuels, land, water and transport geography. The new regional system preserves the basic division of the USSR into western and eastern economic zones, and reflects the lower labor and transport costs in the west, and the lower natural-resource costs in the east. The seven-region system, which is already being used in the 15-year plan 1975–1990, is expected to help determine optimal directions of regional development depending on whether regions have surpluses or are short of fuels, electric power, land, water or manpower. The new macroregions were designed by consolidating existing basic economic regions and union republics into larger entities, but the republics may be set apart as subzones for more detailed planning purposes.     

A Natural-Resource Regionalization of the USSR

A regionalization of natural resources is treated as a particular case of economic regionalization, in the sense that it makes an economic interpretation of the physical base of an area from the point of view of its capacity to generate an economic region of appropriate rank. The resource regionalization is based on two particular regionalizations of bioclimatic and mineral resources, yielding a set of 86 regions that combine both types of resources. A typology of resource regions distinguishes seven basic types of regions in which bioclimatic resources are dominant and four basic types in which mineral resources are dominant. Combinations of bioclimatic and mineral resources yield 24 groups of integral resource regions.     

THE GEOGRAPHY OF OCEANS AND ITS BASIC PROBLEMS

The study of oceans as a subfield of geography has gained acceptance in the Soviet Union. Some universities have introduced courses in marine geography, and geographers have participated in oceanographic research voyages. An effort is made here to define the place of a marine geography within the geographic discipline as a whole, to set the spatial limits for geographical investigations of the oceans and to suggest problem areas suitable for geographical analysis. In keeping with the Soviet dichotomy, physical and economic geographic problems are distinguished. Physical-geographic problem areas would include study of oceanic water masses; large-scale interaction between oceans and atmosphere; study of island environments, and the biogeography of oceans. Economic geographic problems would focus both on theoretical aspects, such as spatial regularities in human activities related to oceans, and on applied aspects, providing a sound basis for economic development of ocean areas.     

Present Problems in Soviet Cartography and the Tasks of the Geographical Society

After having long existed as a technical discipline serving the needs of geographers, cartography in the Soviet Union has become increasingly a research discipline involving many common interests with geography. Collaboration between cartographers and geographers is becoming increasingly essential as more attention is being given to thematic cartography involving not only particular disciplines (geomorphology, economic geography, population geography) but what may be called an integrated “geographical” cartography. Much effort continues to be devoted in the Soviet Union to the compilation of regional atlases and to a wide range of thematic maps. Increasing attention is being given to the production of evaluative maps, assessing the potential use of the physical environment and natural resources. School maps represent a major part of Soviet map production. Tourist and hiking maps need to be seriously improved.     

Economic Geographic Relations in the Post-Soviet Republics

A senior American economic geographer examines a broad array of geographical factors affecting economic relations among the Soviet successor states (particularly Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan) and relations among their constituent regions. Special attention is devoted to legacies of unequal resource endowment and infrastructure development from the Soviet period (e.g., monopolization and spatial concentration of production capacity, “trunklining” of distribution nets) and other factors perpetuating dependency relationships in post-Soviet economic space. 3 tables, 66 references.     

我国西部不发达区域自然资源要素转换的若干思考

西部不发达区域是我国自然资源密集地区,极具开发潜力,其经济成长采取自然资源转换模式具有客观必然性。但是传统的自然资源要素转换模式已严重制约着西部地区经济的持续发展。本通过对西部地区自然资源优势、资源开发中的技术结构和利益分配机制以及资源转换模式等问题的系统思考,提出了提升区域自然资源转换模式的构想。     

转型期俄罗斯区域经济发展空间差异研究

本文从区域地理的视角,通过对俄罗斯转型以来的经济地带、基本经济区、联邦区和联邦主体四个不同层面的区域经济发展空间差异的现状进行动态分析,得出俄区域经济发展差异具有三个鲜明的特征:一是无论在其经济整体下降或增长的同时均伴随着区域之间经济发展差异的绝对或相对扩大过程;二是区域之间经济发展空间差异反映了市场经济在不同区域的作用,即在市场条件基础较好和资源性外向型经济发展有利的区域经济增长优于其他区域;三是形成了大量的"低水平塌陷"区域,即经济指标低于全俄平均数的问题区域数量多,覆盖面大。在此基础上,从自然因素、市场发育水平、体制因素以及社会历史因素等方面探讨了各因素在区域经济发展中的不同作用。     

Scientific Principles of the General Outline for the Location of Productive Forces of the USSR for the Period up to 1970

The Council for the Study of Productive Forces, the preplanning economic research agency of the USSR, has completed a general outline for economic development of the Soviet Union over the period 1971–1980. The general outline contains sections devoted to particular sectors of the economy, to particular republics and economic regions, and to major areal development complexes. It is the result of a five-year effort that involved 20,000 scholars and technicians associated with 560 research and planning agencies. The present paper deals with the fundamental principles that guided the drafting of this 10-year development program, which has not been published. The paper focuses on five aspects that have been of particular relevance in resolving location problems: (1) the accelerating rate of scientific and technical progress, (2) the assuring of the proper territorial proportions in economic development, (3) the formation of new regions and economic complexes, (4) new problems in the man-nature relationship, notably environmental pollution, and (5) the close relationship between systems of settlement and the location of development projects.     

中国环境税负空间累进性测度及其影响效应分析

本文从人文地理学的社会空间公正理念出发,以经济学的"蓝色红利"视角为切入点,探讨了中国区域环境税负空间差异问题。研究表明我国环境税负空间累进性与区域经济发展水平存在显著的正相关关系。经济区域中,北部沿海、东部沿海、东北、黄河中游以及南部沿海地区的环境税负空间累进性指数较大,长江中游、西南及西北地区则表现出负的空间溢出效应,环境税加大了区域间的收入差距;传统三大区域中,东部地区和中部地区的环境税负具有空间累进特性。此外,西部地区的资源税起到了更好的税收调节作用。资源成本的增加促使使用者提高资源利用效率,抑制需求,有助于将资源消费控制在一个合理的水平,实现收入的合理分配和不可再生资源的可持续利用。排污费则扭曲了税收分配机制,降低了生产要素的配置效率。鉴于此,从新区域主义的"统筹理念"出发,提出了构建区域环境税负空间公正性的设计机制。     

SOVIET ASIAN-PACIFIC TRADE AND THE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOVIET FAR EAST

During the 1970s and early 1980s it was generally accepted, by both Soviet and Western specialists, that in the Soviet Far East the expansion of exports to the nations of the Pacific Basin offered a solution to the region's economic problems. However, recent policy statements suggest the rejection of this export-led development strategy. This study examines the changing structure and dynamics of Soviet trade with the Asian-Pacific region. At present, for a combination of economic and political reasons, Soviet trade with the Asian-Pacific region is dominated by exports of machinery and equipment and petroleum to the socialist nations of the region, inasmuch as Japanese demand for Soviet natural resources is stagnant. Therefore, because of the resource orientation of the Far Eastern economy, contemporary trade relations do not favor the expansion of the Soviet Far Eastern export base. Consequently, the future role of the region in the national economic system will be determined largely by the availability of domestic capital investment funds.     

Natural Resources,Innovative Milieux and the Environmentally Sustainable Development of Regions1

Traditional economic theory views natural resources as production factors to be exploited for the benefit of society. However, for this exploitation to be sustainable it must take into account the conservation and/or renewal of the resource. Increasingly, development projects have come to regard natural resources as essential elements of the local environment that must be exploited in ways that ensure future generations can also benefit from them. This process has been termed “patrimonialization”. In this article it is shown that the constructive development of natural resources and the environmentally sustainable development of regions are closely linked and the role of innovative milieux in defining the nature of local development projects is examined.     

Some Thoughts on the Subject of Historical Geography

A geographical historical geography, concerned with the history of development of the landscape, is distinguished from the historian's historical geography, dealing with the geography of countries and regions in the past and the history of development of cities and transport routes. The aim of the geographer's approach to historical geography is to characterize changes in the natural environment during historical times, to map landscapes from the point of view of their evolution and to classify and regionalize them on the basis of genetic principles. For this purpose, historical geography is to be distinguished from paleogeography, which should be limited to evolution of the landscape in prehistoric times.