DISTANCE FROM URBAN AGGLOMERATION ECONOMIES AND RURAL POVERTY*

ABSTRACT Despite strong national economic growth and significant poverty reduction during the late 1990s, high poverty persisted in remote rural areas. This study uses a geographical information system county database to examine the nexus between rural U.S. poverty and remoteness. We find that poverty rates increase with greater rural distances from successively larger metropolitan areas (MAs). We explain this outcome as arising from the attenuation of urban agglomeration effects at greater distances and incomplete commuting and migration responses to lower labor demand in rural areas. One implication is that remote areas may particularly experience greater reductions in poverty from place‐based economic development policies.     

试析美国阿巴拉契亚地区贫困的历史原因

19世纪中期发达的阿巴拉契亚地区在二战后沦为联邦政府扶贫的对象,个中原因错综复杂。生存农业向商品农业转变滞后,产业结构调整缓慢,地区经济落后于发展潮流。外地业主控制矿产资源,抑制当地资本积累,削弱经济发展动力。居民思想观念保守,文化素质偏低,妨碍阿巴拉契亚地区融入美国主流社会。这些因素导致阿巴拉契亚地区经济投资环境恶化,地区经济社会陷入恶性循环的困境。     

Poverty Reduction with Growth and Redistribution

In the late 1990s the bilateral and multilateral development agencies placed increasing emphasis on poverty reduction in developing countries. This led to the establishment by the United Nations of the ‘International Development Targets’ for poverty reduction. The target of poverty reduction might be achieved through faster economic growth alone, through redistribution, or through a combination of the two. This article presents an analytical framework to assess the effectiveness of growth and redistribution for poverty reduction. It concludes that redistribution, either of current income or the growth increment of income, is more effective in reducing poverty for a majority of countries than growth alone.     

The Debate on Globalization, Poverty and Inequality: Why Measurement Matters

In the last year or so, markedly different claims have been heard within the development community about just how much progress is being made against poverty and inequality in the current period of 'globalization'. This article provides a non-technical overview of the conceptual and methodological issues underlying these conflicting claims. It argues that the dramatically different positions taken in this debate often stem from differences in the concepts and definitions used and differences in data sources and measurement assumptions. These differences are often hidden from view in the debate, but they need to be considered carefully if one is properly to interpret the evidence. The article argues that the best available evidence suggests that, if the rate of progress against absolute poverty in the developing world in the 1990s is maintained, then the Millennium Development Goal of halving the 1990 aggregate poverty rate by 2015 will be achieved on time in the aggregate, though not in all regions. The article concludes with some observations on the implications for policy-oriented debates on globalization and pro-poor growth.     

APPALACHIAN POLICY, THE CORPORATE STATE, AND AMERICAN VALUES: A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE

This paper explores the historical interplay of Appalachia and America over the past hundred years. The focus is on questions of culture and ideology, policy and values as these have been constituted in the development of our “corporate state” and its penetration and integration of the region. A careful examination of Henry Shapiro's Appalachia on our Mind brings to the surface many of the assumptions and values generally underlying the social and public policies binding the nation and the region. Ideological aspects in the genesis of the region as a social problem receive considerable attention. It becomes apparent that understanding Appalachia hinges on critical, historical perspectives on modern America: the liberal tradition, the technological world-view, and the politicized economy of the corporate state. The notion that “time stood still” in Appalachia (the static image) has developed in ways that deflect or obscure comprehension of the region's particular form of modernization.     

Free Trade Agreements and the Neo-Liberal Economic Paradigm: Economic,Ecological, and Moral Consequences

Abstract

Since signing and implementing the North American Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the early 1990s, the United States has pursued other free trade agreements with nations in Latin America and Asia. The premise undergirding FTAs is that trade liberalization within the neo-liberal global economy produces economic growth and development among all parties, and reduces poverty in poor nations. We examine arguments of proponents of free trade and the neo-liberal economy— particularly those of Martin Wolf, author of Why Globalization Works— to test these claims. We explore alternatives that center on norms of ecological sustainability and social justice, holding these two as inseparable. The central moral question of how to achieve needed socioeconomic development in the Global South in ways that are both ecologically sustainable and socially just frames our analysis. We conclude by proposing five principles for an alternative, more sustainable and equitable economic paradigm.     

Capacity for Freedom – Using a New Poverty Measure to Look at Regional Differences in Living Standards within Australia

Using a recently developed measure of multidimensional poverty, the Freedom Poverty Measure, the difference in poverty rates of major cities, inner regional, and other areas have been compared. The population living in ‘other areas’ had the highest proportion of individuals living in freedom poverty. Those in inner regional areas (P = 0.0303) and those in major cities (P < 0.0001) were significantly less likely to be in freedom poverty than those in ‘other areas’. However, when breaking the analysis down to look at the different poverty rates for different age groups across the three regional classifications, it was found that there was no difference in the likelihood of being in freedom poverty between children in inner regional and other areas, adults in inner regional and other areas, and older people in inner regional and other areas. This may indicate that the disadvantage experienced by those living in regional centres has been overlooked in the past and is an emerging contemporary issue for health and education equity as well as economic equality.     

OPTIMAL REGIONAL GROWTH MODELS: MULTIPLE OBJECTIVES, SINGULAR CONTROLS, AND SUFFICIENCY CONDITIONS

ABSTRACT We develop a generalized Harrod-Domar type of model for optimal regional growth which allows determination of the optimal allocation of regional public investments and which considers multiple growth objectives, as well as both normal and singular fiscal instruments. This general model is shown to include most of the previous optimal regional growth models as special cases. Necessary conditions for some special cases of the general model are analyzed in detail, and decision rules associated with derived optimal regional growth policies are articulated. These special cases verify that singular controls do exist in certain instances, and that they must be considered for the complete specification of optimal regional growth policies; this is significant because singular controls have not been previously analyzed in the literature. We conclude the paper with a discussion of sufficiency conditions for optimal regional growth models which is more general than that given by previous authors.     

Appalachian Anxiety: Race,Gender, and the Paradox of “Purity” in an Age of Empire, 1873–1901

Abstract

This article positions emergent interest in the southern mountains at the end of the nineteenth century within the broader context of U.S. imperialism and immigration. In these years, observers proclaimed that the Appalachian South was a reserve of “pure American stock.” Accordingly, Appalachian people were said to have provided a bulwark to the effects of immigration within the nation, but equally as crucial, the region was protected from the supposedly dangerous racial contamination that occurred from exposure to, and contact with, colonized peoples abroad. However, other observers recorded dangerous levels of moral and behavioral decline in the mountain South. This article exposes the tension of an allegedly superior population that is perceived to have declined into abject poverty and moral depravity. Doing so provides insight as to why Appalachia looms as a contradictory place of much fascination in the U.S. cultural imaginary.     

The Causes of Regional Variations in U.S. Poverty: A Cross-County Analysis

The persistence of poverty in the modern American economy, with rates of poverty in some areas approaching those of less advanced economies, remains a central concern among policy makers. Therefore, in this study we use U.S. county-level data to explore potential explanations for the observed regional variation in the rates of poverty. The use of counties allows examination of both nonmetropolitan area and metropolitan area poverty. Factors considered include those that relate to both area economic performance and area demographic composition. Specific county economic factors examined include economic growth, industry restructuring, and labor market skills mismatches.     

Inequality,Growth, Poverty and Lunar Eclipses: Policy and Arithmetic

Alleviating poverty, mitigating inequality and achieving growth are all acknowledged goals of development, whatever the degree of success with which these goals might have been addressed in various economies of the world. Apart from questions of resolve and genuine commitment, what makes it hard to engage with these goals is that the pursuit of any one of them does not necessarily secure the ends of either or both of the other two. Such engagement requires a measure of conceptual clarity, an identification of normative priorities, and the deployment of carefully crafted policies that accommodate trade-offs among competing goals. In particular, policies such as the single-minded pursuit of growth as a panacea for all the difficulties of development appear to be misguided, and based on a faulty application of deductive reasoning to past experience. These issues are addressed here by attending to some elementary arithmetic revolving around the measurement of money-metric poverty and inequality, and the decomposition of poverty changes into effects attributable to growth and distributional changes.     

The political economy of maize production and poverty reduction in Zambia: analysis of the last 50 years

Poverty and food security are endemic issues in much of sub-Saharan Africa. To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger in the region remains a key Millennium Development Goal. Many African governments have pursued economic reforms and agricultural policy interventions in order to accelerate economic growth that reduces poverty faster. Agricultural policy regimes in Zambia in the last 50 years (1964–2008) are examined here to better understand their likely impact on food security and poverty, with an emphasis on the political economy of maize subsidy policies. The empirical work draws on secondary sources and an evaluation of farm household data from three villages in the Kasama District of Zambia from 1986/87 and 1992/93 to estimate a two-period econometric model to examine the impact on household welfare in a pre- and post-reform period. The analysis shows that past interventions had mixed effects on enhancing the production of food crops such as maize. While such reforms were politically popular, it did not necessarily translate into household-level productivity or welfare gains in the short term. The political economy of reforms needs to respond to the inherent diversity among the poor rural and urban households. The potential of agriculture to generate a more pro-poor growth process depends on the creation of new market opportunities that most benefit the rural poor. The state should encourage private sector investments for addressing infrastructure constraints to improve market access and accelerate more pro-poor growth through renewed investments in agriculture, rural infrastructure, gender inclusion, smarter subsidies and regional food trade. However, the financing of such investments poses significant challenges. There is a need to address impediments to the effective participation of public private investors to generate more effective poverty reduction and hunger eradication programmes. This article also explores the opportunities for new public–private investments through South–South cooperation and Asia-driven growth for reducing poverty in Zambia.     

转型时期我国城市贫困研究述评

本文基于地理学、规划学和社会学视角,在“过程-互动-行动”研究框架下,统计分析1990年代以来我国城市贫困研究的文献数量和内容演变情况,论述了研究分布与社会经济转型和社会救助政策密切相关。在综合述评每类研究的主要观点基础上,论文指出目前研究存在几方面问题:缺少贫困阶层社会空间研究,缺少与城市发展、城市空间结构的关系研究,缺少对贫困阶层需求和空间资源公平配置的研究,并探讨对未来城市研究的启示。     

Manufacturing and Regional Economic Growth in Turkey: A Spatial Econometric View of Kaldor's Laws

In this paper, the regional economic growth process of Turkey during the period 1990–2000 is analysed within the context of Kaldor's laws. The validity of Kaldor's three growth laws is empirically tested by spatial econometric methods as well as traditional econometric method. The empirical results reported in this paper demonstrate the validity of the laws for Turkey over the period under discussion. In testing the first law, spatial dependence is detected. The presence of spatial dependence indicates that the growth of neighbouring regions (and indirectly, the growth of their manufacturing sectors) has an effect on the growth of a region. All the empirical findings suggest that manufacturing has a key role in regional economic growth.     

Information Age Ireland: The Attraction,the Reality and Never Ending Geography

This paper is an attempt to probe deeper behind the well-documented success story of the Irish economy over the 1990s. Over the decade, the country experienced unparalleled levels of economic growth that saw unemployment levels plummet, inflation levels stabilize and inward investment rise at a substantial rate. Growth rates of gross national product (GNP) best surmise the Irish case, the tigerish performance brought the country from one with a per capita GNP two-thirds of the European Union (EU) average in 1987, to one which exceeded the average 10 years later. An exposition of Ireland's pursuit of a foreign direct investment (FDI) development model forms a major part of this work. Recognizing the importance of FDI in Ireland, and FDI in the software sector in particular, this paper shows how and why investors flocked into the country over the golden era of the 1990s. Exogenously, Ireland's place on the outskirts of one of the world's biggest markets made it an alluring option for outside investors. Endogenously, the rationale behind the pursuit of high-tech FDI policy, beyond employment creation was the expected spill-over effects of multinational companies (MNCs) on the local economy. Questions are asked about the nature of positive externalities both in terms of the growth of an indigenous sector alongside a foreign-owned one as well as the sustainability of this type of investment. Changes in the organizational structures of MNCs over the 1990s, through decentralization of activities and outsourcing are integral to the Irish success story. Organizational transformation resulting in networks of global production have helped Ireland, as a peripheral region, to reposition itself as an access point to the lucrative European market. The geographic alteration on the national level however, has not been recreated on the sub-national scale. Contrary to the writings of many technology determinists, Ireland's pursuit of an information economy has had a very real impact in terms of regional economic divergence within the country. The lack of coherent regional or spatial planning is to blame along with a telecommunications infrastructure that has exacerbated the regional woes of an economy with an explicit focus on high-technology industries.     

Poverty Reduction and SAM Multipliers: An Evaluation of Public Policies in a Regional Framework

The objective of this paper is to obtain several poverty reduction effects by using multipliers based on social accounting matrices. Expressions relating them to Foster, Greer and Thorbecke poverty measures were derived, and two simulations were carried out for the Spanish region of Extremadura. In the first, we posited a per capita transfer equivalent to certain social policy instruments already existing in this region. Structural path analysis is also used to determine the paths by which poverty reduction effects are transmitted. In the second, we calculate the minimum government expenditure in transfers needed to reduce the regional poverty indices to the national values. The results confirmed that the main feature of poverty in Extremadura is incidence.     

西安新城市贫困空间固化及其治理研究——基于空间正义视角

新城市贫困空间固化及其治理研究,对破解城市发展不平衡不充分,促进城市社会公平公正具有重要理论和现实意义。基于西安市街道尺度问卷调查数据,采用贫困综合指数和构建空间固贫指数,在GIS技术支持下,对西安新城市贫困空间时空演化和固化趋势进行研究,并以空间正义为视角,提出西安新城市贫困空间固化治理方案。结果表明：①研究期内,西安新城市贫困程度不断减轻,贫困空间分布异质性明显,贫困空间演化整体上由放射状嵌套分布向圈层分布转变;②西安新城市贫困空间固化正在形成,空间固贫指数较高街道集中在内城衰退区,城市边缘失地农民聚居区、流动人口聚居区和遗址保护区;③西安新城市贫困空间固化治理要以空间正义思想为指引,在弘扬价值正义、制度正义和政策正义基础上,构建空间正义“起点-过程-结果”三位一体保障体系,确保城市空间生产公平公正。     

中国集中连片特困地区贫困户致贫原因诊断及其帮扶需求分析

基于问卷调查和GIS空间分析,深入剖析贫困户的致贫原因与帮扶需求,识别不同地区的主要致贫原因与帮扶需求类型,探明二者的空间分布特征及其内在关联,并提出相应减贫对策。结果显示：①贫困具有多维性和多重内涵,贫困户的致贫原因类型多样、程度不等,但总体上收入和社会保障不足是其最普遍的致贫原因。贫困地区的主要致贫原因差别显著,同一致贫原因的致贫程度呈现明显地域特征。②贫困户帮扶需求类型多样化,但加大资金帮扶力度、提高基本公共服务水平是其最迫切的需求。贫困地区最主要的帮扶类型差别明显,对同一帮扶类型的需求程度不尽相同。③致贫原因在较大程度上影响着帮扶需求的类型及其空间分布,但不起决定性作用,二者存在错位现象。     

ENTREPRENEURSHIP,INFORMATION, AND GROWTH

We examine the contribution to economic growth of entrepreneurial marketplace information within a regional endogenous growth framework. Entrepreneurs are posited to provide an input to economic growth through the information revealed by their successes and failures. We empirically identify this information source with the regional variation in establishment births and deaths. To account for the potential endogeneity caused by forward‐looking entrepreneurs, we utilize instruments based on historic mining activity. We find that the information spillover component of local establishment birth and death rates have significant positive effects on subsequent entrepreneurship and employment growth for U.S. counties and metropolitan areas.     

河南省县域贫困程度及影响因素分析

贫困地区的地理识别,是区域扶贫政策精准、有效实施的前提。以经济指标衡量河南省县域相对贫困程度,并借助有序logit回归模型分析社会经济发展、自然条件、区位交通、历史基础4类变量16个影响因子对区域贫困状况的影响程度。分析发现,河南省县域综合经济发展水平存在较大的区域差异,经济发展水平相对较低的县域多分布在豫西和豫东南,且区域内存在部分潜在贫困县。回归分析结果表明,工业化水平、居民储蓄水平、气温、湿度、到最近城市的距离、国道道路密度、期初经济水平7个因子对县域贫困程度影响显著。地区扶贫政策实施过程中,在重视经济因素的减贫效应时,也应重视自然因素的致贫效应,政府主导,因地制宜,逐步实现区域协调发展。