Producer Services,Transaction Activities,and Cities: Rethinking Occupational Categories in Economic Geography

Applying insights from 'new institutional economics' to classify economic activities or occupations avoids some problems for which conventional classifications of services and particularly producer services have long been criticized. In institutionalist thinking the mixture of organizational forms such as market, hierarchy or network in an economy is mainly determined by transaction costs, which can in turn be correlated to specific 'transaction activities'. Typical transaction activities can be identified in markets and in other institutional arrangements, allowing the classification of real economic activities, occupations or firms as transactional or not. Many other commonly applied labels like informational related activities appear comparatively imprecise. This categorization and differentiation sheds new light on discussions about spatial development, from the world city debate to claims about the presumed role of high-tech occupations in metropolitan areas. It is argued that transactional occupations, especially those requiring higher qualifications, can be expected to be highly concentrated in larger agglomerations. In contrast, many non-transactional occupations though requiring high qualifications and usually also regarded as basic for metropolitan economies, like parts of R&D, are not necessarily concentrated there.     

The Task of the Historian

Book reviewed in this article:
Gabrielle M. Spiegel, The past as Text: The Theory and Practice of Medieval Historiography     

How Risk Perceptions Influence Evacuations from Hurricanes and Compliance with Government Directives

In this study we present evidence supporting the view that people's perceived risk of hurricane‐related hazards can be reduced to a single seriousness score that spans different hurricane‐induced risk types and that compliant behavior with official advisories is strongly dependent on whether one perceives a high risk with respect to any type of hurricane‐related hazards. Our analysis suggests that people are less sensitive to risk type than they are to the general seriousness of the risks. Using this single seriousness score, representing a composite risk measure, emergency managers can be informed about the severity of the public's risk perceptions to impending hurricane hazards and might better craft their public directives in ways that minimize disruptive evacuations and achieve greater compliance with government directives.     

Tribute to Frank C. Rose Lifetime Contribution Award 2002

Abstract

The origins of the neonatal neurological examination are described with their common basis attributable to evolutionary theory, the classical neurosciences, clinical neurology, and developmental psychology. It is shown that not only have the techniques of the bedside examination changed over the past half century but the purpose of the examination has also evolved; initially the examination was used to assess maturation of the developing infant, now it is used to determine whether cerebral pathology may be present and whether examination abnormalities are helpful in outcome assessment. The development of several of the current neonatal neurological examinations are reviewed and their clinical and scientific basis examined.     

Exceptional preservation of a prehistoric human brain from Heslington,Yorkshire, UK

Archaeological work in advance of construction at a site on the edge of York, UK, yielded human remains of prehistoric to Romano-British date. Amongst these was a mandible and cranium, the intra-cranial space of which contained shrunken but macroscopically recognizable remains of a brain. Although the distinctive surface morphology of the organ is preserved, little recognizable brain histology survives. Though rare, the survival of brain tissue in otherwise skeletalised human remains from wet burial environments is not unique. A survey of the literature shows that similar brain masses have been previously reported in diverse circumstances. We argue for a greater awareness of these brain masses and for more attention to be paid to their detection and identification in order to improve the reporting rate and to allow a more comprehensive study of this rare archaeological survival.