TRADE CENTER EVOLUTION IN THE GREAT PLAINS*

ABSTRACT Empirical analysis has lagged behind the impressive additions to the theoretical literature on trade center systems during the past 15 years. This study of the trade center system in Saskatchewan is an attempt to begin to redress the imbalance and to test some of the recently formulated theoretical propositions. Communities are identified according to functional classifications for 1961 and 1981 with the aid of a cluster analysis program, and the validity of the groupings are verified using multiple discriminant analysis. Changes in the size, spacing, and function of clusters and individual communities during the 20-year interval are described and an effort is made to prdvide explanations for the changes observed.     

A CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE JOURNEY-TO-SHOP WITH PRICE UNCERTAINTY*

ABSTRACT In this paper we extend the contextual theory of demand to consider rational consumer behavior when the household must deal with some random fluctuation in the prices it faces. Prices at stores reflect “advertised specials,” which are potential cost reductions random across goods, and random in-store price changes, which can only be observed by visiting the store. Our theory of rational behavior includes: (1) calculation by the household of an ex ante plan for its planning period; (2) modification to take account of advertised specials; and (3) rational search behavior to take advantage of random fluctuations observable only on a given day. This theory utilizes an active cash balance as a buffer against random variations from planned daily expenditures, and reformulations of trip circuits to account for patterns of cost-minimizing search.     

A HEDONIC MODEL OF INTERREGIONAL WAGES,RENTS, AND AMENITY VALUES*

ABSTRACT This paper develops a general multimarket hedonic model appropriate for a national, interregional study of wages, housing prices, and location-specific amenities. The model encompasses the effects of interregional location, intraurban location, and city size. Typically, hedonic studies focus on a single market such as labor or housing and ignore interactions implicit in a more global compensation mechanism. Examination of the comparative statics of our model indicates that single-market differentials are partial prices and are unreliable measures of amenity values in an interregional context. Unbiased amenity values are estimated for a comprehensive set of amenities using data on housing prices for 34,414 households and wages for 46,004 workers from the 1980 Census of Population and Housing. Statistically significant differences in housing prices and wages are found due to amenities.     

GAMBLING IS HARD WORK: CARD PLAYING IN TIWI SOCIETY

This paper examines the gambling activities of Tiwi women and men of North Australia and situates the activities within the anthropology of work. It is shown that gambling for money redistributes an unequal resource (wages and pensions) while the derivative game using beer rather than money redistributes an equal resource unequally. The principal conclusion is that for women the activity may be equated to foraging — a low risk activity but fundamental for personal status in that it is directed toward providing daily subsistence, while for men the activity closely resembles hunting — a high risk activity where success is less likely but also essential for personal status.     

SINGING SUBJECTS AND SACRED OBJECTS: MORE ON MUNN'S ‘TRANSFORMATION OF SUBJECTS INTO OBJECTS’ IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN MYTH

Nancy Munn's ‘The Transformation of Subjects into Objects in Walbiri and Pitjantjatjara Myth’ is a landmark in our understanding of the processes by which the Aboriginal world is created and sustained. Her paper is summarised and then related to similar concerns extant among the neighbouring Aranda. Munn's account of relationships between people and country is shown to be part of a wider reality encompassing all stages of the life-cycle and characterised by a triple dialectic between ‘surface’ and ‘depth‘, between male and female, and between life and death. The study is preliminary to a psychological account of these dialectical processes to be published at a later date.