FLEXIBLE SPECIALIZATION, UNCERTAINTY, AND THE FIRM: ENTERPRISE STRATEGIES IN THE WOOD REMANUFACTURING INDUSTRY OF THE VANCOUVER METROPOLITAN AREA, BRITISH COLUMBIA

In this paper, we articulate the relationships between strategies of flexible specialization, uncertainty, and the firm in order to emphasize the internal differentiation of flexibly specialized regions. Conceptually, the paper argues that this variability is an implication of uncertainty which has been neglected in the literature. In particular, in response to uncertainty, firms develop different types of flexibility with respect to production, technology, and employment in sometimes novel ways that do not correspond to ideal types. Empirically, the argument is demonstrated through a detailed examination of several case study firms operating in the wood remanufacturing industry of the Vancouver metropolitan area, British Columbia.
Ceffe étude montre comment s'amculent les relations entre les stratégies de spécialisation flexible, les incertitudes du marché et la firme afin de souligner les différenciations à l'intérieur des régions à spécialisation flexible. De façon conceptuelle, on discutera ici du fait que la variabilité découle de l'incertitude du marché, point sur lequel on n'a pas beaucoup écrit. Notamment, pour répondre à l'incertitude, les firmes développent des types différents de flexibilityé portant sur la production, la technologie et la main-d'oeuvre par des moyens quelquefois innovateurs qui ne correspondent pas à des critères idéals. La démonstration est faite, de façon empirique, par un examen détaillé de plusieurs cas de compagnies de I'industrie manufacturière du bois d'oeuvre de la région du Vancouver métropolitain, en Colombie-Britan-nique.
Mots-clés: Spécialisation flexible, incertitudes du marché, industrie manufacturière du bois, stratégic de I'entreprise, Vancouver.     

The Vietnamese Concentration in Cabramatta: Site of Avoidance and Deprivation,or Island of Adjustment and Participation?

The Vietnamese over-representation around Cabramatta in western Sydney has been unfavourably looked upon by politicians, the public and academics. Both inclusionary and exclusionary forces of ethnic concentration have contributed to the concentration of Vietnamese in Cabramatta, in a reflexive and inter-related way that often makes a taxonomy of agency and structure difficult. Evidence from informal interviews with key informants of the Vietnamese communities and from documented international experiences are drawn upon to show us that ethnic concentration is not necessarily a negative phenomenon. The positive aspects of Vietnamese concentration in Cabramatta should be capitalised upon and social theorists should not be so quick always to damn ethnic concentrations.     

AN UPPER PALAEOLITHIC FLINT AND CHERT ASSEMBLAGE FROM HOWBURN FARM,SOUTH LANARKSHIRE,SCOTLAND: FIRST RESULTS

This paper describes the discovery of the first open‐air Upper Palaeolithic site to be found in Scotland, at Howburn, near Biggar in South Lanarkshire. An account is given of the composition and distribution of the lithic assemblage, which is discussed in terms of its British and north‐west European context. Provisional parallels drawn are with the Late Hamburgian (Havelte) sites and assemblages of southern Scandinavia, northern Germany and the Netherlands. There is no absolute dating evidence for the site, but an age in the region of 12,000 ¹⁴C yr BP, towards the end of the earlier (Bølling) Lateglacial Interstadial stage, is proposed on the basis of the lithic artefacts.     

Did the 1996 Federal Election See a Blue-collar Revolt against Labor? A Queensland Case-study

In the immediate wake of the 1996 Australian federal elections pundits variously attributed the ALP's defeat to the loss of its 'heartlands', to the party's failure in government to retain the support of 'battlers', or even to the collapse of Labor's traditional blue-collar 'core' constituency. Using Queensland as a case-study, and drawing on aggregate as well as survey data, this research note provides support for claims that Labor's traditional support base deserted it in 1996.