IMPERFECT INFORMATION,UNCERTAINTY AND OPTIMAL SAMPLING IN LOCATION THEORY: AN INITIAL REEXAMINATION OF HOTELLING,WEBER, AND VON THÜNEN*

ABSTRACT Sophisticated locational analysis should no longer proceed without examining (1) the feasibility of reducing uncertainty about the size and spatial spread of the market, prices and other elements and (2) the practicality of information generation through sampling. The present paper points out the methodology for Hotelling-, Weberian- and von Thünen- type location problems by examining simplified situations.     

A COMMODITY-REGIONAL MODEL OF WEST VIRGINIA*

This paper presents the specification, estimation, validation, and application of a modeling study which analyzes the possible impacts of a resource industry on a state economy. The Commodity Regional Econometric Annual Macro Model of West Virginia (CREAM model) is composed of a commodity model of the West Virginia coal industry and a macroeconometric regional model of the West Virginia state economy. The model describes the detailed interrelationship between the primary commodity sector and the rest of the economy of the region. The CREAM model utilizes the concept of engine of growth at the regional level and shows the impacts of market fluctuations in the demand for and value of coal on the economy of the state.     

Ata's Speech at the Royal Kava Ceremony Installation of Tu‘i Kanokupolu Tupou V on 30 July 2008: A Response to the Tongan Democracy Movement

His Majesty King George Tupou V, who reigned as the king of Tonga from 2008 to 2012, inherited near-absolute political power from his predecessors, yet two days before his coronation he announced that he would relinquish that power and granted amendments to the Tongan constitution, thereby making Tonga democratic. Innovative additions to the conventional speech made by the chief Ata at his taumafa kava installation ceremony as the 23rd Tu‘i Kanokupolu, on 30 July 2008 in Nuku‘alofa, suggest that the speech was composed by, or at the behest of, Tupou V himself to express his view of the contemporary ideology of his dynasty. The speech consists of 92 lines of traditionally styled Tongan poetry that rehearse the origins, history and achievements of the Tu‘i Kanokupolu dynasty, frequently employing pre-existing phraseology. Twenty-five anomalies of rhyme indicate that the speech was composed on the basis of a pre-existing composition and redacted to remind Tongans of particular aspects of the past and present character of the Tu‘i Kanokupolu dynasty.     

Cost-benefit appraisal of the industrial areas programme in Greece: Findings and implications

This is the second paper reporting on research which has attempted an evaluation of the performance of the Industrial Areas Programme in Greece. The programme itself has the objective of promoting industrial development in selected regions of Greece mainly through the provision of land and industrial infrastructure. It began in 1968. This research is about the cost-effectiveness of this policy and the methodologies used are those based on cost-benefit analysis. These were discussed in the first paper. This paper reports on the results of several different types of analysis. Although the research findings illustrate a wide variety in the levels of performance across the industrial areas selected for study, it is difficult not to conclude that the initiative in general has provided the state with good value for money.