Evidence on economies of scale in local public service provision: A meta-analysis

The standard theory of optimal jurisdictional size hinges on the existence of economies of scale in the provision of local public goods and services. However, despite its relevance for forced local amalgamation programs and related policies, the empirical evidence on the existence of such economies of scale remains elusive. The main goal of this paper is to produce an updated and comprehensive quantitative review of the existence of economies of scale in the provision of local public goods using a meta-analysis approach to systematize the wide range of empirical approaches and modeling frameworks found in the previous literature. Our analysis confirms the presence of moderately increasing to constant returns to scale in the provision of local services with no reduction in the average costs of production in the delivery of most local public services beyond a certain, modest jurisdictional size, which many studies have estimated at 10,000 residents. Also, the potential for economies of scale differs at least across three traditional services: education, water and sanitation, and garbage collection, being highest for education and lowest for garbage collection. Our analysis also offers guidelines for future empirical research in this area. Physical output and production cost data should be used, together with translog specifications for the modeling of cost functions. Last, we find evidence that the determinants of output cost elasticity include bidirectional publication bias and population density but do not include the presence or absence of modern “lean” production technologies or the (perceived) capital intensity of the sector, contrary to conventional wisdom. These findings have significant policy implications for countries considering jurisdictional consolidation programs.     

SOCIAL CHANGE AND METALWORKING IN THE EARLY IRON AGE: AN APPROACH FROM NORTH-WEST IBERIA

This paper analyses social transformations in the Early Iron Age based on a holistic and longue durée approach applied to the first fortified habitats in the Iberian north-west. Through a comprehensive review of two paradigmatic settlements of the EIA in the province of A Coruña (Galicia, north-west Iberia), Punta de Muros and A Graña, a comparison is drawn between the social and territorial dynamics of this period by means of an in-depth analysis of the main characteristics of both settlements. Accordingly, a greater level of social complexity during the phases of occupation of the settlement of Punta de Muros has been identified, in contrast to the resistance to change observed in A Graña. Based on these conclusions, the role of metalworking and its symbolic value in fostering and legitimizing these social and territorial transformations and in the development of Iron Age communities are analysed.     

Book reviews

Walker Connor. Ethnonationalism. The Quest for Understanding. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994. xiii + 234 pp. No price given.

Elie Kedourie. Nationalism. Fourth, expanded edition. Oxford: Blackwell, 1993. xxi + 154 pp. $32.95 (paper).

Thomas Hylland Eriksen. Ethnicity and Nationalism. Anthropological Perspectives. London: Pluto Press, 1993. ix + 179 pp. £25.00 (cloth), £9.95 (paper).

David Brown. The State and Ethnic Politics in Southeast Asia. London: Routledge, 1994. xxi + 354 pp.

Ted Robert Gurr. Minorities at Risk. A Global View of Ethnopolitical Conflicts. Washington: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1993. xii + 427 pp. $US37.50 (cloth), $US24.95 (paper).

Guntram F.A. Werther. Self‐Determination in Western Democracies. Aboriginal Politics in a Comparative Perspective. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1992. xxxvi + 113 pp. $US43.00 (cloth).

Morton H. Halpern and David J. Scheffer with Patricia L. Small. Self‐Determination in the New World Order. Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1992. xiv + 178 pp. No price given.

Kamal S. Shehadi. Ethnic Self‐Determination and the Break‐up of States. Adelphi Paper 283. London: International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1993. 90 pp. £10.00 (paper).

Miron Rezun (ed.). Nationalism and the Breakup of an Empire: Russia and its Periphery. Westport: Praeger, 1992. x + 197 pp. US$42.95 (cloth).

Garry Tompf (ed.) Islands and Enclaves. Nationalisms and Separatist Pressures in Islands and Littoral Contexts. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Ltd, 1993. xxxv + 379 pp. No price given.

David Little. Sri Lanka. The Invention of Enmity. Washington: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1994. xxxviii + 175 pp. $US14.95 (paper).

Ralph R. Premdas. Ethnicity and Development: The Case of Fiji. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, DP46, 1993. 50 pp. No price given.

P.J. Boyce and J.R. Angel (eds). Diplomacy in the Marketplace: Australia in World Affairs 1981–90. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, 1992. xi + 330 pp. $26.50 (paper).

Jim George. Discourses of Global Politics: A Critical (Re)Introduction to International Relations. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1994. xi + 265pp. $US45.00 (cloth), $US18.95 (paper).

Claire T. Sjolander and Wayne Cox (eds). Beyond Positivism: Critical Reflections on International Relations. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1994. x + 203 pp. $US35.00 (cloth).

Lawrence Freedman, Paul Hayes and Robert O'Neill (eds). War, Strategy and International Politics: Essays in Honour of Sir Michael Howard. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992. xi + 322 pp. No price given.

Craig N. Murphy and Roger Tooze (eds). The New International Political Economy. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1991. vii + 237 pp. $US33.00 (cloth), $US15.95 (paper).

Hugh Smith (ed.). Peacekeeping, Challenges for the Future. Canberra: Australian Defence Studies Centre, Australian Defence Force Academy, 1993. xiv + 229 pp. $20.00 (paper).

Gary T. Gardner. Nuclear Nonproliferation: A Primer. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1994. xiii + 141 pp. $US25.00 (cloth), $US10.95 (paper).

Jack Donnelly. International Human Rights. Boulder: Westview Press, 1993. xvi + 206 pp. $US39.95 (cloth), $US12.95 (paper).

Luther Martin (ed.). Religious Transformations and Socio‐Political Change: Eastern Europe and Latin America. Berlin: Moutonde Gruyter, 1993. xiv + 457 pp. DM198.00 (cloth).

Bronislaw Misztal and Anson Shupe (eds). Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective: Revival of Religious Fundamentalism in East and West. Westport: Praeger, 1992. xii + 223 pp. $US45.00 (cloth).

Jeff Hayes. Religion in Third World Politics. Buckingham: Open University Press, 1993. ix + 166 pp. $39.95 (paper).

John Francis. The Politics of Regulation: A Comparative Perspective. Oxford: Blackwell, 1993. xi + 289 pp. $45.00 (paper).

Philip Bell and Roger Bell. Implicated: The United States in Australia. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1993. xii + 220 pp. $19.95 (paper).

Stephen E. Ambrose. Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938. 7th revised edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. xvi + 428 pp. $16.95 (paper).

Amos Kiewe (ed.). The Modern Presidency and Crisis Rhetoric. Westview: Praeger, 1994. xxxvii + 246 pp. $US55.00 (cloth).

Elizabeth Pond. Beyond the Wall: Germany's Road to Unification. Washington: Brookings Institution, 1993. xv + 367 pp. No price given

H.G. Peter Wallach and Ronald A. Francisco. United Germany: The Past, Politics, Prospects. Westport: Praeger, 1992. viii + 173 pp. $US45.00 (cloth), $US15.95 (paper).

Robert Zuzowski. Political Dissent and Opposition in Poland: The Workers’ Defense Committee “KOR”. Westport: Praeger, 1992. xii + 293 pp. $US65.00 (cloth).

Roger Kanet, Deborah Nutter Miner and Tamara J. Resler (eds). Soviet Foreign Policy in Transition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. xvi + 308 pp. $130.00 (cloth).

Chris Ward. Stalin's Russia. London: Edward Arnold, 1993. xxii + 241 pp. $32.95 (paper).

Dale F. Eickelman (ed.). Russia's Muslim Frontiers: New Directions in Cross‐Cultural Analysis. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993. ix + 206 pp. $US29.95 (cloth), $US12.95 (paper).

Tom Rogers. The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan: Analysis and Chronology. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1992. 223 pp. $US55.00 (cloth).

Hirano Ken'ichiro (ed.). The State and Cultural Transformation. Perspectives from East Asia. Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 1993. xi + 357 pp. $50.00 (paper).

Trevor Findlay (ed.). Arms Control in the Post‐Cold War World: With Implications for Asia‐Pacific. Canberra: Peace Research Centre, Australian National University, 1993. ix + 328 pp. $20.00 (paper).

C. Inglis, S. Gunasekeran, G. Sullivan and C.‐T. Wu (eds). Asians in Australia: The Dynamics of Migration and Settlement. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1992. xvi + 230 pp. $24.95 (paper).

Russell Trood (ed.). The Future Pacific Economic Order: Australia's Role. Brisbane: Centre for the Study of Australia‐Asia Relations, Griffith University, in association with the Australian Institute of International Affairs, 1993. xii + 123 pp. $16.00 (paper).

Edward J. Lincoln. Japan's New Global Role. Washington: Brookings Institution, 1993. xi + 320 pp. $US28.95 (cloth).

Joseph P. Keddell. The Politics of Defence in Japan. Managing Internal and External Pressures. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 1993. xvi + 236 pp. $US47.50 (cloth).

Ryutaro Hashimoto. Vision of Japan. A Realistic Direction for the 21st Century. Tokyo: Bestsellers, 1994. 183 pp. No price given.

Kataoka Tetsuya (ed.). Creating Single‐Party Democracy: Japan's Postwar Political System. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1992. 173 pp. $US17.95 (paper).

Gary Klintworth (ed.). Taiwan in the Asia‐Pacific in the 1990s. Canberra: Allen & Unwin in association with the Department of International Relations, The Australian National University, 1994. xv + 291 pp. $24.95 (paper).

Harold Brookfield and Yvonne Byron (eds). South‐East Asia's Environmental Future: The Search for Sustainability. Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur: United Nations University Press/Oxford University Press, 1993. xxxi + 422 pp. $69.95 (cloth).

Ben Kiernan (ed.). Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge, the United Nations and the International Community. New Haven: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies Monograph No.41, 1993. 335 pp. No price given.

Frank Frost. The Peace Process in Cambodia: Issues and Prospects. Australia‐Asia Papers No.69, Centre for the Study of Australia‐Asia Relations, Griffith University, 1993. 63 pp. $10.00 (paper).

Pheuiphanh Ngaosyvathn. Strategic Partnership and International Partnership: Australia's Post‐1975 Relations with Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Australia‐Asia Papers No.68, Centre for the Study of Australia‐Asia Relations, Griffith University, 1993. 60 pp. $10.00 (paper).

William S. Turley and Mark Selden (eds). Reinventing Vietnamese Socialism: Doi Moi in Comparative Perspective. Boulder: Westview Press, 1993. xiv + 368 pp. $US44.95 (cloth).

Frank Frost. Vietnam's Foreign Relations: Dynamics of Change. Pacific Strategic Papers No.6, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1993. 90 pp. $US9.99 (paper).

Michael Vatikiotis. Indonesian Politics under Suharto: Order, Development and Pressure for Change. London: Routledge, 1993. xix + 220 pp. £27.50 (cloth).

Michele Turner. Telling: East Timor: Personal Testimonies 1942–1992. Kensington: New South Wales University Press, 1992. xxii + 218 pp. $19.95 (paper).

R.W.L. Austin. In the Shadow of the Durian. Indonesia Observed. Australians in Asia Series, no.10, Centre for the Study of Australia‐Asia Relations, Griffith University, 1993. 80 pp. $12.00 (paper).

Janet Hunt and Stephen Webb (eds). Aid for a Change: A Plan to Reshape Australia's Overseas Aid— To Tackle Poverty and Promote Sustainable Human Development. Canberra: Australian Council for Overseas Aid, Development Dossier No.31, 1992. x + 113 pp. $10.00 (paper).

S. Mahmud Ali. The Fearful State: Power, People and Internal War in South Asia. London: Zed Books, 1993. $US49.95 (cloth), $US22.50 (paper).

Nigel Worden. The Making of Modern South Africa — Conquest, Segregation and Apartheid. Oxford: Blackwell, 1994. 166 pp. $22.95 (paper).

Morris H. Morley. Washington, Somoza, and the Sandinistas: State and Regime in US Policy Toward Nicaragua, 1969–1981. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 343 pp. $120.00 (cloth).

James Painter. Bolivia and Coca. A Study in Dependency. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1994. xiv+l94 pp. $US35.00 (cloth).

Politics: Australia and the World Beyond the Headlines No.1. Sydney: Public Affairs Research Centre, University of Sydney, 1993. v + 264 pp. $19.95 (paper).

Hal Hill (ed.). Indonesia's New Order: The Dynamics of Socio‐Economic Transformation. St Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1994. 364 pp. $29.95.     

Experimental Boat and Ship Archaeology: Principles and Methods

The need for experiments to study physical aspects of craft of the past is stated, as well as the necessity for them to have clear aims and to follow the established principles of scientific enquiry. These principles are discussed in this joint paper by ten maritime archaeologists and others, together with methods and some points of management critical to their application in this field.     

Comercio y comerciantes en América Latina colonial: Reflexión historiográfíca

Tráfico de Indias y política oceánica. By Fernando Bordejé Y Morencos. Madrid: MAPFRE, 1992. Pp. 341.

Relaciones económicas entre España y América hasta la independencia. By John R. Fisher. Madrid: MAPFRE, 1992. Pp. 280.

Las comunicaciones en América. By Secundino‐José Gutiérrez Alvarez. Madrid: MAPFRE, 1993. Pp. 424.

Piratas, bucaneros, filibusteros y corsarios en América. Perros, mendigos y otros malditos del mar. By Manuel Lucena Salmoral. Madrid: MAPFRE, 1992. Pp. 306.

El dinero americano y la política del imperio. By María Emelina Martín Acosta. Madrid: MAPFRE, 1992. Pp. 333.

Cargadores a Indias. By Julian B. Ruiz Rivera and Manuela Cristina García Bernal. Madrid: Mapfre, 1992. Pp. 395.     

Institutions du travail et etat‐nation histoire d'un mariage à l'avenir incertain

Concepts of unemployment or of the labour market are not abstract, but develop from each society's own particular logic. Taking the examples of Germany and France at the end of the nineteenth century, it is possible to see how these concepts were constructed in specific national contexts, and how they were then used in practice. This analysis leads us to rethink current ideas about work and unemployment, and to ask what their future will be in a united Europe.