Economic resilience of metropolitan,old industrial,and rural regions in two subsequent recessionary shocks

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we focus on the question of how particular types of regions react to economic shocks. Drawing on a case study of Czech microregions, we aim to determine if the old industrial regions differ significantly from other types of regions (metropolitan, urban, rural) in (post)crisis economic development. Two aspects of regional resilience (measured by unemployment growth) were considered: recession and recovery. We focused on the comparison of two subsequent recessionary shocks: the 2008–2010 global recession and the 2012–2013 austerity crisis. Metropolitan regions showed relatively stable economic development. Old industrial regions were more resilient than expected. Rural regions exhibited highly diverse reactions: lower resistance was characteristic for regions specialized (mostly) in automotive and some labour-intensive industries. The first wave of recession increased unemployment mostly in (rural) regions dependent on export-oriented manufacturing, the second wave especially hit larger cities with metropolitan functions. Regions that experienced a sharp unemployment increase in the first recession were generally more resistant in the second wave. All types of regions were internally highly diverse in their reactions to economic crises, which points to the importance of micro-regional variations of economic resilience, the performance of individual local firms and subsidiaries, and extra-regional factors of regional development.     

Adapting (Municipal) Form to (Provincial) Function: City–County Separation and the Introduction of the Consolidated Municipal Service Manager System in Ontario,Canada

In 1998, the province of Ontario introduced the Consolidated Municipal Service Manager (CMSM) system, which effectively downloaded the responsibility for delivery and partial funding for a range of social services to municipalities. Separated cities and counties—a unique system of municipal organization in Ontario that draws a sharp institutional distinction between urban and rural areas—were given a particularly wide range of discretion over the implementation of these services. A number of these jurisdictions experienced an array of problems reaching a local solution. Some even wound up in arbitration. This article examines the implementation of the CMSM, focusing specifically on the unique institutional arrangement found in counties with separated cities, finding that the provincial government overlooked the institutional design of city–county separation, hindering the policy downloading process. Overall, it is argued that the local institutional environment is key when shifting policy responsibility from central to local actors.     

INOPERATIVE PROVINCES,IMMOBILE REGIONS AND THE GEOGRAPHY OF HETEROGENEOUS ASSOCIATIONS: THE CASE OF ABSENT TERRITORIAL BORDER CHANGE IN ESTONIA

The geography of heterogeneous associations, an approach derived from the tradition of actor‐network theory, is a valuable analytical contribution to the study of sub‐state territorial entities. Shown here in an application to the Maaritsa border change controversy, which took place in Estonia 2001–2003, the approach has several merits compared to now dominant analytical perspectives in regional geography. The rejection of a regional imagination, as the natural way of conceptualizing provinces, is used to demonstrate that Estonian provinces and provinciality are performed, and can be analytically described, through multiple and complex spatialities. First, the inoperative character of provinces in the everyday life of many peripheral households is understood to be the result of incoherence in regional space between rigid administrative and fluid non‐administrative provinciality. Second, the problems with long distance control in the Estonian governmental system, related mainly to the ambiguous character of legislation and unstable politico‐administrative coalitions, are identified as the main cause of failure in the government's attempt to change provincial borders in regional space. Third, provincial research is seen as the practice that attempts to translate two other provincial modalities – provinces in everyday life and in governmental provincial politics – into a report designated to provide a synoptic and simplified view of complex peripheral provinciality for the central government. The article concludes with the argument that these three provincial modalities are intertwined in practice and their performances reciprocally determined.     

The Implications of Immigration Federalism for Non-citizens’ Rights and Immigration Opportunities: Canada and Australia Compared

This article explores the development of immigration federalism in Australia and Canada (expressed through the establishment of state/provincial/territorial immigrant selection programs) and its implications for immigrants’ rights and immigration opportunities. Given the very limited scholarship on the issue, and the lack of previous comparative studies on immigration federalism in Australia and Canada, our research is exploratory by nature. Our finding is that provincial/state/territorial programs offer some advantages to prospective applicants (such as increased immigration opportunities), but, at the same time, raise a number of concerns (such as an increased dependence on employers). As our study reveals, the costs and benefits of immigration opportunities under state/provincial/territorial programs differ for skilled and low-skilled workers, whereby the latter are given only limited access to permanent residence, and on more onerous conditions than skilled workers. Drawing on these findings, we identify areas in need of further research and policy response.     

Economic Geography as Dissenting Institutionalism: The Embeddedness, Evolution and Differentiation of Regions

This paper endorses recent pleas for an ‘institutional turn’ within economic geography. In particular, it reveals and connects the coherence and distinctiveness of dissenting institutional economics as a way of thinking for economic geography. Economic geographers have recognized this tradition but its continuity and compass is not fully appreciated. To provide such an appreciation, this paper argues that the paradigmatic distinctiveness of dissenting institutionalism rests especially on its recognition that real world economies are embedded, have histories or evolve, and are different. The discussion is based around these three cornerstone principles of embeddedness, evolution and difference. For the future, greater attention to the region as an institution, albeit a complex one, along with greater attention to the synthesis of multi‐dimensional processes that are normally analyzes as separate conceptual categories, is encouraged.     

Identity,social interaction,and networks in the region of Wisconsin’s Holyland

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on how a sense of identity, social interaction, and networks contribute to the construction and maintenance of regions. Using Wisconsin’s Holyland as a case study, we conducted fieldwork, collected primary data from residents through a survey, and utilized social network analysis (SNA) to determine how it is defined as a vernacular and functional region. While there appeared to be consensus regarding the key defining characteristics of Wisconsin’s Holyland on the surface, our data analysis revealed contrasting perceptions and definitions of the region. In addition, a SNA of self-reported social interactions by residents highlighted a complex cultural geography through the appearance of subregions and expanded borders of the region overall.     

古籍墨迹的老化检测及其模拟实验研究

随着纸质文物保护工作的推进,针对古籍纸张载体的保护研究已逐步深入,但对于古籍纸张上的墨、颜料等其他写印材料的保护及写印材料之间的相互作用则亟待研究。其中,古籍墨迹的老化研究有助于揭示墨与纸相互作用的本质,对于古籍文物的保护具有非常重要的意义。以复旦大学图书馆藏古籍《三十二兰亭室诗存》墨迹的老化现象为出发点,通过显微镜观察、表面pH值测定、显微拉曼(micro-Raman)和傅里叶变换红外(FT-IR)光谱法等多种无损、微损的检测手段多尺度分析了墨迹泛黄的现象,结果显示墨迹处及周边黄晕纤维与空白部分纤维相比,光泽缺失且略显糟朽,酸性更强,表面氧化基团增多,说明墨可能对纸张的老化降解产生了影响。通过设计纸墨浸润模拟老化实验对此进行验证,结果显示与偏中性墨汁相比,尽管墨汁中胶料对纤维有一定保护作用,但偏酸性墨汁对纸张老化的促进作用使pH值、抗张性能及耐折性能的下降趋势更明显,聚合度保留率也较低。墨字模拟老化实验佐证了前述结论,使用酸性更强的墨汁书写的字迹,周围纸张酸性更强,色差也更显著。以上结果表明,墨汁的酸碱性质对纸张的老化降解进程有很重要的影响。这不仅揭示出古籍存藏过程中受墨影响的纸张老化机制以及模拟实验合理设计对于系统探究老化机制及纸墨相互作用的重要性,也对古籍保护工作范畴的扩大和策略的制定具有指导意义,并为修复用墨的研制提供了思路。