Evaluating the Temporal and Spatial Heterogeneity of the European Convergence Process, 1980–1999*

Abstract. In this paper, we suggest a framework that allows testing simultaneously for temporal heterogeneity, spatial heterogeneity, and spatial autocorrelation in β‐convergence models. Based on a sample of 145 European regions over the 1980–1999 period, we estimate a Seemingly Unrelated Regression Model with spatial regimes and spatial autocorrelation for two sub‐periods: 1980–1989 and 1989–1999. The assumption of temporal independence between the two periods is rejected, and the estimation results point to the presence of spatial error autocorrelation in both sub‐periods and spatial instability in the second sub‐period, indicating the formation of a convergence club between the peripheral regions of the European Union.     

Fishing for Fish and for Jaminyjarti in Northern Aboriginal Australia

Socio‐cultural and ecological literature about Australian Indigenous groups reveal that fishing is a vital part of everyday life for many groups who have customary and recreational fresh and salt‐water affiliations. This vitality exists and has meaning for families and communities in the Kimberley's Fitzroy Valley region of Northern Aboriginal Australia. Less well known, however, is the central part that fishing plays in jaminyjarti, a ritual that relies on close kin regularly catching, cooking and sharing fish for bereaved family members during the ‘sorry business’ time that emerges after the death of a loved one. What becomes evident is that while fishing is undoubtedly intertwined in the everydayness and sociality of life, it is also central to comforting the bereaved during and after the grieving process that accompanies death.     

Secrets, Lies, and Misremembering: Take II

In the editing of Sticking to the Union: An Oral History ofthe Life and Times of Julia Ruuttila, discrepancies emergedbetween what Ruuttila told author Sandy Polishuk and what others—inparticular her brother—had to say. Polishuk was forcedto figure out which version she believed and to understand whyRuuttilla had told her what she had when it did not appear accurate.It then became Polishuk's responsibility to inform readers whereRuuttila was embellishing, as well as why she did so. Ruuttilawrote fiction and poetry, and on at least one occasion the authorbelieves she used her fiction as the basis for a story she toldabout herself. The author feels it possible to honor her storyand to tell it and, when necessary, let readers know where Ruuttilaembroidered and where she just plain made it up.     

DEREGULATING THE DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRICITY: PRICE AND WELFARE CONSEQUENCES OF SPATIAL OLIGOPOLY WITH UNIFORM DELIVERED PRICES*

ABSTRACT. Theoretical, spatial oligopoly models are developed and calibrated to simulate the price and welfare consequences of deregulating the retail price of electricity (the distribution function), assuming competing sources of generation supply are available. Two types of distribution competition are considered, retaining the currently used uniform delivered pricing structure: competition for customers at neighboring utilities’ borders and franchise competition. Because duplicate facilities are required for borderline competition, short-run price increases ranging between 14 and 37 percent over existing regulated prices are estimated for upstate New York, largely because deregulated prices reflect replacement, not historic, costs of facilities.     

Congressional Candidate Emergence

Biographical Directory of the American Congress. Washington, DC: CQ Staff Directories, 1997. Pp. xii, 2,108. $295, hardbound.

Metz, Allan, ed. National Service and AmeriCorps: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. Pp. xi, 269. $69.50, hardbound.

Sharp, Michael, ed. Directory of Congressional Voting Scores and Interest Croups Ratings, 2nd ed., 1996. Washington, DC: CO Press. 2-volume set, 1,542 pages. $269, hardbound.

Dodd, Lawrence C, and Bruce I. Oppenheimer. Congress Reconsidered, 6th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 1997. Pp. xix, 450. $32.95, softbound.

Foley, Michael, and John E. Owens. Congress and the Presidency: Institutional Politics in a Separated System. Manchester, U.K.: Manchester University Press, 1996. Pp. xiv, 432. $74.95, hardbound; $29.95 softbound.

Reischauer, Robert D., ed. Setting National Priorities: Budget Choices for the Next Century. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1997. Pp. xiii, 316. $42.95, hardbound; $14.95, softbound.

Sundquist, James L. Back to Gridlock? Governance in the Clinton Years. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1995. Pp. x, 115. $9.95, softbound.

Kettl, Donald. R, Patricia W. Ingraham, Ronald P. Sanders, and Constance Homer. Civil Service Reform: Building a Government that Works. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1997. Pp. ix, 110. $12.95, softbound.

Laham, Nicholas. A Lost Cause: Bill Clinton's Campaign for National Health Insurance. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996. Pp. xiv, 251. $59.95, hardbound.

Nelson, Albert J. Democrats Under Siege in the Sunbelt Megastates: California, Florida, and Texas. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996. Pp. xii, 120. $49.95, hardbound.

Rising, George. Clean for Gene: Eugene McCarthy's 1968 Presidential Campaign. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997. Pp. xv, 156. $55.00, hardbound.

Rozell, Mark J. The Press and the Bush Presidency. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997. Pp. viii, 189. $55.00, hardbound.     

EVIDENCE OF POLITICAL YARDSTICK COMPETITION IN FRANCE USING A TWO‐REGIME SPATIAL DURBIN MODEL WITH FIXED EFFECTS*

ABSTRACT This research proposes a two‐regime spatial Durbin model with spatial and time‐period fixed effects to test for political yardstick competition and exclude any other explanation that might produce spatial interaction effects among the dependent variable, the independent variables, or the error term. The study also derives the maximum likelihood estimator and variance–covariance matrix of the parameters of this model. Data pertaining to welfare spending by 93 departments in France during 1992–2000 provide significant empirical evidence in support of political yardstick competition. Departments governed by a small political majority mimic neighboring expenditures on welfare to a greater extent than do departments governed by a large political majority.     

Morphological evolution of three‐dimensional chemical dissolution front in fluid‐saturated porous media: a numerical simulation approach

This paper is concerned with the morphological evolution of three‐dimensional chemical dissolution fronts that occur in fluid‐saturated porous media. A fully coupled system between porosity, pore‐fluid flow and reactive chemical species transport is considered to describe this phenomenon. Using the newly presented concept of the generalized dimensionless pore fluid pressure‐gradient, which can be used to represent the interaction between solute advection, solute diffusion, chemical kinetics and the shape factor of the soluble mineral, a theoretical criterion has been established to assess the likelihood of instability at a chemical dissolution front in the reactive transport system. To simulate the chemical dissolution front evolution in a three‐dimensional fluid‐saturated porous medium, a numerical procedure combining both the finite difference method and the finite element method has been proposed. As the problem belongs to a complex system science problem, a small randomly generated perturbation of porosity is added to the initial porosity of a three‐dimensional homogeneous domain to trigger instability of a planar chemical dissolution front during its propagation within the fluid‐saturated porous medium. To test the correctness and accuracy of the proposed numerical procedure, a three‐dimensional benchmark problem has been constructed and the related analytical solution has been derived. This enables using the proposed numerical procedure for simulating the morphological evolution of a three‐dimensional chemical dissolution front from a stable, planar state into an unstable, fingering state. The related numerical results demonstrate that the proposed numerical procedure is useful for, and capable of, simulating the morphological instability of a three‐dimensional chemical dissolution front within a fluid‐saturated porous medium.