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.     

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.     

The first record of palaeopathology from the zooarchaeological record of late Pleistocene,southwest Tasmania

Several bones from the Late Pleistocene archaeological site, Kutikina Cave, in southwest Tasmania, show pathological conditions. The majority of these specimens represent Bennett's or red‐necked wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus), with a single specimen of the Common wombat (Vombatus ursinus) recorded. While there has been extensive work in this region of Australia since the early 1980s, this is the first record of palaeopathology from the late Pleistocene of Tasmania, and the first from a human accumulation of predominately macropod material. The palaeopathology raises several questions concerning the mobility of these animals which might have increased their susceptibly to predation, while some of the effected elements are fragmented, suggesting that people utilised these bones despite their deformities. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.