The Role of Capital Formation in Economic Disparities Among Canadian Regions: 1961-1990
Economie theory has long considered the notion of capital formation and investment as central to the analysis of capitalist economies (Marx, 1967; Kalecki, 1971; Keynes, 1936). But it was only recently that the dramatie regional changes in several countries have shown the importance of the sectoral and spatial distribution of investment in the creation of regional disparities. The conflicting theories of regional growth and development are based on opposing views of the investment process and the regional dynamies underlying its spatial distribution. Most of these paradigms, however, agree that regional capital accumulation constitutes a major component of the creation of jobs and economie growth in those regions (Romer, 1990; McHugh and Widdows, 1984; Kaldor, 1970). The equilibrium-based neoc1assieal theory of regional growth asserts that if the initial phase of industrialization is associated with concentration of population and economie activity in 'central' or 'core' regions, mature growth is associated with dispersion into other areas of the economy as entre­ preneurs re-deploy their capital to these locations. It argues that decreasing returns to scale might lower the marginal productivity of capital and, therefore, induce the redeployment of capital whieh lowers the rate of investment in areas aiready characterized by high capital-labour ratios (Borts and Stein (1964), Casetti (1981)). More recently, Barro and Sala-i-Martin
Plant Closures, Multilocational Firms, and the Urban Economy: Sheffield, UK
In the United Kingdom, many jobs have been lost through plant closures over the last decade, and many of these have arisen from plant closures implemented in urban areas by multilocational firms. In this paper, a conceptual framework for analysing plant closures by multilocational firms is outlined and this is used to interpret data relating to Sheffield, England. Over the last decade the city experienced the closure of seventy-seven large plants (each with over 100 employees) and nearly 90% of these were closed by multilocational firms. Approximately 20% of these closures arose from a decision by a firm to quit a product line (termed a ‘cessation closure’) but the majority involved the closure of a plant while the firm maintained production of a similar product elsewhere (termed ‘selective closure’). A distinction is made between intraurban and interurban selection and an interview programme (using two different research strategies) is used to identify the factors which influence interurban selective closures. Whereas previous studies have dismissed the influence of the local environment on the closure decision, a small but distinct environmental influence is detected. The plants selected for closure have (compared with another plant in the same firm) one or more of the following characteristics: small product range; low level of productivity; less-sophisticated technology; older buildings and machinery; a smaller number of employees; a greater distance from head-office. Characteristics which arise from the local environment are: site difficulties; poor labour relations; and, less certainly, higher local tax demands.
Music and Ethical Responsibility
Introduction 1. Meaning and ethics in music 2. Experiencing music 3. Framing elements of musical experience 4. Improvisation and ethical responsibility 5. Musical improvisation as festival 6. Music, proximity, ethics 7. Ethical responsibility and other people's music Conclusion: ethical responsibility in musical experience.