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.
Microfiltration: Effect of retentate protein concentration on limiting flux and serum protein removal with 4-mm-channel ceramic microfiltration membranes.
The objective of our study was to determine if the limiting flux and serum protein (SP) removal were different at 8, 9, or 10% true protein (TP) in the microfiltration (MF) retentate recirculation loop using 0.1-µm ceramic graded permeability membranes with 4-mm-channel diameters operated at 50 °C using a diluted milk protein concentrate with 85% protein on a total solids basis (MPC85) as the MF feed. The limiting flux for the MF of diluted MPC85 was determined at 3 TP concentrations in the recirculation loop (8, 9, and 10%). The experiment was replicated 3 times for a total of 9 runs. On the morning of each run, MPC85 was diluted with reverse osmosis water to an MF feed TP concentration of 5.4%. In all runs, the starting flux was 55 kg/m(2) per hour, the flux was increased in steps until the limiting flux was reached. The minimum flux increase was 10 kg/m(2) per hour. The limiting flux decreased as TP concentration in the recirculation loop increased. The limiting flux was 154 ± 0.3, 133 ± 0.7, and 117 ± 3.3 kg/m(2) per hour at recirculation loop TP concentrations of 8.2 ± 0.07, 9.2 ± 0.04, and 10.2 ± 0.09%, respectively. No effect of recirculation loop TP concentration on the SP removal factor was detected. However, the SP removal factor decreased from 0.80 ± 0.02 to 0.75 ± 0.02 as flux was increased from the starting flux of 55 kg/m(2) per hour to the limiting flux, with a similar decrease seen at all recirculation loop TP concentrations.