Spatial Planning and the Traditional Settlements Management: Evidence from Visibility Analysis of Traditional Settlements in Cyclades,Greece

ABSTRACT

Traditional settlements constitute part of the cultural heritage and their preservation is an important priority, acknowledged in the present study as a multidisciplinary, multi-scale and complex issue. This study quantifies the visual impact of traditional settlements in Cyclades that arise from structures which are considered to create pressure on the island landscape and negative visual impact. These structures disrupt the landscape continuity; they are both incongruous with the dominant local scale and incompatible with the forms and shapes that are appropriate on the Cyclades islands. This paper examines these issues in the context of the management of insular traditional settlements within the Greek spatial planning framework.     

EUROPEAN MIGRATION POLICY IN THE AFTERMATH OF SEPTEMBER 11

Many studies have explored the security logic of EU policies on migration and asylum, which served as the legitimizing factor for adopting restrictive measures and for cutting back the rights of third-country nationals. The involvement of the European Commission in this policy area after the Treaty of Amsterdam came into force signalled a move towards more liberal immigration policies, which recognized the positive contributions made by labor immigrants. However, the terrorist attacks of September 11 brought the liberalization of European migration policy to a halt. In the context of these developments, this paper aims to readdress the security–migration nexus, utilizing but also extending the concept of ‘securitization’, developed by the ‘Copenhagen School of Security Studies’. By analyzing institutional developments in the area of internal security in the EU, it demonstrates that the events of September 11 did not initiate the insecurities, uncertainties, ambiguities and complexities in regards to migration policy; rather they accelerated dynamics that were already deeply rooted in the emerging European internal security regime. The paper concludes that the discourse that links migration to security is a construction that is both exaggerated and problematic, yet it has been further reinforced in the post-September 11 context.     

Estimation of a Semiparametric Recursive Bivariate Probit Model with Nonparametric Mixing

We consider an extension of the recursive bivariate probit model for estimating the effect of a binary variable on a binary outcome in the presence of unobserved confounders, nonlinear covariate effects and overdispersion. Specifically, the model consists of a system of two binary outcomes with a binary endogenous regressor which includes smooth functions of covariates, hence allowing for flexible functional dependence of the responses on the continuous regressors, and arbitrary random intercepts to deal with overdispersion arising from correlated observations on clusters or from the omission of non‐confounding covariates. We fit the model by maximizing a penalized likelihood using an Expectation‐Maximisation algorithm. The issues of automatic multiple smoothing parameter selection and inference are also addressed. The empirical properties of the proposed algorithm are examined in a simulation study. The method is then illustrated using data from a survey on health, aging and wealth.     

EMPLOYMENT AND OUTPUT EFFECTS OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING: IS GOVERNMENT SIZE IMPORTANT?

The efects of government spending on employment and output may depend on government size and the persistence of spending. The empirical results suggest that permanent (or persistent) changes in government consumption have a greater impact on output and employment than temporary (or cyclical) changes. This implies a negative wealth effect and reduces the stabilization potency of government spending. The findings also support the hypothesis that the output elasticity of government consumption is positive but declines with increases in government size. Using the estimated equations, I calculate the optimal government size for the representative country as around 20 percent of GDP.