Making connections: Global Production Networks and World City Networks

This article offers a sympathetic critique of recent attempts to forge a dialogue between Global Commodity Chain (GCC) and World City Network (WCN) approaches to global economic change. While broadly supportive of the endeavour, we make three observations about this ongoing project. First, we question the utility of emphasizing the common roots of these approaches in World Systems Theory given that both have subsequently moved into new epistemological terrain and, additionally, that the language of core and periphery seems ever less pertinent to global economic realities. Second, we seek to highlight the potential dangers of essentializing the global system as one that is primarily shaped by certain kinds of connections – namely the intra-firm relationships of advanced producer service firms – between certain kinds of cities – namely the leading tiers of global cities. Third, we point to the need to expand the interpretations of relationality within global networks to include a wider variety of actors, particularly beyond the corporate realm, and to explore the dynamic power relations between those actors. We also discuss the methodological challenges of expanding the purview of research in this way. This commentary has been stimulated by the articles in the special issue of Global Networks on 'World City Networks and Global Commodity Chains'.     

The Fieldwork Team Response: An Investigation into the Relationship between Client Categories, Referred Problems and Outcome

Correspondence to Peter C. Burke, Lecturer in Social Work, Department of Social Policy and Professional Studies, The University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX. Summary This paper concerns a study of the outcome achieved followingfieldwork responses to referred client problems within particularclient categories. The evidence from the study demonstratesthat while referred client problems initiate the social workresponse, administratively assigned client groups were a betterdeterminant of outcome. It is shown that the category of a caseis more directly related to outcome than is the problem referred.If social work is to be predominantly based on client categorizationthen polarization will result, represented by an increasinglyprofessional child care practice and a more basic servicingrole for the worker with elderly and handicapped people. Thispresents dangers for the organization of teams, the allocationof resources, and the training of social workers. Taking accountof client problems as part of caseload management should reducethis effect.     

Bayesian Geostatistical Design

Abstract.  This paper describes the use of model-based geostatistics for choosing the set of sampling locations, collectively called the design, to be used in a geostatistical analysis. Two types of design situation are considered. These are retrospective design, which concerns the addition of sampling locations to, or deletion of locations from, an existing design, and prospective design, which consists of choosing positions for a new set of sampling locations. We propose a Bayesian design criterion which focuses on the goal of efficient spatial prediction whilst allowing for the fact that model parameter values are unknown. The results show that in this situation a wide range of inter-point distances should be included in the design, and the widely used regular design is often not the best choice.     

Tracking Edges, Corners and Vertices in an Image

Abstract.  In a range of imaging problems, particularly those where the images are of man-made objects, edges join at points which comprise three or more distinct boundaries between textures. In such cases the set of edges in the plane forms what a mathematician would call a planar graph. Smooth edges in the graph meet one another at junctions, called 'vertices', the 'degrees' of which denote the respective numbers of edges that join there. Conventional image reconstruction methods do not always draw clear distinctions among different degrees of junction, however. In such cases the algorithm is, in a sense, too locally adaptive; it inserts junctions without checking more globally to determine whether another configuration might be more suitable. In this paper we suggest an alternative approach to edge reconstruction, which combines a junction classification step with an edge-tracking routine. The algorithm still makes its decisions locally, so that the method retains an adaptive character. However, the fact that it focuses specifically on estimating the degree of a junction means that it is relatively unlikely to insert multiple low-degree junctions when evidence in the data supports the existence of a single high-degree junction. Numerical and theoretical properties of the method are explored, and theoretical optimality is discussed. The technique is based on local least-squares, or local likelihood in the case of Gaussian data. This feature, and the fact that the algorithm takes a tracking approach which does not require analysis of the full spatial data set, mean that it is relatively simple to implement.     

UNOBSERVABLE INDIVIDUAL EFFECTS, MARRIAGE AND THE EARNINGS OF YOUNG MEN

While there is compelling evidence that married men earn more than unmarried men, the source of this premium remains unsettled. Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Men, we show that much of the premium normally attributed to marriage is associated with unobservable individual effects that are correlated with marital status and wages. To the extent there is a gain, it is purely an intercept shift and no more than 5% to 7%. Our findings cast doubt on the interpretation that marriage enhances productivity through specialization.     

DONOR PREFERENCES AND RECIPIENT FISCAL BEHAVIOR: A SIMULTANEOUS ANALYSIS OF FOREIGN AID

We theoretically develop and empirically estimate a preference model determining foreign aid donor behavior. Aid access and levels are separately determined by endogenous budgetary allocations, the international economic environment, the distribution of income between countries, basic human needs, the small country effect, and regional bias. We find fungibility of aid in recipient budgets is due to donor and recipient preferences. Despite the importance of other economic influences, we find a significant pro-poor country bias in aid allocations, although little aggregate influence of basic human needs or regional bias. The small country effect is significant for two (of six) donors. (JEL F35, O19, H 77)     

Risk and Supervision: Social Work Responses to Referred User Problems

Correspondence to Peter Burke, Department of Social Work, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX Summary This study examines social work responses to users followingcase allocation of the initial referral. The aim of the studyis to demonstrate the need for supervision of social workersdealing with cases which have in common an inherent quality,described as ‘risk’. The study also links referralsto other practice responses identified as ‘service delivery’and ‘advisory’ work. The relationship between theseparticular responses is tested against the outcome decisionreached on case closure. All referrals were allocated betweentwo fieldwork teams over a one-year period and a total of 312referred cases was allocated within the categories mentioned.Findings are indicative that more ‘risk’ type referrals,however defined, are resolved with additional supervisory inputthan without, and that lower status workers favoured ‘middleground’ decisions of outcome when compared to their seniorcolleagues. A consideration resulting from this research isthat agency definitions of risk are different to the type ofrisk which requires crisis intervention. The question of riskto the user or to the agency requires the workers concernedto be able to discriminate between such cases. The implicationfor team training is that supervisory input should clarify thenature of risk, if any, and the task required of the workerfollowing case referral. The matching of skills which wouldultimately be the objective of this type of research cannotbe finally determined until a more comprehensive set of parametersfor practice is identified. This study shows that the responsecategories used demonstrate some basic supervisory needs ofthe worker.     

Socioeconomic status and the concentric zonal structure of Canadian cities

La plupart des rechercheurs qui étudient la structure des régions metropolitaines canadiennes ont utilisé les données du recensement du Canada qui ont été groupées en secteurs de recensement. Dans cette recherche un type alternatif de données est utilisé, qui vient ?un sondage qui donne les renseignements sur les répondants individuels. Les comparaisons sont faites des caractéristiques des répondants qui demeurent au centre-ville, les plus vieux faubourgs et les nouveaux faubourgs. Comme dans la recherche précédente, on trouve que le statut socio-économique augmente avec la distance du zone central de la ville. Les effets sont moins forts que ceux que ?on trouve dans les différents stages de la vie et plus forts que ceux de ?ethnie ou du lieu de naissance. Le niveau de revenu des répondants démontre un rapport plus marqué que ?autres mesures de statut socio-économique, de profession et ?éducation. Tous les liens, pourtant, sont très modestes en comparaison avec ceux que ?on trouve en analysant les données des secteurs de recensement. Most researchers studying the structure of Canadian metropolitan areas have used data from the Census of Canada which has been grouped into Census tracts. In this research an alternative type of data is used from a large national survey which provides information on individual respondents. Comparisons are made of the characteristics of respondents living in the central city, the older suburbs and the new suburbs. As in earlier research, socioeconomic status is found to increase with distance from the city core. The pattern is less strong than that found for life cycle stage, and stronger than that for ethnicity or birthplace. The income level of the respondents shows a stronger relationship than the other measures of socioeconomic status, occupation and education. All the retionships, however, are found to be extremely modest, in contrast to those found in analysis of the census tract data.