Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space

Key issues in constructing an urban deprivation index are discussed, with special reference to the need for flexibility. Governments use such an index for many purposes and for policies targeted at different spatial scales. The technical decisions and the criteria for the selection of indicators are discussed. A single index is rejected in favour of a matrix of results which captures the complex geography of deprivation. The matrix of districts includes measures of the degree of deprivation, its spatial extent, its intensity, and the spatial distribution of deprivation at the enumeration district scale. The profiles of various districts are discussed to illustrate the use of the matrix.

Local unemployment rates are frequently used as economic and social indicators at the subregional scale. However, in the early 1990s there has been increasing debate amongst social scientists, economists, and planners about the scope, coverage, and usefulness of unemployment counts and rates. This paper is concerned with comparing and contrasting information available on unemployment from three main data sources—the Employment Department claimant count, the Census of Population, and the Labour Force Survey, lie main substantive focus is on a comparison of the census and claimant-based counts for different subgroups of the population (disaggregated by age and gender) at a range of spatial scales. Analyses reveal that in some cases there are substantial variations in unemployment counts and rates derived from different data sources. It is concluded that the most appropriate way forward would appear to involve the use of alternative parallel measures of unemployment, specifically tailored to the purpose in hand. This necessitates a greater understanding on the part of users of the strengths and weak-nesses of alternative sources, in order that the most appropriate measure is selected.

For the first time the 1991 British Census has not only provided data on ethnicity but has also cross-classified ethnic status by a variety of socioeconomic indicators. This paper is an exploration of the patterns revealed by these new data. After an introduction to the subject of the paper in section 1, section 2 is a discussion of the issue of ethnic group identification and measurement. In section 3 the spatial distribution of six ethnic groups is outlined: Whites, Blacks, Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and Other-ethnicities in two northern British cities—Leeds and Bradford. Nonwhite groups all show a familiar inner-city concentration, but with some interesting locational differences. The degree of change over the period 1981–91 is examined by using synthetic estimates of ethnic group for 1981 based on country of birth converted into ethnic group via conditional probabilities of ethnicity given country of birth. The degree of spatial change and dispersion is evaluated. Sections 4 and 5 are examinations of the characteristics of each ethnic group according to thirty indicators grouped into six domains: demographic, household, employment, education, social class, and housing/consumption. The rationale for indicator extraction and use is described and the degree of reliance which can be placed in the statistics is assessed in section 4. The differences in profile between ethnic groups are established at city level and then the pattern of variation across wards in each city is described in section 5. A fascinating picture unfolds of disadvantage and advantage across the ethnic groups which establishes their sociogeographic position in the two northern city societies.

For the first time since a question on religion was first included in the Census of Population (in 1861), the recently published results of the 1991 Census show that less than half of the population of Northern Ireland declared themselves as belonging to a Protestant Christian denomination. Discussions surrounding the future political and constitutional arrangements for Northern Ireland frequently include evidence adduced about the relative size of the two ‘tribes’ widely identified by the labels ‘Protestant’ and ‘Catholic’. The major source of that evidence comes from the question on religion contained in the Northern Ireland Census, and this paper is concerned with the nature and use of that data. The legitimacy of certain uses of the data is questioned; the reliability of the data is considered; and certain tentative findings are presented based on the data published in the (hard copy) reports. Ways are indicated by which the data may be of use in analysing structural inequality in Northern Ireland society.

Bayesian theory has been seen as having considerable potential and attractiveness for model estimation and analysis in spatial and network econometrics. However, analytical and computational problems have also been seen as a great barrier. In this paper the analytical simplifications available are developed and the algorithms required are examined. The author argues that, for a broad class of models in spatial econometrics, Bayesian analysis is quite practicable and can be implemented without great cost. The spatial specifications are mapped into the various forms of Bayesian computation available and detailed examples are provided. Recent developments on the frontier of Bayesian computation have potential to expand further the practical applicability of the Bayesian approach to spatial econometrics.

In this paper a regional input-output model is used to evaluate the distribution of short-run and long-run economic impacts of regional level environmental policy decisions among urban and rural household income classes. Both demand and price changes are analyzed. Demand changes are modeled as increases in final demand, and price changes are analyzed as exogenous shocks. In the short run, regional prices do not respond to the exogenous price shocks but, in the long run, the regional prices can vary following input substitution in a Cobb-Douglas production function. An income allocation matrix distributes to income classes the wage and nonwage income changes generated by the input-output formulations. A case study is presented that involves efforts to enhance fish populations in the Columbia River Basin in the US Pacific Northwest. The policy analysis shows that the type of initial policy impact (change in final demand or in prices) as well as the time frame considered (short or long run) can influence the final distribution of economic impacts among urban and rural income classes. The approach outlined here thus allows decisionmakers to explore several aspects of the income effects of a project across disaggregated segments of an affected population.