This study presents a two-dimensional comparison, over time (1970 and 1990) and intergroup (Jews and total whites), of interregional migration streams. Both lifetime and five-year migration are examined. Data from the 1970/71 and 1990 National Jewish Population Surveys and from the U.S. Censuses of the same years show that the directions of internal migration of Jews and total whites were similar, i.e., from the Northeast and Midwest to the Sunbelt. By 1990, however, net migration for each region-both for the gaining region and for the losing region-had a more significant effect on the Jewish population than on the white population. The initial differences in regional dis-tribution between the two subpopulations have narrowed. Multivariate analy-sis shows that Jewish migration can largely be explained by educational attainment and employment opportunities. Over time, Jewish migration has become less selective, as seen, inter alia, in the declining importance of denominational identification. The findings are discussed in relation to the integration of Jews into the host society and, more generally, to the geographic dimension of minority status in late 20th century America.

Utilizing a distance index, state-level pollution data extracted from List and McHone (2000b ), states, and regions of the United States are ranked for their air, river, lake, composite water (lake and river), and overall composite (water and air) environmental degradation outputs. For the composite water index, the New England region is ranked first and the Far West region is ranked last. For the overall composite index, the Rocky Mountain region is ranked first and the Mideast region is ranked last.

Major papers on immigration’s wage impacts in the 1980s concluded that immigration into the U.S. modestly reduced the wages of natives. Authors based these conclusions on fixed-effects models that controlled for area-specific shocks. Without those fixed effects, however, these authors found positive correlations between immigration and wages. This study examines two specific shocks that might explain this counterintuitive result: changes in the industry structure of labor demand and differences in inflation rates among metropolitan areas. The study finds no evidence that the first shock matters for understanding immigration, but finds that a large proportion of the positive correlation between immigration and wages disappears if one controls for differences in inflation rates.

This study uses county-level manufacturing data (1985-1994) from Pennsylvania to investigate the spatial variation of relationships among manufacturing firm births, deaths, and certain local economic variables suggested by the theoretical literature. To do this, a panel data vector autoregressive method is employed, which, unlike the more customary models of studies of this nature, allows for, among other things, full interdependence among all vari-ables and makes adjustment for omitted-variable bias related to “area-specific” effects. The results, which in some cases confirm and in others contradict those of some of the leading studies on the issue, reveal a rich network of interactions among the variables that indicate that firm births and deaths and local economic conditions are mutually driven. The main conclusion drawn from the results is that firm birth rates and, hence, economic growth, are highest in those counties with: (i) a relatively high proportion of small firms; (ii) lower unemployment; (iii) a growing market demand; (iv) a lower-than-average school property tax rate; (v) a higher-than-average quality of public education; and (vi) some urban agglomeration advantages. Some of the implications of the findings for local economic development strategy are considered.

Theory suggests that the divesture of a corporate monopoly such as AT&T could lead to greater earnings variations developing across the now autonomous regional companies. Individual worker information drawn from Current Population Survey files is used to investigate divesture’s influence on regional earnings in this industry. This study presents evidence suggesting larger erosion of the union telecommunications earnings advantage in regions where state utility commissions encourage competition. A broader regional earnings effect is found for nonunion telecommunications employees. For instance, the earnings advantage of nonunion workers and managers in this industry declined appreciably across all regions. These findings indicate the differing regional earnings effect of divestiture and competition on the three major groups of telecommunications employees.

As regional scientists we are preoccupied with our scientific work, and this is as it should be. But from time to time it is worthwhile to step back and think about the business of regional science-the organizations that hold us together, the publications that help us build a body of knowledge, and the meetings that give us a sense of community. When these topics come up, the conversation usually focuses on concerns about new and innovated research strategies, about research quality, and about scientific rigor. The idea, of course, is that if we are good scientists the rest will take care of itself. This is a noble idea and a naive one. In the competitive environment that we operate in we cannot, I think, operate as a boutique field indefinitely. If we do not get bigger, we run the risk of getting lost in the shuffle. I am convinced that size really does matter.

This article is a note from the Editors introducing the 30th Anniversary Issue.

In this paper we argue that the appropriate concept of regional economic efficiency is Baumol’s lower confidence limit criteria. This implies a substantially reduced subset of the usual Markowitz efficient frontier. We examine this proposition in the context of a tractable equilibrium model with a data set for the province of Saskatchewan. We conclude that the Baumol efficiency criteria suggest maintaining substantial levels of activity in the high-risk, but higher-return, resource sectors of the economy. The results suggest that the cost of stability could be high, in terms of per capita income, if this economy were to diversify too far from its resource-based comparative advantage.

Research has focused on how variations in land-use controls explain interurban variations in prices. With the notable exception of the work by Rose (1989a, 1989b), virtually no attention has been focused on how natural restrictions (bodies of water, mountains, etc.) impact land prices. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of both land-use controls and natural restrictions on interurban variation in residential land prices. Our results indi-cate that, as expected, land prices are significantly higher as the land supply decreases both as a result of natural and man-made restrictions.

Examining the effects of four economic development subsidies - factor tax deductions on capital and labor and subsidies for research and development and labor training - we find that subsidies to the traded services-producing sector can raise aggregate real income and lower income inequality in comparison to the same subsidies to the manufacturing sectors. The analysis is conducted with a computable general equilibrium model of a state economy. The model is a specific factor model with 21 different industries and 18 dif-ferent occupations.