Robbery, recession and real wages in Hong Kong

Between 1965 and 1975 Hong Kong experienced a dramatic increase in reported crime. Criminologists have put forward two major explanations for this: 1) modernization (or convergence) theory, and 2) the alleged break-up of the police-triad (Chinese secret societies) alliance following the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Data from the 1970s show a remarkably close relationship in Hong Kong between changes in real wages and robbery rates. In this paper we argue that declining wages are related to increased rates of such 'quick cash' crimes, particularly in societies lacking a safety net of unemployment benefits, universal health insurance and income security provisions. The results offer support for this alternative, but admittedly partial, explanation of Hong Kong's rising crime rate. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Rice farming in Bali: organic production and marketing challenges

All is not well with agriculture in Southeast Asia. The productivity gains of the Green Revolution have slowed and even reversed and environmental problems and shortages of water and land are evident. At the same time changing world markets are shifting the dynamics of national agricultural economies. But from the point of view of farmers themselves, it is their season-to-season economic survival that is at stake. Bali is in some ways typical of other agricultural areas in the region, but it is also a special case because of its distinctive economic and cultural environment dominated by tourism. In this environment, farmers are doubly marginalized. At the same time the island offers them unique market opportunities for premium and organic produce. This article examines the ways in which these opportunities have been approached and describes their varying degrees of success. It focuses especially on one project that has been successful in reducing production costs by conversion to organic production, but less so in marketing its produce. It argues finally for the need for integrated studies of the entire rice production/marketing complex, especially from the bottom-up point of view of farmers.     

A new turn to authoritarian Rule in Russia?

Many observers have pointed to the increasingly authoritarian nature of President Putin's regime in Russia. This apparent turn away from democracy has generally been attributed either to Russian political culture or to the security background of Putin himself and many of those he has brought to office. However, analysis of the democratization literature suggests that the sources of Russia's authoritarianism may lie in the nature of the initial transition from Soviet rule, and in particular the way in which elites were able to act with significant independence from civil society forces because of the weakness of such forces. This weakness enabled successive elites led by Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin to construct a political system in which popularly based involvement and participation were severely restricted. In this sense, Putin is merely building on what went before, not changing the regime's basic trajectory.     

Public Opinion and the Helms Amendment

This article questions existing performing arts market segmentation practices in the United States, probing for examples of unintended exclusion and discrimination. The author critiques specific performing arts marketing scholarship and the segmentation practices that stem from it. Future growth of the performing arts industry's audiences may rest on the ability to define their composition more broadly, to be more inclusive rather than exclusive. At the same time, marketing theory, research, and practice may need to be specifically developed to meet the needs of both the performing arts industries and their audiences.     

Restoring community through traditional neighborhood design: A case study of Diggs town public housing

Abstract

This article examines how traditional neighborhood design (TND) can restore a sense of community to distressed neighborhoods. Traditional neighborhoods, such as those found in many cities and inner suburbs, provide their residents numerous opportunities and venues for social interaction. We apply the principles of TND to the redesign of a public housing project. We call our approach an “architecture of engagement.”

Using a case study of Diggs Town, a public housing project in Norfolk, VA, we explore how the application of TND principles transformed a socially alienated and distressed neighborhood into a socially integrated and functional one. We find that TND techniques improve the quality of life by facilitating the social exchanges that create social capital.     

Targeting the suburban urbanites: Marketing central‐city housing

Abstract

This article explores target marketing as a means to identify which middle‐income suburbanites may relocate to central cities. The most targetable populations reside near central cities and lead urban lifestyles. We term such people “suburban urbanites.” Geodemography, a method combining population and location, is used to classify suburban urbanites using data from Claritas Inc., a target marketer. Claritas divides the nation's neighborhoods into lifestyle clusters by linking population density to demographic and consumptive patterns.

A case study of metropolitan Washington, DC, illustrates how target marketing works. We find that more than half the region's middle‐class, Claritas‐defined urbanites live outside the District of Columbia. Thus, a large market of potential city dwellers lives in Washington's suburbs. Target marketing enhances the statistical approaches traditionally used in policy making and may help cities understand and develop their comparative advantages.     

A Contingent Approach to the Organization and Management of Public–Private Partnerships: An Empirical Study of English Health Care

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) have become a prominent feature of contemporary public policy. Although research shows variation in the contractual configuration of partnerships, there is little evidence of how these shape service and workforce organization. Through comparative ethnographic research on two PPP health care providers in the English National Health Service, this article develops the idea that PPPs exhibit “tight” and “loose” arrangements that relate to “downstream” service and workforce management. It induces four empirically grounded mediating factors to describe this relationship. The first relates to the “dependence” between partners in terms of financing, strategy, and resource sharing; the second to the “strategic orientation” of leaders; the third to the composition of the “professional workforce”; and the fourth to the “management approach” to service and workforce organization. The article contributes to the research literature by exploring the contingencies in how PPPs are operationalized on the ground.