Cloke P. and Edwards G. (1986) Rurality in England and Wales 1981: a replication of the 1971 index, Reg. Studies 20, 289–306. In a previous issue of Regional Studies a methodology for an index of rurality was developed using principal components analysis on selected variables reflecting rural or non-rural characteristics in 1971. The results of this indexation procedure represented a rudimentary classification of different levels of rurality, but have been widely used by various rural researchers. This paper replicates the 1971 index using 1981 data. Problems concerning changing administrative boundaries and units, changing census format, and indeed the changing nature of rurality itself are fully discussed. However, these limitations are overcome sufficiently to permit the construction of a 1981 index at the post-1974 district level. The 1981 results are compared with the 1971 distribution of rurality at the district scale, and spatial changes in rurality classification illustrated.

Rurality in England and Wales 1981: A replication of the 1971 index

Much concern about the negative environmental consequences of agricultural development in Australia, including salinisation, waterlogging and algal blooms, has focused on the problems of the Murray-Darling Basin. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the environmental problems of the Murray-Darling Basin from an economic perspective, and a selective survey of the relevant economic literature, including theoretical analysis, modelling and contributions to the development of water policy. In attempting to understand the complex problems of the Murray-Darling Basin, an eclectic approach drawing on externality, sustainability and property rights perspectives seems most appropriate.

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Environmental economics and the Murray-Darling river system

From `sustainable rural communities’ to `social sustainability': giving voice to diversity in Mangakahia Valley, New Zealand

The restructuring of social imaginations in rural geography

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01122042/document

Water governance across competing scales: coupling land and water management

In the past, evaluations of the transfer of agricultural land to other uses have generally failed to incorporate the issues of uncertainty and irreversibility into the analysis. This can lead to an overestimation of development values. The paper commences with a brief review of the approaches which have been adopted in the assessment of the loss of agricultural land. It is then demonstrated that uncertainty relating to the rate of change of agricultural values through time requires the adoption of a more conservative decision criterion in the evaluation of irreversible land use changes than would otherwise be applied. This is followed by a numerical example and sensitivity analysis. The paper concludes with a discussion of these results. Copyright

Uncertainty, irreversibility and the loss of agricultural land

The phenomenon of the clearance of deep‐rooting vegetation leading to dryland salinity exhibits a number of characteristics which indicate the presence of market failure. These are discussed in the context of identifying an optimal level of clearance in a particular catchment. Various policies could be applied in order to correct for these problems. The potential for the use of taxes and regulations is examined and their limitations are identified. A scheme involving the use of transferable rights to cleared land is described and evaluated by means of a hypothetical example. Controls over land clearance will be more easily achieved when they are introduced at an early stage in the land development process. 1982 The Australian Agricultural Economics Society

Rights to cleared land and the control of dryland‐seepage salinity*

Rural Employment: Trends, Options, Choices

Hodge I. (1982) The social opportunity cost of rural labour, Reg. Studies 16, 000-000. When new employment is generated in times of involuntary unemployment, the social opportunity cost of labour will be less than the market wage. In assessing the social value of projects it is therefore necessary to identify the extent of this differential. In this paper, an approach to the evaluation of the social opportunity cost of labour is described which models the process of labour adjustment subsequent to the creation of new vacancies. A Markov chain approach is adopted in order to quantify the impact on the labour force as the consequent changes work through the system and the opportunity cost of labour at various stages is measured on the basis of assumed productivities of employees in their alternative occupations. Finally, the impediments to this adjustment process in rural areas are discussed.

Ian Hodge

Papers

Uncertainty, irreversibility and the loss of agricultural land

Rights to cleared land and the control of dryland‐seepage salinity*

Rural Employment: Trends, Options, Choices

The social opportunity cost of rural labour

NEW JOBS IN THE EASTERN BORDERS An Economic Evaluation of the Development Commission Factory Programme