THE POLITICAL INSTITUTIONAL DETERMINANTS OF LAND-USE CHANGE AND SPRAWL: A CONCEPTUAL MODEL

This paper proposes a conceptual land-use change model that includes a framework for analyzing the political institutional determinants of land-use change. The model is used to explain several previous empirical findings and to generate testable hypotheses. The government bias for sprawl is addressed in the context of the model.Land-use change, sprawl, sprawl bias, planning and zoning

Determinants of Industrial Property Rents in the Chicago Metropolitan Area

Urban economists have long understood the theoretical importance of transportation infrastructure and accessibility on the location choice of households and firms. We utilize a readily available data set of transaction rents in the Chicago metropolitan area to investigate the determinants of industrial property rents. Among the factors considered are proximity to transportation infrastructure, characteristics of the property, the term structure of lease agreements, and local attributes of the neighborhood. Empirical results suggest property, lease, and local demographics play important roles in determining rents. Despite the fact that industrial property tends to locate very close to rail lines and interstate highways, transportation infrastructure has much less influence. There is evidence that there is an upward sloping lease term structure premium and that the premium varies over time. The model is also used to develop a constant quality rent index for the Chicago commercial property market. Compared to average rents and asking rents, the estimated constant quality index shows a smaller run up in rents from 2003 through 2008 and a larger drop off in rents through the end of 2011

Equity of access to adult hospice inpatient care within north-west England.

There is a growing debate about the question of equity of access to hospice and palliative care services. Even countries with relatively well developed palliative care systems are considered to have problems of access and inequity of provision. Despite these concerns, we still lack a relevant evidence base to serve as a guide to action. We present an analysis of access to adult hospice inpatient provision in the north-west region of England that employs Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Measures of the possible demand for, and supply of, hospice inpatient services are used to determine the potential accessibility of cancer patients, assessed at the level of small areas (electoral wards). Further, the use of deprivation scores permits an analysis of the equity of access to adult inpatient hospice care, leading to the identification of areas where additional service provision may be warranted. Our research is subject to a number of caveats�it is limited to inpatient hospice provision and does not include other kinds of inpatient and community-based palliative care services. Likewise, we recognise that not everyone with cancer will require palliative care and also that palliative care needs exist among those with nonmalignant conditions. Nevertheless, our methodology is one that can also be applied more generally