Territory and Public Employment

A General Model and British Evidence

Bibliographic Data

ID6296200
AuthorsRichard Parry (0000-0003-4572-4849, University of Edinburgh, corresponding author)
Year1981
Volume1
Issue2
Pages221-250
Publication date1981-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Public Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0143-814X • E-ISSN: 1469-7815
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0143814x00001495
OpenAlexW2110337311
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited8

A model of the territorial distribution of public employment within a country is presented, and tested with evidence from the United Kingdom in 1977. Three influences are suggested to account for the pattern of territorial variation: proportionality (an even distribution after standardisation for area and client group characteristics); the structure of the public sector (the presence of industries and services that must be concentrated in some places) and political discretion. These are then related to different activities of government. The first two influences are shown to account for much, though not all, of the territorial variation between United Kingdom nations and regions in 1977, substantial though this was, with Northern Ireland having nearly twice the level of public employment of the West Midlands. Location patterns tend to be byproducts of decisions taken on functional grounds, with structural constraints and service entitlements having a much greater impact than political choice

Business · Demographic economics · Discretion · Distribution (mathematics · Economics · Economy · Ethnology · Geography · Government (linguistics · Kingdom · Northern ireland · Political science · Politics · Public sector · Public service · Sociology · Variation (astronomy · Employment and Welfare Studies · Law · Public Administration · Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

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