Bill Luker Jr - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Bill Luker Jr

Veblen, '"lew Y o r k , V i k i n g , 1 9 8 1. m " ' 3 2. Vftilder, " S c h i s o p h r e n i c a... more Veblen, '"lew Y o r k , V i k i n g , 1 9 8 1. m " ' 3 2. Vftilder, " S c h i s o p h r e n i c a n d C r e a t i v e Itrinkinp," I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Journal of Management, Oct 1, 2000

... Thus, the necessity of coping with environmental change is a primary assumption of organizati... more ... Thus, the necessity of coping with environmental change is a primary assumption of organizational fit theories ... Escalating environ-mental turbulence stimulates managerial actions aimed at reducing the concom-itant uncertainty (Boyd & Fulk, 1996; Daft, Sormunen & Parks ...

Challenge: The Magazine of Economic Affairs, Sep 1, 1999

This project has constructed and analyzed a regional database composed of information about the s... more This project has constructed and analyzed a regional database composed of information about the states and the Departments of Transportation represented in the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (WASHTO). Grounds for conflict and cooperation between member departments may be found in similarities and differences in state economies, demographies, and polities or in the structure of the state transportation departments themselves and the character of the transportation systems they build and manage. One way to illuminate sources of conflict and cooperation between members of transportation groups like WASHTO is to construct and analyze databases that capture the most important characteristics of the states and their transportation departments. This analytical strategy reveals several areas of interest and issues of mutual concern in transportation policy common to all of the members of the organization and to particular groups of state DOTs within the region. Several recommendations are made about ways in which WASHTO member agencies could cooperate and coordinate their transportation policy efforts.

... Ml Preceding page blank Page 8. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors would like to acknowledge the effo... more ... Ml Preceding page blank Page 8. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors would like to acknowledge the efforts of Jeffery С Edwardson and Rogelio Rodriguez in the successful completion of this report. The authors appreciate the ...

Journal of Economic Education, 1981

From 1970 to 1986, the dollar volume of foreign manufacturing (direct) investment in the US incre... more From 1970 to 1986, the dollar volume of foreign manufacturing (direct) investment in the US increased by a factor of sixteen. From 1980 to 1986, more than 15 percent of this investment was in rural counties of the US South and Midwest. Why and how? Dr. Luker's is a unique type of industrial location analysis that uses both continuous and nominal data in a discrete choice model setting. At the policy level, it asks, at least in this period, whether new plants in rural areas were located in non-metro locales that were significantly different from existing manufacturing facilities purchased by foreign-owned producers.

Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy, Second Edition (Print Version), 2007

Recent research has uncovered an apparent relationship between rates of productivity growth and l... more Recent research has uncovered an apparent relationship between rates of productivity growth and levels of investment in core infrastructure by the public sector. If valid, these findings account for most of the widely reported slowdown in U.S. rates of productivity growth in recent decades, and lend a measure of intrinsic worth to government intervention in the national economy more fundamental than a merely countercyclical role. This review (a) outlines the central results of the dozens of research efforts mounted in the last decade that attempt to explain the U.S. productivity slowdown; (b) retraces the findings of the researchers most noted for their linking of infrastructure investment with productivity changes; (c) recapitulates the criticisms to which they have been subjected in recent months; and (d) summarizes the main issues that divide protagonists and antagonists in this arena. Finally, a set of empirical and theoretical issues are introduced that have not been given adeq...

As a possible solution to the problem of inaccurate perceptions and negative attitudes toward voc... more As a possible solution to the problem of inaccurate perceptions and negative attitudes toward vocational-technical occupations among teachers and pupils, the project investigated the feasibility of training secondary school teachers in a range of disciplines to serve as agents of manpower-economic information dissemination and attitudinal change. Methodology involved in-service seminars and summer institutes for a total of 107 teachers. Regression analysis of the training program data indicated that pupils of the trained teachers experienced greater increases in knowledge and developed more positive attitudes toward nonprofessional work modes than did pupils of teachers not participating in the in-service training. However, analysis did not show that pupils of participant teachers experienced a significantly greater increase in realistic attitudes toward nonprofessional work modes. From these findings, it was concluded that the program objectives had been actualized. Development of a delivery system utilizing multimedia technolqgy, with a software support system, was recommended. A summary of the teacher training uni:ts, lists of participants, evaluation variables, the study instruments are appended. (Author/MF) * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not * responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original.

Monthly Labor Review, 1996

High-Tech Industries, Texas estimated employment in the former category at 9.8 per-cent of total ... more High-Tech Industries, Texas estimated employment in the former category at 9.8 per-cent of total nongovernment and noneducation employment in 1989.6 More recently, we used the "R&D-intensive" high-tech industry definition and data from the Current Employ-ment ...

Monthly Labor Review, 1997

1988. Ninety-one percent of this job loss, amounting to 547,000 employees, occurred in durable go... more 1988. Ninety-one percent of this job loss, amounting to 547,000 employees, occurred in durable goods manufacturing, in which the decline of 12 percent from January 1988 total employment was more than twice that of durable goods manufacturing as a whole (-5.3 percent). ...

Urban Geogr, 1998

Abstract: The paper presents a snapshot of the current employment distribution of high-tech-nolog... more Abstract: The paper presents a snapshot of the current employment distribution of high-tech-nology industry among Texas's major metropolitan areas and links the broad outlines of that dis-tribution to the particular production context(s) that emerged in those cities during ...

Clinical Sociology Review, 1989

This article contains a description of a model for training in sociological practice at the Schoo... more This article contains a description of a model for training in sociological practice at the School of Community Service at the University of North Texas This model for training is predicated upon four themes in sociological practice: interventionist, multidisciplmary, humane, and holistic The article also contains a description and a discussion of various academic programs within the School which provide training with respect to these four themes

"Foreign Investment in the Nonmetropolitan U.S. South and Midwest: A Case of Mimetic Location Beh... more "Foreign Investment in the Nonmetropolitan U.S. South and Midwest: A Case of Mimetic Location Behavior" asks a basic question about foreign direct investment patterns in the United States: Are they really "foreign?" This question is motivated by the observation that rather than changing the geography of American manufacturing, foreign manufacturers appear to be mimicking the location patterns of their domestic based American counterparts. I used a conditional logic procedure to analyze the reasons foreign manufacturing firms have been attracted to nonmetropolitan counties of the US South and Midwest. The analysis supports the thesis that foreign firms are mimicking or imitating the location patterns of their American-owned and -based counterparts.

High-tech industries are our most strategically important source of new products and processes. T... more High-tech industries are our most strategically important source of new products and processes. These industries generate much, if not most, of the competitive advantages that U.S.-made goods and services enjoy in domestic and international markets. Consequently, news about anything high tech consistently commands the attention of the general public. The latest high-tech story, however, is less about gadgetry and much more about the effects of accelerating technological change on the working lives of those employed in high-tech industries.

This study examines changes in the Fiscal Health of selected Texas metropolitan cities and counti... more This study examines changes in the Fiscal Health of selected Texas metropolitan cities and counties from 1972 to 1992 (with a projection through 1995 and the year 2000), and the relationship of those changes to their ability to carry out maintenance of locally funded transportation infrastructure—county roads, major arterials, and bridges. The Fiscal Health of two-thirds of the cities and counties in our study group improved over the period in question. But the improvement in their ability to raise revenue (a key factor in public Fiscal Health) did not translate into local expenditures adequate for maintaining transportation infrastructure in an acceptable condition. Among the remaining one-third of cities and counties where Fiscal Health declined, there were decreases in local road and street maintenance spending, and these decreases were—as expected—statistically associated with a decline in the condition of locally maintained transportation facilities. The study concludes with recommendations for changes in the way state agencies (Texas Department of Transportation) target funding aid for local transportation departments and Metropolitan Planning Organizations.

Research efforts in the early 1990s uncovered an apparent relationship between rates of productiv... more Research efforts in the early 1990s uncovered an apparent relationship between rates of productivity growth and levels of investment in core infrastructure by the public sector in developed economies. If valid, these findings account for most of the widely reported slowdown in U.S. rates of productivity growth since 1970s, and lend a measure of intrinsic worth to government intervention in the national economy more fundamental than a
merely countercyclical role. This review (a) outlines the central results of the dozens of research efforts mounted since then that attempt to explain the U.S. productivity slowdown; (b) retraces the findings of the researchers most noted for their linking of infrastructure investment with productivity
changes; (c) recapitulates the criticisms to which they have been subjected in recent months; and (d) summarizes the main issues that divide protagonists and antagonists in this arena. Finally, I introduce a set of empirical and theoretical issues that bear heavily on these issues, but have not been given adequate attention by researchers on either side of the debate.

A critique of the axiomatic-deductive approach to deriving true statements in welfare economics a... more A critique of the axiomatic-deductive approach to deriving true statements in welfare economics and economic theory in general; the more general conflation of methods and methodology in social-scientific work that inadvertently complements such an approach; and the introduction of quasi experimentalism as a better way forward in normative social science studies, research, and theoretical work. Dedicated to the memory--the unique genius, courage, and humanity--of H.H. Liebhafsky, M.Sc., J.D., and Ph.D.; Professor and Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics, University of Texas at Austin, 1956-1992. And to my dear friend and fellow grad student at the time, who lent so many ideas and much enthusiasm to my efforts, Sandy Marble, Ph.D. (RIP, 2016).