SAES-422 Multistate Research Activity Accomplishments Report
Sections
Status: Approved
Basic Information
- Project No. and Title: S296 : Rural Labor Markets: Workers, Firms and Communities in Transition
- Period Covered: 01/01/2001 to 12/01/2002
- Date of Report: 02/11/2002
- Annual Meeting Dates: 11/18/2002 to 11/18/2002
Participants
F.Carson Mencken, fmencken@wvu.edu, WVA; Richard Goe, goe@ksuvm.ksu.edu, KS; David Freshwater, dave@rural.org, KY; Linda Lobao, linda.lobao@osu.edu, OH; Cynthia Anderson, cda@iastate.edu, IA; Mark Henry, henfrb@clemson.edu, SC; Robert Gibbs, rgibbs@ers.usda.gov, Washington, DC; Janet Bokemeier, bokemeier@pilot.msu.edu, MI.
7 There were no new members to be confirmed.
7 We discussed state reports. All present presented what research objectives they had been working on the previous year. Mencken reported for states that had sent him copies in advance (NC, PR).
7 We elected officials for next year. Cynthia Anderson will serve as Chair for 2002, Tom Hirschl was elected (in absentia) as Vice-Chair, and Robert Gibbs agreed to serve as Secretary.
7 We discussed technical issues related to the project. Jan Bokemeier reminded us that we need to have a S-296 website. Cynthia Anderson has agreed to pursue this for year 2002. We agreed to meet in conjunction with the RSAI meetings again next year, which will be held in Puerto Rico.
7 Charlie Tolbert and Davis McGranahan report (through Mencken) that they have agreed to develop a commuting zone or labor market area geography with 2000 journey-to-work data (once it is available next year). In the intervening period, they are going to review the procedures used in past delineations and seek advice from GIS and other experts about possible new methodologies that might be employed. They are unlikely to develop a PUMS file with the 2000 geography. They are committed instead to attaching the geography to long-form data housed at the Census Bureau (and potentially at its regional data centers). These forms will provide many more records, much more detailed information, and avoid the need for arbitrary population thresholds such as the 100,000-person criterion used for PUMS-D (1980) and PUMS-L (1990).
7 Michael Schulman reports (through Mencken) that the S-259 book is currently in the hands of two reviewers. The editor at Ohio University Press is very excited about the volume, although she is a little concerned about the eventual length of the volume. The major delay in getting a copy to the reviewers was due to word processing and formatting. We are still expecting a 2002 publication date.
7 Linda Labao reminded the group that the 2003 RSS meetings will be in Montreal, jointly with the agricultural economics meetings. She would like to see a joint panel on spatial inequality at these meetings (and potentially others such as regional or environmental). Please forward to Linda any ideas on this topic.
7 We explored the possibility of having a spring meeting at the Southern Sociological Society meetings in Baltimore. After discussion we decided against a formal meeting, but encourage S-296 people who may be attending that they meet informally to share and discuss their progress.
7 The remainder of the meeting was a discussion of items from the floor. One issue that we discussed concerned the need for commonality among the different state projects. Regional projects must have a similar focus, such as a common model estimated across all states. One way to resolve this issue is to pick one of the objectives from the original proposal and have all states be prepared to report on it at next years annual meeting. Since many of the project members are working on Objective 3, we decided that this would be an appropriate objective to focus on. However, not all project members are in southern states. Therefore, we are asking project members to examine and report on any analysis of spatial mismatch in their state at next years meeting. Robert Gibbs has agreed to explore the possibility of getting a couple of sessions on this topic at the RSAI meetings in Puerto Rico. We also discussed ways to better share and integrate research projects. One idea is to use the website to create an S-296 Working Paper series. A spatial seminar is still a possibility. Those interested in exploring or purchasing SpaceState (currently $400.00) should go to: http://www.spacestat.com/.
7 The meeting adjourned at Noon.
7 We discussed state reports. All present presented what research objectives they had been working on the previous year. Mencken reported for states that had sent him copies in advance (NC, PR).
7 We elected officials for next year. Cynthia Anderson will serve as Chair for 2002, Tom Hirschl was elected (in absentia) as Vice-Chair, and Robert Gibbs agreed to serve as Secretary.
7 We discussed technical issues related to the project. Jan Bokemeier reminded us that we need to have a S-296 website. Cynthia Anderson has agreed to pursue this for year 2002. We agreed to meet in conjunction with the RSAI meetings again next year, which will be held in Puerto Rico.
7 Charlie Tolbert and Davis McGranahan report (through Mencken) that they have agreed to develop a commuting zone or labor market area geography with 2000 journey-to-work data (once it is available next year). In the intervening period, they are going to review the procedures used in past delineations and seek advice from GIS and other experts about possible new methodologies that might be employed. They are unlikely to develop a PUMS file with the 2000 geography. They are committed instead to attaching the geography to long-form data housed at the Census Bureau (and potentially at its regional data centers). These forms will provide many more records, much more detailed information, and avoid the need for arbitrary population thresholds such as the 100,000-person criterion used for PUMS-D (1980) and PUMS-L (1990).
7 Michael Schulman reports (through Mencken) that the S-259 book is currently in the hands of two reviewers. The editor at Ohio University Press is very excited about the volume, although she is a little concerned about the eventual length of the volume. The major delay in getting a copy to the reviewers was due to word processing and formatting. We are still expecting a 2002 publication date.
7 Linda Labao reminded the group that the 2003 RSS meetings will be in Montreal, jointly with the agricultural economics meetings. She would like to see a joint panel on spatial inequality at these meetings (and potentially others such as regional or environmental). Please forward to Linda any ideas on this topic.
7 We explored the possibility of having a spring meeting at the Southern Sociological Society meetings in Baltimore. After discussion we decided against a formal meeting, but encourage S-296 people who may be attending that they meet informally to share and discuss their progress.
7 The remainder of the meeting was a discussion of items from the floor. One issue that we discussed concerned the need for commonality among the different state projects. Regional projects must have a similar focus, such as a common model estimated across all states. One way to resolve this issue is to pick one of the objectives from the original proposal and have all states be prepared to report on it at next years annual meeting. Since many of the project members are working on Objective 3, we decided that this would be an appropriate objective to focus on. However, not all project members are in southern states. Therefore, we are asking project members to examine and report on any analysis of spatial mismatch in their state at next years meeting. Robert Gibbs has agreed to explore the possibility of getting a couple of sessions on this topic at the RSAI meetings in Puerto Rico. We also discussed ways to better share and integrate research projects. One idea is to use the website to create an S-296 Working Paper series. A spatial seminar is still a possibility. Those interested in exploring or purchasing SpaceState (currently $400.00) should go to: http://www.spacestat.com/.
7 The meeting adjourned at Noon.