IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/regstd/v39y2005i6p767-787.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Relocation, relocation, relocation: Assessing the case for public sector dispersal

Author

Listed:
  • J. N. Marshall
  • D. Bradley
  • C. Hodgson
  • N. Alderman
  • R. Richardson

Abstract

Marshall J. N., Bradley D., Hodgson C., Alderman N. and Richardson R. (2005) Relocation, relocation, relocation: assessing the case for public sector dispersal, Regional Studies 39 , 767-787. The paper assesses the case for public sector relocation from capital cities using evidence from Britain. The senior echelons of the British civil service are disproportionately concentrated in London. Significant reductions in operating costs can be achieved by relocating civil service functions from the capital, and these financial savings have been used to justify programmes of dispersal. However, the paper stresses the strong regional case for relocation; relocation contributes directly through employment creation to more balanced regional economic development and simultaneously reduces overheating close to the capital and the under-utilization of infrastructure and human resources in other regions. The relocation of more senior jobs in the civil service from London strengthens the service base within problem regions. The highly centralized and strongly hierarchical nature of the civil service, combined with the buoyancy of the private sector near the capital, acts as a brake on staff mobility and the effective national deployment of staff in the civil service. Public service relocation is increasingly being used by government to facilitate modernization by using relocation as a catalyst to bring in new business practices. However, there is less of a willingness on the part of government to connect relocation with flatter forms of more devolved governance.

Suggested Citation

  • J. N. Marshall & D. Bradley & C. Hodgson & N. Alderman & R. Richardson, 2005. "Relocation, relocation, relocation: Assessing the case for public sector dispersal," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(6), pages 767-787.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:regstd:v:39:y:2005:i:6:p:767-787
    DOI: 10.1080/00343400500213663
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00343400500213663
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00343400500213663?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. C W Jefferson & M Trainor, 1993. "Public Sector Employment in Regional Development," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 25(9), pages 1319-1338, September.
    2. B Ashcroft & J K Swales, 1982. "The Importance of the First round in the Multiplier Process: The Impact of Civil Service Dispersal," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 14(4), pages 429-444, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Faggio, Giulia, 2019. "Relocation of public sector workers: Evaluating a place-based policy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 53-75.
    2. Faggio, Giulia, 2019. "Relocation of public sector workers: Evaluating a place-based policy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 53-75.
    3. SeHoon Lee & Jeong Hee Hong & Jang Won Bae & Il-Chul Moon, 2015. "Impact of Population Relocation to City Commerce: Micro-Level Estimation with Validated Agent-Based Model," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 18(2), pages 1-5.
    4. repec:ehl:lserod:50482 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Changkeun Lee & Euijune Kim, 2017. "Mobility of Workers and Population between Old and New Capital Cities Using the Interregional Economic Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-15, October.
    6. Faggio, Giulia & Overman, Henry, 2014. "The effect of public sector employment on local labour markets," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 91-107.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter Gripaios & Paul Bishop, 2005. "Spatial inequalities in UK GDP per head: The role of private and public services," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(8), pages 945-958, December.
    2. J.A. Lewis, 1988. "Assessing the Effect of the Polytechnic, Wolverhampton on the Local Community," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 25(1), pages 53-61, February.
    3. Faggio, Giulia, 2019. "Relocation of public sector workers: Evaluating a place-based policy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 53-75.
    4. repec:ehl:lserod:50482 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Faggio, Giulia & Overman, Henry, 2014. "The effect of public sector employment on local labour markets," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 91-107.
    6. Psaltopoulos, Demetrios & Skuras, Dimitris & Thomson, Kenneth J., 2011. "Employment effects of private investment initiatives in rural areas of southern Europe: A regional SAM approach," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 12(2).
    7. Faggio, Giulia, 2019. "Relocation of public sector workers: Evaluating a place-based policy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 53-75.
    8. Dr Ronald W. McQuaid, 1997. "The Location of Civil Service Jobs in Scotland in relation to the Local Economic Impact of the Scottish Parliament," Working Paper p26, Departement of Economics, Napier University.
    9. A.G.M. Nairn & J.K. Swales, 1987. "Area Policy Impacts: A Multiplier Analysis of GEAR," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 24(1), pages 31-45, February.
    10. Utis Kaothien, 1991. "Regional and Urbanisation Policy in Thailand: The Tertiary Sector as a Leading Sector in Regional Development," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 28(6), pages 1027-1043, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public sector relocation; Reduced operating costs; Balanced regional development; Government modernization; Relocalisation du secteur public; Frais d'exploitation reduits; Developpement regional equilibre; Modernisation de l'administration; Standortwechsel der offentlichen Dienste; verringerte Betriebskosten; ausgewogene Regionalentwicklung; Modernisierung der Regionen; Transferencia de la administracion publica; Reduccion de los costes operativos; Desarrollo regional equitativo; Modernizacion del gobierno; JEL classifications: R11; R38; R53; R83;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy
    • R53 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Public Facility Location Analysis; Public Investment and Capital Stock

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:regstd:v:39:y:2005:i:6:p:767-787. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CRES20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.