Income Growth and Employment in the Pilbara: an evolutionary analysis, 1980–2010

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the application of evolutionary concepts and methodologies in understanding the dynamics of capitalist space economies. This paper contributes to these debates through an analysis of income growth and employment in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. While much of the work on 'evolutionary economic geography' has focused on core industrial and service economies, the Pilbara offers a unique context within which to test some of the emerging conceptual claims. Using simple econometric models, the paper shows the path-dependent nature of development in the Pilbara. It also points to the need to develop local models of resource economies as a means of better understanding the peculiar dynamics of change operating at these finer spatial scales.

Diversifying Cores but Stagnant Peripheries: Mining and Other Industry Employment Contributions to Development in Local Government Areas of the Northern Territory

“…The approach taken in this paper is thus vital in building an accurate profile of the micro (local) economies which contribute to the overall macro (NT) economy. Geospatial visualisations and analyses of these kinds can guide decisions around future employment and industry investment as well as underpin decision‐making by providing “the peculiar dynamics of change operating at these finer spatial scales” (Plummer & Tonts, , p. 227). We do this by employing location quotient analysis (LQ, employment concentration measures), coefficients of regional specialisation (CRSs, to identify the degree to which a locality is undergoing industrial specialisation) and shift‐share analyses (to understand the sources of economic growth) drawing on comparison between the LGAs that comprise the NT.…”

Australasian Rural Geographies: At the Core, in the Antipodes?

“…This call has been met, to some extent, with growing interest in mining‐affected economies' experiences of and adaptabilities to sudden and dramatic mineral and energy exploration and exploitation. In their analysis of economic change in the Pilbara region over the period 1980–2010, Plummer and Tonts () brought a relatively new set of tools to this task, seeking to operationalise key concepts in evolutionary economic geography (EEG) such as path and place dependence, hysteresis, and local embeddedness. Suspicious of spurious claims of causality associated with the ‘casual empiricism’ of time‐series graphs and tables, occasionally supplemented with simple correlation and regression analysis, Plummer and Tonts () employed spatial econometrics techniques to explore the extent of evolutionary dynamics across the Pilbara using worker income and employment growth as key variables.…”

“…In their analysis of economic change in the Pilbara region over the period 1980–2010, Plummer and Tonts () brought a relatively new set of tools to this task, seeking to operationalise key concepts in evolutionary economic geography (EEG) such as path and place dependence, hysteresis, and local embeddedness. Suspicious of spurious claims of causality associated with the ‘casual empiricism’ of time‐series graphs and tables, occasionally supplemented with simple correlation and regression analysis, Plummer and Tonts () employed spatial econometrics techniques to explore the extent of evolutionary dynamics across the Pilbara using worker income and employment growth as key variables. Contrary to the tenets of neo‐classical economic orthodoxy and associated convergence theory, which posit that developmental impulses ripple out evenly across space as a rising tide that lifts all boats, Plummer and Tonts () found divergent trajectories across the four local government areas (LGAs) that comprise the Pilbara over the three decade‐long study period.…”

“…Overall, the dominant trend was one of increasing productivity and largely jobless growth. For Plummer and Tonts (, 238), these results underscored the fact that economic dynamics work differently in mining‐and energy extraction‐dependent regions relative to other Australian rural regions: ‘Not only is this likely the result of the increasingly capital‐intensive nature of industry in the region, but also fly‐in/fly‐out employment which sees most of those jobs that are generated held by workers who do not live in the region’.…”

“…Subsequent analyses (Tonts et al ., ) have further sought to ‘stress test’ the purchase of these ideas and potentially broaden their applicability. Plummer and Tonts's (, 224) concern to bring together ‘… an international group of geographers to consider both how “geographical political economy” might be employed to enhance our understanding of resource economies’ created a conversation between Australian and international geographers that was distilled in a special issue of Australian Geographer . Two papers – one by Horsley () and the other by Argent () – explored the value of Innis's () ‘staples theory’ approach to conceptualising the particular character of development of the Pilbara over space and time.…”