Labour market areas and other functional regions (FRs) are increasingly used within research and policy, but how FRs are best defined is an unresolved issue. This is important because the policy impacts, or the research results, will differ depending on the specific FR boundaries used. As a result of this sensitivity (termed the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem), quantitative metrics are needed so that differing sets of FR boundaries can be evaluated. To meet this need the paper firstly reviews the concept and use of labour market areas – the form of FRs most widely used in policy – to identify relevant criteria for evaluating any regionalisation comprising a set of FRs. Next a range of potential measurable indicators for each of the criteria is defined. These candidate indicators are then exemplified by applying them to a huge number of alternative sets of FRs. From this empirical evidence a short-list of preferred indicators is identified, creating a statistical ‘toolbox’ for evaluating sets of FRs. The paper ends by first sketching possible processes within which applying the indicators can help policy-makers with a decision over the appropriate set of FRs for a specific policy, before finally outlining some potential future research developments.

中文翻译：

---

政策的功能区域：统计“工具箱”，为替代地区之间的决策提供依据

劳动力市场区域和其他功能区域（FR）越来越多地用于研究和政策中，但是如何最好地定义FR是一个尚未解决的问题。这很重要，因为政策影响或研究结果将根据所使用的特定FR边界而有所不同。由于这种敏感性（称为可修改的地域单位问题），需要定量指标，以便可以评估不同的FR边界集。为了满足这一需求，本文首先回顾了劳动力市场领域的概念和用途（在政策中使用最广泛的框架形式），以确定评估包括框架框架的任何区域化的相关标准。接下来，为每个标准定义了一系列潜在的可衡量指标。然后通过将它们应用到大量的FR替代集来举例说明这些候选指标。从这些经验证据中，可以识别出首选指标的简短列表，从而创建了一个统计“工具箱”来评估FR集。本文首先概述了可能的过程，在这些过程中，指标的应用可以帮助决策者确定针对特定政策的适当框架集，然后最终概述一些潜在的未来研究进展。