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This article offers a discursive analysis of the Conservative green paper for international development, published as part of the closely fought election campaign of 2010 that culminated in a UK coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. The article examines the paper in comparison with the discursive shifts represented by the first Department for International Development (DfID) white paper, published by the outgoing Labour administration in 1997. In contrast with the optimistic and globalist developmentalism that characterised Labour's development discourse, the green paper sounds a more cautious note, using empire to focus on Britain's leadership role in poverty alleviation rather than on global progress, and brings back the full force of developmentalism only at the point where it seeks to legitimate spending on security concerns as a development concern. The article then moves on to examine the green paper's most explicit discursive move, the signalling of a 'post-bureaucratic age'. This move towards increased information provision to promote transparency and accountability is likely to signal greater control by powerful donors in securitised times, albeit with a potential re-scaling of responsibility for poverty alleviation to the poorest local communities. Finally, the article looks briefly at information technologies in relation to the transnational spatiality of civil society, arguing that attention needs to be paid to the more embodied forms of transnational association encouraged by the green paper, and to the selection and impacts of information, which need to be seen in the discursive context of wider Conservative constructions of the 'big society'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2015, the United Kingdom (UK) has increased its investment in transportation infrastructure to compensate for years of underinvestment in comparison with peer countries. It is of critical importance to evaluate the effect of these recent investments, as well as historical ones, on economic development, both theoretically and empirically, to provide guidance on future infrastructure investment. However, few research looks into such policy adjustment on economic growth in the UK. To fill this gap, this paper investigates the relationship between transport infrastructure development and economic growth in the UK from different time spans. Principal component analysis (PCA) is used to construct a comprehensive measure of transport infrastructure development. This paper then applies Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) to investigate both long-run and short-run relationships between transport infrastructure development and economic growth from 1970 to 2017 in the UK. Empirical results suggest that transportation infrastructure has a long-run promotive effect on economic development. However, in the short run, this effect turns out to be significantly negative. The analysis of this paper indicates differentiated roles that the UK's transport infrastructure played in economic growth, which should be considered in future policy design of achieving economic sustainability in the UK. • This paper investigates the relationship between transport infrastructure development and economic growth in the UK. • Transportation infrastructure has a long-run promotive effect on economic development. • In the short run, transportation infrastructure fails to promote economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a discursive analysis of Great Britain's Conservative Party 2011 Green Paper "One World Conservatism: A Conservative agenda for international development." It offers a comparison of the conception of development in that paper with the 1997 Labour Party White Paper which launched the development of the Department for International Development (DFID). The discourse used to describe Britain's role in promoting global development and reducing poverty is examined.

Levelling up and the everyday economy are two crucial concepts for understanding the direction of policy making in the UK, but the relationship between them has not yet been fully explored. Moreover, the UK's industrial and regional policies are woefully underdeveloped. This article suggests how levelling up and the everyday economy concepts could contribute to Labour's emerging industrial and regional policies. It argues that Labour is right to pursue an economic growth agenda, but must make growth work for communities and workers, and the everyday economy can help. The everyday economy can contribute to, and benefit from, local productivity growth, but regions still need companies that export or are at the technological frontier to raise demand, productivity and pay. Labour should work with the government's Levelling Up White Paper, but this was overly focussed on cities and knowledge intensive business services: there is an economic case for including towns and manufacturing too, and they should prioritise connecting places and sectors, building on the diverse strengths which different places can offer, and setting a long‐term direction of travel. Over time, Labour should try to ensure that cities, towns and smaller communities are better connected, better coordinated and more specialised within larger regions. Labour should, therefore, set out an industrial and regional strategy; work up an economic development toolkit; and devolve economic powers to Mayoral Combined Authorities and councils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this last paper in a series of four, we will enquire into key developments affecting economic growth in the near future, consider potential restructuring effects that current and future economic events could cause and survey suggestions from literature for long-term sustainability of growth trends. Discussing climate change, COVID-19 economic recovery, automation, and future growth with a view to global development, we explore where growth may take economies, and how we may foster growth in a rapidly changing international economic landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possibility of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union has never been more realistic and upto- date since joining the European Communities (EC) as it is today. The UK is facing a unique situation. At present, this depends solely on the capabilities of European and British government officials, who negotiate the terms of withdrawal and future cooperation between the two entities. The main goal of this paper is based on the British - Slovak trade relations development analysis to figure out their impact within the Brexit consequences on the future Slovak economy and its current status in international economic relations. The paper also provides a basic overview of Brexit process and its possible impact on the EU's further functioning. Basic data will be drawn from generally accepted institutions, evaluating the UK and Slovak trade and economic performance. To accomplish this goal, methods such as analysis and comparison to illustrate the UK-Slovak foreign trade development, synthesis and logical deduction to discuss the Brexit impact on Slovak economic environment in the future are to be used; data from scientific and professional publications, periodical and non-periodical press. The paper presents the results of an empirical analysis, which showed that because of the size of economic relations between Slovakia and the United Kingdom and the number of goods and services being exported to the UK, the «hard» Brexit will be very unfavourable for Slovak foreign trade due to the possible tariffs being imposed. The research empirically confirms and theoretically proves that it can cause a significant weakening and slowdown in the Slovak economy. Either way, the upcoming Brexit process, that is the withdrawal of Great Britain from the European Union, would have a major impact not only on British, European but also on the world economy. The impact of Brexit on Slovakia's economy will not only be in reducing the possible growth of the economy, but also in employment and price increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partnerships between traditional aid institutions and private sector actors have become an accepted feature of the international aid architecture. This paper explores the opportunities and challenges presented by such relationships through an analysis of Girl Hub, an operational partnership between Nike's philanthropic foundation and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DfID). Despite both parent organisations sharing a commitment to girl empowerment and economic development, Girl Hub failed to achieve its founders' vision. Ultimately, the influence of the philanthropic organisation was mediated by DfID's accountability demands and culture clashes between individuals involved in the partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Effective planning and investment for transport infrastructure systems is seen as key for economic development in both advanced and developing economies. However, planning for such strategic transport investments is fraught with difficulties, due to their high costs and public profile, long asset life, and uncertainty over future transport demand patterns and technologies. Given that only a finite quantity of funding is available for transport investment, it is important that this funding is spent in the right places and on the right schemes in order to ensure that the best return is obtained from limited public resources. There is therefore a need for a model which is capable of assessing network demand and performance in a wide range of possible futures, in order that robust decisions can be taken with regard to which schemes are given the go ahead. This paper discusses a range of issues associated with the development of a strategic national transport model for Great Britain as part of a wider interdependent infrastructure systems modelling framework (NISMOD). It considers the compromises which have to be made in order to develop a model which can examine a wide range of potential futures in a reasonable timescale, outlines how such futures can be captured in the model, and finally assesses the continued role of planners and policy-makers in determining both how the model is applied and how the future of transport systems might play out in reality. While the paper is based on a case study example from Great Britain, most of the general issues discussed are of relevance to transport and infrastructure policy making in almost any national or international context. Highlights • Strategic national transport model developed and applied. • Compromises inherent in modelling do not prevent useful outputs being produced. • Relatively simple models produce outputs comparable with complex alternatives. • Models cannot independently determine pathways to a better transport future. • Models need to be underpinned by clear and consistent strategic thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism has become a modern global phenomenon and contributes to the development of the society in many possible ways. The visible impact of the tourism development not only involves the economic factors but also develop the environmental, cultural and social aspects of life and well-being. Matter of fact, because of this various benefits arising from the tourism development, it has been able to gain a very important and significant status in the community and many countries are recognising tourism as their priority in the economic development. Urban tourism is a concept within the tourism and it becomes one of the main functions of the cities and its importance is still growing. Urban tourism locations rich in historic features often serve as a suitable example of urban locations positioned to attract visitors to enjoy the historic and cultural experiences on offer. Focusing on Cambridge, a city in the United Kingdom this paper explored the concept of Urban Tourism with an emphasis on the characteristics and type of visitors to cities and the natural impacts of tourism and also focused on the costs and benefits of urban tourism in terms of economic, social, cultural and environmental considerations. Using different literature from various articles, books, research papers and case studies, this paper identifies if Cambridge is able to retain its culture and identity in spite of its popularity as a tourism destination. This paper presents the results of a theoretical analysis which showed that tourism impacts have largely been well managed in Cambridge and the city has been able to maintain the characteristics and original features of a heritage city. Preservation of architecture, a wide range of entertainment and cultural events, sports and leisure facilities are all well served. The results of this research can be useful in identifying the role of the public and private sector in urban tourism and their impact on local residents and aims to create awareness among organizations relating to the Urban tourism, local residents and government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Israel's relationship with the West during the first half of the 1950s was not a walk in the park. Economic relations fitted into this general picture. Both Britain and France were sceptical as far as Israel's potential was concerned. Their early prognoses tended to be quite gloomy. Simultaneously, economic relations provided a convenient communication channel at a time when overt association with the Jewish state was not desirable. The progress in Franco-Israeli economic ties during the years 1953-1955 illustrates this ambivalence in full. While prudence remained, the increase in bilateral trade managed to warrant the military supplies. Britain, constituting a traditional market, surpassed France as a trading partner. Given British political aloofness, the instrument of trade served primarily its immediate economic purpose. Based on archival sources gathered in all of the three countries, the paper traces the interplay of trade and diplomacy in the early years of Israel's foreign relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent legislation in the UK has placed an expectation on social purpose organisations (SPOs) to consider, monitor and evaluate the societal value they generate. However, meaningful engagement with the Social Value Act by the third sector is relatively low, which reflects both conceptual and methodological shortcomings. This paper describes a programme of action research which has developed a user-friendly tool to assist smaller SPOs to explore, evidence and value the benefits that they produce for society. Conceptualising social value through the lens of the localism, personalisation, deliberative democracy and social innovation agendas, the paper describes the process and experience of applying a Social Return Assessment tool and the lessons learnt for the three SPOs involved, the third sector, and for commissioning bodies. Recommendations reflect the need for a standardised monitoring and evaluation framework tailored to specific third sector interest groups and networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crafts have recently been experiencing a renaissance. This revitalization sees craft increasingly recognised as a growing industrial sector with benefits linked to educational, cultural and economic development policy agendas. This paper engages with policy debates around the place of craft in the United Kingdom from 2010. Drawing on craft sector perspectives and UK government policy initiatives it situates the disciplines and practices of craft within their institutional support networks, organizational contexts and draws attention to the role of individuals in driving agendas. The paper focuses on the national facing crafts development organizations, the UK Crafts Council and the UK Heritage Crafts Association, alongside recent policy discussion emerging from the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Recognizing that the legacies of past practice often inform contemporary agendas, the paper explores how the advocacy of craft in the recent past has shaped the place and positioning of craft in contemporary UK politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we reflect on our experience as science and technology studies (STS) researchers who were members of the working group that produced A Synthetic Biology Roadmap for the UK in 2012. We explore how this initiative sought to govern an uncertain future and describe how it was successfully used to mobilize public funds for synthetic biology from the UK government. We discuss our attempts to incorporate the insights and sensibilities of STS into the policy process and why we chose to use the concept of responsible research and innovation to do so. We analyze how the roadmapping process, and the final report, narrowed and transformed our contributions to the roadmap. We show how difficult it is for STS researchers to influence policy when our ideas challenge deeply entrenched pervasive assumptions, framings, and narratives about how technological innovation necessarily leads to economic progress, about public reticence as a roadblock to that progress, and about the supposed separation between science and society. We end by reflecting on the constraints under which we were operating from the outset and on the challenges for STS in policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has argued that human capital has become the key driver of city growth and that there is a widening divergence between high- and low-skill cities. This skilled-city view includes several stylised propositions. The first is that more skills and human capital generate stronger economic growth; the second is that already-skilled cities are becoming ever more skilled; and, the third is that larger cities tend to have stronger concentrations of, and faster growth in, high-skilled, cognitive occupations. Using a detailed data set for occupational change in 85 urban Travel to Work Areas in Britain between 1981 and 2015, this paper evaluates whether these propositions apply to British urban evolution, and how they relate to the 'hollowing-out' of medium-skilled jobs. The results confirm the close interactive relationship between growth and high-skilled occupations. However, some of the skilled-city propositions, such as 'smart cities becoming smarter', and a positive relationship between agglomeration and high-skilled employment growth, do not apply in Britain where other factors have been more important. The pattern of high-skill growth has shown a strong regional dimension, and the 'emergence' of newer smaller cities, particularly in southern England, has been more evident than the 'resurgence' of large core and industrial cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the social and economic landscape changes, universities are coming under growing pressure to contribute to the economic development of their localities. This paper explores the increasing trends towards universities as key actors in the governance of regional economic development through activities to support economic and entrepreneurship development in their regions. A case study is presented of an institution in the UK which is increasingly situating itself in the economic governance sphere. Drawing on the experiences of those working at the coalface of economic governance activities, the opportunities and potential challenges faced by a university when engaging in such activities are explored. The ultimate goal of this paper is to shed light on universities' activities in the realm of regional economic governance, an area currently under-explored in extant literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current trend in public policy is to valorise culture as a tool for social, economic and political transformation. This paper offers a direct contribution to debates that seek to unpack and problematise cities of culture. We adopt a more circumspect approach towards some aspects of the anticipated transformative powers of culture, and in particular the tendency to fetishize the economics of culture. Our empiricism is grounded in a detailed study of Derry~Londonderry as the inaugural UK City of Culture in 2013. We question whether City of Culture was 'life and place changing' or a '12 month party', and reveal different interpretations of success. In our view there is more potential in viewing culture as a peace resource for overcoming divisions in a socially and culturally segregated city, rather than its ability to tackle entrenched economic problems. Moving beyond the specifics of the case study we also provide lessons for future cities of culture and more generalizable insights for the academic and policy literatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the dynamics of trade at EU level, using panel data for the 28 Member States (MS). The relationship between GDP, population level, imports and exports for the period 2010-2017 is analyzed. Afterwords we move to a particular case, namely the United Kingdom using data series for the period 2008 - 2017and the same variables as above. In this case, the relationship between GDP, exports and population level will be analyzed. In both cases, the data source is Eurostat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Departing from the prior literature on the energy consumption-economic growth linkages, this paper aims to quantify the asymmetric impact of unpredictable variations in energy use on GDP (gross domestic product) volatility across the high- and low-volatility regimes in the United Kingdom. For this purpose, the paper utilizes quarterly and monthly data on energy consumption and real GDP, covering the period from 1960 to 2013. To obtain the regime-dependent conditional volatility series, we estimate the two-state Markov regime switching ARCH model. We find significant evidence of the presence of regime shifting in behaviour of both underlying volatility series. By estimating the Markov regime switching model, we find that not only the current (contemporaneous) but also the past (intertemporal) volatility shocks in energy utilization are significant in explaining the output dynamics. Yet, we show that the impact of energy consumption volatility is quite asymmetric, depending on the intensiveness of volatility. Specifically, we show that although the effect of energy consumption volatility on GDP volatility is statistically insignificant in the low-volatility regime, in the high-volatility regime, it appears highly significant. From a policy perspective, our findings suggest that controlling unwanted variations in energy usage would be useful in stabilizing real sector of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-regional correlations between average IQ and socio-economic development have been reported for many different countries. This paper analyses data on average IQ and a range of socio-economic variables at the local authority level in the UK. Local authorities are administrative bodies in local government; there are over 400 in the UK, and they contain anywhere from tens of thousands to more than a million people. The paper finds that local authority IQ is positively related to indicators of health, socio-economic status and tertiary industrial activity; and is negatively related to indicators of disability, unemployment and single parenthood. A general socio-economic factor is correlated with local authority IQ at r = .56. This correlation increases to r = .65 when correcting for measurement error in the estimates of IQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product-Service Systems (PSSs) constitute a family of service-based business models designed to satisfy our societal needs in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner. To date however PSS application has remained niche due to a variety of critical barriers. This paper explores how ‘demand pull’ national government policies could support PSS activity by addressing these barriers and cultivating market demand. Lessons are drawn from a case study of how regulatory , economic incentive , informative and procurement policies have supported Energy Service Company (ESCo) activity in the UK; a sub-set of the PSS family focused on energy service provision. Subsequently five policy recommendations are presented to support PSS activity: (1) balancing economic incentives and regulatory disincentives; (2) promoting indirect policy support; (3) redesigning existing market structures; (4) promoting locally-led PSS activity; and (5) creating stable policy frameworks. The paper warns however that national government policy cannot easily address all PSS barriers, such as customer preferences, international developments, technological progress and inherent business model weaknesses, pointing to the need for other complementary solutions. Furthermore, other governance actors beside national government could also implement PSS supporting policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Despite the surge of interest in construction sustainability and the many Government initiatives encouraging reform in the UK construction industry (CI), the prevalence of sustainable development (SD) in the industry is still largely lagging behind that of other industries. Given the amount of focus and activity identified nationally in this area, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons why this is not being translated into action and to seek counsel from industry professionals as to how they believe change can be achieved with a particular focus on how they believe higher education institutions (HEIs) can contribute. Design/methodology/approach – An explorative, qualitative study using three focus groups was of construction professionals. Findings – Despite a lack of action, many in industry support sustainability and actively attempt to engage in sustainable practices but a number of barriers preclude successful implementation. Government initiatives are having a positive impact, with participants believing that both Government and HEIs are imperative in driving the sustainability agenda forward. Research limitations/implications – Whilst limited in scale, this paper highlights the current state of the CI in relation to SD and evidences that progress is being made albeit slowly. The findings may help both Government and HEIs alongside industry in achieving how this can be overcome. Originality/value – Previous research in this area has generally adopted a quantitative approach. Adopting a qualitative approach provides a more in depth view as to why the status quo remains with regards to SD in the CI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between the United Kingdom's (hereafter referred as UK) bilateral intra-industry trade (IIT) and foreign intellectual property rights (IPRs) protections. The empirical investigation is based on pooled UK data and benefits from the theoretical distinction between horizontal and vertical IIT. It also estimates a gravity equation for international trade using both fixed and random effects models. We then extend the analysis by employing the GMM system for dynamic panel models. The principal findings suggest that the UK's IIT is stimulated when the level of a trading partner's IPRs and its imitative ability are considered jointly. However, when IPRs and imitation abilities are considered separately, their disparate effects are not an important factor in determining UK IIT flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the roles of institutions in facilitating or impeding the creation of new technological pathways in different countries. It is argued that the successful invention, innovation and diffusion of new technologies require the co-evolution of relevant institutions. It is argued that informal institutions, through their impact on people's beliefs, perceptions and consequential behaviour, crucially influence whether formal institutions coevolve with technological development and changing circumstances. At the same time, the rigidity of the pre-existing formal institutional arrangements impacts on whether agents can stimulate their co-evolution with the introduction of new technologies. These arguments are explored by comparing the creation of new wind power technologies in Britain and Germany since the 1970s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a reluctant European player now heading for the Exit, the UK was also an enthusiastic adopter of several key EU economic policies – namely, the skills and technology policies of Agenda 2020 and labour mobility. These initiatives worked with existing British policy, and structural biases, to exacerbate the already bifurcated structure of UK capitalism – between the high-paid technology and financial services sector on the one hand, and low-cost, low-wage sectors on the other hand. In particular, and central to the argument of this paper, immigration from Eastern and Central Europe after 2004 helped to sustain low-cost manufacturing and services industries by undermining firms’ incentives to invest in training. This combined with endemic failures in the UK’s skills system, which is heavily geared towards producing graduates with general skills but neglects the needs of mid and lower segments of the labour market. EU integration, therefore, exacerbated cleavages over skills between high- and low-productivity sectors and may have contributed to social divisions that led to Brexit. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores satisfaction with the political domain of local government performance, using survey data from a contemporary British city as the empirical context. It employs a factor-augmented ordered logit analysis of data emerging from a representative city-wide series of over 1,000 household interviews. Affective reactions to local economic performance and policy effectiveness are constructed in the spirit of the approach used in earlier work by social scientists. The key significant influences that raise or depress satisfaction at this geographical level are presented. Affective reactions to past policy and the economy are both shown to be statistically significant, but with reactions to the economy being negative while those for other policy reactions seemingly positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses time series data on UK book sales to establish what correlation exists between the national income of a country and its sales of books. This is tested by comparing series data in real terms for GDP per capita and for various data series for the UK market, including sales invoiced by publishers and point of sale data on consumer purchasing. The first period, from 1985 to 1999, shows a strong relationship between total sales and GDP per capita. In the second period, from 2001 to 2015, the link appears to disappear when we examine invoiced sales from publishers, even before the impact of the 2008 crisis. This is also including the growth of digital sales towards the end of the period. The direct consumer data shows sales tracking GDP until the onset of the financial crisis; thereafter the only trade sector to have kept pace with GDP is children's, and this contrasts with the areas of adult fiction and non-fiction. Have we therefore seen a structural shift in the book market? If we have passed peak book, what has brought about this uncoupling of book sales from economic growth? Factors are considered including changes in retail, competition from other media, and a prioritization of experience over the accumulation of stuff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the UK, City Deals, essentially bespoke packages of funding and decision-making negotiated between national government and local authorities, are increasingly taking centre stage in promoting economic growth. Each City Deal is seen to reflect the needs of individual cities and their surrounding regions, and each has its own distinctive funding and development agenda. Although the City Deal model has been broadly welcomed by national and local political leaders, concerns have been more widely expressed about its operation and effectiveness. This paper outlines the development and characteristics of the City Deals programme and offers a reflective commentary on a number of issues surrounding the programme, namely, accountability and evaluation, the relationship between the local and national states, the role of planning, and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following Mises’s foundational paper, ‘Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth’, first published in 1920, writers in the Austrian tradition have argued that socialism is impossible, because under socialism there would be no private property in the means of production, and without that private property economic calculation could not take place. In the article ‘Economic Calculation: Private Property or Several Control?’, published in this journal in 2015, I argued that this was mistaken. Not private property, but several control, was required for economic calculation, and since several control is consistent with public ownership, this argument for the impossibility of socialism fails. Another article, ‘Private Property and Economic Calculation: A Reply to Andy Denis’, by Bylund and Manish, published in this issue of theReview of Political Economy, defends the traditional interpretation of Austrian reasoning, contending that my argument fails. My rejoinder re-states the issues, addressing, and, ultimately rejecting, the Bylund and Manish critique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to provide a conceptual framework in which to examine the social practices of contemporary austerity programmes in urban areas, including how these relate to different conceptions of crisis. Of current theoretical interest is the apparent ease with which these austerity measures have been accepted by urban governing agents. In order to advance these understandings we follow the recent post-structuralist discourse theory 'logics' approach of Glynos and Howarth (2007), focusing on the relationship between hegemony, political and social logics, and the subject whose identificatory practices are key to understanding the form, nature and stability of discursive settlements. In such thinking it is not only the formation of discourses and the mobilisation of rhetoric that are of interest, but also the manner in which the subjects of austerity identify with these. Through such an approach we examine the case of the regeneration/economic development and planning policy area in the city government of Birmingham (UK). In conclusion, we argue that the logics approach is a useful framework through which to examine how austerity has been uncontested in a city government, and the dynamics of acquiescence in relation to broader hegemonic discursive formations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the recollections of its author of the work of the Investment in Education team from its inauguration in summer 1962 until the completion of its work in early 1965. The author was a research assistant to the team throughout the period of the study and was directly involved in the collection and analysis of the data on which the findings of the report were based. The paper describes the conditions under which the team operated. It adverts to some of the contentious issues which arose out of the data analysis. It explores the evolving roles of the Steering Committee, of senior civil servants in the Department of Education and of the chairman and of individual members of the team during the two-and-a-half-year period. It discusses some of the external influences which impacted on members of the team and explores how the changing economic and cultural life of Ireland in the early 1960s affected their thinking. It touches on the setting up of the Development Branch in the Department of Education in 1966 and its premature disbandment by the Minister Richard Burke in 1973. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Thirty years ago, Adams (1981) depicted a future UK where everyone was a millionaire lorry driver, simply by extrapolating from contemporary official transport growth assumptions. These assumptions underpinned the ‘predict and provide’ approach which then characterised transport planning. Twenty years later, the New Deal for Transport White Paper (1998) abandoned ‘predict and provide’ as unsustainable. This paper argues that the same growth assumptions that Adams took to their logical (absurd) conclusion have re-emerged to define both transport and the drivers of transport demand. While non-aviation transport is supposed to be carbon-neutral by 2050, the implied reductions in emissions rely on an absolute decoupling of transport demand and its drivers for which there is no evidence in current planning. Targets rely on optimistic, narrowly framed technology forecasts and behaviour change assumptions which appear highly unlikely in the present socio-political climate. Moreover, such is the cost of mitigating these tensions between economic growth and other concerns, it is argued that the targeted outcomes of current policy are as undesirable as they are unlikely. The paper concludes by calling for a transport policy which considers mobility in an integrated, holistic fashion, rather than merely as a dimension of economic growth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A review of transport and economic development in Poland and the UK, from 1960 for UK, and Poland from 1989 to the present. The paper traces the main theoretical phases and research, considering how these affected policy and practice. The development of the New Economic Geography and its effect on practice is traced, with the application of CGE models in Poland and hybrid approaches in the UK. The findings are similar: improved accessibility may be a necessary condition for helping depressed regions, but it is no guarantee, and policy makers must ensure that the conditions exist for a region to benefit from transport investment. Poland is a latecomer to research in this field, and the paper concludes that the results of research from elsewhere such as UK may not necessarily be applicable, and more home grown research is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of the network paradigm has led to growing interest in understanding network structures relating to knowledge flows and patterns of regional innovation. This paper explores the structure of knowledge networks stemming from ties between universities and other actors, principally firms. Based upon a network analysis of empirical data for regions across the UK, it is found that the most innovative and economically developed regions are more likely to be the location for actors holding highly central and influential positions within knowledge network architectures. It is concluded that network structures, and resulting stocks of structural network capital, influence patterns of regional innovation and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom (UK) voted by 51.9 per cent to leave or “Brexit ” the European Union (EU). The vote followed a surreal debate in which one group of ‘‘eurosceptics’’ argued the negative case ‘‘for ’’ the EU ( ‘‘project fear ’’); while a second group promoted a threadbare ‘‘Brexit ” prospectus, confident that their case would escape scrutiny and that any critics could be dismissed with Imperial swagger ( “having one s cake and eating it! ”). Meanwhile, though both sides agreed that “Brussels” had to be ‘‘shaken out of its complacency"; Westminster is now cobbling together a strategy to define what “Brexit" might mean. Whatever it may mean, “Brexit ” comes at a time when the EU is vulnerable; facing a refugee crisis, Eurozone crisis and Russian aggression. Yet the UK has its own problems inter alia deficit spending, a productivity gap and an “unbalanced" economy. This paper asks whether "Brexit ” might have more positive effects for both the UK and the EU, or whether there might be a further “Greek option" which finesses “Brexit" and conciliates the parties to this dysfunctional relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research into business associations indicates that many associations suffer from very high levels of inactive members and fail to deliver significant benefits to members. In order to improve provision, the objective of this paper is to understand the determinants that drive or limit performance of rural business associations. Previous research has focused on the ratio of perceived costs to benefits as informing the decision to remain a member. However, in small associations, membership may be more influenced by social norms than the logic of rational choice. Using measures of satisfaction and willingness to pay for association survival as in-group measures of performance this paper finds that (1) for small associations, group size is critical, (2) associations are valued higher in communities where trust is lower, (3) funding by public bodies may be counterproductive to long-term development aims, and (4) the degree of rurality is insignificant in explaining association performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adopts a critical regionalist perspective to bring new insights into the drivers of state spatial transformation in sub-national economic development governance in the UK. It demonstrates that multiple forms of state spatiality are emerging in the context of late capitalism which are both territorial and relational. The paper argues that these developments cannot be explained as a simple re-scaling of the geopolitical project of competitiveness. Instead they reflect an array of political forces both in and of space, which are calling into question the functionality of regional state spaces for the governance of economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Former research detected the paradox of high quality formal institutional background accompanied by a low level of social trust in the United Kingdom. The aim of the current paper is to solve this initial puzzle. As traditional social capital literature is not able to explain the low level of trust in this case, we propose a comprehensive approach incorporating the analysis of immigration, integration, inequality and access to justice data to shed light on trust-eliminating mechanisms. The social and economic aspects are examined in the matrix of extra-community network, intra-community trust, radius of trust and need for formal external enforcement. Four factors -- concentrated highly diverse areas, tight communities living next to each other with limited extra-community links, minorities' high exposure to deprivation and limited access to justice -- are identified as the origin of our puzzle. As social trust plays a fundamental role in enhancing economic growth, the trust-impeding mechanisms explored in the current paper shall be of great importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, the construction sector has to reduce its environmental impact. Institutional innovation is necessary to achieve reductions at the required levels. Robust and rigorous evaluations of the industry's capacity to bring about such innovation are absent, although there is a plethora of policy incentives, and more frequently obligations, for the industry to take action. This paper evaluates the UK construction industry's institutional capacity to innovate to become more sustainable. The industry's current impact on the environment is first illustrated. The second section argues the case for institutional innovation to meet the UK Government's targets, and reviews the policy implementation and institutional innovation literature. A framework that is later used to evaluate the UK construction industry's institutional capacity to deliver sustainability concludes this section. The main body of the paper focuses on this evaluation by using secondary data published by key government departments and industry bodies.. The conclusions identify the policy framework as the strongest aspect of the industry, whilst demonstrating that in other areas, i.e. content, capacity, commitment, and clients and collaborations, there is much room to develop institutional capacity. The fragmented industry structure and the current state of the economy are identified to be the main barriers to development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It has been 25years since the UK was the first country to begin the process of commercialising and privatising its airports. The purpose of this paper is to revisit the UK Government’s stated aims with respect to commercialisation and privatisation, namely to “encourage enterprise and efficiency in the operation of major airports…[and that]…air transport facilities should not in general be subsidised by the taxpayer…[and they] should normally operate as commercial undertakings.” The authors of this paper consider the success of commercialisation and privatisation against these aims with respect to the 16 UK regional airports commercialised by the 1986 Airports Act part II. In addition, this paper considers the policy ramifications that have eventuated. The authors argue that many of the benefits may have been achievable by commercialisation alone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper seeks to make a link between the concepts of competitiveness and the 'creative class' at a place-based level. The paper explores the relationship between creativity and competitiveness at the local level across the UK using a rural-urban framework. A growing competitiveness divide between rural and urban areas is found. Also, the creative class is found to be more evenly distributed than might be anticipated a priori. In conclusion, we argue that city-region approaches to economic development are having a detrimental impact on the competitiveness of rural regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study looks at historical and contemporary representations of rural native communities in Sarawak, East Malaysia. Through the analysis of representations, the study underlines the production of a distinct space for native rural communities in Sarawak and highlights its material implications. The first part of the paper focuses on representations deployed by the colonial administrations to govern native populations of Sarawak. The consequences of specific representations that produced native territorial communities based on codified customs and ethnic presuppositions are identified. Second, the paper focuses on representations deployed to support a corporate agricultural development project on customary land referred to as the Konsep Baru. It demonstrates that these representations reify essential characteristics of the native space as it was produced by colonial regimes and position native rural communities in duality with modern society. In turn, the scrutiny of representations produced by native land rights advocates in response to problematic forms of rural development in Sarawak highlights the dualisms portrayed in specific accounts and stresses their links with colonial constructions of the native space. Overall the paper suggests ways to reflect on the implication of representations about native communities in Sarawak, as representations are intertwined with development practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the relationship between the UK and its Overseas Territories since the publication of the 1999 White Paper Partnership for Progress and Prosperity. The article considers the efforts by the UK government to improve links with the territories via a new partnership based on mutual obligations and responsibilities. It focuses on the two most important aspects of the White Paper - governance and economic growth and sustainability. Much has been achieved, but fundamental structural problems in the relationship remain unattended. The article concludes by recommending how the relationship can be improved over the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses urban planning practices in South Yorkshire to reveal how EU strategic spatial ideas and values are reproduced. Specifically, the paper examines how the notion of spatial justice was interpreted as the organising concepts within the European Spatial Development Perspective became situated within a territory severely affected by deindustrialisation in the 1980s, but subsequently a major beneficiary of EU Structural Fund programmes. The analysis reveals how policy-making at this scale used a construct of polycentric urban development that reasserted a model of economic growth based on the indigenous assets held in city centres at the expense of more redistributive measures targeted at the former coal-mining communities in the sub-region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Arbo and Benneworth (2007) have alerted us, higher education institutions are now expected not only to conduct education and research, but also to play an active role in the development of their economic, social and cultural surroundings. They call this the ‘regional mission’ of HEIs. This paper is concerned with cultural engagement. Research on universities’ cultural engagement in their regions and the impact of that engagement is still in its infancy, partly because there are different understandings of ‘culture’ and of what ‘engagement’ entails. In this paper, qualitative data from the reports of mixed teams of academics and regional administrators involved in a large international project designed to improve universities’ regional engagement are analysed and discussed. The on-going study — PASCAL Universities' Regional Engagement (PURE) — investigates the role of HEIs in their regions across in a variety of fields such as the economy, community development, the environment and others. This article analyses the data from the study to identify the different perspectives universities and regions have of cultural engagement. The aim here is to demonstrate the value of PURE in facilitating the development of mutual understanding both between universities through a common language and between universities and their regions in respect of mutual expectations. For example, particularly difficult to de-construct is universities’ engagement with disadvantaged communities (Doyle, 2007) but Powell's (2009) work suggests that universities might engage more broadly and effectively ‘through better knowledge sharing and co-creation with business and community partners’ to become ‘real drivers of creative change in developing socially inclusive projects’. Others have written about the educational role of universities in developing a ‘lifelong learning culture’ in their region (European Universities’ Charter on Lifelong Learning, 2008). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Technological development together with liberalization policy has led to competition in the telecommunications market. Broadband has been recognized as a driving force in the social and economic development of nations, and many countries have introduced policies and/or regulatory frameworks to improve competition in broadband markets. An evolution can be seen from the 1980s until the present day through open access to local loop unbundling to several degrees of separation including functional separation. There are several countries implementing functional separation such as the UK, Italy, Sweden and, recently the EU. It has been suggested that functional separation can be an effective policy for increasing competition in broadband markets under certain circumstances. Sweden has implemented functional separation by amending the Swedish Telecommunications Act in 2008 to include mandatory functional separation as one of the powers of the PTS, the Swedish telecommunications regulator. Although TeliaSonera, the incumbent fixed line operator decided to voluntarily separate part of their business, the amendments to the law were debated with arguments similar to the debates in the EU following the new regulatory framework implemented in 2009. Against this background, this paper provides an overview of the development of functional separation in the EU and European countries such as Sweden and the UK. The paper also provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of the implementation of functional separation. The evolution of functional separation in Sweden is explained and ends with a discussion of the implementation of functional separation in the Swedish broadband market. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The UK Department for Transport recently announced a range of initiatives to support a more coherent approach to transport planning and delivery in the major urban areas of England. Specifically, the Local Transport Act, which received royal assent in late 2008, enables groups of local authorities and their partners to review their transport governance arrangements and, if appropriate, publish a programme of statutory and non-statutory reforms aimed at improving integration, efficiency and effectiveness of decision making. This paper considers the process of carrying out a governance review in the specific context of Leeds city region. This area comprises 11 local authorities centred on the West Yorkshire conurbation, but also includes parts of North and South Yorkshire, where responsibilities for transport planning, funding and delivery are split across a range of councils, national and regional agencies, as well as multiple public and private sector service providers. The governance review is designed to assess current arrangements, establish whether there is a case for reform and consider reform options to deliver more efficient and effective transport outcomes that support sustainable economic development and quality of life. Options considered include powers for local public transport, rail and highways, governance structures and administrative boundaries, including the transition from West Yorkshire passenger transport authority and executive to a new integrated transport authority. As well as the process of the review itself and some early findings, the paper describes a number of practical, operational and political challenges encountered by those undertaking the review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degree of localization of manufacturing, defined as the excess geographic concentration remaining after correcting for both sectoral concentration and the agglomeration of overall economic activity, has recently, gained new techniques of measurement in the form of indexes and numerical methods. These techniques are illustrated, compared, and theoretically discussed to show that they are consistent advancements, but none is yet able to satisfy all desirable properties. The measurement of localization would be more interesting if it could be related to economic processes and not limited to simple observational aspects. In achieving this, there are a number of complications, which are reviewed in the paper. Among these, the choice of the right sectoral scale at which these measures have to be applied is normally given too little importance. The second part of this paper advocates that this is a complex issue, since no digit level is appropriate for all industries. Moreover, different aggregations of narrowly defined subsectors may be more suitable than the standard industrial classifications. This is supported by an exploratory analysis, in two British sectors, based on the investigation of possible localization reasons identified in recent taxonomies. As the many localization measurement techniques have become available, it is recommended that they be applied to sector studies, and not confined to countrywide extensive explorations of all sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1997 and 2004, gross domestic product increased in real terms in the UK by one‐fifth, while the volume of road freight movement remained stable. This suggests that the long‐awaited decoupling of economic and freight transport growth has begun, possibly leading to a new era of sustainable logistics. This paper reviews previous research on the decoupling issue and recent trends in gross domestic product/freight tonne‐km elasticities in Europe and the USA. It then examines 12 possible causes of the observed decoupling in the UK using published statistics from a wide range of British and European sources. This analysis indicates that around two‐thirds of the decoupling is due to three factors whose impact can be quantified: the increased penetration of the British road haulage market by foreign operators, a decline in road transport’s share of the freight market, and real increases in road freight rates. Several other factors, most notably the relative growth of the service sector, the diminishing rate of centralization, and the off‐shoring of manufacturing, appear to be having a significant effect, though this finding cannot be measured on the basis of available statistics. The paper concludes that, while the decoupling is in the right direction from a public policy standpoint, the net environmental benefits are likely to be quite modest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK has become a leading proponent of European restrictionalism and has focused its efforts on developing policy that excludes asylum seekers from mainstream society. Dispersal policy has focused upon sending asylum seekers to excluded urban areas where there is an excess of available housing. This paper discusses the potential impacts of this approach on the economic prosperity and social cohesion of UK dispersal areas and focuses specifically on new migrants who arrived under the NASS dispersal programme. It demonstrates that, whilst newly arrived asylum seekers and refugees (ASRs) have both skills and qualifications, they are currently experiencing high levels of unemployment and those who are employed are working in low-skilled jobs with earnings far below the average. The paper contends that the high levels of unemployment and underemployment currently experienced by ASRs may serve to exclude them from society in dispersal areas and in so doing exacerbate the general levels of social exclusion in those areas. It is argued that ASRs could offer new opportunities for deprived areas if initiatives were introduced to help them access work commensurate with their skills and qualifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]