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The involvement of government in the affairs of business has been increasing rapidly over the past two decades in most western economies. This paper examines the impact of a particular instrument designed by government in the U.K. to attempt to be involved with corporate planning at the level of the individual company. The paper reports the views, attitudes, and expectations of government and those of a number of the major companies which were politically and economically selected by government as being suitable candidates for planning agreements. Finally, the attitudes of senior trade unionists were sought to complete a tripartite analysis consistent with that of other institutions created for indicative economic planning. The results do not appear favourable to this particular instrument nor would they augur well for others unless the basic climate of trust and understanding between the different parties dramatically improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the UK productivity puzzle using new data on outputs and inputs and clarifying the role of output mismeasurement, input growth and industry effects. Our data indicate an implied labour productivity gap of 13 percentage points in 2011 relative to the productivity level on pre‐recession trends. We find that: (a) the labour productivity puzzle is a TFP puzzle, since it is not explained by the contributions of labour or capital services; (b) the reallocation of labour between industries deepens rather than explains the puzzle (i.e. there has been a reallocation of hours away from low‐productivity industries and toward high productivity industries); (c) capitalization of R&D does not explain the productivity puzzle; (d) assuming increased scrapping rates since the recession, a 25% (50%) increase in depreciation rates post‐2009 can potentially explain 15% (31%) of the productivity puzzle; (e) industry data show that 35% of the TFP puzzle can be explained by weak TFP growth in the oil & gas and finance sectors; and (f) cyclical effects via factor utilization could potentially explain 17% of the productivity puzzle. Continued weakness in finance would suggest a future lowering of TFP growth to around 0.8% p.a. from a baseline of 0.9% p.a. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has evolved out of a growing dissatisfaction with the relatively uncritical acceptance in contemporary debates that agriculture in advanced societies has moved from ‘productivism’ to ‘post-productivism’. A brief review of current conceptualizations of productivist and post-productivist agricultural regimes reveals inconsistencies in current understandings these dualistic terms. The problem has partly been that the conceptual literature on post-productivism has largely failed to take into account the wealth of actor-oriented and behaviourally grounded research. Productivist and post-productivist agricultural regimes have also been conceptualized from a UK-centric perspective that has largely failed to discuss whether the concept has wider applicability within Europe and beyond. The paper discusses the time-lag and spatial inconsistencies in the adoption of post-productivist action and thought, and emphasizes that different localities are positioned at different points in a temporal, spatial and conceptual transition from ‘pre-productivist’ to ‘post-productivist’ agricultural regimes. The notion of the ‘territorialization’ of productivist and post-productivist actor spaces highlights the wide-ranging diversity that exists within the productivist/post-productivist spectrum, and that productivist and post-productivist action and thought occurs in multidimensional coexistence leads one to question the implied directionality of the traditional productivist/post-productivist debate. It is suggested that the notion of a ‘multifunctional agricultural regime’ better encapsulates the diversity, non-linearity and spatial heterogeneity that can currently be observed in modern agriculture and rural society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decision in 1847 to cut Treasury spending on public relief efforts during the Irish famine is generally attributed by economic historians to the pervasive influence of 'laissez-faire' ideas on the Whig government of Lord John Russell. This article draws on the papers of political leaders and contemporary financial information to argue that economic reasons were the trigger for the change in policy. Robert Peel and Charles Wood's macroeconomic policies of the 1840s, including the gold standard, the Bank Charter Act, and corn law repeal, left the Whigs unable to borrow to finance relief efforts in Ireland without panicking markets. The scaling back of public assistance programmes that resulted from this-and which increased mortality at the height of the Irish famine-was the unintended result of Peel and Wood's economic policies, in the context of the Whig government's parliamentary weakness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the development of learning standards in higher education economics in Australia. The motivation is twofold. The creation of Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency in 2011, along with the revised Australian Qualifications Framework specifications published in July 2011, have given the learning standards agenda a new impetus in Australia. Work has been done overseas on learning standards in economics through the UK Benchmarking Statement and the OECD's Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes study. However, a key finding from learning standards projects in Australia in other disciplines is that the Australian academic community needs to take ownership of the standards agenda as a pre-condition for general acceptance and successful implementation. Second, the development of learning standards in economics is an opportunity to drive an evidence-based process of curriculum renewal, including critical reflection on core knowledge, skills and assessment methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper engages with recent geographical debates on alternative economic practices, arguing that insufficient attention has been paid to the scale at which they operate. Through an analysis of recent attempts to ‘fix’ economic activity at a scale felt to be normatively desirable through alternative currencies, the paper argues that when attempting to build non-capitalist practices, scale matters. The paper discusses processes of financial structuration that limit and channel these spaces through an analysis of localized alternative networks in the UK (Local Exchange Trading Schemes – LETS) and the geographically wider barter networks in Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Official interest rate changes should influence short rates on money market instruments and retail products, such as deposit accounts and mortgages, but complete pass-through is often taken for granted. This paper provides a theoretical and econometric framework for assessing the evidence for this assumption using seventeen years of monthly data for rates on thirteen deposit and mortgage products offered by individual UK financial institutions. The methodology allows for asymmetries and non-linearities in adjustment and the results show that the speed of adjustment in retail rates depends on whether the perceived ‘gap’ between retail and base rates is widening or narrowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent empirical studies point to higher wages enjoyed by workers in environments where new technologies are intensively used. An examination of the 1984 and 1990 establishment-based WIRS reveals similar patterns. This paper argues that endogeneity bias is endemic in these results. Controlling for this endogeneity bias suggests that the estimated impact of new technologies on wages is seriously upward-biased. It is more likely that the earnings–technology correlation is driven by the impact of higher earnings on technical change rather than vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper rejects the hypothesis that relative commodity price changes are normally distributed using monthly UK data from 1962 to 1983. The presence of skewness in the distribution of price changes across commodities suggests that the Asymmetric Price Response Hypothesis may be a good description of the relation between the moments of the distribution of price changes. We use Granger causality tests to investigate this hypothesis, but it is not supported by the data. We also examine the major time-series features of the individual price series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a paucity of literature on the economic progress in Britain of white and coloured immigrants.[3] This paper examines the earnings of adult white and coloured men living in Britain in 1972 who were born outside the British Isles. It finds that, although white immigrants have about the same earnings as native-born men, the earnings of coloured immigrants are about 25 per cent lower, other things the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background It is good practice for the public to be involved in developing research ideas into grant applications. Some positive accounts of this process have been published, but little is known about when their reactions are negative and when researchers' ideas are abandoned. Objective To present a case study account of when an academic-led idea for funding was not supported by stroke survivors and carers who were asked to contribute to its development, together with a reflection on the implications of the case from all the stakeholders involved. Design A reflective case study of a research idea, developed by an academic researcher, on which stakeholders were consulted. Participants University researchers, clinicians, public involvement managers, and stroke survivors and carers from the NIHR's Stroke Research Network. Findings Although the idea met with the approval of health professionals, who were keen to develop it into a funding bid, the stroke survivors and carers did not think the idea worth pursuing. This lack of patient and carer support led to the idea being abandoned. Reflecting on this, those involved in the consultation believed that the savings accrued from abandoning the idea, in terms of ensuring that public money is not wasted, should be seen as an important benefit of public involvement in the research process. Conclusion Little is known about the role of the public in the abandonment of research ideas. We recommend that further research is undertaken into this important contribution that patients and the public can make to health research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the UK Government's aim of expansion in the growth of perennial energy crops requires farmers to select these crops in preference to conventional rotations. Existing studies estimating the total potential resource have either only simplistically considered the farmer decision-making and opportunity costs, for example using an estimate of annual land rental charge; or have not considered spatial variability, for example using representative farm types. This paper attempts to apply a farm-scale modelling approach with spatially specific data to improve understanding of potential perennial energy crop supply. The model main inputs are yield maps for the perennial energy crops, Miscanthus and willow grown as short-rotation coppice ( SRC), and regional yields for conventional crops. These are used to configure location specific farm-scale models, which optimize for profit maximization with risk aversion. Areas that are unsuitable or unavailable for energy crops, due to environmental or social factors, are constrained from selection. The results are maps of economic supply, assuming a homogenous farm-gate price, allowing supply cost curves for the UK market to be derived. The results show a high degree of regional variation in supply, with different patterns for each energy crop. Using estimates of yields under climate change scenarios suggests that Miscanthus supply may increase under future climates while the opposite effect is suggested for SRC willow. The results suggest that SRC willow is only likely to able to supply a small proportion of the anticipated perennial energy crop target, without increases in market prices. Miscanthus appears to have greater scope for supply, and its dominance may be amplified over time by the effects of climate change. Finally, the relationship to the demand side of the market is discussed, and work is proposed to investigate the factors impacting how the market as a whole may develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impact of open access (OA) business model on scholarly and scientific publications in Great Britain. The author encourages publishers to assist scientists with little or no research funding and to persuade research councils of the feasibility of including open-access publication costs. This scheme should be adopted by the RCUK by allowing their researchers to claim the costs of open-access publications.

This paper reports on the extent to which higher education institutions in the UK have set up central funds and similar institutionally co-ordinated approaches to the payment of open access article-processing charges. It presents data demonstrating that central funds have only been set up by a minority of institutions and that the number of institutions has not changed significantly between 2009 and 2011. It then explores the barriers to the establishment of such funds and discusses recent developments that might lower these barriers. Finally, it provides a case study of the development of the central fund at the University of Nottingham in the UK and considers the sustainability of such an approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines geographic mobility and housing downsizing at older ages in Britain and the USA. Americans downsize housing much more than the British largely because Americans are much more mobile. The principal reasons for greater mobility among older Americans are twofold: (1) greater spatial distribution of geographic distribution of amenities (such as warm weather) and housing costs; (2) greater institutional rigidities in subsidized British rental housing providing stronger incentives for British renters not to move. This relatively flat British housing consumption with age may have significant implications for the form and amount of consumption smoothing at older ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a study - overseen by representatives of the publishing, library, and research funder communities in the UK - investigating the drivers, costs, and benefits of potential ways to increase access to scholarly journals. It identifies five different but realistic scenarios for moving towards that end over the next five years, including gold and green open access, moves towards national licensing, publisher-led delayed open access, and transactional models. It then compares and evaluates the benefits as well as the costs and risks for the UK. The scenarios, and the modelling on which they are based, amount to a benefit-cost analysis to help in appraising policy options. Our conclusion is that policymakers should encourage the use of existing subject and institutional repositories, but avoid pushing for reductions in embargo periods, which might put at risk the sustainability of the underlying scholarly publishing system. They should also promote and facilitate a transition to gold open access, while seeking to ensure that the average level of publication fees does not exceed c.?2.000; that the rate in the UK of open access publication is broadly in step with the rest of the world; and that total payments to publishers from UK universities do not rise as a consequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does food cost more for low-income households? This paper compares two well-known approaches to answering this question. I find that quantity discounts for a broad range of foods are statistically significant and economically important. However quantity discounting does not lead to the poor paying more for food. I find that the poor pay less than average for the food they purchase. This is explained by the poor spending a greater share of their income on foods where quantity discounting occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper exploits survey information on reservation wages and data on actual wages from the European Community Household Panel to deduce, in the manner of Lancaster and Chesher, additional parameters of a stylized structural search model; specifically, reservation wage and transition/duration elasticities. The informational requirements of this approach are minimal, thereby facilitating comparisons between countries. Further, its policy content is immediate in so far as the impact of unemployment benefit rules and measures increasing the arrival rate of job offers are concerned. These key elasticities are computed for the United Kingdom and 11 other European nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Birds of prey and driven-grouse shooting are at the center of a long-standing human–wildlife conflict. Hen harrier predation can reduce grouse shooting bags, limit grouse populations and cause economic losses. Despite legal protection, hen harrier numbers are severely depleted on driven-grouse moors. 2. In limited trials, provision of supplementary food to hen harriers greatly reduced their predatory impact on young grouse, but did not result in higher grouse densities for shooting. Consequently, grouse moor managers have failed to adopt the technique. 3. A recent Forum paper has called for a trial ‘population ceiling scheme’ for hen harriers, arguing that this represents the best way to increase hen harrier numbers on driven-grouse moors. Once densities exceed the agreed ceiling, the excess would be translocated to other suitable habitat. 4. Whilst a ‘ceiling’ scheme might work, it would be difficult to implement and we believe that other approaches to population recovery should be tested first. 5. While driven-grouse shooting makes an important economic contribution to some rural communities, some grouse moor owners receive considerable sums of public money. Despite this, many moors are in poor condition, the ecosystem services they supply may be at risk from both climate change and current management practices, and grouse numbers are in decline. The socio-economic and environmental implications of alternative models of grouse management need urgent examination. 6. Synthesis and applications. If driven-grouse shooting is only viable when birds of prey are routinely disturbed and killed, then we question the legitimacy of driven-grouse shooting as a sustainable land use. Moorland owners need to consider more broadly sustainable shooting practices for the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia had one of the highest per capita incomes in the world in the late nineteenth century, although this exceptional position subsequently eroded over time. This paper compares national income and sectoral labour productivity in Australia and the UK between 1861 and 1948 to uncover the underlying sources of Australia's high income and the reasons for its subsequent relative decline. We find that the country's higher per capita income was due primarily to higher labour productivity, because labour force participation, although higher in Australia than in the USA, was lower than in the UK. Australia had a substantial labour productivity lead in agriculture throughout the period, due to the importance of high value-added, non-arable farming, and a smaller lead in industry before World War I. The early productivity lead in industry was largely based on the importance of mining, and disappeared as manufacturing became more important. There was little productivity difference in services. These results reaffirm the importance of Australia's successful exploitation of its natural resource endowments in explaining the country's high initial income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that flood damage potential has increased significantly in the last 15 years. At the same time, flood policy has shifted away from simplistic flood defence towards ‘living with floods’ and ‘making space for water’. This paper explores the mis-match between the aspiration in policy ideals, the reality of rising potential economic damages and the inability of the flood risk appraisal process to match the aspiration with the reality. Unless investment appraisal procedures are changed, the increase in damages will undermine policy changes that seek a different pattern of flood risk management, away from economically dominated decision-criteria towards more sustainable objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Her Majesty's Treasury is due to report in June 2003 on the economic case for the UK adopting the Euro. One criterion concerns the extent of economic convergence between the UK and the European Union countries. Differences in financial, credit and housing institutions between countries present one important subset of constraints to sustained convergence (Maclennan et al, 1998) - largely neglected in the economic literature on common currency areas. These types of differences create tension within the Eurozone. Empirical evidence supporting these concerns has emerged in signs of overheating in the Netherlands, UK and some of the fringe economies, and in the relative stagnation of Germany and Italy. The UK's buoyancy, however, is accompanied by serious economic imbalances, with consequent risks of instability. These would be exacerbated should the UK be prematurely locked into an exchange rate and interest rate regime unresponsive to domestic conditions. There is much to learn from European experience: from Germany and Italy, on the consequences of illiberal economic structures; from The Netherlands, on some of the risks of liberal credit markets; and from Denmark, with a liberal credit market but rational property taxation. In this paper, John Muellbauer argues that convergence does not have to be fully achieved, if there is a counterbalancing policy instrument to mitigate some of the effects of these slow-to-dissipate differences. Specifically in the UK, a reformed system of property taxation would contribute greatly to long-term stability and the preservation of economic balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate appropriate methods of modelling the business cycle theory of trade union growth, and to develop and estimate a specification of the business cycle model. In so doing, the paper draws on the important pioneering work of Bain and Elsheikh (1976) for the United Kingdom. (The results of extension of the Bain and Elsheikh model to 1980 are shown in Appendix A.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the pricing and profit objectives of 728 British manufacturing firms. it reports findings about the incidence of their principal and subordinate goals, the multiplicity of pricing aims, flexibility in pricing priorities, the relative importance of different time horizons in profit-making and the prevalence of motivation for profit maximization. A general finding is that pricing and profit objectives vary to a greater extent and more systematically with firm size than with numbers of competitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the efficiency of the Association Football betting market in the UK. The notable features of this market are that the odds are fixed some time before matches occur and differ between bookmaking firms. Whilst there is some evidence of ex post inefficiency there did not appear to be profitable betting strategies that could have been implemented ex ante during the sample period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This unique evaluation aimed to estimate, the financial impact of non‐attendance on a nation‐wide hospital lymphoedema service. Along with gaining some understanding of patient characteristics of those who Did Not Attend (DNA) and were subsequently discharged. The evaluation design interrogated existing performance data from 2012 to 2022. This information was used to estimate the costs incurred based on national published sources and pay scales. Staffing costs of over £1.1 m in one decade related to the financial impact of over 23 000 unattended lymphoedema appointments. The characteristics of 870 patients from 2019/2020 were also evaluated suggesting that those with a wound alongside complex lymphoedema were less likely to DNA appointments. Two‐thirds of patients were managing two or more comorbidities—obesity, cardiac conditions and diabetes being the most common. It seems likely that some DNAs are avoidable by adapting appointment administrative processes and greater understanding of patients' perception of value. However, the reasons for DNA are likely to be varied and nuanced so potentially a small proportion are unavoidable. Modernising appointment processes and identifying patient value may help minimise DNA costs in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Glorious Revolution has been linked with Britain's economic development in the eighteenth century. This article argues that it contributed to the early transport revolution. First, it shows that the regulatory environment became more favourable for undertakers, with their rights being better protected. Second, it shows that investment in improving roads and rivers increased substantially in the mid-1690s shortly after the Glorious Revolution. Regression analysis and structural breaks tests confirm that there was a change in investment even after controlling for other determinants of investment. The results have implications for debates on the role of political change in British economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines changes in the distribution of wages using bounds to allow for the impact of nonrandom selection into work. We show that worst case bounds can be informative. However, because employment rates in the United Kingdom are often low, they are not informative about changes in educational or gender wage differentials. Thus we explore ways to tighten these bounds using restrictions motivated from economic theory. With these assumptions, we find convincing evidence of an increase in inequality within education groups, changes in educational differentials, and increases in the relative wages of women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares education and productivity between the U.S. and Great Britain. The relationship between education and economic performance is complex and a number of studies have attempted to analyze it by way of international comparisons. The paper is divided into four sections. The first compares the stock and recent output of university graduates and those with intermediate skills in the U.S. and Great Britain. The second examines the training of skilled workers in the U.S. The third considers the statistical relation between the educational stock and economic performance in the manufacturing sector and the final section provides a summary and draws some conclusions.

This article discusses various issues related to the economic effects of the Civil War on British landed society. Modern studies of seventeenth-century landed society have too often divided the century at the Civil War. There are those that concentrate on the problems of rising and falling gentry in an attempt to unearth economic and social divisions in the body politic before 1640. Others examine the role of the Civil War as a generator of various legal and financial developments that encouraged the consolidation and expansion of large landed estates and underpinned aristocratic social and political dominance in the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The division is increased by the differing approaches of scholars to the two halves of the century. The view that the period 1640-60 was one in which large amounts of property were redistributed at immediate and lasting cost to those on the losing side has been decisively revised, but studies of the Civil War have concentrated exclusively on the twin themes of Royalist landowners and their problems and the government's use of Royal and confiscated lands to pay creditors and bolster its finances.

This paper focuses on enrollment demand, making use of both aggregate and disaggregate data. In a time series analysis we explore the economic environment affecting freshman enrollments over time. Stratifying by type of school reveals significant differences among institutional segments. In particular, community college enrollments appear more sensitive to financial variables and the availability of alternative activities. To further investigate these differences, cross-sectional analysis is carried out using survey responses from students currently enrolled in each institutional segment. These results, obtained from linear discriminant analysis, show additional, important differences among segmental populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measures the minimum efficient plant size of the manufacturing industry in Great Britain. Importance of having minimum efficient size plant on the study of industrial economics; Discussion on the four effects of minimum efficient size on entry; Analysis on the number of maximum plants existing in the industry.

In recent years the application of lean production principles has been forcefully expounded as the route to high-performance manufacturing. This paper examines the relationship between lean production and performance empirically, using data from a benchmarking study of 71 plants in the international automotive components industry. The top performing plants (and their suppliers and customers) showed consistently better process control than did the tower performing plants. UK plants did not perform very well in terms of either quality or productivity, and links between economic context and manufacturing performance are discussed in relation to the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses whether quarterly post-Second World War Great Britain output is difference or trend stationary, i.e., whether output contains a unit root or not. This paper represents a further attempt to evaluate the robustness of the random walk hypothesis for Great Britain output. It could be argued, nonetheless, that any conclusions concerning the presence of a unit root in output should be tempered by the known low power of unit root tests to discriminate between random walk and deterministic trend models. An alternative approach to testing between the two models has recently been suggested by economist P. Kwiatkowski et al., in which they develop a Lagrange Multiplier test of the null hypothesis of trend stationarity against the alternative of a random walk. Computing their test statistic for the output series enables the authors to reject trend stationarity at almost the 1 per cent level. In the light of this result, the authors feel encouraged to maintain that detrended output does contain a unit root and, indeed, still appears to follow a random walk.

This paper takes a fresh look at the low unemployment in postwar Britain, which is seen as exceptional rather than the norm. During the 1950s and 1960s low unemployment was reconciled with stable inflation through the exercise of wage restraint. Yet the postwar settlement which underpinned this wage restraint also allowed the entrenchment of restrictive practices, which inevitably slowed the growth of productivity and the feasible real wage, thus contributing to Britain's relative economic decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the employment demand function in the light of recent developments in econometric modelling procedures. The evidence for structural breaks in the equation for the UK manufacturing sector in 1966/67 and 1973/74 is re-examined, and the behaviour of employment in the post- 1979 recession is analysed. The empirical results illustrate the problems raised for estimating employment equations by the productivity slowdown in the 1970s, and the implications of the different methods used to model this phenomenon for interpreting the more recent experience are examined. The implicit dynamics of the equations estimated in error-correction form are derived and are discussed in terms of both employment and productivity behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is a suggested interpretation on the Keynesian economics and the economics of Keynes. More than a decade after its publication Axel Leijonhufvud's reinterpretation of Keynes' economics remains obscure to much of the economics profession. There has been little attempt to explain the interpretation and the explanations attempted have either involved errors or left the reappraisal as obscure as in the original. What is required is a translation of Leijonhufvud's exegesis into a set of equations. Such a set of equations would serve to clarify Leijonhufvud's position and would render the interpretation comprehensible to those who lack the time required to master the original work. This paper aims to provide such a set of equations. Some points of criticism are also added. It should be pointed further out that this exposition of Leijonhufvud's exegesis has concentrated upon the macroeconomic aspects. It has abstracted from the microeconomic aspects of the dual decision hypothesis.

The article presents data on the social composition of the Royal Economic Society (R.E.S.) in Great Britain from 1890 to 1960 by analyzing a 10 per cent sample of home-based members in selected years throughout the period since the society's foundation in 1890. The R.E.S. membership lists include the names of many subscribers who possess no serious claims to be regarded as professional economists by any normal definition of those terms. Nevertheless, throughout its long life the society's ranks have included the great majority of British professional economists as well as many serious amateur students of the subject and the occupational statistics provide some basis for judging the relative importance of the two categories. The R.E.S. data provided in the paper provides only limited and indirect evidence of this newer type of professionalization, though it is compatible with it. The strongest common link among Fellows of the Society was their subscription to "The Economic Journal," a periodical coverage in 1960 than in the 1890s and although subscribers are not necessarily readers, the subscription lists obviously provide important insights into the journal's audience.

This paper is concerned with the extent to which the model of a competitive labour market may be held to be relevant in a consideration of the demand and supply of highly specialized manpower, such as professional engineers and scientists. It is striking that up to the present time the Government Appointed Committee on Manpower Resources for Science and Technology, in all its wide ranging discussions, and recommendations for an increased supply of scientific manpower, have hardly examined the workings of the labour market for this type of manpower in Britain. The alleged ‘shortage’ of scientists and engineers, we are told almost daily by some distinguished figure from the academic or professional engineering world, will lead to all sorts of dire consequences. The available statistical data on the relative earnings of engineers will be examined and in the light of this some of the findings of the Committee on Manpower Resources for Science and Technology will be briefly assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy PointsNudges steer people toward certain options but also allow them to go their own way. "Dark nudges" aim to change consumer behavior against their best interests. "Sludge" uses cognitive biases to make behavior change more difficult.We have identified dark nudges and sludge in alcohol industry corporate social responsibility (CSR) materials. These undermine the information on alcohol harms that they disseminate, and may normalize or encourage alcohol consumption.Policymakers and practitioners should be aware of how dark nudges and sludge are used by the alcohol industry to promote misinformation about alcohol harms to the public. Context: "Nudges" and other behavioral economic approaches exploit common cognitive biases (systematic errors in thought processes) in order to influence behavior and decision‐making. Nudges that encourage the consumption of harmful products (for example, by exploiting gamblers' cognitive biases) have been termed "dark nudges." The term "sludge" has also been used to describe strategies that utilize cognitive biases to make behavior change harder. This study aimed to identify whether dark nudges and sludge are used by alcohol industry (AI)–funded corporate social responsibility (CSR) organizations, and, if so, to determine how they align with existing nudge conceptual frameworks. This information would aid their identification and mitigation by policymakers, researchers, and civil society. Methods: We systematically searched websites and materials of AI CSR organizations (e.g., IARD, Drinkaware, Drinkwise, Éduc'alcool); examples were coded by independent raters and categorized for further analysis. Findings: Dark nudges appear to be used in AI communications about "responsible drinking." The approaches include social norming (telling consumers that "most people" are drinking) and priming drinkers by offering verbal and pictorial cues to drink, while simultaneously appearing to warn about alcohol harms. Sludge, such as the use of particular fonts, colors, and design layouts, appears to use cognitive biases to make health‐related information about the harms of alcohol difficult to access, and enhances exposure to misinformation. Nudge‐type mechanisms also underlie AI mixed messages, in particular alternative causation arguments, which propose nonalcohol causes of alcohol harms. Conclusions: Alcohol industry CSR bodies use dark nudges and sludge, which utilize consumers' cognitive biases to promote mixed messages about alcohol harms and to undermine scientific evidence. Policymakers, practitioners, and the public need to be aware of how such techniques are used to nudge consumers toward industry misinformation. The revised typology presented in this article may help with the identification and further analysis of dark nudges and sludge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public goods and services such as prisons are often underfunded compared with private goods and services. Social impact bonds (SIBs) are a new financial vehicle to increase the use of private funds for public good. SIBs use a paid‐for‐success, performance‐based structure to reallocate risk and reward. In the current case, the SIB changes a critical reinforcing loop from a vicious cycle of decay to a virtuous cycle of improvement that can perpetuate SIB benefits far after the bond has been repaid. A simulation model of recidivism at Her Majesty's Prison (HMP) Peterborough and the related SIB is developed to identify high‐leverage parameters and dominant feedback loops. These are used to explain SIB success or failure for two primary participants (HMP system and SIB investors). Model analysis also reveals a tipping point structure that puts the Peterborough programme at risk. Contributions include a formal SIB model, improved understanding of SIB structure and behaviour, an example of tipping point structures in a social system and recommendations concerning SIB design and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the historical significance of the increasing precariousness of labor, even in the most advanced economies. Given the sterility of the mainstream approach, based on methodological individualism, we start from a Marxist critique of political economy, focusing on the laws that govern the process of capitalist accumulation and its contradictions. Within the framework of these laws, we analyze the tendency of labor exploitation to increase in a capitalist economy, linked to the exigencies of profitability due to the increasing difficulties of the valorization of capital. The precariousness of labor is studied around some of the main forms it adopts in three European economies: mini‐jobs in Germany, "zero‐hours contracts" in the United Kingdom, and false self‐employment, together with internship and training contracts, in Spain. Based on theoretical and empirical analysis, several conclusions are proposed to understand the extension and deepening of labor precariousness, built on the notions of overexploitation and destruction of productive forces, linked to current demands of capitalist accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an exploration into the financial conditions of the housing market in Great Britain throughout the first half of the 20th century. The parallels between the housing crisis being addressed in the 1950s and that of the post-World War I era are outlined, with additional data examining the interim period between the wars. An overview of statistical data is provided for housing materials and labor costs through the various time frames. Additional mention is given to the market forces which led to recovery, including private enterprise growth, local authority housing contracts, and other government subsidies.

This article focuses on the accuracy of the 1980 labor productivity figures in Great Britain. Peter Warley has pointed out two errors in the 1983 Economica article. Replication of empirical results in economics is a time-consuming and relatively unappreciated endeavor. It should be emphasized that Wardley's corrections are minor and do not affect the discussion. Wardley's first correction results from the use of an 1880 labour productivity figure listed incorrectly in R. H. Walter's 1977 book, rather than the correct figure listed in his 1975 article. The second correction results from an error made in obtaining FIML estimates. Wardley's Table 2 provides FIML results estimated with the correct 1873 price. While the conclusions were not affected significantly, Wardley's correction were greatly appreciated.

The article provides information on bioethical issues related to mental health, particularly focusing on digital mental health tools, affordability of these tools, the impact of financial stress on mental health, and environmental factors contributing to poor mental health. It emphasizes the need for action, including the introduction of appropriate legislation and addressing health inequalities, to tackle these issues on a broader scale.

This article takes a case study approach to the question of how entrepreneurs developed and used networks to support trade during the American Revolutionary War (American War of Independence). Using the business letter books of Daniel Eccleston of Lancaster, covering January 1780 to December 1781, the article shows how he used trust-building activities and developed open networks in Britain and the West Indies in order to build, sustain, maintain, and diversify his commercial activities to reduce risk and develop new opportunities. Eccleston's letters illustrate a competitive market in which entrepreneurs helped drive the industrial revolution through stimulating demand and encouraging trade. They show that mutual trust was the foundation of strong networks, and that networks were significant in underpinning entrepreneurial success through allowing the mitigation of business risk and offering the opportunity for diversification supported by the network. The article makes use of the work of Casson, Pearson and Richardson, and Wilson and Pop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fifteenth century rebates to the fifteenth and tenth form a large body of evidence which has rarely been used to assess economic change. They were set by local commissioners who employed their knowledge of the conditions within their counties. In many cases the commissioners can be demonstrated to have applied the reductions in a thoughtful and proportionate manner, often revealing local economic conditions. There is considerable variation in their application between counties and their use is greatly enhanced when compared with other sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the decades prior to the Civil War, Spain experienced a rapid process of urbanization, which was accompanied by the demographic transition and sizeable rural-urban migrations. This article investigates how urban housing markets reacted to these far-reaching changes, which increased demand for dwellings. To this end, this study employs a new hedonic index of real housing prices and constructs a cross-regional panel dataset of rents and housing price fundamentals. This new evidence indicates that rents were not a significant financial burden on low-income families and, hence, housing was affordable for the working classes. The article also shows that families' access to new homes was facilitated by a sizeable growth in the housing supply. Substantial investments in urban infrastructure and the institutional framework enabled the construction of new homes at affordable prices. Our results suggest that housing problems were not as pervasive during the urban transition as the literature often seems to claim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to conventional wisdom, the fall of the Swedish currency in September 1931 was caused by the sterling crisis. This article shows that the road towards devaluation began earlier and that financial linkages with Germany proved to be more important than Sweden's economic and monetary relations with Great Britain. It all started in late 1929 when the Swedish financier Ivar Kreuger gave a loan to the German government in exchange for the match monopoly, thus tying his business ventures to Germany's solvency. In addition, a part of this loan was financed by large US dollar credits from the two largest Swedish banks that, in turn, accumulated a sizeable foreign short-term deficit. When in June 1931 the German fiscal crisis began to escalate, international investors ceased to consider Sweden a safe haven because they knew about the linkages between the German government, Kreuger, and the Swedish banking system. This downgrading, in combination with the foreign short-term deficit of the banking sector, proved lethal for the reserve position of the Swedish central bank, once the international liquidity crisis in mid-July 1931 erupted. The sterling crisis only put the final nail in the coffin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the Great Recession, UK households reduced real food expenditure. We show that they were able to maintain the number of calories that they purchased, and the nutritional quality of these calories, by adjusting their shopping behaviour. We document the mechanisms that households used. We motivate our analysis with a model of shopping behaviour in which households adjust shopping effort and the characteristics of their shopping basket in response to economic shocks. We use detailed longitudinal data and focus on within-household changes in basket characteristics and proxies for shopping effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]