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Deals with the concerns raised by medical professionals about the British National Health Service White Paper in February 2006. Statement issued by Richard Q. Lewis of King's Fund in London, England; Barrier to the proposed improvements in accessibility to healthcare services; Suggestion of Anthony Harrison of King's Fund.

Offers information on several books and discussion papers that were published by the Centre for Economic Performance. "What's the Good of Education? The Economics of Education in the UK"; "You Can't Always Get What You Want: The Impact of the Jobseeker's Allowance"; "The Gender Gap in Early Career Wage Growth."

This paper describes the availability and quality of statistics to measure the performance and labour market characteristics of the UK service sector. In the present economic downturn, the need for detailed measures such as profitability, prices and productivity is of increasing importance. This paper complements an earlier ELMR paper published in January 2008, which discussed basic measures such as output and jobs. Both papers consider progress made in the development of improved service sector statistics, following a 1995 review of their scope and reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its formation within the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in August 2008, the Tourism Intelligence Unit (TIU) has been working on the creation of an Integrated System of Tourism Statistics (ISTS), whose core component is represented by the E-UKTSA (Experimental UK Tourism Satellite Account). This paper describes the construction of the E-UKTSA and presents some headline figures derived from it. The paper concludes by highlighting possible avenues for improvements to the E-UKTSA and suggesting future research connected with the satellite account framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the path of the UK's net asset position with the rest of the world. Notwithstanding that the UK has run a substantial current account deficit for over a quarter of a century, at the beginning of 2009 the net asset position was not far off balance. The paper begins by detailing recent developments in both the UK's overseas balance sheet, known as the international investment position (IIP), and the current account deficit. It examines the link between the IIP and the cumulative current account deficit over the past forty years and explains that the divergence between the two is due to other changes. The paper then introduces a model which enables a decomposition of these other changes into currency, price and other volume effects. The results are reported in terms of annual and quarterly changes before conclusions are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the possible solutions suggested for reforms in the British National Health Service (NHS).

This article discusses a briefing paper on the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) threshold of the NICE written by Christopher McCabe from the University of Leeds in England and colleagues. The paper reviews what the ICER threshold represents, what the appropriate level is and what other factors the NICE should consider. Moreover, the paper critically assesses utilization of the threshold by the NICE to inform its guidance.

The results of the first wave of the Wealth and Assets Survey were published in the report, 'Wealth in Great Britain' in December 2009 with datasets released in March 2010. However, apart from the presentation of the aggregate results on a Government Office Region basis, no more disaggregated geographical analysis of the data has so far been carried out, not least because of the potential disclosivity of the data when presented for low level geographies. This paper aims to provide an understanding of the geographical distribution of wealth and its components by areas with common socio--economic and demographic characteristics from relatively high to low levels of aggregation while overcoming the disclosivity problem. This is achieved by using the Output Area Classification (OAC) groupings, based on the 2001 Census. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) undertakes an annual analysis of regional exports of services. Coverage is limited to about 30 per cent of the value of the UK's exports of services and includes Communication, Computer and information and parts of Royalties and license fees and Other business services. This paper describes the methodology used, the available results and the limitations of the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a summary of the third Office for National Statistics (ONS) education productivity article and supporting papers published in December 2009, which extended the analysis of output and the triangulation of outcome measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major concern in this paper has been to examine conflict in export manufacturer distributor relationships, and the degree of association between conflict and the stake of the manufacturer in the relationship, and the performance of the channel in question. This paper reports findings from a survey of Canadian manufacturers using an exporting arrangement to run their own overseas marketing operations. A number of factors militate against this choice, such as low sales volumes in individual markets and high start-up and running costs of overseas sales branches. The survey sample comprised nineteen Canadian manufacturing companies exporting industrial goods to Great Britain and selling through independent distributors. The study reported here is an early attempt to empirically examine behavior in export marketing channels. Whilst a good amount of channel field studies have been conducted, the focus of studies extent has almost exclusively been domestic. While channel management is universally important, the separation of most exporters and their overseas distributors makes the matter critical once goods flow across international boundaries.

The theoretical thrust of this study is the controversy about constraints on organization structures and conversely the extent of choice this is closely linked with arguments about how organizations ought to be studied and with clashes between opposed theoretical approaches. The aim of this paper is therefore to compare British organization structures with German ones, to offer an explanation for existing national differences of organization structure and to seek guidelines for the further development of organization theory and research. The overall design of the study had been taken over from the French research partners, who concentrated on the two former countries. This analysis was extended to cover British firms by the present writers. The present paper will principally concentrate on the British-German comparison. The German organization is more apt to remain squat, grows little laterally and therefore develops less of a superstructure on top of the works. This superstructure however is more likely to be a hierarchical one than in Britain, although it is more often little formalized and more personalized, which coincides with its relatively smaller size.

This section offers news briefs on health issues as of April 2011. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued its approval for the preparation of hydroxyprogesterone caproate compound as a cheaper alternative of Makena. The discovery of Sipuleucel-T as a new treatment for prostate cancer raises doubts about the ability of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to subsidize high-priced medicine. The British General Medical Council (GMC) has released for comment and consultation its draft guidance for medicine prescription.

The article focuses on a briefing paper written by Christopher McCabe and colleagues for the British National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) published in the January 2008 issue of "PharmacoEconomics." The paper examines the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of NICE, its appropriate level and its utilisation by NICE. An explicit single threshold is recommended instead of the existing range, which is between £20,000 and £30,000. A lower threshold is suggested for interventions with a large budgetary impact.

The article focuses on the paper "Developments in the Measurement of Government Output and Productivity in the UK," presented at the International Association for Research on Income and Wealth 2008 conference held in Slovenia in August. It notes that the paper highlights developments and outlined the areas that Great Britain is driving forward as a world leader in the field of direct output measures. Among the areas in which the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has direct output measures are healthcare, education and adult social care.

The article summarizes the findings of Great Britain's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) research on the use of its administrative data to develop an alternative sampling frame for the Family Resources Survey (FRS), the leading household survey for private household income data collection. It explains that the DWP uses the small-users Postcode Address File with suitable administrative data sources. Findings suggest important considerations for sampling future British household surveys.

Estimates of the UK's stock of human capital are derived by applying a lifetime labour income methodology to data from the UK Labour Force Survey. The results show that using an annual discount rate of 3.5 per cent and assuming annual labour productivity growth of 2 per cent, the market value of the UK's human capital stock in 2009 was £16,686 billion. This is more than two--and--a--half times the Blue Book estimate of the Net Worth of the UK for the same year and £2,703 billion higher than the estimate for the human capital stock in 2001. In 2009, the average human capital stock per head of working age population was £419,326. This is £46,797 higher than in 2001 but only £717 higher than in 2007. Less time in paid employment over their lifetime and lower average labour market earnings means that the total market value of women's human capital (£6,481 billion) was around 63 per cent of men's (£10,206 billion). In 2009, one--third of the human capital stock was embodied in the 21.7 per cent of the working age population whose highest educational attainment was a degree or equivalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of two research studies which examined the differences in the attribute profiles of profitable as compared to unprofitable companies in Great Britain wool textile industry and the Canadian leather accessory industry. The attribute profiles consisted of a wide range of factors which measured managerial attitudes, organizational design, financial variables and many other attributes of the firm. The research study was confined to two individual industries to eliminate problems associated with comparing companies from separate industries having differing industry structures and market pressures. The group profiles of profitable and unprofitable companies for Great Britain wool textile industry were found to differ on 41 attributes. The appropriate non-parametric tests of statistical difference and association were used to ensure that these results were significant at the 95 percent confidence level. The profiles for the Canadian leather industry differed significantly on 43 attributes.

The era of floating exchange rates, which began in 1973, increased uncertainty about future spot foreign currency rates and stimulated interest in the use of forward and futures markets in foreign currency to reduce the risk of exchange rate fluctuations. While considerable analysis exists on the hedging and pricing efficiency of the forward exchange market, little work has been done on the use of the futures markets to test theories of exchange rate determination or to hedge spot exchange rate movements. In this paper the relative effectiveness of the futures and forward currency markets in forecasting future spot rates and the relative hedging effectiveness of the forward and futures markets are analyzed for Germany and Great Britain. In terms of hedging and price forecasting the forward and futures markets show no significant differences. Results also indicate the benefit of futures contracts with shorter term to delivery for hedging or forecasting spot rates. The forward and futures currency markets for the British pound and German mark both provide similar risk reduction opportunity despite structural differences in the forward and future currency markets. Market participants are either acting on similar information or acting in both markets such that prices are equated. Future analysis is needed to determine what is the basis for these similar results given the separate economic functions the alternative markets perform.

This section offers news briefs on the pharmaceutical industry. It presents highlights from the September 2011 issue of Medsafe New Zealand's "Presciber Update." Batches of busulfan and bortezomib will be recalled in Great Britain due to a theoretical risk of contamination, according to an alert from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) will develop a consultation paper on the labelling and packaging of medicines.

Universal electronic prescriptions will save the UK NHS £300 million by 2021, according to a media release from NHS Digital. Patients without a nominated pharmacy will still receive a paper copy, which has a bar code that can be scanned by the pharmacist to download the electronic prescription from the NHS database. [Extracted from the article]

The article reports on a survey commissioned by the British Medical Association (BMA) regarding the reforms outlined in the British government's White Paper, "Equity and Excellence: Liberating the National Health Service (NHS)," where overall response expressed skepticism on the effectivity of the proposed reforms due to increased competition within the NHS, fragmentation of services and decreased quality of care.

This article presents ways to ensure a country spends a sixth of the entire economy on healthcare. It reflects on the case of the U.S. in which healthcare represents 16 percent of the economy. It suggests to create ill-health by creating and sustaining large economic and social inequalities. The article also advises to turn real and imagined health problems into market opportunities.

The article reports on the decision of periodical "PharmacoEconomics" to dedicate its September 2008 issue to the fourth hurdle set by the British National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) requiring pharmaceutical companies to demonstrate the cost effectiveness of their products. The issue addressed the health technology assessment and the cost-effectiveness rating and attaining National Health Service (NHS) reimbursement. It also includes the original briefing papers commissioned by NICE to inform companies of the requirements.

The article presents statistics on a variety of topics related to the economy of Great Britain including the percentage of its corporate profitability during the third quarter of 2006, the amount of deficit in trade which has broadened in November of the same year, and the percentage of factory gate inflation which has increased in December.

The article reports on the issue of pensions provision to increase the age of retirement in Great Brintain. It says that British Office for National Statistics answers to the proposal from the Pensions Commission for more analysis of trends in average retirement ages and in employment rates among older people. It mentions that in December 2006, results prove that the average ages of retirement are getting up.

The article reports on the publication of the consultation paper "Establishing the Principles" by the British Office for National Statistics (ONS). The publication highlights the two issues affecting the measurement of public service output and productivity. Issues raised in the paper are devoted specifically to education and health output. The agency has worked with the research community, other National Statistics Institutes and other government departments to improve its methodologies.

The article presents information on Acas Policy Discussion Paper, a research paper which examines key employment issues in Great Britain. The recognizes the reality that the emergence of harassment and bullying in the workplace as serious social and organizational issues that cannot be questioned. The objective of the paper is to provide guidance and clarity for better understanding of the ambiguities and complexities of harassment and bullying in the workplace.

The article reports on a new Acas Policy Discussion Paper which states that the British employment tribunal system has taken its fair share of criticism as of August 2006. It is said that many complain about the complexity and costs of the system while others believe employment tribunals are too adversarial. The paper outlines the impact of the 2004 Dispute Resolution Regulations and revised tribunal rules on the core work of Acas, particularly in the area of individual conciliation.

The article reports on the plan of the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 2009 to collaborate with Imperial College in England and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) to study the effect of knowledge and innovation on the economy. The ONS will concentrate on the market sector and will employ growth accounting methods to produce an extended view of British National Accounts. The research aims to generate initial estimates by autumn of 2009 with a complete set of innovation accounts by September 2010.

The article focuses on the introduction of Great Britain's Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities for 2007, the product of Operation 2007 which is a series of consultations that started in 2002. It was carried out in conjunction with the major revision of the EU's industrial classification system, NACE. The revision is said to be motivated by the need to adapt the classifications to changes in the world economy. Such classifications reflect the growing importance of service activities in the economies over the last 15 years.

The article discusses the intangible investment and productivity in Great Britain. It is reported that the work by researchers at Queen Mary, University of London, tests suggestions for economic measurement of a wide range of intangible investment by firms. It also covered the business investment in software, research, and suggested that these elements of intangible capital could roughly double Great Britain business investment. This has been used to render growth accounting analysis for the British market section.

The article discusses a study, which reports the cost of cancer care in Great Britain, and reveals that breast cancer and colorectal cancer treatment costs much more than prostate cancer treatment.

The article predicts the increase in medical care spending in Great Britain by 16 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2059.

The article reports on the approval by the British House of Lords of the Health and Social Care Bill.

The article reports on the finding that 242,000 jobs were paid below the national minimum wage in Great Britain in April 2009 which represented 0.9 percent of all jobs in the labour market.

The article reports that research on the development of novel oral therapies to treat tuberculosis (TB) will receive £18 million from the British government. According to the author, the funding will support the development of life-saving treatments to shorten treatment durations and improve efficacy against resistant TB strains. Ivan Lewis, Great Britain Minister for International Development, said that the discovery of more effective treatments should be a priority in order to reduce TB epidemic.

The article focuses on a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which suggests that rich countries should have drug pricing policies that encourage the use of generic alternatives to off-patent drugs to provide greater value for money, free up resources and improve patients' access to treatment. The report indicates that generic drugs comprised half of all drugs sold in Great Britain, the U.S. and The Netherlands in 2005.

The article discusses the results of a study conducted in Great Britain which revealed that zoledronic acid is cost effective for the prevention of bone loss and fractures in post menopausal women with breast cancer who are receiving aromatase inhibitors (AIs) presented at the 2008 Breast Cancer Symposium. A Markov model is said to simulate the impact of fractures on costs, quality of life (QOL) and mortality. The results associate upfront zoledronic acid treatment with a gain of 0.052 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs).

The article focuses on the February 2009 edition of the "Economic and Labour Market Review," published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in Great Britain. The new edition will include more recent labour market statistics and reweighted data that was issued in May 2008, accompanied with tables to support the publication available on the National Statistics website. Among the topics covered by the new edition are labour demand, labour supply and labour costs.

The article deals with the comparisons of statistics on jobs in Great Britain. It is reported that the coherence and comparability of employment and job statistics from different sources is a key quality issue which is of concern to many users of labor market statistics. It is noted that the Labor Force Survey (LFS) is the main source of statistics on employment. However, the workforce jobs (WFJ) series is the preferred source of statistics on jobs by industry, since it provides a more reliable industry breakdown than the LFS does.

The article focuses on the recommended medical treatments by the British National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) based on its consultation papers published on May 30 and June 4, 2007. NICE has recommended multiple myeloma patients with a full or partial response to bortezomib to continue such treatment. It also approved the use of varenicline as an optional treatment for adults who wish to quit smoking.

The article reports that there has been a rise in inequality of disposable household income in Great Britain. The ONS published its annual analysis of the effects of taxes and benefits on domestic income on May 17. Cash benefits such as income support, pension, child benefit, and the state retirement pension play the largest part in reducing inequality. The Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income includes detailed estimates of the benefits received and taxes paid for the household population ranked by equivalised disposable revenue.

The article reports on the autumn edition of "Environmental Accounts," published by ONS on November 23, 2006. It states that this government publication gives information on the demands that British economic activity places on the environment, on the significance of natural resources to the economy and the monetary measures that were taken to address environmental issues.