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The November 1997 White Paper (WP) Eliminating world poverty: a challenge for the 21st century is only the third ever substantive WP on Britain's aid policy. It offers a focus on poverty, emphasises partnerships for sustainable development and ranges over far wider issues than just aid. It makes some significant departures from previous White Papers by Labour governments, partly reflecting a changed Labour Party but also following an evolution that is taking place in international development cooperation more generally. The 1997 White Paper also displays some continuities with the past, however. Policy effectiveness will depend inter alia on circumstances external to the UK and on the Department for International Development's political effectiveness in central government. The low profile of international development in political studies in the UK could also improve if proposals to increase public awareness of global interdependence take effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For several decades, multinational enterprises (MNEs) have offshored their manufacturing activities to low-cost countries to achieve significant productivity gains. However, changes in the relative competitiveness of countries, social effects of deindustrialization in advanced economies and the vulnerability of global value chains (GVCs) revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic have encouraged some firms, supported by governments, to "reshore" part, or all of their offshore industrial operations back to their home country. Reshoring decisions are motivated by a variety of endogenous and exogenous factors that are empirically analyzed in this paper to understand how reshoring policies implemented by governments can more effectively address the factors driving the firms' location decisions. A review of the reshoring policies implemented in Europe, the UK and the US is conducted to provide general policy recommendations regarding policy instruments, SMEs, innovation and regionalization of value chains. This paper fills a gap in the literature by connecting the micro-level supply chain management analysis of firms' reshoring drivers with the macro-level economic policy perspective on reshoring. The review of existing reshoring policies calls for an in-depth analysis by the manufacturing sector and at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is facing the challenge of increasing grain production and improving the environment, in which the treatment of diffuse water pollution from agriculture is the important content. Traditional administrative means are still unable to solve the problem of market failure and government failure in controlling water pollution. Economic policy instruments have more advantages in improving market economics and reducing the cost of environmental governance and supervision. They have become an important way to solve pollution and promote the transformation of water pollution prevention and control management. This paper puts forward suggestions and countermeasures for improving China's economic policy instruments by systematically sorting out and analyzing the EPIs in China and the UK. Starting from the whole process of agricultural production, China's water quality governance needs to follow three principles to innovate and comprehensively utilize economic policy instruments. A transparent multi-party information sharing and an efficient supervision system are invisible to water quality governance. China also needs to continue to deepen reforms and pilot projects, especially in terms of governance objectives, public welfare funds, water prices, tradable water rights, and emission rights. This paper could also provide a reference for water pollution control in other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic and policy-oriented literature increasingly quantifies the wider effects of energy policy on the macroeconomy. However, the spillovers from economic policies to energy use are less frequently recognised, meaning that many policymakers who strive to improve productivity whilst simultaneously targeting emission reduction fail to consider these interactions. This paper addresses this issue by using simulation results generated by introducing an exogenous increase in labour productivity in a computable general equilibrium model calibrated with data from the United Kingdom. Theoretical analysis suggests that increasing labour productivity can have positive or negative effects on employment levels and energy use. However, the simulation results show that in the context of a developed open economy, improved labour efficiency will increase employment, a key policy objective, but simultaneously increase energy use. A key policy implication is that this work highlights the need for policy frameworks that explicitly acknowledge and quantify the interconnections between national economic policy strategies and energy policy objectives. Secondly, it shows that in practice, policies to reduce carbon emissions need to be strengthened alongside policies to improve productivity successfully implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Economía Institucional is the property of Universidad Externado de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the translation and implementation of Smart Specialisation in Wales. It finds that rather than taking a new approach to innovation policy, Welsh policy-makers are following a largely cluster-based rationale, which omits the important entrepreneurial discovery process to identify the real strengths of the region. The fresh idea presented by this paper is that a replication of past policy approaches that have been tried and found wanting is taking place rather than a new approach to innovation policy across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the Keynesian Revolution after the publication of the book "The Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes," which deals with the employment policy of the government of Great Britain during the Second World War. Thus, it will be argued that great care must be taken in using the term "Keynesian", and that the rather contradictory proposals of the 1944 Employment Policy White Paper should not be seen as a faithful reflection of the furthest extent Keynes was prepared to go to preserve employment without inflation. General unemployment could be avoided by measures to control aggregate demand: open market operations; contracyclical public works; support to consumption through changes in hire-purchase terms, tax reduction, consumer credits, and extensions of the social services. During depressions, the budget would be imbalanced and the debt increased, but this could be counteracted by a capital levy or an annual wealth tax. Whatever the British Treasury may have thought about Keynesian employment policy in theory, the terms of reference of the Steering Committee required them to propose ways of controlling the various categories of aggregate demand. Since Keynes was not intimately involved in discussions of employment policy, he was not forced to resolve the inconsistencies in his thoughts on the budget nor to make a definite stand on policy in the third post-war phase.

This paper uses data on unemployment flows and job vacancies to shed light on the phenomenal rise of unemployment in Britain, from under 3% in the 1960s to over 15% (male) unemployment in the 1980s. It finds that most of the rise is due to a fall in the demand for labour. A more expansionary fiscal policy and improved international competitiveness would have ameliorated this fall. Some of the fall, however, can also be attributed to supply pressure, which stopped wages from falling fast enough. Social security and a more relaxed attitude by the state in the provision of unemployment and supplementary benefits also contributed to the rise in unemployment, by making workers more choosey. The paper investigates whether it is possible for any given set of underlying factors to give rise to more than one equilibrium unemployment rate. If so, a temporary stimulus might release the economy from a low-level equilibrium. However the conditions necessary for this do not appear to hold in practice. Thus fiscal and monetary policy can permanently affect unemployment only if they can permanently alter aggregate demand. Microeconomic policy, like marginal employment subsidies, can, however, have a permanent effect on unemployment and the paper investigates whether there are any grounds for wishing to use such policy tools to alter the free-market equilibrium unemployment rate. There is evidence that the allocation of workers to jobs is done more efficiently at a fairly high level of overall labour demand. It follows that, unless job vacancies exceed unemployment, job creating policy measures will be beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview and synthesis of debates pertaining to the development of city-regions and their applicability to the UK space economy. The purpose is to make links to advance both international academic debates and realpolitik policy knowledge concerns. The paper, firstly, traces the multifarious and at times disconnected academic discussions around the concepts of regionalism, city-regionalism and localism in the UK. Secondly, it considers the contemporary academic debates on the city-region, focusing in particular on those applicable to the current UK policy context. Given that city-regions are increasingly seen as the principal (and often unquestioned) consolidating spatial scale for economic and social development, the paper, thirdly, probes on the silent and missing aspects of the prescribed city-region approach, connecting and contributing in turn to concerns with building inclusive-growth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The search for a better life seems to be one of the earliest and most elementary desires of human beings. Those who have been looking to improve their living conditions frequently move from one place to another, which in many cases requires crossing state borders. However, if the foreign workers can meet the labor demand in the host country, market equilibrium is reached and in purely economic terms the problem is solved. In practice, the situation can be much more complicated, especially if the cultural distance between the host culture and the worldviews of the immigrants are significant. Our paper is a case study of one specific group of migrants that came to the United Kingdom: the Pakistanis that migrated to the UK in the late 1950s and early 1960s. We discuss some of the problems in their acculturation and assimilation. We also make some recommendations for avoiding such scenarios in the future and replace the older practices with "smart" immigration policy. Our paper is also a call to the policymakers to revisit the past and existing immigration and labor policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Discussion Papers is the property of Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

From his very earliest days in office, Tony Blair believed that if he was to achieve his broader educational reforms then the teaching profession itself needed modernising—it had to become a '21st century profession'. This paper charts the background to this aspiration and the complex range of interrelated policies used to achieve that reform. They included: a changed role for initial teacher education; a more differentiated workforce; strategies to 'focus' professionalism (appraisal, standards and CPD); and a redefinition of professional knowledge. Through these policies, the Government hoped to harness teacher professionalism to their broader reform agenda. The paper concludes with a discussion of Tony Blair's legacy in this field both in England and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores concerns over apparent failures to translate the rhetoric of British policy on sustainable development into recognisable and widespread success. After looking at examples of reported problems of policy and implementation, the paper asks whether we are seeing policy failure, institutional failure or a failure of political will. The paper looks at the changing responsibilities of town planners at a time when the delivery of sustainable development is identified as central to their role. But a major point of the paper is that any analysis of policy performance must understand planning as an enduring discipline distinct from any current institutional structure, so that critiques of the current system can be disentangled from critiques of the nature of urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Drawing from the literature, the purpose of this paper is to offer an empirically validated framework for examining information technology (IT) readiness in small firms. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual framework of IT readiness for small firms is developed and validated empirically using a quantitative survey of 117 UK manufacturing small firms to identify distinct clusters of firms according to their states of IT readiness. Findings – The survey responses are grouped according to three distinct profiles that display varying degrees of IT readiness depending upon their strategic motivation, IT processes, project management and technology complexity. Research limitations/implications – Prior studies examining IT readiness in small-and medium-sized enterprises have not offered a differentiated understanding of small firms that is grounded in quantitative data. The varying profiles of small firms discovered indicate potential paths of IT readiness which offers a basis for further research using longitudinal case studies. Practical implications – Managerial motivation is not a sufficient condition for achieving IT readiness; it requires both strategic and operational capabilities that have significant implications for training and skills development in small firms. Understanding the level of IT readiness of their organisation can help managers identify areas needing improvement in their use of IT. Social implications – Findings suggest differentiated policy support is required for various small business clusters identified in the study. Originality/value – The novelty of the conceptual model differs from the prior literature on IT readiness by explicitly recognising the potential effect of IT maturity on the capability of the firm to respond to opportunities in its external environment. The paper also distinguishes between internal IT processes and project management skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article makes a significant contribution to the existing body of research concerning the subjective evaluations of household financial conditions and the objective analysis of economic circumstances and savings potential within households. The study elucidates the intricate relationships between subjective assessments of household financial situations, broader economic conditions, price trends, and savings potential. Drawing upon data pertaining to households' self-assessments of their current and future financial outlook, this paper undertakes a comprehensive examination of disparities across several European nations. The initial cross-sectional survey study encompassed all member countries of the European Union and Great Britain. The study spanned a timeframe of 32 months, from January 2018 to August 2020, divided into two distinct sub-periods: one preceding the onset of the pandemic and the other during its occurrence. Employing panel models, this research identifies factors significantly influencing subjective evaluations of household financial well-being. The estimations of model parameters during the pandemic period revealed noteworthy trends: assessments of household finances exhibited considerably greater consistency than those observed in the pre-pandemic era. Across both sub-periods, the findings consistently underscored a significant and positive correlation between the evaluation of the overall economic situation within the country and the potential for savings and the subjective assessment of household financial conditions. However, the findings from the pandemic period failed to corroborate a substantial link between assessments of past and future price trends and their impact on household financial evaluations. Furthermore, the regression coefficients within the models describing future financial evaluations demonstrated a pronounced increase when considering the dependent variable as the financial assessment of the preceding year. Given that household opinions hold paramount importance as target variables for economic policies, the investigation into the ramifications of subjective evaluations of household financial situations remains particularly pertinent. These evaluations can exert both direct influence, such as on household welfare, and indirect effects by guiding the formulation of pertinent financial instruments by institutions within the financial sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the special issue of the Oxford Review of Economic Policy journal entitled Education, Training and Economic Performance. In a speech to the annual conference of the Association of Colleges of Further and Higher Education in London on February 15, 1989, Kenneth Baker, British Secretary of State for Educational and Science, speaking on Further Education a new strategy, talked about the problems of sludge speak, which dominates the rhetoric of further education and has to be translated into everyday language. If one examines the sludge speak of his speech and the vision of further education he has, then it is clear that in everyday language people might conclude, in polite phraseology, that is a real mess. This series of papers from the Oxford Review of Economic Policy provides a clear set of well-argued articles which students of the field should find more than useful in their essays and dissertation work. The special issue begins with a historical review of education, training and economic performance and quotes a lecture in 1852 on Industrial Instruction on the Continent which argued that improvements in technical education were urgently required if British manufacturers were to maintain their lead over foreign competitors.

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Our study aims to bridge the gap between contemporary studies on financial cycles and the financial instability hypothesis in the form of a Minsky cycle (Minsky, 1963). Paper contribution range from explored causality links (financial cycles cause business cycles) to the empirical estimation of the Minsky moment. We use Braitung and Candelon (2006) Granger causality test and discrete threshold model (Hansen, 2005) to the link between financial and business cycles in the UK from 1270-2016. Financial and business cycles relation varies over time with contemporary financial cycles being longer to their historical versions. Financial cycles lead business cycles. Business cycles are an economy reaction to them and change in the Minsky moment. Minsky moment has a statistically significant impact on main growth determinants - population, export, technology. Policymakers should look for the Minsky moment when setting up a new economic policy to assure it will be an effective one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the history of the UK balance of payments since 1950, and contains an informal discussion of future prospects. It documents the huge shifts that have occurred in the composition of trade, in particular the rise of the City of London and knowledge-intensive services (communications, consultancy, R&D, media, other business services, etc.), the rise and fall of North Sea oil, and the transformation of the UK from a leading net exporter of manufactured goods to a major net importer. Domestic oil production is now in decline, net income from overseas investment has fallen, and the City of London is under threat. The UK also has a current account deficit equal to 4 per cent of GDP. These recent developments have led to widespread calls for rebalancing the economy so as to improve the trade performance of the manufacturing sector. This paper supports this objective. It calls for industrial and other policies to improve UK trade performance, above all in manufacturing, but also in knowledge-intensive services. It also points out the need to safeguard London’s role as a global financial centre. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper documents the vulnerability of the UK workplace safety regime to ‘regulatory degradation’. Following a brief overview of this regime, the paper examines the dominant arguments within academic literature on appropriate and feasible regulatory enforcement, arguing that the approaches to regulation thereby advocated have been easily degraded as a result of their compatibility with neo-liberal economic strategy. A subsequent analysis of empirical trends within safety enforcement reveals a virtual collapse of formal enforcement, as political and resource pressures have taken their toll on the regulatory authority. Finally, the paper indicates that the increasing impunity with which employers can kill and injure is particularly problematic as we enter sustained economic recession, and underlines the urgent need for regulatory alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Revista CESUMAR: Ciências Humanas e Sociais Aplicadas is the property of Revista Cesumar - Ciencias Humanas e Sociais Aplicadas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In November 2015, after weeks of bitter political rhetoric and much discussion about the consequences of the proposed changes, the UK Tory government reversed their decision to eliminate tax credits for the poorest. While much was made of this reversal, particularly who deserved responsibility for the change, a more subtle politics was going on behind the scenes. The primary justification for the reversal, given by the Chancellor George Osborne, was that tax revenues in forthcoming years were now expected to be much higher than before. Yet, a deeper look into this justification revealed that 55% of those extra revenues (£29.1 billion out of £52.2 billion) came from "modelling changes". Suddenly, the discursive sparring over tax revenues found its material embodiment in the computers of the Office for Budget Responsibility. Similarly, central bank policies have become essential to the global economy since the 2008 crisis, and their policies concerning interest rates and quantitative easing are the joint product of hybrid human–computer systems. Yet, while scholars have examined the influence of modelling technology on derivatives valuation models, the field of central bank macroeconomic modelling has been largely ignored. This paper will examine these government economic models, outlining a broad history of their changing political ramifications. What are these models? How can they change the possibilities of government action so much? In addition, what effect do they have on politicians? Do they function merely as post-hoc justification for policies, or do they give shape to the space of the politically possible? The aim of this project is to begin answering these questions and generate a framework for understanding how economic modelling is shaping and interacting with economic policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines specific features of structural change in the UK since 1997, contrasting the decline in industrial jobs with the rise in a variety of service jobs. It examines the proximate causes of structural change, in particular whether the chronically slow growth of manufacturing output in the 1980s has persisted. The implications of this structural change are considered, particularly the effects on the balance of payments and regional employment patterns. The paper suggests that the main impact of government policies on regional employment may have been through the direct and multiplier effects of public expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the processes of cross-national learning in three British planning studies that had an important role in shaping subsequent policies, namely the Barlow Report (1940), the Buchanan Report (1963) and the Rogers Report (1999). It locates the detailed investigation within the wider political science literature of cross-national learning, lesson-drawing and policy transfer. Analysis of the reports shows a shift from European, mainly German, to American referents within British planning, beginning in the 1930s. By the 1960s, there was much greater use of American examples. The paper then notes a shift in the 1990s, with European examples assuming much more significance. However a distinction is made between the expert advice given in the reports and the way this was actually applied at the political and official levels. The paper ends by suggesting other opportunities to consider aspects of cross-national learning, lesson-drawing and policy transfer [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the relationship between various conceptions of sustainable development and the role of land use planning from a Hayekian perspective. The focus of the paper is on a modified version of the Pareto principle and the manner in which this should be used to evaluate liberal market processes, relative to institutional alternatives. Using a comparative institutions analysis the paper develops a critique of the current practice of sustainability planning in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines recent developments in U.K. utility regulation from a business ethics perspective. The regulatory framework that facilitated privatisation of the utility companies has foundations based upon free market principles involving a transfer from regulation to competitive markets wherever possible. Where competition is not feasible, continuing economic regulation is relied upon, designed to mirror the competitive market to induce, through comparative competition and the price capping mechanism, incentives for greater efficiency. The New Labour Government, having fundamentally reviewed this framework when it came to office, has surprisingly endorsed its basic tenets. However, it wishes to superimpose social responsibility regulations designed to achieve social policy rather than economic objectives. This interventionist approach is in itself in conflict with the free market inspired regulatory framework but additionally, the imposition of social policy objectives creates fundamental ambiguities within the framework for the key stakeholders. The paper concludes that the Government's policy, by eliciting stakeholder confusion and perverse behaviour, could be counter-productive but that ethical theories and frameworks can contribute to thinking in this vital area of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the growth of e-commerce in British grocery retailing and examines the spatial variations in e-commerce usage. The main data source is a large commercial consumer survey (Acxiom's Research Opinion Data) rarely used by academics to date. Using these data in combination with census data, the paper addresses a number of key questions. After outlining key trends in the dataset on e-commerce usage (by product and over time) the first research question is: How do e-commerce purchases vary by geodemographic group? To answer this question, we explore e-commerce usage by age, sex and social class. The second key question is: Does e-commerce usage vary by type of geographical region? Thus, we explore variations in usage for urban and rural areas. The dynamics of urban-rural diffusion are also addressed here - by examining, in addition, the spread of broadband use across Britain. The last question is: To what degree do e-commerce sales vary by access to physical stores? This is addressed by examining consumers' home locations in relation to geographical accessibility. The results show that age and income are crucial demographic discriminators of e-commerce usage, as is rural location versus urban, and distance from physical stores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents several periodical and books related to economic development in Great Britain. "Annual Report and Accounts 1966—7"; "Introduction of Shift Working"; "Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers' Associations Research Papers 7," by Munns V G. and McCarthy W. E. J.; "Eighteenth Annual Report and Accounts 1966—67."

This article discusses various papers on monetary policy, that were published in the May 1, 1953 issue of the journal "American Economic Review." Economist Harry G. Johnson has outlined very well the postwar monetary measures that have been taken by the government of Great Britain, particularly since the advent of the Conservative Government. The unpegging of the Treasury bill rate and the raising of Bank rate are clearly in accord with lime-established procedures. It is his belief that the qualitative controls which have been retained and in some instances strengthened, have been more effective in preventing an expansion of bank advances than have the quantitative measures. One of the economist comments on the idea of neutrality in monetary policy, as presented by economist Henry C. Wallich in one of his paper. The policy of pegged interest rates was obviously a policy of intervention or interference in the money market. There are a great many people to whom the idea of government intervention, even intervention by the monetary authority in the money market, is repulsive. So it must have seemed attractive and useful to describe the alternative policy as one of nonintervention, of allowing natural forces to work in the market-in short, as a policy of neutrality.

In this paper we propose models for assessing the efficiency in large networks of bank branches. We distinguish bank branch efficiency into market and cost components suitably modified to capture different tiers of bank management. The paper proposes a methodology which includes the use of multivariate analysis in order to ensure the homogeneity of the branches assessed and then data envelopment analysis for assessing efficiency. The methodology is applied on a sample of branches of a commercial bank in the United Kingdom. The results obtained reinforced previous claims regarding the presence of high technical inefficiencies and economies/diseconomies of scale at the branch level from a production and cost point of view. Furthermore, the decision to pre-cluster the network of branches into homogenous groups has had profound implications on the magnitude of the assessed efficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers two aspects of this question. First, Brexit has already induced a devaluation of sterling of around 14 per cent since June 2016, which has started to work through to consumer prices: between June 2016 and July 2017 consumer prices increased by around 2.5 per cent. Second, while it is not government policy, nor the desire of the UK public, that the outcome of negotiations is a ‘MFN Brexit’, this remains a distinct possibility. Thus we ask how the imposition of tariffs on imports from the EU will work through into consumer prices. Making very conservative assumptions, we conclude that ‘MFN Brexit’ will increase the average cost of living by around 1 per cent and increase it for 8 per cent of households by 2 per cent or more. We present results for different groups of households according to their employment and structural characteristics and show that the impact will generally be largest on unemployed, single parent and pensioner households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews change and continuity in social policy up to summer 2011, contrasting the liberal collectivist approach of New Labour with the reinforced neoliberalism of the coalition government. Given the ongoing uncertainty of economic conditions and the obvious difficulty of forecasting the stability of coalition policy, it is not possible to arrive at a firm conclusion as to the sustainability of the recent change of policy direction. Nevertheless, in a critical assessment of policy in three areas—labour market governance, the life course and the public sector—the paper argues that the UK is witnessing an intensified neoliberal policy emphasis, a redrawing or abolition of minimum standards and failures to meet changing patterns of social needs. While the collectivist elements of New Labour’s social policy approach were contradictory in many respects, the coalition government through a withdrawal of the state and obtuse pronouncements about the big society is seeking to embed in the UK a stronger neoliberal approach to social policy. Flawed assumptions about the scope for traditional families and localised big society programmes to compensate for state withdrawal mean the trajectory of change is not clear-cut; preferences for collectivist and publicly accountable solutions to issues of social policy are unlikely to be easily eroded. However, ongoing policy change during the austerity crisis is already inflicting radical change with adverse impacts upon many groups of society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Policy responses to the tumult of the global financial crisis of 2007–9 prompt a consideration of the critical dimensions in specifying policy change. UK monetary policy between 2007 and 2009 is characterised by a remarkable degree of innovation yet counts as a ‘normal’ period of policy making under the Hall (1993) framework of policy change, the enduring workhorse of the comparative public policy field. This exposes its lack of conceptual refinement in describing significant but within paradigm policy change. This paper traces this failing to the notion of a policy paradigm, both its scale and the ideational mechanisms which bind policy change. The paper develops the UK monetary policy case to consider the potential of the recently-minted concept of a thermostatic policy institution for the development of Hall's framework; but finds analytical limitations in coping with significant policy spillovers. Suggestions are made to meet this important challenge for future research in policy studies on the specification of policy change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the relation between dividend policy and share price changes in the UK stock market. Design/methodology/approach - Multiple regression analyses are used to explore the association between share price changes and both dividend yield and dividend payout ratio. Findings - A positive relation is found between dividend yield and stock price changes, and a negative relation between dividend payout ratio and stock price changes. In addition, it is shown that a firm's growth rate, debt level, size and earnings explain stock price changes. Practical implications - The paper supports the fact that dividend policy is relevant in determining share price changes for a sample of firms listed in the London Stock Exchange. Originality/value - To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first to show that corporate dividend policy is a key driver of stock price changes in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how to achieve flexibility in fiscal policy without sacrificing credibility or independence in monetary policy. The idea is to create a framework that generates fewer conflicts between policies but greater discipline within them. We assume an independent central bank and restraints on national fiscal policies. Using a theoretical model, we examine the consequences of assigning leadership to fiscal policies in order to exploit the implicit (but rule based) coordination available under standard transmission mechanisms and to allow priorities and targets to differ between policy makers. This works best when leadership takes the form of a debt rule (with hard or soft targets) to precommit fiscal policies over the longer term; but monetary independence to guarantee the credibility and discipline in the short term policies. Compared to the uncoordinated policies operating in Europe, inflation biases and debt/deficit ratios are both lower for no loss in output volatility. That matches the experience of the UK, an economy whose empirical reaction functions show fiscal leadership. On a wider sample of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, the gains from debt targeting are estimated at 2–4% of gross domestic product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archive-based regional studies can contribute much that is new to the economic, political and social history of the Second World War. This paper considers the process of industrial mobilization in Northern Ireland, a politically divided region which was part of the United Kingdom but which had its own government. It examines the changing administrative framework of war production, the debate on military and industrial conscription, the role of women and the economic implications of geographical remoteness from London. The paper adds to our limited knowledge of regional mobilization and contributes to a neglected aspect of the history of Northern Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The financial service and communication sectors in the UK have been subject to radical re-organisation, involving the formation of sectorwide regulatory bodies (FSA and Ofcom) with wide-ranging powers and statutory obligations. Although both have responsibilities for assessment and management of risk, their remits go beyond traditional approaches to regulation. Hence, although primarily oriented to economic policy, both regulators address questions of corporate responsibility, balance of stakeholder interests, the public good, consumer representation and public participation. Accordingly, they are undertaking a range of activities, including consumer education and research, public consultation and the involvement of stakeholders in policy review. Focusing on the case of financial services, this paper presents an analysis of two early speeches by FSA directors, one focused on the approach to risk adopted by the regulator and the other on consumer policy. The second part of the paper considers the conceptual issues regarding different modes of risk management in the new regulators, requiring an account of the various levels and forms of involvement by stakeholders and publics in the identification and management of risk. It follows on from the analysis of the speeches to examine the relationship between risk and consumer policy in the practices of the FSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is positioned within theoretical perspectives that focus on welfare states as systems of power and negotiation between key social forces acting in and through the state apparatus. Despite an emerging consensus that UK welfare-state restructuring is deeply problematic, there appears to be reluctance, within the debate, to discuss viable alternatives to neoliberalism. In contrast to UK and North American strategies, Denmark has adopted a 'welfare-through-work' model, built around a more inclusive system of welfare reform. This article discusses its emergence, and focuses on the importance of Job Rotation as its leading-edge socio-economic strategy. It highlights recent conflicts and tensions within Job Rotation and, lastly, suggests lessons for the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labour 'flexibility' is often portrayed as important to competitive success. Using evidence from an original survey of UK firms, this paper investigates the relationships between firms' use of, on the one hand, various flexible work practices, human resource management techniques, and industrial relations systems and, on the other hand, the innovative activities of those firms. Our results suggest that the sort of 'low road' labour flexibility practices encouraged by labour market deregulation—short-term and temporary contracts, a lack of employer commitment to job security, low levels of training, and so on—are negatively correlated with innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their obvious limitations as explanatory concepts, 'technological autonomy' and 'determinism' have often been associated with nuclear power. This paper reviews the persistency of notions of 'autonomy' and 'determinism' in the context of the British nuclear power programme. In the corporatist and technocratic setting of the nationalized British Electricity Supply Industry (ESl), the perceived imperatives of nuclear power technology were often allowed priority in policymaking, to the extent that an appearance of the technology's autonomy and determinism was maintained for 30 years. This had its conveniences: technical rationales disguised more contestable institutional and political interests supporting the programme. At the same time, senior politicians and scientists at times displayed a faith in the technology approximating a belief in its autonomy and deterministic power, particularly during geopolitical or industrial crises. ESl privatization was associated with the marginalization of nuclear power in Britain. Once the Government's wider mission to liberalize electricity supply was threatened by unanticipated disclosures regarding the cost of nuclear electricity, it proved willing to abandon its longstanding support for the technology. As institutional and political support for the nuclear programme was removed, the fallacy of its supposed autonomy was exposed. Whilst Langdon Winner accurately identified the preconditions necessary for the introduction of inherently political technologies such as nuclear power, in reality these were ever-present requirements, however hidden by the apparent power of the technology itself. Nevertheless, the persistence of notions of autonomy and determinism reflects a significant aspect of the sociotechnical relations of nuclear power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on analyst Carl Bridge's remarks about the article "Great Britain and the Indian Currency Crisis of 1930-1932." Views of Bridge on the nature, function, and composition of the Government of India's currency reserves; Discussion of the Paper Currency and the Gold Standard Reserve of India; Comment on some minor errors stated by Bridge in his commentary.

The paper is concerned with the potential or actual impact that free-market governmental principles and policies might have, or might have had, in helping to create a more crisis-prone world. It is concerned with organizationally-induced crises where organizations and their environment interact to create disasters. The nature of the crisis-prone organization is discussed in the context of the relevant management literature. It is argued that the disastrous interaction of such an organization with its environment is promoted by a laisser-faire attitude on the part of the authorities. This is illustrated in the context of two recent British disasters involving the King's Cross Underground fire and the sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the taxation policies in Great Britain. From the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, Great Britain's taxation system operated to provide its navy and army with the indispensable monetary means required to combat the country's foes and to maintain the military forces and the credit of the central government in conditions of readiness for the next war. Of course any survey of fiscal activity provides only a sketch and not a rounded portrait of the role of a government, but that perspective does help to encapsulate its central preoccupation, namely the waging of armed conflict. Public finances are one of the best starting points for an investigation of society. While funding alleviated the need for sharp and sudden rises in taxes, the real cost of taxation afflicting Great Britain's economy and society mounted decade by decade. Tax evasion, corruption and frauds on the revenue were pervasive throughout Great Britain. By the late seventeenth century, the British tax structure had developed well beyond the systems of more traditional societies with their limited range of levies falling mainly upon land and other immovable assets.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework within which the audit function can be fulfilled. The framework evolves from a study of the effects of privatization anticipated by the economics literature. Privatization refers to one or more of the following activities, namely, the transfer of assets, service provision or elements of decision taking from the public sector into private hands. For the politically inclined it is a subject which tends to invoke instinctive reactions of support or rejection. To British economists it has provided ample opportunities for academic analysis of the issues. This paper is founded in the economic issues. It identifies three privatization measures with which the economics literature associates, largely a priori, both positive and negative effects. Type 1 privatization is concerned with the transfer of state owned monopolies to the private sector, type 2 is concerned with the transfer of service provision to the private sector under conditions of competitive tendering and type 3 with the transfer of elements of decision taking from government to individuals.