Search

This paper investigates the impact of student-centered teaching strategies (SCTS) on the educational attainment of econometrics students, at a university based in the UK. Theoretical foundations underlying the usage of SCTS suggest that SCTS is better for students' long-term recall, comprehension, problem-solving abilities and interest in the subject. Yet, most existing studies have only examined short-run outcomes, and none in technical social-science fields. We contribute to the literature by empirically analyzing whether SCTS affects the long-term learning outcomes for a STEM-related social-science subject like econometrics, by comparing the impact of SCTS with traditional teacher-centered strategies using a repeated cross-sectional sample spanning over four academic years. Our results provide robust evidence that SCTS is positively associated with students' grades in the long run. Heterogeneity analyzes additionally indicate that female students and those in the upper quantiles of the grade-distribution disproportionately benefit more from SCTS.

This report shares the findings and lessons learned from an investigation into the economics of disaggregated models for assessing and accrediting informal learners undertaking post secondary education. It presents some key economic and governance challenges for universities to consider in implementing OER assessment and accreditation policies. It also includes discussion of findings from a small-scale survey conducted by two of the authors on perceptions, practices and policies relating to openness in assessment and accreditation in post secondary institutions, with a particular focus on the "OER universitas" (OERu) concept. [This paper was presented at the OpenCourseWare Consortium Global Conference (Ljubljana, Slovenia, April 23-25, 2014).]

Application for Research Ethics Committee (REC) approval and the conduct of medical research is paper intensive. This retrospective study examined all applications to a single REC in the south of England over one year. It estimated the mass of paper used, comparing the proportional paper consumption of different trial types and during different stages of the research process, quantifying the consumption in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. In 2009, 68 trials were submitted to the REC. Total paper consumption for the REC process and study conduct was 176,150 sheets of A4 paper (879 kg), equivalent to an estimated 11.5 million sheets (88 tonnes, 2,100 trees) a year for the UK; the REC process accounted for 26.4%. REC applications and the conduct of approved trials generate considerable environmental impact through paper consumption contributing to the NHS's carbon footprint. Paper use might be reduced through the implementation of digital technologies and revised research methods, namely changing attitudes in both researchers and ethics committees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education is the core of the factors that improved people for a better lifestyle and increases the level of society' development. Quality education is one of the most vital goals of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to actualizing these factors. Using relational network data envelopment analysis (DEA), which have three interrelated substages, this current paper computes the educational economy efficiency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries bearing in mind the characteristics related to SDGs. The contribution of our study is the use of a novel approach to computing the educational economy efficiency using relational network DEA with GAMS. Even though some interesting differences reveal in the efficiency of the countries, the findings show that countries with high-efficiency scores are clustered around countries like Latvia, Slovenia, and Korea.

The notion of internationalization in higher education is understood as the recruitment of international students, marketing of academic programs and courses, and teaching English as a Second Language to student cohorts from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Various models of internationalization (Knight, 2004, 2006; Leask, 2009; Pimpa, 2009; Welikala, 2011) have been explored and promoted in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Often, as noted in the literature, these models emphasize the acculturation of international students into the host country culture rather than a respectful exchange of academic and cultural knowledge and ideas. The central thesis of this critical reflective discussion paper is that "glocalization" in higher education is an appropriate alternative to internationalization. Glocalization advocates a positive learning experience and encourages the enhancement of learners' "glocal" experience through a critical academic and cultural exchange of global and local socio-economic and political issues. Instructional strategies supporting glocalized learning curricula are recommended. The glocalization pedagogical framework for higher education, introduced in this paper, embraces the principles of social responsibility and justice with a firm commitment to sustainable futures for local and global societies.

To date research and scholarship on privatisation in education lacks critical depth and intensity. Many accounts have been largely descriptive, focusing on how privatisation takes places, or on the threat of privatisation, or its insertion within education systems. Furthermore, work on educational commodification has been substantially dissociated from studies on privatisation in education. This paper builds on this last point. Writing and research on privatisation in education has largely avoided what it represents and calls forth: the development of capital, the deeper capitalisation of education. Furthermore, discussion on educational privatisation typically ignores its implication in the social production of labour-power. Therefore, with reference to Karl Marx, this contribution drives the critique of privatisation in education forward by focusing on commodity form(s) in education and their relations to the capitalisation of educational services and labour-power. Consequently, the points of resistance to privatisation in education are sharpened as anti-capitalist weapons. These points of resistance are derived from aspects of the capitalisation of education: marketisation, privatisation and other related aspects. On the basis of the analysis in the paper, anticapitalist education is only a first step, it is argued; anti-capitalism in education based on an anti-affirmationist outlook flowing from negativity toward the capitalisation of education, is also required.

Background. Between 2015 and 2020, 1,578 care homes in the UK closed, displacing nearly 50,000 older and disabled people with very significant care and support needs. It is widely thought that relocation can have a significant impact on the health and well-being of older people. Yet, evidence is limited due to sensitivity and logistical difficulties with data collection. This study aimed to review the published literature in order to (i) identify evidence on the costs, consequences, and wider impacts of care home closures, for older people, family members, care home staff, and local authorities and (ii) understand the causes of and processes surrounding the closure of residential care homes in the UK. Methods. Eight electronic databases (Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, ASSIA, HMIC, AgeInfo, and SPP) were searched from 1st January 2000 to 9th February 2023; Google and Google Scholar were searched for guidance/policy documents from the grey literature. Data on the objectives, methods, and main results were extracted, and the findings were narratively reported. Results. Eighteen records, comprising guidance documents and academic publications (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method approaches), met the inclusion criteria. We found a lack of good quality evidence on costs of closure and no consideration of outcomes for staff. Studies reporting on outcomes for residents suggest there may not be any long-term adverse effects on their health, in contrast to often-expressed views that care home closures result in harm. Conclusion. Future research should consider the stress and anxiety experienced by staff and families as relevant outcomes and show caution with respect to the use of proxy reporting of resident health outcomes. Given that a sizable portion of the costs associated with care home closure falls on local authorities, an evidence-based approach to closures that includes an assessment of cost-effectiveness will help to improve future outcomes and guide the most efficient use of limited public resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although mathematicians frequently use specialist software in direct teaching of mathematics, as a means of delivery e-learning technologies have so far been less widely used. We (mathematicians) insist that teaching methods should be subject-specific and content-driven, not delivery-driven. We oppose generic approaches to teaching, including excessively generalist, content-free, one-size-fits-all promotion of information and communications technology. This stance is fully expressed, for example, in the recent Teaching Position Statement from the London Mathematical Society (2010) and is supported by a recent report from the National Union of Students (2010, 5): "Not every area of study needed or was compatible with e-learning, and so to assume it would grant blanket advantages was not accurate". This paper is an attempt to explain mathematicians' selectivity in use of information and communications technology and its guiding principles. The paper is addressed to our non-mathematician colleagues and is not intended to be a survey of the existing software and courseware for mathematics teaching--the corpus of existing solutions is enormous and its discussion inevitably involves hardcore mathematics. (Contains 4 notes and 5 figures.)

Our current globalized economic regimes of financialized capital have systematically altered relations of learning and labour through the dynamics of precarity, debt, and the political economy of new wars. The risks of these regimes are absorbed unevenly across transnational landscapes, creating cartographies of violence and dispossession, particularly among youth, indigenous, working class, and racialized women. Presently there is surprisingly little discussion on the relevance of financialization for adult educators. Transnational resistances organizing against neoliberal restructuring, austerity policies, and debt crises are emerging at the same time that massive investments are being made into homeland security and the carceral state. This paper opens up discussion on the implications of financialized times for educators, and develops an analytic framework for examining how these global realities are best addressed at local sites of adult and higher education.

The contribution of the discipline of geography to the field of education is complex since they have both been dependent upon the contributions of other social science disciplines, particularly those in the mainstream of social sciences (economics, sociology and political science). Indeed, the number of researchers who would consider themselves as working within the sub-discipline of the geography of education is small, but apparently growing. While the paper suggests that to date there has been relatively little debate at the intersection of these two fields of enquiry it goes on to propose that the potential contribution this would have for both fields remains significant. The pivotal contribution of geography to all the social sciences, that of space (and place), has been central to UK education research since the early origins of a national education system and the roles education and curricular developments have played in nation building. The role of space has also featured heavily in analyses of territorial justice and governance at the level of local authorities and further down in scale to spatial analyses of the classroom. But in order to fully appreciate its contribution the paper utilises the related concept of "scale" to systematically explore the relationship between space and education, in terms of its analytical, theoretical and methodological uses. The paper also considers the recent "spatial turn" in education (and the social sciences more generally) and the equivalent focus on education matters within the field of human geography. In developing this approach it becomes apparent where interdisciplinary research across and between the disciplines of geography and education remains limited and what further contributions from geography would be beneficial to the field of education. (Contains 2 notes and 5 figures.)

The paper explores the incidence of over and under education and the effect on earnings for immigrants and natives who hold UK qualifications, drawn from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey 1993-2003. The paper also compares earnings penalties associated with over and under education across immigrant and minority ethnic groups for men and women. The results show that compared to Whites, Black African, Other Non-White and Indian men are more likely to be over-educated, whilst for women it is Indian and Pakistani/Bangladeshi's who are more likely to be over-educated. Estimating earnings equations shows significantly large over-education penalties for South Asian immigrant and native men, as well as White immigrant men, Black women and White UK born women. However, there are large returns to occupational skills for some minority ethnic and immigrant groups, over and above the returns to qualifications. It is suggested that these groups may therefore find it easier to find a suitable job for their UK education level if higher or further education programmes for immigrants were combined with occupational specific training. (Contains 3 tables.)

The paper considers the broader policy context in which English Post Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) is placed, examining the model of class implicit within policy documents and particular currents within new Labour thinking. It notes that class relations and patterns of inequality have deepened. Class as a structural feature of the social formation has been obscured as a result of individualisation and allied theorisations. Whilst class may be obscured, it remains a salient feature of contemporary society. Personalisation of the curriculum and changes to 14-19 education are related to class formation and the on-going generation of inequality. The closing section of the paper comments on current work that examines teaching and learning in the sector, suggesting that class needs to be placed in a pivotal position in such analyses. It concludes by arguing that a concern with social justice as well as one that seeks to interrupt processes of class formation necessitates a politicised practice that extends beyond the classroom. This requires an analysis that stresses the salience of class but also works with an expansive notion of practice that calls for a politicised understanding of PCET. (Contains 5 notes.)

Using a survey of a cohort of UK graduates, linked to administrative data on higher education participation, this paper investigates the labour market attainment of recent graduates by subject of study. We document a large heterogeneity in the mean wages of graduates from different subjects and a considerably larger one within subject with individuals with the most favourable unobserved characteristics obtaining wages almost twice as large as those with the worst. Moreover, gender differences in wages within subjects are also large. We then simulate a graduate tax to calculate a willingness to pay--in form of tuition fees--to capture these subject wage premia. (Contains 7 tables and 3 figures.)

In this paper we investigate the role of workers' training history in determining current training-incidence. The analysis is conducted on an unbalanced sample comprising information on approximately 5000 employees from the first seven waves of the BHPS. Training participation is modelled as a dynamic random effects probit model where the effects of unobserved heterogeneity and initial conditions are accounted for in a fashion consistent with methods proposed by Chamberlain (1984) and Wooldridge (2005), respectively. The results suggest that prior training experience is a significant determinant of a worker's participation in a current training episode comparable with other formal educational qualifications. (Contains 5 tables.)

Numerous economic studies have shown a strong positive correlation between health and years of schooling. The question at the centre of this research is whether the correlation between health and education represents a causal relation. This paper uses changes in compulsory schooling laws in the United Kingdom to test this hypothesis. Multiple measures of overall health are used. The results provide evidence of a causal relation running from more schooling to better health which is much larger than standard regression estimates suggest. (Contains 2 figures and 4 tables.)

"Realising the potential of new technology" was one of the central educational themes of New Labour's 1997 election manifesto, with "information and communications technology" (ICT) established subsequently as a prominent feature of the Blair administration policy portfolio. As such New Labour can claim rightly to have made an unprecedented and sustained political commitment to technology in education, directing over 5 billion British Pounds of funding towards educational ICT during the 1997 to 2007 period. Yet the fact remains that the New Labour ICT agenda has failed to achieve the much promised technological "transformation" of the UK education system. With this in mind the present paper develops the argument that New Labour's concern with educational ICT was driven primarily by concerns over enhancing competitiveness in a globalising economy, creating a lifelong learning system fit for a successful knowledge economy and modernising the formal education sector. Thus whilst New Labour's ICT agenda may well have had the short term impact of increasing the physical presence of ICT resources in all education institutions, its longer-term educational legacy was compromised by the wider macro-level issues it purported to address. As such the legacy of this high-profile segment of policy-making should be seen primarily in terms of establishing ICT as an ideological presence in the UK education system.

This paper uses a new survey of graduates from one large civil university in the UK to examine the determinants of over-education and its subsequent impact on labour market earnings. Multiple measurements of over-education were collected to assess the effect of measurement error on the estimated pay penalty associated with over-education. Panel estimates suggest that the upward bias in standard OLS estimates is offset by an equal downward bias resulting from measurement error.

In the first half of this paper we develop a perspective on the role of "boldness" in explaining gender differences in thinking and attitudes. We apply this analysis to evidence from Australia, the USA and the UK in relation to economics at school and university levels. In the second half we present the results of a study of over 1000 15-17-year-olds in UK secondary schools. On the basis of the gender differences revealed in these data and our preceding analysis we offer some implications for learning and teaching.

Argues that the United Kingdom's manufacturing productivity will not accelerate in the near future. Calls for an increased vocational emphasis within higher education. Examines the changing nature of participation in and expectations of higher education and the demand for increased accountability. Discusses the need to increase university funding. (SG)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to document contributions to the early study and teaching of marketing at one of the first universities in Britain to do so and, in that way, to contribute to the literature about the history of marketing thought. Given that the first university business program in Britain was started in 1902, at about the same time as the earliest business programs in America, the more specific purpose of this paper was to explore whether or not the same influences were shared by pioneer marketing educators on both sides of the Atlantic. Design/methodology/approach – An historical method is used including a biographical approach. Primary source materials included unpublished correspondence (letterbooks), lecture notes, seminar minute-books, course syllabi and exams, minutes of senate and faculty meetings, university calendars and other unpublished documents in the William James Ashley Papers at the University of Birmingham. Findings – The contributions of William James Ashley and the Commerce Program at the University of Birmingham to the early twentieth-century study and teaching of marketing are documented. Drawing from influences similar to those on pioneer American marketing scholars, Ashley used an historical, inductive, descriptive approach to study and teach marketing as part of what he called “business economics”. Beginning in 1902, Ashley taught his students about a relatively wide range of marketing strategy decisions focusing mostly on channels of distribution and the functions performed by channel intermediaries. His teaching and the research of his students share much with the early twentieth-century commodity, institutional and functional approaches that dominated American marketing thought. Research limitations/implications – William James Ashley was only one scholar and the Commerce Program at the University of Birmingham was only one, although widely acknowledged as the first, of a few early twentieth-century British university programs in business. This justifies future research into the possible contributions to marketing knowledge made by other programs such as those at the University of Manchester (1903), University of Liverpool (1910) and University of London (1919). Originality/value – This paper adds an important chapter to the history of marketing thought which has been dominated by American pioneer scholars, courses, literature and ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper devises and tests a statistical model (the PAM) to measure the financial and sporting performance of professional football clubs. The PAM has been applied to a longitudinal data set of English football clubs (21 clubs between 1992-2013) to identify trends in performance. The results show that a small number of clubs have created an imbalance within English football and that there has been evidence of a "financial crisis" at individual clubs. For the majority of clubs, overall performance appears to vary over time in cycles. In addition to measuring holistic performance of professional football clubs in England, the paper has developed a statistically robust model that progresses research in the field. This new model has the potential to be adapted to fit other professional team sports to test league viability. It can also be used by the clubs themselves to set objectives and to analyse performance against competitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK's automotive industry has been one of the ‘star performers’ of the UK economy in recent years – unlike most other manufacturing sectors. Output has increased by over 60 per cent since 2010 and there has been over £8 billion worth of investment in the industry in the past five years. The industry supports some 800,000 jobs in the UK. It is seen as having benefitted from EU membership. So what might Brexit mean for the UK automotive sector, and its workers? This paper considers short-run impacts, before turning to the impact of uncertainty on foreign direct investment inflows and then the nature of a possible trading relationship. Some brief reflections on policy implications round off the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies local economic impacts of the increases in trade barriers associated with Brexit. Predictions of the local impact of Brexit are presented under two different scenarios, soft and hard Brexit, which are developed from a structural trade model. Average effects are predicted to be negative under both scenarios, and to be more negative under hard Brexit. The spatial variation in negative shocks across areas is higher in the latter case as some local areas are particularly specialised in sectors that are predicted to be badly hit by hard Brexit. Areas in the South of England, and urban areas, are harder hit by Brexit under both scenarios. Again, this pattern is explained by sector specialisation. Finally, the areas that were most likely to vote remain are those that are predicted to be most negatively impacted by Brexit [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Physical inactivity has been identified as a leading risk factor for premature mortality globally, and adolescents, in particular, have low physical activity levels. Schools have been identified as a setting to tackle physical inactivity. Economic evidence of school-based physical activity programmes is limited, and the costs of these programmes are not always collected in full. This paper describes a micro-costing and cost-consequence analysis of the ‘Girls Active’ secondary school-based programme as part of a cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT). Micro-costing and cost-consequence analyses were conducted using bespoke cost diaries and questionnaires to collect programme delivery information. Outcomes for the cost-consequence analysis included health-related quality of life measured by the Child Health Utility-9D (CHU-9D), primary care General Practitioner (GP) and school-based (school nurse and school counsellor) service use as part of a cluster RCT of the ‘Girls Active’ programme. Overall, 1,752 secondary pupils were recruited and a complete case sample of 997 participants (Intervention n = 570, Control n = 427) was used for the cost-consequence analysis. The micro-costing analysis demonstrated that, depending upon how the programme was delivered, ‘Girls Active’ costs ranged from £1,054 (£2 per pupil, per school year) to £3,489 (£7 per pupil, per school year). The least costly option was to absorb ‘Girls Active’ strictly within curriculum hours. The analysis demonstrated no effect for the programme for the three main outcomes of interest (health-related quality of life, physical activity and service use).Micro-costing analyses demonstrated the costs of delivering the ‘Girls Active’ programme, addressing a gap in the United Kingdom (UK) literature regarding economic evidence from school-based physical activity programmes. This paper provides recommendations for those gathering cost and service use data in school settings to supplement validated and objective measures, furthering economic research in this field. Trial registration: -ISRCTN, . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

BACKGROUND: Smoking is one of the biggest avoidable causes of morbidity and mortality in the United Kingdom. This paper quantifies the current health and economic burden of smoking in the UK. It provides comparisons with previous studies of the burden of smoking in the UK and with the costs for other chronic disease risk factors. METHODS: A systematic literature review to identify previous estimates of National Health Service costs attributable to smoking was undertaken. Information from the World Health Organization’s Global Burden of Disease Project and routinely collected mortality data were used to calculate mortality due to smoking in the UK. Population-attributable fractions for smoking-related diseases from the Global Burden of Disease Project were applied to NHS cost data to estimate direct financial costs. RESULTS: Previous studies estimated that smoking costs the NHS about £1.4 billion to £1.7 billion in 1991 and has been responsible for about 100 000 deaths per annum over the past 10 years. This paper estimates that the number of deaths attributable to smoking in 2005 was 109 164 (19% of all deaths, 27% deaths in men and 11% of deaths in women). Smoking was directly responsible for 12% of disability adjusted life years lost in 2002 (15.4% in men; 8.5% in women) and the direct cost to the NHS was £5.2 billion in 2005–6. CONCLUSION: Smoking is still a considerable public health burden in the UK. Accurately establishing the burden in terms of death, disability and financial costs is important for informing national public health policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author offers information about British economics professor David M. G. Newbery. He cites that he first met the professor at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California in the spring of 1976. He states that Newbery wrote papers about optimal growth theory, income distribution and agricultural policies. He mentions Newbery's role as director of the Department of Applied Economics (DAE) at Cambridge University in England, his research on energy economics and the awards he received.

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]

Background: Research partnerships between high-income countries (HICs) and low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) are a leading model in research capacity strengthening activities. Although numerous frameworks and guiding principles for effective research partnerships exist, few include the perspective of the LMIC partner. This paper draws out lessons for establishing and maintaining successful research collaborations, based on partnership dynamics, from the perspectives of both HIC and LMIC stakeholders through the evaluation of a research capacity strengthening partnership award scheme.Methods: A mixed-method retrospective evaluation approach was used. Initially, a cross-sectional survey was administered to all award holders, which focused on partnership outputs and continuation. Fifty individuals were purposively selected to participate in interviews or focus group discussions from 12 different institutions in HICs and LMICs; the sample included the research investigators, research assistants, laboratory scientists and post-doctoral students. The evaluation collected data on critical elements of research partnership dynamics such as research outputs, nature of the partnership, future plans and research capacity. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively and qualitative data were analysed using an iterative framework approach.Results: The majority of United Kingdom and African award holders stated they would like to pursue future collaborations together. Key aspects within partnerships that appeared to influence this were; the perceived benefits of the partnership at the individual and institutional level such as publication of papers or collaborative grants; ability to influence 'research culture' and instigate critical thinking among mid-career researchers; previous working relationships, for example supervisor-student relationships; and equity within partnerships linked to partnership formation and experience of United Kingdom partners within LMICs. Factors which may hinder development of long term partnerships were also identified such as financial control or differing expectations of partners.Conclusions: This paper provides evidence of what encourages international research partnerships for capacity strengthening to continue past award tenure, from the perspective of researchers in high and LMICs. Although every partnership is unique and individual experiences subjective, this paper provides extension and support of key principles and mechanisms that can contribute to successful research partnerships between researchers. [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]

Purpose This paper aims to explain how thinking regarding multinationals, competitiveness and location in cities has evolved over the past five decades and how our current understanding and thinking about future challenges is contingent on these previous shifts.Design/methodology/approach The design of the paper is a conceptual piece linking different theoretical strands.Findings Global cities are not always necessarily the key locations for future multinational investments. It depends on the activities taking place. Knowledge and technology and how they interact with the firm’s capabilities and objectives are crucial.Research limitations/implications The implications are that future multinational location choices will be driven by diversity, demography, protectionism, automation and industrial policy.Originality/value This paper provides a roadmap for scholars in the international business and competitiveness fields to understand the current and future challenges facing multinationals and their location behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The NHS Five Year Forward View identifies a range of approaches for addressing the NHS's challenges. The Transition movement helps communities to reframe and rebuild their world by working on issues such as climate change, food, community relationships and localizing the economy. Methods This paper describes Transition using five short example projects and, informed by these, identifies mechanisms by which Transition could potentially help reduce pressure on the NHS. Results Transition is characterized by people self-organizing to address local challenges with benefits arising from both the outcomes and the process of the projects. Transition may be able to help the NHS reframe change, prevent disease, improve staff well-being and increase local economic resilience. Discussion The evidence base for the relationship between Transition and health is growing but is not yet well developed. This reflects the complexity of establishing an evidence base for wider determinants of health. There is substantial potential learning for those in the NHS about change outside formal institutional structures. Conclusions Transition provides new ways of thinking and acting to develop greater 'community intelligence', which could help the NHS in the face of increasing pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an account of the institutional mechanisms that have influenced business history in the early to late Middle Ages in the city of Coventry. The paper discusses socio-cultural, political, religious, and historical influences on the city's major trades during the era and incorporates analysis of governance structures in the form of Coventry's famous guilds which were instrumental in shaping the trajectory of one of England's foremost cities during the chronicled era. Through this examination we seek to complement and contribute to business history literature that is increasingly intrigued by business and economic activities pre-dating the industrial and manufacturing era, thus enriching discussion about business and institutional dynamics in the pre-modern era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a literature review on the welfare effects of excessive company taxation practices. The article intends to structure the debate by sketching a conceptual framework of thought for the topic under consideration and places the existing literature within this framework. The article ends with a thought-provoking discussion between two extreme papers in the literature, one against tax planning and one in favour. The discussion is concluded by identifying the fundamental differences in assumptions underlying both approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents abstracts of several papers published in the February 1965 issue of the journal Bulletin of Economics and Statistics. In the paper Notes on Public Investment Criteria in the United Kingdom, P. D. Henderson discussed the problem of devising a reasonable set of criteria for appraising public investment projects in Great Britain. While in the article The Absorption of Manpower by the Urban and Rural sectors of Brazil, Raouf Kahil examined the available data concerning urban and rural populations in Brazil and argues that the basis of a valid judgment of the job opportunities offered by the urban and rural sectors were cannot be seen.

In this paper we raise a number of issues that are important for the UK to consider in the light of its decision to leave the European Union (EU). The first of these is the nature of the EU Single Market in Electricity and Gas and the UK's role within this. The second is the nature of UK energy policy in the light of Brexit, and the opportunities for changing this. And third, we consider some of the key issues to be addressed in a negotiating position with the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a 12-country study regarding estimates of lost revenue resulting from the illicit trade of cigarettes. It is said that such illicit trade has compromised health protective measures as well as government revenue. Results show that the estimated annual revenue loss to illicit cigarette trade is over three times the budget of the World Health Organization (WHO). Findings also suggest that lost revenue is greater than the investments made by the government to control tobacco.

The article comments on the paper "The New Institutional Economics and the Evolution of Modern Urban Planning," by Chris Webster. The paper demonstrated two powerful of characteristics of new institutional economics: its rigorous theoretical framework and the generation of new perspectives on and criticisms of planning through its application. The author pointed the main focus of the paper which is on the boundary between market order and planned order. The author argues that markets may be competitive rather that perfectly efficient, but they organize transactions between millions of producers and consumers more effectively than any alternative institution and they are the essence of a successful urban capitalist system.