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"This paper outlines the context of, and discusses the need for, local information on the demographic patterns and labour market experience of ethnic minority groups in many parts of Britain. The specific focus is on the identification and assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of particular data sources providing spatially disaggregated information on the economic position of ethnic minority groups.", (excerpt)

This paper compares the socioeconomic experiences of Caribbean immigration in Britain and Canada and shows how differing immigration trends together with changing economic circumstances influenced the process of integration. Caribbean immigrants in Canada are more recent arrivals than those in Britain and, in 1981, were still experiencing initial adjustment problems aggravated by an economy in which unemployment is still high. Unlike Britain, which has a large population born in that country of West Indian parentage, the "2nd generation" in Canada is small and mostly still in school. Despite higher levels of education and qualifications than their counterparts in Britain, Caribbean immigrants in Canada faced similar problems. Males were relatively more concentrated in manufacturing industries in Canada and in transportation in Britain, sectors which were undergoing significant structural change and experiencing high levels of unemployment. Earned income was below average in both countries but there were interesting gender differences. Caribbean women experienced the same "earnings gap", relative to men, that characterized most women in the labor force. However, Caribbean women were relatively more successful than men, as measured by unemployment rates and earned incomes. This appears to be due to their qualifications in nursing and other service occupations that continued to expand, and to be in demand in the 1970s and 1980s, when other occupations were declining in response to technological change and "post-industrial" developments. In both countries there were residual disadvantages, faced by Caribbean men and women, which cannot be statistically explained by factors such as age, education, period of immigration, or structural changes in the economy. These can be attributed, at least in part, to the institutionalized prejudice and discrimination against racial minorities which is prevalent in both societies. In absolute terms Caribbean immigrants in Canada are clearly better off than their counterparts in Britain. However, relative to other immigrants, and the native-born population with similar demographic characteristics and educational qualifications, those in Canada experience similar disadvantages.

"The past decade has witnessed a substantial contraction in the size of the Irishborn community in Britain. This paper uses shift share analysis to assess the extent to which job losses amongst the Irish in Britain over the years 1971-1977 may have induced return migration to Ireland. The article concludes that such 'push' factors are likely to have been relatively weak in comparison to the 'pull' of an Irish economy considerably more buoyant than that of Britain.", (excerpt)

Reviews science and technology policymaking in five countries with free-market economies: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Republic of Korea, and the United States. Implications for eastern European and other countries currently reorganizing toward domestic market economies and greater orientation toward world trade are discussed. (61 references) (LRW)

Background In responding to Covid-19, governments have tried to balance protecting health while minimizing gross domestic product (GDP) losses. We compare health-related net benefit (HRNB) and GDP losses associated with government responses of the UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain and Sweden from UK healthcare payer perspective. Methods We compared observed cases, hospitalizations and deaths under 'mitigation' to modelled events under 'no mitigation' to 20 July 2020. We thus calculated healthcare costs, quality adjusted life years (QALYs), and HRNB at £20,000/QALY saved by each country. On per population (i.e. per capita) basis, we compared HRNB with forecast reductions in 2020 GDP growth (overall or compared with Sweden as minimal mitigation country) and qualitatively and quantitatively described government responses. Results The UK saved 3.17 (0.32–3.65) million QALYs, £33 (8–38) billion healthcare costs and £1416 (220–1637) HRNB per capita at £20,000/QALY. Per capita, this is comparable to £1455 GDP loss using Sweden as comparator and offsets 46.1 (7.1–53.2)% of total £3075 GDP loss. Germany, Spain, and Sweden had greater HRNB per capita. These also offset a greater percentage of total GDP losses per capita. Ireland fared worst on both measures. Countries with more mask wearing, testing, and population susceptibility had better outcomes. Highest stringency responses did not appear to have best outcomes. Conclusions Our exploratory analysis indicates the benefit of government Covid-19 responses may outweigh their economic costs. The extent that HRNB offset economic losses appears to relate to population characteristics, testing levels, and mask wearing, rather than response stringency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patient and public involvement (PPI) is a requirement for UK health and social care research funding. Evidence for how best to implement PPI in research programmes, such as National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaborations for Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs), remains limited. This paper reports findings from an action research (AR) project called IMPRESS, which aims to strengthen PPI within CLAHRC East of England (EoE). IMPRESS combines AR with Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) to explore PPI within diverse case study projects, identifying actions to implement, test and refine to further embed PPI. Methods: We purposively selected CLAHRC EoE case study projects for in-depth analysis of PPI using NPT. Data were generated from project PPI documentation, semi-structured qualitative interviews with researchers and PPI contributors and focus groups. Transcripts and documents were subjected to abductive thematic analysis and triangulation within case. Systematic across case comparison of themes was undertaken with findings and implications refined through stakeholder consultation. Results: We interviewed 24 researchers and 13 PPI contributors and analysed 28 documents from 10 case studies. Three focus groups were held: two with researchers (n = 4 and n = 6) and one with PPI contributors (n = 5). Findings detail to what extent projects made sense of PPI, bought in to PPI, operationalised PPI and appraised it, thus identifying barriers and enablers to fully embedded PPI. Conclusion: Combining NPT with AR allows us to assess the embeddedness of PPI within projects and programme, to inform specific local action and report broader conceptual lessons for PPI knowledge and practice informing the development of an action framework for embedding PPI in research programmes. To embed PPI within similar programmes teams, professionals, disciplines and institutions should be recognised as variably networked into existing PPI support. Further focus and research is needed on sharing PPI learning and supporting innovation in PPI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to reliable and timely information ensures that decision-makers can operate effectively. The motivations and challenges of parliamentarians and policy-makers in accessing evidence have been well documented in the policy literature. However, there has been little focus on research-providers. Understanding both the demand- and the supply-side of research engagement is imperative to enhancing impactful interactions. Here, we examine the broader experiences, motivations and challenges of UK-based research professionals engaging with research-users relevant to policy-making and scrutiny in the UK using a nationwide online questionnaire. The context of the survey partly involved contributing to the UK Evidence Information Service (EIS), a proposed rapid match-making service to facilitate interaction between parliamentary arenas that use evidence and research-providers. Our findings reveal, at least for this sub-sample who responded, that there are gender-related differences in policy-related experience, motivations, incentives and challenges for research professionals to contribute to evidence-informed decision-making through initiatives such as the EIS. Male and female participants were equally likely to have policy experience; however, males reported both significantly broader engagement with the research-users included in the survey and significantly higher levels of engagement with each research-user. Reported incentives for engagement included understanding what the evidence will be used for, guidance on style and content of contribution, and acknowledgement of contributions by the policymaker or elected official. Female participants were significantly more likely to select the guidance-related options. The main reported barrier was workload. We discuss how academia-policy engagement initiatives can best address these issues in ways that enhance the integration of research evidence with policy and practice across the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Healthy Living Pharmacy (HLP) project, launched in England, UK in 2009 was a novel approach of introducing public health services within community pharmacy to tackle local health inequalities. A national roll-out followed a reported successful pilot; subsequent local evaluations ensued. Objectives: To summarise reported outcomes and investigate contextual factors that indicate the presence, absence and maturity of implementation determinants, thus offering useful lessons to stakeholders in implementing future initiatives to achieve successful outcomes. Methods: A systematic review was conducted to identify all publications reporting on the HLP project. All HLP articles and conference abstracts were considered for inclusion and were assessed for methodological quality. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was utilised to identify potential implementation determinants reported. Each article was then analysed to identify reported economic, humanistic or clinical outcomes. Results: The review included six peer-reviewed journal articles and 12 conference abstracts. Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument indicated deficiencies in methodological quality. Through adoption of the CFIR framework, the implementation determinants relevant to the implementation of HLP into community pharmacy were identified. A resonating issue emerged in that the absence of adopting an evidence-based implementation process limited the ability to capture meaningful outcome data. This resulted in a lack of evidence to support sustainability and the failure to address many of the well cited barriers, e.g. lack of awareness amongst patients, public and other healthcare professionals, and weak support for future investment in resource for training and dissemination. Conclusions: Healthcare systems are increasingly called on to adopt evidence-based interventions that improve quality, control costs, and maximize value, thus offering opportunity to accelerate the implementation of clinical pharmacy services and programs aimed at improving patient care. Interventions, such as the HLP project require focused efforts on implementation and evaluation of those implementation efforts to produce effective and lasting changes in complex health care systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background With the current study, we aim to explore the extent that migrants report higher rates of depressive symptoms than non-migrant populations in light of gender, childhood experiences, socioeconomic factors and social support across European countries that have been differentially influenced by the economic crisis. Methods Using data from the seventh round of the European Social Survey and the Greek MIGHEAL survey, we compare the prevalence of depressive symptoms among migrants and non-migrants aged 25–65 years old across 21 countries. Results Our findings show that migrants report significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms in seven of the examined countries, while in Greece and in the UK, they report significantly lower levels compared with non-migrant populations. The current climate of socioeconomic instability does not seem to necessarily associate with increased rates of depressive symptoms across countries neither it affects migrants and non-migrants in a similar way. Financial strain, childhood experiences of economic hardship and domestic conflict, female gender, as well as experiences of perceived discrimination appear to associate with increased levels of depressive symptoms among both migrant and non-migrant populations, while social trust and living with children have a protective impact. Still, much variation exists in the range of these associations between migrants and non-migrants and across countries. Conclusion These findings suggest that the impact of migration status on depressive symptoms is subject to additional determinants of mental health as well as to contextual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this research was to determine the existence of relative age effect (RAE) in five European soccer leagues and their second-tier competitions. Even though RAE is a well-known phenomenon in professional sports environments it seems that the effect does not decline over the years. Moreover, additional information is required, especially when taking into account second-tier leagues. Birthdates from 1,332 first-tier domestic players from France, England, Spain, Germany and Italy and birthdates from 1,992 second-tier domestic players for the 2014/2015 season were taken for statistical analysis. In addition to standard statistical tests, the data were analyzed using econometric techniques for count data using Poisson and negative binomial regressions. The results obtained confirmed a biased distribution of birthdates in favor of players born earlier in the calendar year. For all of the five first-tier soccer leagues there was an unequal distribution of birthdates (France χ2 = 40.976, P<0.001; England χ2 = 21.892, P = 0.025; Spain χ2 = 24.690, P = 0.010; Germany χ2 = 22.889, P = 0.018; Italy χ2 = 28.583, P = 0.003). The results for second-tier leagues were similar (France χ2 = 46.741, P<0.001; England χ2 = 27.301, P = 0.004; Spain χ2 = 49.745, P<0.001; Germany χ2 = 30.633, P = 0.001; Italy χ2 = 36.973, P<0.001). Econometric techniques achieved similar results: estimated effect of month of birth, i.e., long-term RAE on players’ representativeness, is negative (statistically significant at the 1% level). On average, one month closer to the end of the year reduces the logs of expected counts of players by 6.9%. Assuming this effect as linear, being born in the month immediately before the cut-off date (i.e., December/August), reduces the logs of expected counts of players by approximately 75.9%. Further, ID (index of discrimination, that is, the ratio between the expected counts of players born in the middle of the first and the twelfth month of the selection year) is 2.13 and 2.22 for the first- and second-tier, respectively. In other words, in the top five European first-tier and second-tier leagues, one should expect the number of players born in the first month of the calendar year to be twice the number of those born in the last month. The RAE in the second-tiers is the same as in the first-tiers, so it appears that there is no second chance for later born players. This reduces the chances to recover talented players discarded in youth simply because of lower maturity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the European defence industry has had to respond to increasing pressures of reduced defence spending, exacerbated more recently by removal of the immediate military threat from the former Soviet Union. Under the "Options for Change", the UK has abandoned certain weapons programmes, while Germany has had the additional economic and social problems brought on by re-unification. The industry's options comprise conversion, diversification or specialization, thus continuing to face structure change and competition from defence imports and "off-the-shelf" systems and equipment. Given the high exit barriers and past "cushioning" of the industry by governments, the presence of skills and know-how to compete effectively is questionable. The case for strategic marketing approach for those suppliers remaining is clear; as buyer (monopsonistic) power strengthens, the threat of new entrants increases and the associated competitive rivalry intensifies. However, the ingrained "defence culture" in many supplier organizations may be an impediment to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses some of the changes occurring in European business schools. The article defines the difference in the nature of business in Europe, which is tied closely to and influenced by the economic, social and cultural environment. Discussion centers on the influences on business education, which include scientific, technological and social changes, market expansion and distribution, professional management, educational systems and student expectations. The article presents a review of specific changes in selected countries, particularly Great Britain, Sweden, and Belgium, and identifies continuing problems in business education such as attitudes of businessmen, faculty values and university organization, theory and practice, and methodologies.

Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) represent a new way to finance social service and health promotion programs whereby different types of investors provide an upfront investment of capital. If a given program meets predetermined criteria for a successful outcome, the government pays back investors with interest. Introduced in the United Kingdom in 2010, SIBs have since been implemented in the United States and across Europe, with some uptake in other jurisdictions. We identify and explore selected areas of concern related to SIBs, drawing from literature examining market-based reforms to health and social services and the evolution of the SIB funding mechanism. These areas of concern include increased costs to governments, restricted program scope, fragmented policymaking, undermining of public-sector service provision,mischaracterization of the root causes of social problems, and entrenchment of systemically produced vulnerabilities. We argue that it is essential to consider the long-term, aggregate, and contextualized effects of SIBs in order to evaluate their potential to contribute to public health. We conclude that such evaluations must explore the assumptions underlying the “common sense” arguments often used in support of SIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 1977 to 1984, an ambitious European industrial policy was implemented by the European Economic Community for the first and only time in its history. It dealt with the crisis of the steel sector. This paper strives to understand why member states chose this solution, despite the fact that some of them were hostile to the devolution of power to supranational institutions, as for example Britain or France. The most reluctant state was Germany, whose officials usually associated any attempts of EEC-wide industrial policy with dirigism. The paper, based on archives of three governments (Germany, France, the United Kingdom) and of the European Commission, argues that the European solution was best for member states, and in particular for Germany, in order to control their neighbours and avoid a costly subsidy race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is focused on a highly topical theme placed at the heart of international debates on regional security, namely the case of refugees in Europe. Approaching this theme is not the result of testing a purely theoretical assumption, but rather a reactive process driven by the need to understand a multitude of perspectives on one single reality. In this context, the author identifies a series of five so-called perspectives on the case of refugees in Europe and dysects each of them in order to detect their common and distinct features. This approach is completed by the clarification of terms used in this area and the theoretical framework on social construction of reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creative industries are increasingly understood to contribute to localised innovation and dynamism. This paper provides a methodologically consistent comparison of creative industries across France, Great Britain, Italy and Spain. We map spatial agglomerations of creative activities showing evidence of urban concentration, which for Britain and France coincides with the dominance of capital cities, whilst for Spain and Italy, significant concentrations can also be found in secondary cities. The four countries also differ in the specialisation profiles and in the role played by policy makers. A lack of dove-tailing with the European Union smart agenda is argued to be a cause of concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatment of metastatic soft tissue sarcoma ( mSTS) commonly includes multiple lines of chemotherapy, until a decline in performance status precludes further treatment. The primary objective of this study was to describe the lifetime healthcare resource utilisation and cost among mSTS patients with favourable response to chemotherapy. SABINE was a multi-centre ( n = 25), multi-country ( n = 9) retrospective chart review study of mSTS patients with favourable response to chemotherapy following 4 cycles. Healthcare resource utilisation was collected from first line until death or end of follow-up. Costs were analysed by health states (defined by treatment line, chemotherapy use and disease progression) and estimated by multiplying the mean weekly cost per health state by the expected number of weeks spent in each health state. Expected per-patient lifetime medical cost was €65 616 (95% CI: €51 454-€85 003); comprised of IV chemotherapy (31.7%), inpatient care (24.8%), concomitant medication (11.0%), oral chemotherapy (8.9%), outpatient visits (8.8%), radiotherapy (6.3%), hospice (4.0%), imaging (3.7%) and laboratory (0.7%). Weekly costs were 280-330% higher during chemotherapy treatment periods than off-chemotherapy, especially after disease progression. Per-patient costs were highest in the USA and lowest in the Netherlands and UK. The economic burden of mSTS is considerable and the amount of resources devoted to its treatment varies across countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) compared with open surgery (OS) techniques for one- or two-level lumbar spinal fusion in the treatment of degenerative lumbar spinal conditions in the United Kingdom and Italy.Methods: A health economic model was developed on the basis of results from a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to determine the cost-effectiveness of MIS compared with OS for lumbar spinal fusion. The analysis was conducted from a health care payer perspective. Parameters included in the model were surgery, blood loss, duration of hospitalization, postoperative complications, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Cost-effectiveness was determined by the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year gained.Results: MIS was the dominant strategy compared with OS (i.e., yielding both cost savings and improved HRQOL). Cost savings were driven mainly by shorter length of hospital stay, reduced blood loss, and fewer complications such as surgical site infection. The total cost saving per procedure was €973 for Italy and €1666 for the United Kingdom, with an improvement of 0.04 quality-adjusted life-year over 2 years in HRQOL. One-way sensitivity analyses and predefined scenario(s) analyses confirmed the robustness of the model.Conclusions: MIS is a less expensive and a more effective treatment compared with OS for spinal lumbar fusion in both Italy and the United Kingdom. Lower downstream costs and increased HRQOL in the MIS group compensate for potential higher upfront costs of MIS implants and surgery equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Green-grabbing', in which environmental arguments support expropriation of land and resources, is a recognized element in neoliberal conservation. However, capitalism's strategic interest in promoting the neoliberalization of conservation is accompanied by attempts to exploit hitherto protected natures without any pretence at 'greenness'. In this paper we explore the dialectics between 'green' and 'un-green' grabbing as neoliberal strategies in the reconstruction of nature conservation policies after the 2008 financial 'crash' in Greece and the UK. In both countries, accelerated neoliberalization is manifested in diverse ways, including initiatives to roll back conservation regulation, market-based approaches to 'saving' nature and the privatization of public nature assets. The intensification of 'green' and 'un-green' grabbing reflects capitalism's strategic interest in both promoting and obstructing nature conservation, ultimately leaving for 'protected natures' two choices: either to be further degraded to boost growth or to be 'saved' through their deeper inclusion as commodities visible to the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Our objectives were to investigate the cost effectiveness of apixaban, rivaroxaban, and dabigatran compared with coumarin derivatives for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation in a country with specialized anticoagulation clinics (the Netherlands) and in a country without these clinics (the UK). Methods: A decision-analytic Markov model was used to analyse the cost effectiveness of apixaban, rivaroxaban, and dabigatran compared with coumarin derivatives in the Netherlands and the UK over a lifetime horizon. Results: In the Netherlands, the use of rivaroxaban, apixaban, or dabigatran increased health by 0.166, 0.365, and 0.374 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) compared with coumarin derivatives, but also increased costs by €5,681, €4,754, and €5,465, respectively. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were €34,248, €13,024, and €14,626 per QALY gained. In the UK, health was increased by 0.302, 0.455, and 0.461 QALYs, and the incremental costs were similar for all three new oral anticoagulants (€5,118-5,217). The ICERs varied from €11,172 to 16,949 per QALY gained. In the Netherlands, apixaban had the highest chance (37 %) of being cost effective at a threshold of €20,000; in the UK, this chance was 41 % for dabigatran. The quality of care, reflected in time in therapeutic range, had an important influence on the ICER. Conclusions: Apixaban, rivaroxaban, and dabigatran are cost-effective alternatives to coumarin derivatives in the UK, while in the Netherlands, only apixaban and dabigatran could be considered cost effective. The cost effectiveness of the new oral anticoagulants is largely dependent on the setting and quality of local anticoagulant care facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Relatively little is known about cross-country differences in alcohol affordability or factors that determine differences in affordability over time. This information is potentially important for alcohol policy, especially policies that focus on higher taxes or prices to reduce total alcohol consumption. This study estimates cross-country alcohol consumption relationships using economic models incorporating income and prices and alternative models based on alcohol affordability. The data and analysis are restricted to higher income countries. Methods Data for alcohol consumption per capita (ages 15+) are analyzed for 2 samples: first, 17 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for the period 1975 to 2000; second, 22 countries in the European Union for the period from 2000 to 2008. Panel data models are utilized, with country and time fixed-effects to control for confounding influences. In economic demand models, covariates are real per capita income and real alcohol price indices. In affordability models, income is divided by prices to yield an index of alcohol affordability. Results Analysis of data trends reveals that much of the increase in affordability is due to rising real incomes, and not falling real prices. Economic models of demand perform slightly better statistically, but differences are not substantial as income and affordability are highly correlated. For both samples, exogenous rates of growth of alcohol consumption are negative. Price and income elasticities, on average, are within the range of prior estimates. Affordability elasticities are between 0.21 and 0.25. Conclusions Although alcohol affordability is a valid concept statistically, its use in policy discussions tends to hide underlying causes of changes in affordability. A better approach is a comparison and analysis of trends and cross-country differences in real incomes and real alcohol prices together with the affordability index. Country-level analysis of income and price elasticities also is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A useful analytic distinction between structural and policy differences was made by Henry Kissinger; the former must be accommodated while the latter may be resolved. There is no shortage of tensions and disagreements between the United States and the nations of Europe. Likewise, the bilateral alliance between Britain and the US has been defined in part by disagreements. Even during the Second World War, when the relationship was redefined in modern terms, there were strong conflicts despite the extraordinary incentives for cooperation. From the start, a key strength of the Anglo-American alliance was emphasis on institutional structures for the long term, viewed as a complement to the essential immediate cooperation in fighting and ultimately defeating the Axis powers. The insight of Jean Monnet and others in employing economic tools for political and diplomatic ends has proven essential. The fortieth anniversary of Britain's entry into the European Community is a useful benchmark for retrospective analysis. For the US, the twin commitments of an active international role and unification of Europe around economic matters has been remarkably consistent. As John Mearsheimer has argued, the end of the Cold War removed fundamental incentives for cooperation. Nonetheless, institutional structures of both the EU and NATO have survived. Britain traditionally has been reluctant to engage in continuous institutional engagement with Europe, beyond the requirements of military alliances helpful or essential to national security. The lengthy uneven character of the road to membership in Europe's economic institutions reflects this fundamental attitude. Currently, Britain's ambiguous role of participation in European institutions but not in the euro may in fact facilitate transatlantic cooperation, and illustrates the usefulness of Kissinger's point. The fading of militarism in Europe since 1945 is a fundamental accomplishment, often overlooked in contemporary economic debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines four elements of City of London thinking related to Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and European financial regulation, and includes previously unpublished material. City opinion on EMU and prospective UK membership has been divided. Sceptics have rightly stressed the risks facing a monetary union of disparate economies without a robust fiscal framework, but naively believed that threats to the City from EMU members could not arise because of the rules of the single market. Enthusiasts wilfully neglected the economic risks but emphasized the regulatory threats to City competitiveness if the UK were outside. The UK regulatory philosophy stressing freedom for cross-border competition and light regulation of financial markets was never accepted by many continental member states, numerous impediments to competition persisted and potentially damaging attempts were made to exclude the City from key financial and legal provisions on the grounds that the UK was not participating in EMU. Being at the negotiating table averted those threats, but now goodwill has levelled off and the liberal regulatory philosophy is in retreat. Despite reservations about EMU, City institutions made crucial but little-known contributions to the practical implementation of the euro, stressing the scale and nature of the tasks of converting banking IT systems, the logistics of changing notes and coins and the need for legal certainty. They helped to persuade the European Commission to accept the phased introduction of the euro and the legal framework. Now EMU faces an existential threat and the financial system faces more regulation at EU and UK levels. The position taken by the UK at the December 2011 European Council, ostensibly defending the City but risking marginalization, dismayed many City figures who would be more willing to compromise to preserve access to the single market-but Eurosceptic hedge funds, the least regulated financial sector, retain considerable lobbying power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2010, the European Union adopted the "Council Directive 2010/32/EU Implementing the Framework Agreement on Prevention from Sharps Injuries in the Hospital and Healthcare Sector". Member states of the EU have until 11 May 2013 to implement the directive into national legislation. This article examines the issues concerning needlestick injuries and the recent publication of "Safety of sharps in diabetes recommendations". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migraine is a disabling neurological disease that affects 14.7 % of Europeans. Studies evaluating the economic impact of migraine are complex to conduct adequately and with time become outdated as healthcare systems evolve. This study sought to quantify and compare direct medical costs of chronic migraine (CM) and episodic migraine (EM) in five European countries. Cross-sectional data collected via a web-based survey were screened for migraine and classified as CM (≥15 headache days/month) or EM (<15 headache days/month), and included sociodemographics, resource use data and medication use. Unit cost data, gathered using publicly available sources, were analyzed for each type of service, stratified by migraine status. Univariate and multivariate log-normal regression models were used to examine the relationship between various factors and their impact on total healthcare costs. This economic analysis included data from respondents with migraine in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. CM participants had higher level of disability and more prevalent psychiatric disorders compared to EM. CM participants had more provider visits, emergency department/hospital visits, and diagnostic tests; the medical costs were three times higher for CM than EM. Per patient annual costs were highest in the UK and Spain and lower in France and Germany. CM was associated with higher medical resource use and total costs compared to EM in all study countries, suggesting that treatments that reduce headache frequency could decrease the clinical and economic burden of migraine in Europe. Comparing patterns of care and outcomes among countries may facilitate the development of more cost-effective care, and bring greater recognition to patients affected by migraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the costs of different methods for the detection of coronary artery stenoses in patients with possible coronary artery disease (CAD). It used a group of patients who underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). It performed methods such as cost analysis and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Results show cost savings of 50%, 25% and 23% in the public sectors of the health care systems in Germany, Great Britain and Switzerland, respectively.

Aim: To undertake a systematic literature review to examine the effect of food cost on diet quality and risk factors for chronic disease, specifically focusing on diet-related lifestyle diseases affecting the Australian population. Methods: A search of six databases resulted in the inclusion of one systematic review, three cohort studies, 41 cross-sectional studies and four modelling studies in this review. Results: Between 2000 and 2006, the price of healthy foods has increased more than the price of less healthy foods. Healthy Food Access Basket surveys show that a healthy diet may often be unaffordable for low- and average-income households. Diets of higher energy density were associated with lower diet cost, whereas diets of higher nutrient density and nutritional quality were associated with higher diet cost. Recent studies report an inverse association between food price and food consumption. Consequently, an increase in food cost was associated with a significant reduction in weight, waist circumference, body mass index, obesity and insulin resistance. Conclusions: Manipulation of food cost may alter food consumption and therefore risk factors for chronic disease. Further longitudinal studies investigating the impact of pricing strategies on diet quality and disease risk are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the natural monopoly features of infrastructure industries, together with their strategic roles, have been important elements in state intervention. The aim of this paper is to evaluate what relative weight was attached to market failure problems on the one hand and geo-political factors on the other. For the period 1830-1939, how far were geo-political factors stronger than natural monopoly problems in accounting for the scale of intervention in the various countries of the Western World? How far did the policy instruments for security and market failure overlap? Whilst most of the infrastructure sectors are covered - including internal telecommunications, coal, gas, shipping, electricity and water - special attention is devoted to international submarine telegraph tables and railways. The paper concludes by demonstrating strong differences between Britain and USA on the one hand and Continental Europe plus Japan on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the consequences of major regulatory reform of the telecommunications sector from the end of the 1970s - particularly, privatisation, liberalisation and deregulation - was the establishment of a new business environment which permitted former national telecommunications monopolies to expand abroad. From the 1990s, a number of these firms, particularly those based in Europe, joined the rankings of the world's leading multinational corporations. Their internationalisation was uneven, however: while some firms internationalised strongly, others ventured abroad much slower. This article explores how the regulatory framework within which telecommunications incumbents evolved over the long-term shaped their subsequent, uneven, paths to internationalisation. Two case studies representing 'maximum variation' are selected: Telefonica, whose early and unrelenting expansion transformed it into one of the world's most international of multinational corporations, and BT, whose overseas ventures failed and, with eroding domestic market share, forced the firm to partially retreat, becoming the least international of the large European incumbents. Long-term ownership, access to capital, management style and exposure to liberalisation strongly influenced firms' approaches to internationalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Much policy and research in the UK and elsewhere in Europe has been directed towards the conservation of farmland birds. With changes in the drivers of agricultural land management, farmland bird conservation now needs to be considered alongside provision of a range of ecosystem services (ES) indicative of environmentally sustainable land-management. 2. We explore the extent to which land management for farmland bird conservation provides ‘cultural’ ES, before assessing the potential consistency between management for bird species conservation and for a suite of ES that relate to the regulation of ecosystem processes. 3. We discuss the potential for co-delivery and trade-offs between farmland bird conservation and regulating ES, at a range of locations and spatial scales. 4. Potentially, action to enhance regulating services could provide some co-benefits for farmland bird conservation. However, more targeted management will still be required for certain species. 5. Synthesis and applications. Integration of species conservation management practices, in this case in farmland, with provision of other ES will be a significant challenge to land management. This will demand careful planning, at multiple scales, to account for the range of synergies and trade-offs between services, the dependence of service provision on time and location of management, and the dependence of service benefit on the number, locations and preferences of human beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper seeks to define a coherent management preference function for determining the conditions when the market can be effectively used in the management of spectrum based on abduction and volitional pragmatism. Design/methodology/approach - Volitional pragmatism based on the logic of abduction is used to provide an explanation for real world empirical observation of few spectrum trades in the UK. This is generalized for application with wider context of European frequency management. Findings - There has been a considerable regulatory effort directed toward spectrum trading in the EU. The UK experience with trading is clearly not what was expected. It was suggested that this is a result of an analytical approach based on deductive validationism subject to ceteris paribus assumptions. This approach does have merit but its application is over extended. This is due in large part institutional under specification of what constitutes the market and the nature of the transaction taking place. Research limitations/implications - The emphasis is in this paper is on the explanation of real world facts rather than normative prescription based on deductive validationism. Such an approach though fallible (all facts cannot be taken into account) is no less valuable in the process of regulatory decision making than deductive validationism. Practical implications - This paper provides a more coherent explanation of spectrum development and the spectrum management reform process. Originality/value - A set of conditions are provided for determining when the market can be used in the management of spectrum. This makes explicit the intended operation of the market as well as its limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

This article utilizes the introduction of the new 2007 Standard Industrial Classification and a matrix of occupations by industrial sector to determine whether or not the British Department for Culture, Media and Sport's definition of the creative industries retains its validity. After reviewing the torturous definitional landscape, the article finds that the current definition has probably reached the end of its usefulness. The article concludes that the current definition grossly overestimates the employment impact of creativity, and that now is an appropriate time for a thorough review that should produce both a definition that is acceptable and a more transparent methodology for calculating outcomes. Given the economic importance attached to the creative industries in both the United Kingdom and Europe, the current ad hoc methods of measuring this important facet of the economy are in need of some serious revision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue of International Affairs seeks to stimulate more debate and interest in Britain on North Africa. This relatively neglected area of British foreign policy has largely been funneled through the European Union (EU), where the focus of policy has been on preventive security, above all policing against illegal migration and the spread of radicalism and terrorism. The main driver for regional change and potential insecurity is now demographic, evident in the high levels of youth unemployment across North Africa. In facing the challenge of leadership successions over the next decade, it is in the interest of the EU, and in turn, Britain, to engage more closely with North Africa's younger generations to ensure the region's longer term security and stability. Britain has few strong bilateral links with North African societies, however, with the exception of private sector investments in the energy sector and security cooperation. New investment opportunities and a demand for English language and other forms of training for employment could put Britain at an advantage in responding to North African demands for diversified international relationships. A greater focus is also needed on local development opportunities to assist new actors to assume their own economic and political roles, as a better means of delivering security and jobs than relying on central states to deliver both. The articles in this special issue offer new insights into developments in the region, as well as analyses of European and American policy responses to the challenges identified. A common theme is that the region has been held back by a combined lack of institutional safeguards and political participation, with negative impacts on the spread of the economic benefits of higher growth rates and investment. Authoritarian leaderships have proved reliable partners for the EU and Britain in the past, but will they continue to do so in future? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For transport systems the issues of pricing, service quality, funding and investment in urban areas are inextricably interdependent. The paper first argues that no policy can be set for any of these aspects of transport in isolation from any other. Transport planners and urban policy-makers can choose to tolerate congestion, or build new capacity or introduce road user charging. These issues are explored and analysed in the context of London—Europe's most obviously resurgent city and the one with the most recent experience of road pricing in the form of the Congestion Charge. However, despite the evidence that in the centre, where it applies, the Congestion Charge has had broadly the effects economic theory would predict, there is still a growing problem for the rest of London and the UK caused largely by the combined effects of rising real incomes and the improving fuel efficiency of cars which reduces the impact of fuel taxes. This suggests a growing pressure for a national system of road pricing. To date ‘prices’, in the form of fuel duty (over £0.50 out of each £0.80 for a litre of fuel) have been set on the basis of historical precedent or political expediency. The paper sets out a regionally based model to analyse the implications of setting alternative levels of congestion charging and environmental taxes covering the whole of England. This includes modelling the implications for other transport modes and the net changes accruing to drivers and the Exchequer. Having presented the implications of some alternative policies, the paper discusses a number of the issues of political economy that would have to be resolved. While there seems to be little alternative to user charging in some form sooner or later, the sooner it can be introduced the more good it can do. However, the difficulties are real, less tractable than some people appear to believe and they have to be identified and dealt with. Perhaps the most significant unresolved problem is not the technical feasibility of such a system of national road pricing, but finding an appropriate, accountable and acceptable method for overseeing and administering the funds such a system would generate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the economics of taxing virgin raw materials for environmental reasons. The theoretical discussion is general in scope but empirically we focus on the case of aggregate taxation in three European countries. The motives for environmental taxation of aggregates are mixed, and not all motives find strong support in the economics literature. For instance, the conservation motive may be valid if a relevant market failure can be identified, but, in the presence of a well defined owner of the resource, resource scarcity is often not a sufficient condition for policy intervention. Under some conditions a tax levied per ton of aggregates extracted may be motivated by the presence of environmental externalities at the extraction stage. Still, such a tax provides no direct incentives to reduce the relevant externalities, since the only way of avoiding the tax is to reduce production. In this respect the UK tax appears to be particularly inefficient; it uses one policy instrument to address a number of different environmental externalities at the extraction stage (noise, dust, visual intrusion, loss of amenity and damage to biodiversity), and it is uniform across quarries although the associated externalities are likely to be highly site specific. Overall the paper concludes that taxing output or use typically represents a ‘second-best’ policy alternative, which could be used when, for instance, the monitoring of non-point-source emissions and/or efficient property rights regimes are hard to implement. The fact that virgin resource taxes often address rather diffuse (not to say unimportant) environmental problems may however make them hard to promote effectively on the political arena. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Children born into poverty have lifelong disadvantages compared with those more fortunate; social interventions seek to break this cycle of poverty and deprivation. Early Years Centres are one such intervention. These were established in deprived areas in the UK to provide high quality out-of-home day care. This paper reports the results of an economic evaluation conducted alongside a randomized controlled trial of one of these centres in the Borough of Hackney, London. Methods Participants were randomized to receive either high quality day care as provided by the centre or to other child care that they secured for themselves where they chose to do so. Information on resource use (early years education and care, as well as health and social care) was collected over an 18-month period; this was valued using appropriate unit costs. The cost of education, social and health care together with the value of productivity gains and out-of-pocket costs were then compared with the effectiveness of the intervention, increased labour force participant in mothers. Results From the societal perspective, the value of employment outweighs the costs of health and social services used, and in both groups there are cost savings. These are greater in the intervention group, therefore Early Years day care is an efficient use of resources. However, there is a net cost to the public sector of providing the intervention. The cost of achieving an additional mother in the labour force at 18 months is £38 550 (85% CI of –£1273, £416 172). Conclusion From the societal perspective, over an 18-month period, all child care is cost saving, but high quality day care provided by the Early Years Centre is a cost-effective alternative to day care provided by other local services in Hackney. The public sector, however, incurs added expense from this intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides timely analysis of developments and prospects in the major economies. This includes a world overview, and detailed articles on the USA, Japan, the Eurozone, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK and Emerging Markets. Summary tables of data for these economies are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries have introduced evaluations of university research, reflecting global demands for greater accountability. This paper compares methods of evaluation used across twelve countries in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. On the basis of this comparison, and focusing in particular on Britain, we examine the advantages and disadvantages of performance-based funding in comparison with other approaches to funding. Our analysis suggests that, while initial benefits may outweigh the costs, over time such a system seems to produce diminishing returns. This raises important questions about its continued use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines British preferences on European monetary integration. It challenges dominant theories of preference formation, suggesting an alternative explanation focusing on governmental majority. Empirical evidence is presented on both UK economic behaviour and the views of domestic economic interests, as well as government majority. The article also analyses first and second-hand accounts of the main players involved in three cases: the decision not to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1979, the decision to join the ERM in 1990, and the decision to opt out of stage 3 of Economic and Monetary Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]