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Many people worldwide, particularly those with disabilities and the elderly, suffered greatly not only as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic but also as a result of the lockdowns. In this article we set out widely-accepted ethical criteria for assessing when coercive public health measures are justified. We then review the empirical evidence, not least concerning the benefits and costs of the lockdowns, and conclude that lockdowns as instituted in the UK (and, presumptively, in many other jurisdictions) appeared to breach those criteria. We conclude that any future proposal to lockdown should be subjected to the strictest ethical scrutiny, and that a lockdown should not be contemplated unless it could be convincingly demonstrated that the benefits would substantially outweigh the harms; that it would be proportionate, and that legal coercion would be strictly necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an extremely infectious viral infection of cloven-hoofed animals which is highly challenging to control and can give rise to national animal health crises, especially if there is a lack of pre-existing immunity due to the emergence of new strains or following incursions into disease-free regions. The 2001 FMD epidemic in the UK was on a scale that initially overwhelmed the national veterinary services and was eventually controlled by livestock lockdown and slaughter on an unprecedented scale. In 2020, the rapid emergence of COVID-19 has led to a human pandemic unparalleled in living memory. The enormous logistics of multi-agency control efforts for COVID-19 are reminiscent of the 2001 FMD epidemic in the UK, as are the use of movement restrictions, not normally a feature of human disease control. The UK experience is internationally relevant as few countries have experienced national epidemic crises for both diseases. In this review, we reflect on the experiences and lessons learnt from UK and international responses to FMD and COVID-19 with respect to their management, including the challenge of preclinical viral transmission, threat awareness, early detection, different interpretations of scientific information, lockdown, biosecurity behaviour change, shortage of testing capacity and the choices for eradication versus living with infection. A major lesson is that the similarity of issues and critical resources needed to manage large-scale outbreaks demonstrates that there is benefit to a 'One Health' approach to preparedness, with potential for greater cooperation in planning and the consideration of shared critical resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Electronic gambling ('slot') machines are a key component of the global gambling industry. We introduce a theoretical framework which shows that under reasonable assumptions, shifting from a per‐machine licence fee to a gross profits tax (GPT) on machine revenue can help to resolve policy tensions between industry profitability, economic growth and government revenue. We test the theory using data on recent changes to gambling taxation in the UK, in particular the move to a gross profits‐based Machine Games Duty (MGD). Our results reveal that the shift from licence fees to a revenue‐neutral MGD led to a significant increase in the number of machines, as predicted by the theory, and in machine revenue. These results provide useful guidance for all parties involved in the gambling taxation debate, especially those jurisdictions that are considering or are open to a change to their gambling tax system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PatonD. and VaughanWilliamsL. Do new gambling products displace old? Evidence from a postcode analysis.Regional Studies. This paper examines the extent to which new gambling products displace traditional products. In particular, it tests whether the introduction of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) affected the number of traditional gambling machines in Great Britain. It uses data from geographical districts based on postcodes within Great Britain between 2001 and 2006. Using a propensity score-matching approach, no significant evidence is found that FOBTs caused a reduction in the number of machines in venues other than licensed betting offices. PatonD. and VaughanWilliamsL.博采产品即将以旧换新吗？针对邮编进行的分析，区域研究。本文考察了在多大程度上新的博采产品会代替传统产品。特别是，固定赔率投注终端（FOBTs）的引入是否影响了英国传统博采器的数量。文章使用了2001-2006年间英国基于邮编的地理分区的相关数据。使用倾向得分匹配方法，鲜有证据表明FOBTs 的引入会导致场馆内机器的数量少于获得许可的博采工作室的机器数量。 博采 邮编 匹配 PatonD. et VaughanWilliamsL. Les nouveaux jeux de hasard, est-ce qu'ils remplacent les anciens? Des preuves provenant d'une analyse menée en fonction des codes postales.Regional Studies. Cet article cherche à examiner jusqu'à quel point les nouveaux jeux de hasard remplacent les produits plus traditionnels. En particulier, on teste si, oui ou non, l'introduction des terminaux à cotes fixes a influé sur le nombre des appareils de jeu traditionnels en Grande-Bretagne. On emploie des données auprès des zones géographiques en fonction des codes postales au Royaume-Uni entre 2011 et 2006. A partir d'une exercice d'appariement, rien ne prouve que l'introduction des terminaux à cotes fixes entraîne aucune baisse du nombre des appareils sur les lieux outre que sur les bureaux de paris autorisés. Jeu Codes postales Appariement PatonD. und VaughanWilliamsL. Verdrängen neue Glücksspielprodukte die alten? Belege aus einer Postleitzahlanalyse,Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag wird untersucht, in welchem Ausmaß neue Glücksspielprodukte die traditionellen Produkte verdrängen. Insbesondere wird geprüft, ob sich die Einführung von Festquoten-Wettterminals (Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals bzw. FOBT) auf die Anzahl der traditionellen Glücksspielautomaten in Großbritannien ausgewirkt hat. Zum Einsatz kamen Daten aus geografischen Bezirken, die auf den Postleitzahlen Großbritanniens im Zeitraum von 2001 bis 2006 beruhen. Bei Nutzung eines Propensity-Score-Matching-Ansatzes ergeben sich nur wenige Anzeichen dafür, dass FOBT zu einer Verringerung der Anzahl der Automaten an anderen Standorten als lizenzierten Wettbüros geführt haben. Glücksspiele Postleitzahlen Matching PatonD. y VaughanWilliamsL. ¿Sustituyen los nuevos productos de azar a los antiguos? Evidencia de un análisis de los códigos postales,Regional Studies. En este artículo examinamos en qué medida los nuevos productos de azar desplazan a los productos tradicionales. En concreto, comprobamos si la introducción en el mercado de las apuestas realizadas por el denominado sistema de contabilización (FOBT) ha afectado al número de máquinas de azar tradicionales en Gran Bretaña. Utilizamos datos de las comarcas geográficas en función de los códigos postales en Gran Bretaña entre 2001 y 2006. Usando un método de comparación de resultados tendenciales, observamos pocos indicios de que el sistema FOBT haya causado una reducción en el número de máquinas en otros lugares aparte de las oficinas oficiales de apuestas. Juegos de azar Códigos postales Comparación [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: We use panel data from local authorities in England between 1998 and 2004 to examine the differential impact of increased access for teenagers to emergency birth control (EBC) at pharmacies on teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We estimate both difference-in-difference (DD) and the more robust difference-in-difference-in-differences (DDD) models. The DD estimates provide some evidence that pharmacy EBC schemes are associated with higher teenage conception rates, but this result is not upheld in the DDD models. In contrast both the DD and DDD models provide consistent evidence that pharmacy EBC schemes are associated with higher teenage STI rates. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although gambling is one of the fastest-growing service industries, there have been no studies of total factor productivity (TFP) in this sector. We attempt to fill this gap using establishment-level data from the United Kingdom. We also discuss key measurement issues in calculating gambling productivity and estimate labor and TFP equations, based on a stochastic frontier production function framework, focusing in particular on the impact of information technology on productivity. Our preliminary results suggest that the production function models fit well, generating plausible elasticity estimates. We find consistent evidence that productivity increased following major reforms to gambling taxation in 2001. Our findings yield limited evidence of regional variations in efficiency. Another key preliminary result is that internet operations appear to be associated with higher relative efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper we test the hypothesis that bookmakers display superior skills to bettors in predicting the outcome of sporting events by using matched data from traditional bookmaking and person-to-person exchanges. Employing a conditional logistic regression model on horse racing data from the UK we find that, in high liquidity betting markets, betting exchange odds have more predictive value than the corresponding bookmaker odds. To control for potential spillovers between the two markets, we repeat the analysis for cases where prices diverge significantly. Once again, exchange odds yield more valuable information concerning race outcomes than the bookmaker equivalents. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a study which explained the steps for deploying real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) when processing samples in outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD). The study notes that real-time RT-PCR was implemented during the FMD outbreak in Great Britain in 2007 using two independent assays for different regions affected by the FMD virus (FMDV). Also explained are the advantages of using the RT-PCR assays in supporting control decisions in cases of disease outbreaks.

The maintenance of disease-free status from Foot-and-Mouth Disease is of significant socio-economic importance to countries such as the UK. The imposition of bans on the movement of susceptible livestock following the discovery of an outbreak is deemed necessary to prevent the spread of what is a highly contagious disease, but has a significant economic impact on the agricultural community in itself. Here we consider the risk of applying movement restrictions only in localised zones around outbreaks in order to help evaluate how quickly nation-wide restrictions could be lifted after notification. We show, with reference to the 2001 and 2007 UK outbreaks, that it would be practical to implement such a policy provided the basic reproduction ratio of known infected premises can be estimated. It is ultimately up to policy makers and stakeholders to determine the acceptable level of risk, involving a cost benefit analysis of the potential outcomes, but quantifying the risk of spread from different sized zones is a prerequisite for this. The approach outlined is relevant to the determination of control zones and vaccination policies and has the potential to be applied to future outbreaks of other diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus causes an acute vesicular disease of domesticated and wild ruminants and pigs. Identifying sources of FMD outbreaks is often confounded by incomplete epidemiological evidence and the numerous routes by which virus can spread (movements of infected animals or their products, contaminated persons, objects, and aerosols). Here, we show that the outbreaks of FMD in the United Kingdom in August 2007 were caused by a derivative of FMDV O1 BFS 1860, a virus strain handled at two FMD laboratories located on a single site at Pirbright in Surrey. Genetic analysis of complete viral genomes generated in real-time reveals a probable chain of transmission events, predicting undisclosed infected premises, and connecting the second cluster of outbreaks in September to those in August. Complete genome sequence analysis of FMD viruses conducted in real-time have identified the initial and intermediate sources of these outbreaks and demonstrate the value of such techniques in providing information useful to contemporary disease control programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advertising is widely considered to be an important isolating mechanism through which firms may defend an established competitive advantage. However, there is relatively little empirical evidence on the extent of the strategic use of advertising either to deter or in response to entry. In this paper, I report on a study of the advertising practices of 843 medium-sized and large UK-based firms. Nearly one-quarter of all the advertisers surveyed state that they attribute importance to entry deterrence as an aim of their advertising. Further, one in five managers of advertising firms state that they would increase advertising expenditure if a new rival company appeared in their market. It is also apparent that there is a strong correlation between the perceived importance of advertising as an entry-deterring tool and the intensity of advertising spending. Multivariate modelling provides confirmation that the existence of a sheltered market position, and the profitability that typically accompanies this, provides a statistically significant determinant of the decision to use advertising as a strategic entry-deterring weapon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from England and Wales, we test the hypothesis that legalizing abortion reduces crime. The timing of changes in crime rates in aggregate data is generally inconsistent with this hypothesis. Using panel data on recorded crime from 1983 to 2001, we are able to replicate the negative association between abortion rates and reported crime that J. J. Donohue and S. D. Levitt found for the United States. However, this association breaks down under the scrutiny of robustness checks and is not present when we examine data on convictions broken down by age. Overall, we find no clear, consistent relationship between abortion and crime in England and Wales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wages in industrialized countries have risen considerably during the last 50 years, whereas hours worked, for manual workers at least, have decreased only marginally. In Europe, one policy response has been to attempt to protect workers from pressure to work long hours by placing legal restrictions on the amount of hours that may be worked each week. This paper examines the possibility that, in fact, observed hours may be the result of a desire of workers to work longer due to a shift in their preferences from leisure to increased consumption, caused by the huge increase in mass media advertising. A cointegrating VAR framework is used to test this hypothesis on UK time series data for both males and females from 1952 to 1997. Advertising is shown to be positively associated with hours worked for both male and female series. Causality tests indicate unidirectional causality, for males and females, from advertising to hours worked. These results suggest that the European policy response is more likely to restrict employee rather than employer discretion over hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether improved access to family planning services for under 16 is likely to help in achieving the aim of reducing underage conceptions. A simple model of rational choice is introduced which suggests that family planning increases rates of underage sexual activity and has an ambiguous impact on underage conception and abortion rates. The model is tested on panel data on regions within the UK using two approaches. The first test is whether the 1984 Gillick ruling had a differential impact on two groups: under 16 for whom access to family planning was restricted by the ruling and older teenagers who were not affected. Secondly, attendance by under sixteens at family planning clinics, suitably instrumented, is used as a proxy for access to family planning. With both approaches, no evidence is found that the provision of family planning reduces either underage conception or abortion rates. Socio-economic variables such as children in care rates and participation rates in post-compulsory education are found to be significant predictors of underage pregnancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Argues that the pricing strategies companies in the British betting industry are likely to be an important source of monopoly rents, particularly in the market rents. Structure of the betting industry in Great Britain; Price setting behavior for various bets; Formal tests for the presence of monopoly power and results based on Great Britain betting data.

Environmental policy in the UK has tended to reflect orthodox textbook responses, focusing upon standard setting and taxation, both impacting upon the supply side of the economy. In addition, economic agents have the option of legal recourse to settle environmental disputes. Complementing this command and control framework is a growing tendency for firms to subscribe to additional voluntary environmental standards by, for example, registering with an appropriate agency, thereby signalling to others that they have adopted a particular scheme. This growing trend has far reaching consequences for future policy decisions and for financial and environmental performance of the firms. We aim here to identify the attributes of many firms which participate in ISO 14001. We use a probit model to determine, from a vector of firm and industry characteristics at one point in time, what factors influence the probability of firms registering with ISO 14001. We then utilize survival analysis to analyse how these characteristics impact upon the ‘hazard’ of accreditation over time. If significant differences exist between 14001 firms and others, important questions arise for academics and practitioners alike. Are certain types of firm hindered by their firm characteristics? Does the scheme favour larger firms over smaller firms, or high tech firms over low tech? Why do some industries have many accreditations whilst others have none? The analysis of such issues is not only an under-developed area of academic debate, but also of direct relevance to practitioners within the field of environmental management and policy. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines explanations of the tendency for favorites to be under-bet and longshots over-bet in recent British racetrack betting markets. Identification of insider trading influences; Fixed-odd bookmaking system as a case of adverse selection; Alternative explanations of the correlation between the number of runners and the sum of prices.

Several environmental changes in the 1990s — including the introduction of a national lottery, the rise of Internet gambling, and the reduction of trade barriers within the EU — induced the UK government to initiate a large-scale review of betting duty. As a result of this review, the government recently announced a significant reduction in betting taxes. They also decided to replace the current general betting duty (GBD), levied as a proportion of betting stakes, with a gross profits tax (GPT), based on the net revenue of bookmakers. We examine the economic rationale behind these decisions and demonstrate how these tax changes have broad implications regarding optimal levels of taxation for other sources of government revenue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, the author introduces a significant new dataset gained from the Advertising and Industry Survey of the advertising managers of Great Britain firms that took place during 1999. The dataset is lodged with the ESRC databank, study number 4209, and contains information from more than 800 firms on issues such as advertising levels and motivation, Internet advertising and the conjectured actions of rival companies. The author describes the survey process, report tests for response bias and summarize some of the key data. In addition, he reports mean advertising-to-sales ratios by SIC industry code at various levels of aggregation.

Abstract: To determine the longevity of protective immunity following a single administration of emergency vaccine, and establish whether the immune response could be enhanced by increasing the antigen payload even further, cattle were vaccinated with an A22 Iraq vaccine containing either 1× antigen payload (field dose) or 5× antigen payload. Six months post-immunisation all cattle received a homologous virus challenge. The magnitude of the virus neutralising antibody response elicited was consistent with the response to similarly formulated A serotype vaccines with a PD50 greater than 32. All the vaccinated cattle, regardless of antigen payload, were protected from clinical disease following challenge although some cattle in both groups became sub-clinically infected. We conclude that immunisation with a single inoculation of vaccine from the UK emergency reserve can protect cattle from clinical disease for at least 6 months post-vaccination and that a boost may be unnecessary in an outbreak situation. Some animals may become sub-clinically infected but this is likely to be dependent on the severity of challenge. The study confirmed that a booster at 21 days post-vaccination was not necessary to maintain a cell-mediated response in cattle for 6 months. No increased benefits were recognised by increasing the antigen payload of this vaccine 5×. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an extremely infectious viral infection of cloven-hoofed animals which is highly challenging to control and can give rise to national animal health crises, especially if there is a lack of pre-existing immunity due to the emergence of new strains or following incursions into disease-free regions. The 2001 FMD epidemic in the UK was on a scale that initially overwhelmed the national veterinary services and was eventually controlled by livestock lockdown and slaughter on an unprecedented scale. In 2020, the rapid emergence of COVID-19 has led to a human pandemic unparalleled in living memory. The enormous logistics of multi-agency control efforts for COVID-19 are reminiscent of the 2001 FMD epidemic in the UK, as are the use of movement restrictions, not normally a feature of human disease control. The UK experience is internationally relevant as few countries have experienced national epidemic crises for both diseases. In this review, we reflect on the experiences and lessons learnt from UK and international responses to FMD and COVID-19 with respect to their management, including the challenge of preclinical viral transmission, threat awareness, early detection, different interpretations of scientific information, lockdown, biosecurity behaviour change, shortage of testing capacity and the choices for eradication versus living with infection. A major lesson is that the similarity of issues and critical resources needed to manage large-scale outbreaks demonstrates that there is benefit to a 'One Health' approach to preparedness, with potential for greater cooperation in planning and the consideration of shared critical resources.