And then there were four: a study of UK market concentration - causes, consequences and the scope for market adjustment

While concentration measures are a good indicator of market structure, the link with competitiveness is more complex than often assumed. In particular, the modern theory of industrial organisation makes no clear statement regarding the impact of concentration on competition - the focus of this paper is concentration and no inferences are made about competitive aspects of the market. The extent and nature of concentration within the UK listed company audit market as at April, 2002 and, pro forma, after the collapse of Andersen is documented and analysed in detail (by firm, market segment and industry sector). The largest four firms held 90 per cent of the market (based on audit fees) in 2002, rising to 96 per cent with the demise of Andersen. A single firm, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, held 70 per cent or more of the share of six out of 38 industry sectors, with a share of 50 per cent up to 70 per cent in a further seven sectors. The provision of non-audit services (NAS) by incumbent auditors is also considered. As at April 2002, the average ratio of non-audit fees (paid to auditor) to audit fees was 208 per cent, and exceeded 300 per cent in seven sectors. It is likely, however, that disposals by firms of their management consultancy and outsource firms, combined with the impact of the Smith Report on audit committees will serve to reduce these ratios. Another finding is that audit firms with expertise in a particular sector appeared to earn significantly higher nonaudit fees from their audit clients in that sector. The paper thus provides a solid empirical basis for debate. The subsequent discussion considers the implications for companies and audit firms of the high level of concentration in the current regulatory climate, where no direct regulatory intervention is planned

New fusion rules and \cR-matrices for SL(N)qSL(N)_q at roots of unity

We derive fusion rules for the composition of $q$-deformed classical representations (arising in tensor products of the fundamental representation) with semi-periodic representations of $SL(N)_q$ at roots of unity. We obtain full reducibility into semi-periodic representations. On the other hand, heterogeneous \cR-matrices which intertwine tensor products of periodic or semi-periodic representations with $q$-deformed classical representations are given. These \cR-matrices satisfy all the possible Yang Baxter equations with one another and, when they exist, with the \cR-matrices intertwining homogeneous tensor products of periodic or semi-periodic representations. This compatibility between these two kinds of representations has never been used in physical models.Comment: 12 page

Friendship Bench trial: lay worker training in problem-solving therapy to reduce symptoms of common mental disorders

The Friendship Bench trial is a cluster-randomised trial of the effect of problem-solving therapy training for lay workers on symptoms of common mental disorders among clinic attenders in Harare, Zimbabwe. This dataset enables replication of analysis for a paper on suicidal ideation, but has undergone anonymisation process to protect study participants. 12 primary care clinics in Harare were randomised 1:1 to intervention or control. In each clinic, 24 participants were enrolled who were: visiting the clinic (either for their own health needs or accompanying someone else); aged 18 or over; living locally; and screened positive for common mental disorder symptoms. Outcomes were measured after 6 months. 86% of participants were women, 42% were HIV positive and 91% completed follow-up

Baseline and primary data for the partner-provided HIV self-testing and linkage (PASTAL) adaptive multi-arm multi-stage cluster randomized trial in Blantyre, Malawi

Dataset containing details of 2,349 pregnant women accessing antenatal care in three primary health centres in urban Blantyre, Malawi who gave informed consent to participate in an adaptive multi-arm multi-stage cluster randomized trial. The unit of randomization was the antenatal care (ANC) clinic day. On a given ANC day, women could receive standard of care (SOC) of receiving just an invitation letter to deliver to their male partner who was absent at this ANC visit. Or, the women could receive SOC plus two oral self-test kits alone or in combination with a guaranteed financial incentive of $3 or$10 conditional on clinic attendance following self-testing for HIV care or prevention. Two other arms offered a lottery-based incentive with 10% chance of winning $30 to male partners achieving the primary outcome, or a phone call reminder to the male partner immediately following collection of kits by the woman repeated after five days. The dataset contains variables on baseline data for the women and their male partners as reported by the woman as well as data underlying the trial outcomes by arm. Recruitment and follow-up were completed between 8 August 2016 and 30 June 2017

Data for Thinking Healthy Programme Pakistan trial (THPP-Pakistan)

An anonymised dataset of 570 women (one row per woman) who gave informed consent to participate in a cluster randomised, parallel, superiority, controlled trial in Rawalpindi, Pakistan in 2014-2017. The intervention was an adapted version of the Thinking Healthy Programme, delivered by peers; the control was enhanced usual care. Further details are available in the published protocol and paper. The dataset contains records of variables on stratified randomisation and clusters, socio-demographic information, depression and related outcomes, and therapy adherence. Visits occurred at baseline, and 3 and 6 months post-natal

Effectiveness of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention in children under 10 years of age in Senegal: a stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial

This study was done to determine the effectiveness of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention in Senegalese children up to 10 years of age using a stepped-wedge design. Outcomes included mortality, malaria cases treated as outpatients, severe malaria, and the prevalence of parasitaemia and anaemia, and adverse drug reactions. 54 health posts were randomized. 9 started implementation of SMC in 2008, 18 in 2009, and a further 18 in 2010, with 9 remaining as controls. In the first year of implementation SMC was delivered to children aged 3-59 months, the age range was then extended for the latter two years of the study to include children up to 10 years of age

IDEAS project - Data Informed Platform for Health feasibility study in Uttar Pradesh

The IDEAS project sought to improve the health and survival of mothers and babies through generating evidence to inform policy and practice. This data collection contains topic guides and other research tools used to assess the feasibility of introducing a Data Informed Platform for Health (DIPH), in order to bring together key data from the public and private health sector on inputs and processes that may influence maternal and newborn health. The DIPH was intended to promote the use of local data for decision-making and priority setting at local health administration level, and for programme appraisal and comparison at regional and zonal level

LSHTM Research Data Management Summary Guides

A set of one-page guides to good practice on various data management-related topics, including data management plans, data encryption and data sharing. These guides are CC-licensed and can be re-purposed by other institutions. Editable versions of the guides can be found in the ZIP archive

Delivering the English immunisation programme – survey response dataset

An anonymised dataset containing results of an online survey completed by 278 health practitioners in 2016. The online survey sought to assess how the national immunisation programme (specifically Section 7a immunisation programmes) was being delivered across different regions of England. The dataset contains variables on the respondent’s professional background, individual and organisational responsibility for immunisation, levels of co-operation between partner organisations to manage and deliver the immunisation programme, and what is being done to monitor and improve the performance of immunisation services (e.g. quality and uptake).The survey forms part of a long-term analysis of how the national immunisation programme is managed and delivered in the post-April 2013 health system. It is was conducted by the ‘Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Immunisation’, which includes researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Public Health England. The unit is funded by the National Institute of Health Research

EN-BIRTH Data Collector Training - Handbook and Manual

The EN-BIRTH study aims to validate selected newborn and maternal indicators for routine facility-based tracking of coverage and quality of care for use at district, national and global levels. The item contains the EN-BIRTH_Trainer's Manual (14 June 2017) and EN-BIRTH_Training Handbook (23 May 2017)