From a fossil-fuel to a biobased economy : the politics of industrial biotechnology

Industrial biotechnology involves the replacement of petrochemical processes and inputs with more energy-efficient and renewable biological ones. It is already being used in the production of biofuels and bioplastics and has been touted as a means by which modern economies can be shifted toward a more competitive, low-carbon growth model. This paper does two things. First, it outlines the policy framework established in the European Union and the narrative of a knowledge-based bioeconomy (KBBE) underpinning this. Second, it argues that the ‘win – win’ rhetoric contained within the KBBE narrative is misleading. Among the different groups commenting on the use of industrial biotechnology, the paper locates cleavages between farmers and agribusiness, between those convinced and those sceptical of environmental technofixes, and between procorporate and anticorporate NGOs. Taken together, they show the purported transition from a fossil-fuel to a bio-based economy to be a resolutely political one

The Impact of Sovereign Credit Risk on Bank Funding Conditions

Report Submitted by a Study Group established by the Committee on the Global Financial System. This Study Group was chaired by Fabio Panetta of the Bank of Italy

The US treasury market in August 1998: untangling the effects of Hong Kong and Russia with high-frequency data

The second half of August 1998 was dominated by two events. From 14 to 28 August, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) intervened in the Hong Kong equity markets to prevent a speculative double play against their currency board. On 17 August, Russia announced its default on sovereign bonds. This paper demonstrates that the HKMA interventions had a substantial impact on the outcomes for US Treasury markets during this period. Using a careful analysis of high frequency bond market data, both events are shown to intersect the US Treasury market, despite having oroginated from seemingly unrelated shocks. On this eveidence, the shocks emanating from Hong Kong were important for the US Treasury market. The lesson for policy makers is that major markets play an important role in transmitting and absorbing the effects of unrelated shocks.ESRC Research Programme on World Economy & Financ

The changing nature of labour regulation: the distinctiveness of the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry

The article addresses the changing nature of labour regulation through analysis of the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry, originating in 1981. It shows how multiple spatial regulatory scales, the changing coalitions of actors involved, employer and client engagement and labour agency have been critical to National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry's survival

An assessment of the business impacts of the UK's Enterprise Capital Funds

Recent European studies present persistently critical views of the under performance of government backed venture capital (GVC) schemes when compared to their private sector counterparts. However, they assess the performance of outmoded funding models and fail to contextualise the economic development role of these schemes. This paper provides a contemporary assessment of the business impacts of the UK government’s flagship Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs) VC scheme in addressing the sub-£2m equity finance gap facing young potential high growth businesses requiring investments. Supply and demand-side evidence is presented from interviews with ECF fund managers, alternative private VCs, industry experts and surveys of successful and unsuccessful scheme applicants. We find that, despite the limitations of mid-scheme evaluation, ECFs are addressing the UK equity gap and delivering business employment, revenue and innovation impacts. However, further progress is required in order to achieve optimal business exits and sustainable early stage private VC system impacts

Managerial Hubris, Trade-Associations, and Regulatory Knowledge in Micro-Firms

To avoid breaking the law for regulatory non-compliance, it is essential that micro-firm owner-managers are aware of deficiencies in their knowledge, so that they can seek improvement and avoid over-confidence (i.e. hubris) in their knowledge levels. Using newly collected survey data from micro-firms in the English accommodation sector and multivariate techniques, the authors explore the possibility of hubris by making a novel distinction between the Perceived-Knowledge and Actual-Knowledge of regulation held by micro-firm owner-managers. Both Perceived-Knowledge (from self-assessment) and Actual-Knowledge (from a simple test) over four core areas of regulation are found to be different, generally poor and suggestive of hubris. The relationship between these knowledge levels is further explored by considering the role of trade association membership (since they support members) and attitude (since it effects learning). Attitude is found to be positively associated with both forms of knowledge, while trade association memberships are also found to be associated with enhanced Perceived-Knowledge, but not Actual-Knowledge. In light of the results, the authors suggest several priority areas for improving Actual-Knowledge and self-assessment skills, and areas for future research.</p