Compliance costs for employers: UK PAYE and National Insurance

This paper, based upon research financed by the Inland Revenue and the Contributions Agency of the DSS, presents calculations of the compliance costs for employers of PAYE and National Insurance in 1995-96. Total costs are estimated to have been of the order of £1.3 billion. The costs are very unequally spread across employers, whether measured per employee or per pound of tax raised. They are particularly high for small new employers. For the largest employers, these costs may be offset by the cash-flow benefits of acting as tax collectors. The composition of labour and other costs is calculated and estimates are made of compliance costs under various payroll ‘technologies’. The main determinants of compliance costs, for an employer, are analysed using weighted least-squares regression analysis. Finally, some policy implications are considered.

Anisotropic selection in cellular genetic algorithms

In this paper we introduce a new selection scheme in cellular genetic algorithms (cGAs). Anisotropic Selection (AS) promotes diversity and allows accurate control of the selective pressure. First we compare this new scheme with the classical rectangular grid shapes solution according to the selective pressure: we can obtain the same takeover time with the two techniques although the spreading of the best individual is different. We then give experimental results that show to what extent AS promotes the emergence of niches that support low coupling and high cohesion. Finally, using a cGA with anisotropic selection on a Quadratic Assignment Problem we show the existence of an anisotropic optimal value for which the best average performance is observed. Further work will focus on the selective pressure self-adjustment ability provided by this new selection scheme

Financial Wellbeing In Later Life: Evidence And Policy

In 2012, the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre (PFRC) and the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC-UK) were awarded funding by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through its Secondary Data Analysis Initiative to explore financial dimensions of wellbeing in older age. Over 15 months, we worked together to generate and disseminate knowledge on this important issue. This report brings together that knowledge and considers its relevance for policy and practice. The financial realities of an ageing population are the focus of intense policy concern, in the UK and across the globe. One in six of us in England and Wales are now aged 65 and over; and the over-85s are the fastest growing sector of the population. In 2010, there were 12,640 centenarians in the UK, and this is projected to rise to 160,000 by 2040 and over 0.5 million by 2066. As a growing population, older people are increasingly important to the UK economy. At the same time, their finances are coming under increasing pressure, not least from high inflation, high care costs, the global recession and public spending cuts. The research highlights three main themes that are relevant for policy and practice: 1. Understanding the older consumer; 2. Understanding older households’ balance sheets; and 3. Understanding the financial aspects of wellbeing in later life

Pawnbroking Customers in 2010: A Survey – A Report to the National Pawnbrokers Association

The National Pawnbrokers Association commissioned this research against a backdrop of significant change in the UK credit market. While earlier research used qualitative in-depth interviews to find out about the views and experiences of pawnbroking customers, this is the first independent quantitative survey of pawnbroking customers carried out in the UK. The survey was not intended to be representative of all pawnbroking customers. It does, however, give us a unique insight into the views and experiences of a group of 500 customers from a range of companies. Management information relating to around 5,500 customers was also analysed

Research experiences for undergraduates in chemistry and biochemistry

Issued as final reportNational Science Foundation (U.S.