Public Sector Spending and Regional Economic Development: Crowding Out or Adding Value?

No abstract available

Revisiting the Old Industrial Region: Adaptation and Adjustment in an Integrating Europe

The position of old industrial regions (OIRs) has been neglected in recent regional development research, partly as a result of dominant discourses concerned with concepts such as the knowledge economy, learning regions and the new regionalism. One outcome of this conceptual overload is that empirical research has typically been confined to all too familiar case studies of regional success that tell a rather partial story. Yet the extension of the European integration project eastwards alongside growing competition from the urban and regional ‘hotspots’ of the global south prompts a series of largely unconsidered questions about the ability of OIRs to achieve sustainable economic development and social cohesion in the years ahead. Lacking the capital, technological and labour assets of more dynamic cities and regions, and with the historic legacy of deindustrialisation and the decline of traditional sectors, OIRs face some important dilemmas of adjustment and adaptation. In this paper our purpose is to engage with these issues through some preliminary empirical research into the recent fortunes of OIRs in Western Europe’s largest economies: France, Germany, Spain and the UK. Drawing upon material from the Eurostat database, our results hint at interesting patterns of divergence in the performance of OIRs in terms of processes of economic restructuring, employment change and social cohesion. In particular some important variations emerge in the trajectory of regions within different national contexts. Drawing upon recent thinking relating to commodity chains and global production networks, our results lead us to pose a series of questions that relate to the way regions are being repositioned within broader political and economic networks as part of unfolding processes of uneven development and changing spatial divisions of labour

Beyond Aspiration: Young People And Decent Work In The De-Industrialised City

No abstract available

Evaluation of the KA24 (Knowledge Access 24) service for health- and social-care staff in London and the south-east of England. Part 2: qualitative

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this two-part paper is to identify the main transferable lessons learned from both the quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the KA24 (Knowledge Access 24) service of online databases and selected full text journals for health and social care staff in London and the South-East of England. The objectives of the qualitative evaluation were to assess the enablers and barriers to usage, and to assess the impact of the service on patient care. METHODS: Telephone interviews (n=65) and a questionnaire survey (n=296) were conducted with various types of user, in various Trust settings. Some non-users were also contacted. Selection of interviewees and questionnaire recipients was not random, and aimed to cover all groups of users representatively. RESULTS: Results show that policy goals were being delivered, with indications of changes to clinical practice, and improved clinical governance. Promotion, training and support needs to be extensive, and tailored to needs, but users are not always aware they need training. The sharing of passwords cast doubts on the reliability of some usage data. CONCLUSIONS: Digital health library services, delivered at the point of care, are changing the way some clinicians practise. A combination of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods are needed to assess digital library services

A tale of two nationalisations: experiences of post 1945 public ownership in the UK and France compared

As public ownership comes back into fashion following the failings and growing contradictions of neoliberal processes of marketisation and privatisation, it is important to learn the lessons for public policy from earlier processes of nationalisation. In this article, I compare the post 1945 experiences of nationalisation in the UK and France. Both countries underwent sweeping processes of nationalisation in the aftermath of the Second World War amidst a broader international shift towards a more state driven model of economic development under capitalism. However, the two experiences of nationalisation diverged considerably, reflecting underlying differences in past forms of economic development, the different balance of class forces and the integration of each country into the broader global economy. The article suggests that these experiences remind us of the importance of a variegated perspective on the evolution of capitalism, distinctive political-economic trajectories and situating major policy shifts in time and space

The work of community gardens: reclaiming place for community in the city

The growth of community gardens has become the source of much academic debate regarding their role in community empowerment in the contemporary city. In this article, we focus upon the work being done in community gardens, using gardening in Glasgow as a case study. We argue that while community gardening cannot be divorced from more regressive underlying economic and social processes accompanying neoliberal austerity policies, it does provide space for important forms of work that address social needs and advance community empowerment. In developing this argument we use recent geographical scholarship concerning the generative role of place in bringing together individuals and communities in new collective forms of working. Community gardens are places that facilitate the recovery of individual agency, construction of new forms of knowledge and participation, and renewal of reflexive and proactive communities that provide broader lessons for building more progressive forms of work in cities

Evolution in Economic Geography: Institutions, Regional Adaptation and Political Economy

Economic geography has, over the last decade or so, drawn upon ideas from evolutionary economics in trying to understand processes of regional growth and change, with the concept of path dependence assuming particular prominence. Recently, some prominent researchers have sought to delimit and develop an evolutionary economic geography (EEG) as a distinct approach, aiming to create a more coherent and systematic theoretical framework for research. This paper contributes to debates on the nature and development of EEG. It has two main aims. First, we seek to restore a broader conception of social institutions and agency to EEG, informed by the recent writings of institutional economists like Geoffrey Hodgson. Second, we link evolutionary concepts to political economy approaches, arguing that the evolution of the economic landscape must be related to the broader dynamics of capital accumulation, centred upon the creation, realisation and geographical transfer of value. As such, we favour the utilisation of evolutionary and institutional concepts within a geographical political economy approach rather than the construction of a separate and theoretically ‘pure’ EEG; evolution in economic geography, not an evolutionary economic geography

Improving nutrient management at Lake Joondalup, Western Australia, through identification of key sources and current trajectories

Eutrophication has become a considerable issue for managers of water bodies across Australia. Rapid urbanisation in the south-west of Western Australia is causing the eutrophication of many wetlands within the region. Lake Joondalup is a eutrophic, urban lake, located approximately 20km north of Perth city. It comprises part of the Yellagonga Regional Park, having a high conservation value. The aim of this study was to provide managers of Lake Joondalup with information on the relative importance of different nutrient sources into the lake, thus enabling the development of appropriate management strategies. Additionally, a historical examination of available water quality data was conducted to determine the lake\u27s current trajectory in relation to nutrients. The long-term trends occurring in Lake Joondalup were inferred with the use of information collected between 1973-2001 for total phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations. Relative importance of stormwater, groundwater and surface flow from adjoining swamps was investigated through sampling that occurred between May and August of 2004. A nutrient budget was then extrapolated based on the recent sampling and the use of literature. This budget was compared to a nutrient budget constructed in the mid 1980s to determine changes. Long-term trends suggest that significant variation has occurred over the years, with nutrient concentrations increasing in the main section of the Jake and decreasing in the southern section. This was particularly prevalent for total phosphorus. However, whilst the two sections of the lake seem to be acting differently, the concentrations in the two regions are now quite similar, with both being equally polluted. This is in contrast to the 1980s, when only the southern section showed significant levels of pollution. Surface flow from Beenyup Swamp was considered the major contributor of nutrients to the Lake, as has been identified in several prior studies. Contrary to previous beliefs stormwater was not found to have a significant effect on the nutrient status of Lake Joondalup, while the complexity of groundwater movement made quantification of sub-surface impacts difficult. Nonetheless this study indicates that an old landfill site east of the Lake appears to contaminate groundwater entering the lake, yet on aggregate a net loss of nutrients from the lake was identified through groundwater flow. It is recommended that the most appropriate management strategy for Lake Joondalup is to reduce nutrient contributions through surface flows from Beenyup Swamp. Considering the importance of Beenyup Swamp to the hydrology of Lake Joondalup it would be undesirable to restrict the flow from this source. Harvesting of macrophytes may be beneficial, though a study to better understand the sources of nutrients to the swamp is required. In addition, an investigation of the relative importance of groundwater is desirable to determine the net impact of this parameter. Thus, it was concluded that whilst effects of groundwater need further investigation, reductions in nutrient input from Beenyup Swamp should be the priority and would ultimately help to ensure the conservation of Lake Joondalup

A new definition of economic democracy – and what it means for inequality

How democratic is an economy? And which countries are best at engaging the population in economic decision making? To answer these questions, writes Andrew Cumbers (University of Glasgow), the Democratising the Economy project has developed a new index of economic democracy, which incorporates a broad range of measures and reassess its relationship with inequality. The index shows that, though there is no single model for increasing economic democracy, Scandinavian countries perform particularly well in terms of economic participation, inequality and productivity

The restructuring of an employment system: the experience of north sea oil in the north east of England

The concern of this thesis is the impact of incoming oil related activities (in the form of rig fabrication) upon the existing industrial work force in the North East of England. It examines how the interrelationship of two processes (the increasing centralisation of the international oil industry and the historical development of the labour force in the North East) has shaped the precise pattern of labour relations within the fabrication sector in the North East. In particular it notes how a mixture of political indecision in the 1970s and ideological dogma in the 1980s has allowed the international oil industry to dictate the terms of North Sea oil developments. As a consequence, fabrication firms have been forced to marginalise large elements of the work force. It is this process, set in the context of past industrial development that is the principle focus of this thesis