The defence industry in Scotland

“The defence industry is vital to Scotland”1 The above quote from the recent House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee report concerns the volume of economic activity that the defence industry supports in Scotland. We examine this issue

The Trump development in Aberdeenshire : what are the issues?

The development company set up by Donald Trump, Trump International Golf Links Scotland (TIGLS), set out plans in 2007 to create a high-quality golf, hotel and housing development at the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire

Wildlife tourism in Scotland – the example of grouse shooting

Wildlife tourism in Scotland has seen a recent increase in profile, with two reports providing new figures on the economic value of the activity. The reports, by the Scottish Government and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), seem likely to generate policy responses to further develop the sector

Measuring wellbeing in Scotland : the Oxfam Humankind Index

This paper describes recent work by the Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) which constructs an index of wellbeing in Scotland. The issue of wellbeing has been extensively discussed in the economics literature on happiness, and wellbeing indices have been assembled for other counries. However, this is the first attempt to measure wellbeing in Scotland. The overall aim of the research is to identify in detail what people in Scotland believe affects their wellbeing and to construct an overall measure. The Scottish results are clearly interesting in that they identify the priorities that people in Scotland have in terms of wellbeing or happiness. A key finding is the relatively limited role that economic variables appear to contribute to wellbeing, Having secure work and suitable work and having enough money to pay the bills both ranked as joint fifth in the list of elements affecting wellbeing, reinforcing arguments made in the 2009 Sarkozy report, the broad thrust of which was that govermnent policy should focus less on creating economic growth and more on those areas which people identify as increasing wellbeing. A wellbeing index itself is clearly also a useful policy tool – for example, it allows us to assess how the government is performing in succesfully addressing issues which people in Scotland have identified as increasing wellbeing. A good example of this is when we compare health and safety. The index shows that while both being in good health and feeling safe in the local community contribute significantly to wellbeing, the performance on health far exceeds the performance on safety

Financial services and the Scottish economy

The financial industry is a pervading element in most of our lives - we write cheques, borrow money, purchase pensions, insure our cars, etc. In addition, the role it plays in channelling investment funds from savers to borrowers is crucial to the efficient functioning of the economy

Scottish lowland airports policy : prospect and retrospect

This paper examines Scottish lowland airports policy and reviews the changing forces which govern its feasibility and coherence

Design and development of Taeneb City Guide - from paper maps and guidebooks to electronic guides

This paper reports the design, development and feedback from the initial trial of the Taeneb City Guide project developing tourist information software on Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) handheld computers. Based on the users' requirements for electronic tourists guides already published in the literature, the paper focuses on the three main technology features of the systems, which would give the advantage over the existing paper publication: query-able dynamic map interface, dynamic information content and community review systems and users' forum. The paper also reports the results of an initial trial of a City Guide for Glasgow conducted as part of the EMAC 03 conference

What makes people in Scotland happy? Is it where they live?

Orkney has been named the best place to live in Scotland for the third year in a row according to the 2015 Bank of Scotland Quality of Life Survey…. rural areas scored consistently across a range of categories covering health and life expectancy, personal well-being and a low crime rate. Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city and the most densely populated area of the country, was ranked lowest. (Scotsman, 18th December, 2015). This paper examines three questions. First, it examines the question of what makes people in Scotland “happy”, by investigating the factors that affect this in Scotland. There is now a well-established body of academic work on happiness, but this is the first time this type of analysis has been conducted for Scotland. Second, in light of recent policy developments, particularly the notion of a Northern Powerhouse, it focuses on happiness in Scottish cities versus other areas. Finally, it tests the NEG account of spatial development by examining whether happiness is equalised across different types of area. The results show that cities are locations with low life satisfaction scores

The Scottish economy [March 1999]

This section presents long and short term forecasts for the quarterly growth rates of Scottish manufacturing (Division D of the 1992 SIC) output