The Geography of Employment Polarisation in Britain

This paper investigates the regional and subregional patterns of employment polarisation in Great Britain. Extending recent econometric evidence for employment polarisation at the national level, the focus of analysis is to examine the geography of this polarisation. Methodological issues on how we define and measure ‘job polarisation’ are presented and plausible theories for explaining this polarisation are reviewed. It has been suggested that low-quality jobs, defined either as low-paid jobs or low-skill jobs, depend increasingly on the growth of employment and wages of high-quality jobs. The presence of a growing high-income workforce in the economy generates consumer demand for local services leading this way to an increase in the low-skill employment sector. As these local services refer mainly to the non-traded sector of the economy, this hypothesis implies physical proximity of the low-skilled and high-skilled jobs. Therefore, in the empirical part of the paper, econometric techniques are used in order to investigate the location of job polarisation. Specifically, we examine whether employment polarisation happens within regions or just across regions and test further for such evidence at the subregional level and neighbouring localities. New Earnings Survey (NES) microdata that span over a long time period and are workplace-based are used for such purposes. Furthermore, evidence for dependency of low-skill jobs on high-skill ones at the local level and possible urban-specificity of the phenomenon are investigated. Taking into account the importance of employment shifts, changes in median wages of the different jobs and within job-inequality for explaining the increase in earnings inequality in GB in the recent decades, the contribution of employment polarisation to the actual rise in inequality is examined. Additionally, the paper examines whether employment polarisation patterns are associated with regional differences in the labour force composition.

Evaluating the effects of planning policies on the retail sector: or do town centre first policies deliver the goods?

Few studies conceive of land as a productive factor but British land use policies may lower total factor productivity (TFP) in the retailing industry by (i) restricting the total availability of land for retail, thereby increasing space costs (ii) directly limiting store size and (iii) concentrating retail development on specific central locations. We use unique store-specific data to estimate the impact of space on retail productivity and the specific effects of planning restrictiveness and micromanagement of store locations. We use the quasi natural experiment generated by the variation in planning policies between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to isolate the impact of town centre first policies. We find that TFP rises with store size and that planning policy directly reduces productivity both by reducing store sizes and forcing retail onto less productive sites. Our results, while they strictly only apply to the supermarket group whose data we analyse, are likely to be representative of supermarkets in general and suggest that since the late 1980s planning policies have imposed a loss of TFP of at least 20%

The Role of International Collaborations in Securing the Patent Grant

Our study examines whether patent applications with international collaborations are more likely to be awarded a US patent than applications without. It contributes significantly to the growing literature that examines from the innovator’s viewpoint the likelihood of securing the patent grant. The analysis focuses on the full sample (almost half a million) of patent applications over the period 2001-2009 at the USPTO, that disclosed at least one EU located inventor, and furthermore, explicitly distinguishes between countries with high and low number of patent applications. Firstly, we find that applications from teams rather than individual inventors are more successful in obtaining a patent grant, and that results are even better for international teams. Our key finding is that the presence of a US entity, either as inventor or owner, plays an important role in securing the grant. For low innovative countries, other types of international collaborations also matter significantly pointing to the benefits for these countries to become more extrovert. We further find that a large part of the US ‘effect’ can be attributed to additional prosecution efforts, as it is evident by continuing patent applications

Spatial occupational structure and local human capital spillover effects in Britain

Employment polarisation in developed countries has been of central focus for research and policy circles. An important question that has not been explored extensively is the spatial dimension of this polarization and the underlying processes that generate it. This is the main research topic of this thesis and is examined empirically for Britain over three papers. The first paper examines the spatial patterns of employment polarisation for Britain in the past decade. Econometric techniques are used to investigate whether employment polarisation happens within regions or just across regions and whether it is a predominantly urban phenomenon. The main result found is that all regions experience some degree of employment polarisation during the 1990s. Remarkably, London appears unique in terms of the magnitude of its employment polarisation. It experiences disproportionately higher growth in the employment share of both high- paid jobs and low-paid jobs compared to the other regions. Amongst the various proposed explanations for employment polarisation, the consumer demand mechanism has been relatively under-researched. According to this account, the presence of high educated, high income individuals in a locality boosts the demand for local low-skill, low-pay services. Since these services are non-traded and given an upward sloping labour supply, the increased labour demand would induce an upward effect on the wages and employment of the relevant low-pay occupations in the localities with higher human capital. In that context, the second and the third paper of the thesis examine how high human capital in a locality affects the labour market outcomes of the individuals of the locality in terms of wages and employment respectively. Different econometric specifications are employed in order to shed light on the positive effect found and discern the existence of a consumer demand mechanism in contrast to plausible production driven accounts (productivity spillovers and production complementarities). The strong significant effect on the local low-skill individuals compared to the other skill groups is suggested as preliminary evidence of the existence of the consumer demand mechanism

Land use regulation and productivity – land matters: evidence from a UK supermarket chain

We use unique store-specific data for a major UK supermarket chain to estimate the impact of planning, which restricts both the size and location of stores, on Store output. Using the quasi-natural experiment of the variation in planning policies between England and other UK countries and a difference-in-difference approach, we isolate the impact of Town Centre First (TCF) policies. We find that space contributes directly to the productivity of stores and planning policies in England directly reduce output both by reducing store sizes and forcing stores onto less productive sites. Our results suggest that since the late 1980s planning policies have imposed a loss of total output of at least 18.3 to 24.9%. This is equivalent to more than a ‘lost decade’ of output growth in a major sector generated directly by government policy

What makes cities more productive? Agglomeration economies and the role of urban governance: evidence from 5 OECD countries

This paper estimates agglomeration benefits across five OECD countries, and represents the first empirical analysis that combines evidence on agglomeration benefits and the productivity impact of metropolitan governance structures, while taking into account the potential sorting of individuals across cities. The comparability of results in a multi-country setting is supported through the use of a new internationally-harmonised definition of cities based on economic linkages rather than administrative boundaries. In line with the literature, the analysis confirms that city productivity increases with city size but finds that cities with fragmented governance structures tend to have lower levels of productivity. This effect is mitigated by the existence of a metropolitan governance body

Firm resilience and growth during the economics crisis: lessons from the Greek depression

The global financial crisis that burst in 2008 adversely affected business performance in many countries, especially in Europe. However, the impact of the crisis on entrepreneurship and business dynamics differed amongst countries, depending on their businesses resilience, the policies implemented, but also their predominant productive structure. The magnitude and length of the Greek depression have no precedent among modern middle and high-income economies. Still, to date, there is no systematic analysis of the impact of the crisis on entrepreneurship and business dynamism. This study attempts to fill this gap by examining individual firm, sectoral and regional level characteristics that might affect existing firm resilience and new firm survival rate. We use two sources of data with the most extensive coverage of small (sole proprietorship) and large (other legal status firms) firms containing information on entry and exit in Greece. Matching data from patents and trademarks allow us to examine the interplay between entrepreneurship and innovation. Our analysis focuses on the factors that help or hinder firm survival and growth. We find that the crisis increased the exit likelihood for a firm by 5% to 16%. Larger firms, with significant fixed assets, lower financial leverage, operating in concentrated industries, but also those that are innovation and export oriented tend to have better chances of survival compared to their counterparts. These results are important for designing business policies not only in Greece but also other countries facing similar crises

The adverse reactions to contrast media during percutaneous coronary interventions; keep in mind the non-idiosyncratic reactions.

Background: Iodinated contrast media (ICM) have been among the most commonly used agents in the modern era of medicine and have become of paramount importance in the field of interventional cardiology. Although ICM have an overall good safety profile, severe or life-threatening reactions can occur as well. Description of case: Herein, we report the case of a 74-year-old female patient who presented with a non-ST elevation myocardial infarction and underwent a successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). At completion of the procedure, the patient complained of dizziness and a metallic taste. She became severely hypotensive with simultaneous bradycardia, simulating a vasovagal reaction. The persistence, however, of the reaction despite initial appropriate measures, guided our thought to a non-idiosyncratic reaction to the contrast media. The patient was hemodynamically stabilized with administration and up-titration of vasopressors and transferred to the coronary care unit, where she developed the full-blown clinical picture of an ICM adverse reaction. She was discharged 8 days later with no further complications.        Conclusion: Non-idiosyncratic reactions to contrast media during a PCI can be misinterpreted as a complication of the procedure per se or as a vasovagal reaction. A high level of clinical suspicion is warranted to ensure prompt recognition and appropriate management

Cancer rate of Bethesda category II thyroid nodules

Aim Thyroid nodules are very common and may be found in more than 50% of the population. Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of thyroid nodules is a very useful diagnostic tool with high sensitivity and predictive value for diagnosis. The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (BSRTC) uses six categories for thyroid cytology reporting (I-nondiagnostic, IIbenign, III-atypia of undetermined significance (AUS)/ follicular lesion of undetermined significance (FLUS), IV-follicular neoplasm/suspicious for follicular neoplasm (SFN), V-suspicious for malignancy, and VI-malignant. Our objective was to determine the malignancy rate in Bethesda II nodules. Methods From June 2010 to May 2020 a retrospective analysis was performed among 1166 patients who underwent thyroid surgery for benign thyroid diseases in our institution. Thyroid cytopathological slides and Ultrasound (US) reports were reviewed and classified according to the BSRTC. Data collected included age, gender, cytological features, and histological type of thyroid cancer. Results During the study period, 44.77% (522/1166) of patients with an FNA categorized as Bethesda II underwent thyroid surgery. Incidental malignancy was found in 1.53% (8/522) cases of Bethesda II. The most common malignant tumour type was papillary thyroid carcinoma. Conclusion The current study demonstrates that incidental thyroid carcinoma can be diagnosed after thyroidectomy even in patients with an FNA categorized as Bethesda II

Nicotinamide enhances myelin production after demyelination through reduction of astrogliosis and microgliosis

Caloric restriction is the chronic reduction of total caloric intake without malnutrition and has attracted a lot of attention as, among multiple other effects, it attenuates demyelination and stimulates remyelination. In this study we have evaluated the effect of nicotinamide (NAM), a well-known caloric restriction mimetic, on myelin production upon demyelinating conditions. NAM is the derivative of nicotinic acid (vitamin B3) and a precursor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), a ubiquitous metabolic cofactor. Here, we use cortical slices ex vivo subjected to demyelination or cultured upon normal conditions, a lysolecithin (LPC)-induced focal demyelination mouse model as well as primary glial cultures. Our data show that NAM enhances both myelination and remyelination ex vivo, while it also induces myelin production after LPC-induced focal demyelination ex vivo and in vivo. The increased myelin production is accompanied by reduction in both astrogliosis and microgliosis in vivo. There is no direct effect of NAM on the oligodendrocyte lineage, as no differences are observed in oligodendrocyte precursor cell proliferation or differentiation or in the number of mature oligodendrocytes. On the other hand, NAM affects both microglia and astrocytes as it decreases the population of M1-activated microglia, while reducing the pro-inflammatory phenotype of astrocytes as assayed by the reduction of TNF-α. Overall, we show that the increased myelin production that follows NAM treatment in vivo is accompanied by a decrease in both astrocyte and microglia accumulation at the lesion site. Our data indicate that NAM influences astrocytes and microglia directly, in favor of the remyelination process by promoting a less inflammatory environment