Visions of EU Reform - The Irish Perspective

The evidence submission to the House of Lords EU Select Committee Visions of EU Reform Inquiry focuses on the extent to which the Irish Government shares the UK Government’s vision for the future of Europe (as part of the current UK-EU membership renegotiation)

In Search of An ICT Impact on TFP: Evidence from Industry Panel Data

This paper uses a new set of industry data for the US and the UK non-agricultural market economy, to provide new evidence on the impact of ICT on TFP. We compare the results from standard panel data techniques with newly developed dynamic panel data estimation methods. The traditional industry panel data analysis fails to find a significant impact of ICT on output/TFP growth. This paper argues that this is due to heterogeneity across industries, particularly in the time dimension. An alternative technique which allows the dynamic specification to vary across industries yields a positive and significant long-run impact of ICT on TFP.productivity, ICT capital, heterogeneous dynamic panels

A perspective on UK productivity performance

The paper reviews recent UK productivity performance using insights from new growth economics and its embodiment in growth accounting techniques. The sources of the UK labour productivity gap are found to differ across countries; broad capital per worker plays a larger part with regard to France and Germany while innovation matters more compared with the USA. The role of incentive structures is examined and the importance of competition as an antidote to agency problems in UK firms is highlighted. Current UK policy is reviewed and the need to address government as well as market failures is stressed.

GROWING UP IN IRELAND. Cohort '08 (Infant Cohort). Design, Instrumentation and Procedures for Cohort ’08 of Growing Up in Ireland at 9 Years Old (Wave 5)

Growing Up in Ireland is the national longitudinal cohort study of children that commenced in 2006. The study has followed two groups of Irish children: Cohort ’98 (so-called because most of them were born in 1998; formerly called the ‘Child Cohort’); and Cohort ’08 (most of whom were born a decade later in 2008; formerly called the ‘Infant Cohort’). The primary aim of the study is to provide a strong evidence base to improve the understanding of children’s and young people’s health and development across a range of domains. This information is used to inform government policy in relation to children, yong people and their families

The Relationship between Exposure to Risk-Related Content on Social Media and Adult Online and Offline Risk-Taking

Background: There have been recent governmental efforts to introduce regulation to ameliorate the harm caused by the influence of social media on risky behaviour. However, little empirical research exists supporting this association. Aims: This study first aimed to investigate if there was a relationship between exposure to social media content encouraging risk behaviours and participants’ own engagement in these behaviours in a sample of 18-24-year olds. Four offline and two online behaviours were investigated in a replication and extension of a previous study (Branley & Covey, 2017). The second aim was to investigate the relationship between exposure to risk-related social media content and participants’ behaviour in a sample of adults aged 18-84. Method: This study employed a cross-sectional quantitative design, with data collected at a single time point through an online questionnaire. A sample of 684 participants completed the measures on own risk behaviour, perceptions of the risk behaviour of peers, exposure to risk-promoting social media content, risk propensity, age and gender. A two-step binary logistic regression was conducted for each of the six behaviours across three research questions to test the associations between the variables of interest, and to examine the contributions of individual variables to each model. Results: A strong positive relationship was found between exposure to risk-related social media content and risk-taking behaviour across a diverse range of offline and online behaviours and for all age groups. The strength of the relationship varied across individual behaviours and according to gender and age groups. Conclusion: The relationship between risk-related social media content and risk-taking behaviour is complex, behaviour-specific, and dependent on a number of demographic factors. In order to be effective, policy and mental health interventions to reduce risk of harm will need to consider the many factors that influence the relationship between risk-promoting social media content and risk behaviour

Is TechnoCraft a New Cornerstone for Luxury Fashion

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New research project: live blogging – is it any good and what next?

Live blogging is one of those formats that have emerged in the last few years as Web 2.0 journalism has gone interactive, continuous and connected. But what impact is live blogging having on the newsroom and do they actually work? Do they create better journalism and do they attract audiences who pay attention? Polis has already done research on this, and now Swedish journalist Karin O’Mahony is at Polis for a month to research this topic and she would love to hear you views – you’re welcome to attend a seminar she’s holding, too, details below