Realising the diversity dividend: population diversity and urban economic development.

This paper critically examines the increasing use of population diversity as a source of competitive advantage and distinctiveness within policies promoting urban economic development. Rising levels of population diversity are a characteristic feature of many urban areas and this has led to increased policy attempts to realise a so-called ‘diversity dividend’. Yet much of this policy thinking demonstrates a restricted understanding of the nature of the relationships between diverse populations and urban economic change. Through a comprehensive review of existing theoretical and policy practice in relation to population diversity, this paper identifies an often narrow focus upon higher skilled and income populations and their needs within much urban economic policy thinking. It is argued that a more critical and wide-ranging approach to the complex relationship between population diversity and city development is required if a more just form of urban economic development is to be achieved

Urban governance and economic development in the diverse city

This paper examines the discourses and practices surrounding urban governance and cultural diversity in relation to issues of economic development and labour market inclusion. The paper sets out the conceptual and political importance of an approach to the governance of cultural diversity in relation to the urban economy that is embedded within specific historic-spatial settings, and draws together wider institutional contexts with the specificities of urban spaces and places. Through examination of recent changes in the economic governance of London, a global city characterized by a rapidly growing and highly diverse population, the paper demonstrates the conflicts and contradictory tendencies evident in contemporary governance discourses and practice towards diverse populations. The analysis presented demonstrates how governance in London has developed in face of the tensions that exist between the spatially rooted costs and benefits of diversity within the urban economic development process, and the contradictions apparent within a discourse that seeks to combine notions of community cohesion and economic inclusion with neoliberal economic practice and widening levels of inequality

Factors Associated to Purchase of Quality-Labelled Beef

The aim of the present study is to identify the factors associated to purchase of quality-labelled beef. For this purpose a total of 364 surveys were carried out on buyers of beef in three Spanish cities. The sample was divided into three groups of buyers according to the beef purchasing habits with a quality label. A logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the differences between groups. The results show the importance of the production region as a quality aspect. Income level, association of quality-labelled beef with “guarantee and tradition” aspects, purchasing frequency, place of purchase, production systems and lifestyles are all variables that enabled us to establish differences between groups.beef quality, quality label, consumer perception, Demand and Price Analysis,

Social enterprise and ethnic minorities

Social enterprise is at the centre of current political and academic debates over the future development of the third sector and public policy within the UK. Yet there remains only very limited understanding of the involvement of migrant and ethnic minorities in social enterprise activity and the associated policy agenda. Whereas much past formal social enterprise activity in the UK has been based within the white majority population there is evidence of dynamic socially-oriented enterprise activity, both formal and informal in nature, within ethnic minority communities. Yet the lack of research undertaken on social enterprise activity within these communities has meant that much of the discussion to date has been based on assumptions and anecdotal evidence. This paper addresses this knowledge gap through presenting results from research into the development of the ethnic minority social enterprise sector in London, within the five East London Boroughs which will host the 2012 Olympics Games. The findings identify a number of important issues facing the development of this sector and question the extent to which current public policies being pursued at different state levels are acting to engage migrant and ethnic minority communities or are in fact reproducing processes of exclusion

Social enterprise and ethnic minorities: exploring the consequences of the evolving British policy agenda

Recent years have seen successive British governments move social enterprise centre stage as a policy construct. Yet there remains little understanding as to whether this policy direction provides new opportunities for engagement for migrant and ethnic minority groups or acts to reinforce past processes of exclusion. We address this issue by examining the nature and extent of migrant and ethnic minorities’ involvement in social enterprise activity and the resulting implications for policy and practice. Through original empirical analysis of ethnic minority third sector organisations in East London, results are presented in relation to the challenges of defining and measuring this arena of activity, the nature of the current transition towards social enterprise forms, and the extent of engagement in the policy process. We conclude that the narrow arena of action for social enterprise activity as promoted within the current policy discourse provides little scope for engagement for the majority of small-scale ethnic minority organisations

New ethnic minority business communities in Britain: challenges of diversity and informality for the UK business and policy frameworks.

Ethnic minority entrepreneurship in Britain is no longer mainly associated with established ethnic minority groups, notably, South Asian and Afro-Caribbean, but rather immigrant entrepreneurs are increasingly evident from the world over. This phenomenon, which is a product of the increasingly complex socio-economic geography that is emerging in many British cities as a result of globalisation, mass migration and the so called ‘diversification of diversity’, is particularly evident in the global ‘ethnic supermarket’ that is contemporary London. Yet, the phenomenon constitutes something of a challenge for mainstream business support organisations. The paper will therefore seek to address this challenge by exploring (a) the current understanding of the nature of entrepreneurship among new and emerging ethnic minority business communities; and (b) the relationship between such enterprise activity and the UK institutional business framework. The aim is to provide a basis for the development of policy strategies that can effectively engage with these groups, particularly with respect to the current interest in the possibilities for enabling transition from informal into formal enterprise activity

Territorial capital as a source of firm competitive advantage: evidence from the North and South of Italy

This paper investigates how territorial capital, defined as a mix of tangible and intangible local resources accumulated over time across different territories, becomes a source of competitive advantage for firms. The study draws upon semi-structured interviews with firms’ owner-managers operating in the North and South of Italy and shows how local resources generate firms’ costs and differentiation advantages through acting as territorial externalities or becoming an essential core asset to the firm. Results demonstrate how local resources are highly interconnected, making territorial capital unique in each place and not easily imitable, which ensures long term competitive advantages for those firms that benefit from its endowment. A mix of advanced local resources developed through long term investment is shown to be more valuable for firms than inherited resources, provided by ‘God’ or ‘ancestors’. Using the concept of territorial capital in this manner provides insights into understanding sources of firm competitiveness related to location and the persistence of territorial economic disparities

Population superdiversity and new migrant enterprise: the case of London

This paper aims to contribute towards an improved empirical and conceptual understanding of the recent dramatic growth in migrant enterprise within London. Taking as its starting point the emergence of increasingly diverse populations within many urban and regional contexts, the paper draws upon the concept of ‘superdiversity’ to develop a contextual analysis of the development of new migrant enterprise. In the absence of existing data, the research method combines secondary materials with primary observational and interview data in relation to six new arrival communities. The results provide a description of the changing context for migrant business within London, mapping the emergence of new forms and geographies of enterprise. The analysis is developed through an examination of processes of business start up and growth, and integration into institutional and regulatory frameworks, to demonstrate how elements of ethnicity, migratory status and a range of other variables interplay with wider economic and political contexts to shape diverse new migrant entrepreneurial activities. The paper concludes by considering the challenges that this new phase of diverse migrant entrepreneurship presents to existing theoretical conceptualisations of ethnic minority business and the nature of appropriate policy responses

Camera, handlens, and microscope optical system for imaging and coupled optical spectroscopy

An optical system comprising two lens cells, each lens cell comprising multiple lens elements, to provide imaging over a very wide image distance and within a wide range of magnification by changing the distance between the two lens cells. An embodiment also provides scannable laser spectroscopic measurements within the field-of-view of the instrument

Chronobiology of Epilepsy

A fine balance between neuronal excitation and inhibition governs the physiological state of the brain. It has been hypothesized that when this balance is lost as a result of excessive excitation or reduced inhibition, pathological states such as epilepsy emerge. Decades of investigation have shown this to be true in vitro. However, in vivo evidence of the emerging imbalance during the "latent period" between the initiation of injury and the expression of the first spontaneous behavioral seizure has not been demonstrated. Here, we provide the first demonstration of this emerging imbalance between excitation and inhibition in vivo by employing long term, high temporal resolution, and continuous local field recordings from microelectrode arrays implanted in an animal model of limbic epilepsy. We were able to track both the inhibitory and excitatory postsynaptic field activity during the entire latent period, from the time of injury to the occurrence of the first spontaneous epileptic seizure. During this latent period we observe a sustained increase in the firing rate of the excitatory postsynaptic field activity, paired with a subsequent decrease in the firing rate of the inhibitory postsynaptic field activity within the CA1 region of the hippocampus. Firing rates of both excitatory and inhibitory CA1 field activities followed a circadian- like rhythm, which is locked near in-phase in controls and near anti-phase during the latent period. We think that these observed changes are implicated in the occurrence of spontaneous seizure onset following injury