Explaining variability in the investment location choices of MNEs: an exploration of country, industry and firm effects

This paper examines the variation in foreign direct investment (FDI) location decisions of European multinational enterprises (MNEs.) An innovative empirical approach is applied to a new data set which contains over 15,000 individual FDI location decisions in 25 European countries over a 17-year period and combines country, industry and firm level factors. The empirical results show that the responsiveness of FDI location choices to country-level factors is heterogeneous both across sectors and across firms of different characteristics as well as unobserved factors. In particular the results show that the importance of the market size, good infrastructure and Western business and legal environment increases with investing firm’s size, while proximity, as well as cultural and linguistic ties are more important for smaller firms

‘No man is an island entire of itself.’ The hidden effect of peers on physical activity: John Donne, Meditation XVII

International public policy emphasises the need to increase current low levels of physical activity (WHO 2010). A large literature examines the reasons for the low levels of physical activity but tends to focus on the correlates of behaviour. This has prompted a call for more causal research to better support policy recommendations to change behaviour (Bauman et al. 2012). Using a large sample of individuals from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) between 1996/7 and 2006/7, a dynamic panel data analysis is employed to reveal a causal contemporaneous effect of a household peer’s participation in physical activity on an individual’s behaviour. The effect of a peer’s physical activity on an individual’s physical activity is found to be of a magnitude commensurate with the habits of the individual. An individual’s participation in physical activity is also positively associated with their other leisure activity. The research suggests that an individual’s physical activity takes place as part of a portfolio of household leisure, which health promotion needs to take account of

Assessing the impact of the National Cycle Network and physical activity lifestyle on cycling behaviour in England

This paper examines the association between access to National Cycle Network (NCN) routes in England and an individual’s cycling behaviour whilst accounting for their broader physical activity lifestyle and controlling for their socio-economic circumstances. It identifies a positive association between access to these routes and the total minutes of any form of cycling, and the number of days that cycling takes place primarily for recreational purposes. The broader physical activity of individuals also has a positive association with cycling. Walking appears most likely to be complementary to non-recreational cycling, whilst participation in sport with all forms of cycling, but not with longer duration utilitarian trips. The research also indicates that access to NCN routes has the potential to increase such cycling further, with the exception of longer utilitarian trips, as does a more physically active lifestyle, particularly walking. The main policy implications of the research are to recognise that cycling is intrinsically linked to other physical activity, notably, walking, but that the NCN routes measured in this study primarily support longer duration recreational activity, which is also affected by sporting activity. This suggests that one avenue for achieving the health benefits of cycling may be through promoting NCN routes to harness a more generally active lifestyle and particularly in leisure, whilst sustainability may be further promoted through being linked more to other active travel such as walking. There is a therefore a need to exploit the potential of such NCN route provision as part of this promotion

Exploring the interrelationship between sport, health and social outcomes in the UK: Implications for health policy

Background: Policy agencies are now re-visiting early aspirations that sport, as a form of physical activity, can be an instrument to foster general health and also subjective well-being (SWB). Both of these concepts capture physical and mental health states. SWB also encompasses broader psychological and life satisfaction as well as mood and affect. Past and current policies also identify a link between sport, social capital and SWB. Methods: Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is undertaken on data from the UK’s Taking Part survey to investigate the interrelationships between sport, general health, social capital and SWB. Results: The SEM shows a simultaneous relationship between sport and SWB. The effect is mediated through general health. The results also show that there is no relationship between social capital and sport but a clear relationship between SWB and social capital. Conclusions: From a health policy perspective there should be an emphasis on encouraging greater sport participation, despite the difficulties that this poses, because there is a potential ‘multiplier’ effect on SWB and on general health through mediation. The multiplier effect occurs because once someone engages in sport and has their general health and SWB enhanced, then even further sport participation becomes likely, and subsequent general health and SWB, which would comprise both physical and mental health benefits. To target traditional non participants the research suggests that physical activity should be promoted for enjoyment, with health benefits subsequently following

Firm heterogeneity in modelling foreign direct investment location decisions

This article investigates the probability of the FDI location decisions of multinational enterprises using a mixed logit panel data model, which is the most flexible discrete choice model. We employ a three-level data set, which includes over 1100 FDI location decisions into 13 alternative Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) over an 11-year period. Our empirical results on the effect of host country, industry and firm characteristics on the probability of undertaking FDI in a particular location are significant and consistent with the predictions of our theoretical model

Volunteering and leisure activity in the UK: A longitudinal analysis of males and females

Theory recognises the need to account for the allocation of time across activities as a potential constraint on volunteering. Drawing on the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), for the first time this paper examines the decision to volunteer by males and females accounting for their engagement in other leisure activities that also involve discretionary time. Instrumental variable panel-data estimates reveal that it is only for females that volunteering is influenced by the choice of other leisure activities. This implies that males have more autonomy over their volunteering decision relative to their other leisure behaviour compared to females. For males this greater autonomy suggests that volunteering is more closely linked to the concept of ‘serious leisure’ and a form of work as it is more distinct from other leisure activities. These differences have implications for volunteer recruitment.<br

Do relational goods raise well-being? An econometric analysis

This paper explores the relationship between different types of relational goods and well-being and examines if there is latent/unobserved heterogeneity in this relationship by applying the Latent Class Ordered Probit model. This unique contribution to the literature examines if some individuals have a more associative disposition than others which contributes to their subjective well-being through the consumption of relational goods. As well as relational goods that have been well researched, such as marital status and household composition, this paper explores participation in sports, arts and cultural activities, as well as attendance at events or facilities for these activities, heritage visits, volunteering and gambling

Parental education and child health: the exploration of the cross-gender intergenerational transmission mechanism

This paper analyses the causal effects of different levels of mother’s and father’s education on a child general and mental health, by applying a fixed effects instrumental variable panel data estimator with selection to nationally represented longitudinal data of over 13,000 observations in the UK from 2008 to 2019. The results reveal a negative association between mother’s education and boys’ mental health, potentially driven by relative rather than absolute levels of education between parents. Differences in educational attainment between parents signal unequal power and different values, which inhibits conflict resolution and commitment, leading to higher likelihood of breaking up, which in turn may negatively affect child mental health. On the contrary, no evidence is found of causal links between different levels of mother’s and father’s education on child health, indicating the relevance of potential environmental factors in the intergenerational transmission mechanism. This calls for more co-ordination of educational interventions with other economic policies, also taking economic cycle into account.</p

Exploring the covariates of sports participation for health: an analysis of males and females in England

Increasing sport participation has been identified as a key vehicle for achieving World Health Organisation guidelines for health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA). A policy challenge is to promote this changed behaviour. Making use of the Active People Survey, a zero-inflated ordered probit model is used to identify the covariates of sport participation for males and females with respect to the related decisions to either participate in sport or not, and to participate at either lower or higher than desired intensity. To inform current policy emphases, the Active Places Survey is also used to examine the causal impact of facility provision on these behaviours. Results indicate that females are more likely to adopt less intensive activity even with time available. Families could place most constraints on females, but also reduce the intensity of male participation. Education has a greater association with higher intensity female activity. The largest effects are identified for sport club membership and facility satisfaction. Both of these affect male intensity of activity most. The main policy challenges facing sport in contributing to HEPA are shown to involve retaining male intensity of participation when ageing and encouraging greater female intensity of participation, with more appropriate matching of facilities

Pollution, severe health conditions, and extreme right-wing ideology: a tale of three contemporary challenges

By exploiting the microgeography of local air pollution at the 1km-by-1km grid-level, we link local air quality to the voting intentions of a nationally-representative sample of 27,000 UK residents. We find a causal link between air pollution and support for far-right parties: a unit increase in pollution leads to a 3% rise in the probability to support these parties. These intentions are stronger for lung disease and cancer sufferers.</p