Financialization and the third sector: Innovation in social housing bond markets

The recent global financial crisis has seen investors turn away from real-estate bonds, given their role in distributing risk during the crisis. However, since 2009, a new type of real-estate bond market has grown in London, enabling social housing groups to issue bonds. This could be viewed as further evidence of the extension of financialization practices into new spaces, beyond those of traditional capital markets and associated intermediaries. In this paper, we examine how financialization has begun to permeate the third sector, reordering the priority of housing associations' values, displacing social value creation with the economic. We highlight how reduced state funding has led social housing providers to become more reliant on capital market intermediaries, and explore how locally orientated social housing associations have become embedded within wider financial networks. While policy makers have viewed financial markets as a panacea to fund social housing developments in an age of austerity, tensions have emerged, requiring localized social housing organizations to become more commercial in their activities, jeopardizing their ability to protect vulnerable communities through social value creation

Open data for open innovation:managing absorptive capacity in SMEs

Open Data (OD) utilisation has been encouraged by governments because of its potential to fuel digital innovation. Despite this, there is a paucity of study into the role of OD for SMEs, in contrast to the growing literature that has focused on the collection and sharing of OD by the public sector. As such, our study contributes to open innovation research by analysing the main capabilities needed to overcome existing barriers to successfully manage OD in SMEs. Building upon the recent SME-oriented OI literature and adopting an interpretative absorptive capacity framework, we analyse the data collected from 30 semi-structured interviews with experts working in UK organisations adopting OD-based OI strategies. We find a number of core factors that shape OD acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation by SMEs. Results show that without the specific OD capabilities identified in our study, it will be difficult for SMEs to successfully use OD, which may explain why the uptake of OD by SMEs more broadly has so far been limited. These unique OD capabilities need to be better developed by OD using SMEs, if this \u2018raw material\u2019 for the digital economy is to be fully exploited

Can Social Exclusion Against “Older Entrepreneurs” Be Managed?

This paper investigates how sources of social exclusion and support emerge within an “older” entrepreneur's immediate environment, and how this affects the development of their small business. Based on 22 in-depth interviews in London, United Kingdom, we suggest how older entrepreneurs with different backgrounds are able to manage social exclusion, and identify four coping strategies—passive negotiation, active negotiation, modification, and avoidance. We argue that, if “older entrepreneurship” (people starting a business aged 50 or older) is to flourish, both entrepreneurs and support initiatives need to become sensitive to the diversity of sources of discrimination and strategies to manage them

A cycling and education programme for the treatment of hip osteoarthritis: a quality improvement study

AbstractOsteoarthritis of the hip is associated with pain, stiffness and limitations to activities of daily living. The aims of this quality improvement project were to introduce a service developed to promote the self-management of hip osteoarthritis through exercise and education and to assess the impact of the programme on pain, function and quality of life. The service was a six-week cycling and education programme and 119 participants took part. Statistically significant improvements were found for Oxford Hip Scores (Mean (SD) change 4.14, 95%, CI 3.02, 5.25, p < 0.001); Sit-to-stand scores (mean change 3.06, 95%, CI 2.33, 3.79, p < 0.001); EQ5D-5L Utility (mean change 0.06, 95%, CI 0.03, 0.09, p < 0.001); EQ5D VAS (mean change 7.05, 95%, CI 4.72, 9.39, p < 0.001); pain on weight-bearing (WB) (mean change 1.56, 95%, CI 0.77, 2.36, p < 0.001), HOOS function (median change (IQR) 7.35, 1.84 to 19.12, p < 0.001) and TUG test (median change 1.11, 0.31 to 2.43, p < 0.001). Participants reported improvements in pain and function; increased confidence in managing hip pain and an increase in motivation to exercise. These findings were supported by a patient and public involvement forum who suggested extending the programme to eight weeks. These results suggest that the service has potential in the management of hip osteoarthritis

A model for managing the variability of care processes – A quality improvement method for introducing Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) within an orthopaedic elective care clinical microsystem

Background and purpose – The National Health Service (NHS) continues to face economic and capacity challenges. Quality improvement (QI) interventions such as Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) that can improve clinical and economic outcomes are needed. However, implementation remains a challenge and the widespread adoption of ERAS across the NHS for total hip replacement and total knee replacement is not complete. A novel QI method (the model to manage variability) was developed and is evaluated when utilised to inform improvements to ERAS care processes within clinical microsystems performing hip and knee replacement. Methods – The model to manage variability was adapted for use as a QI method and then deployed within two orthopaedic elective care clinical microsystems. An improvement replication programme was adopted. In the pilot site (Study 1) a retrospective observational study design was used. In Study 2, the validation site, a prospective observational study design, with a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design (QUAN emphasised) that consisted of two distinct phases was used. Results – The model for managing variability was successfully deployed and evaluated as a QI method to help implement ERAS within both sites. Length of Stay was reduced by 45% in Study 1, and by 18% in Study 2. The interventions to improve care process highlighted by the QI method were implemented fully in Study 1 but were not able to be fully implemented in Study 2. In Study 2, qualitative data revealed that staff thought the model to manage variability was simple, effective, and had highlighted the correct changes to make. However, they felt that contextual factors around leadership, staffing, and organizational issues had prevented changes being implemented. Discussion – The model to manage variability was successfully adapted and utilised to improve ERAS care processes within two settings. Users within the validation site felt it had advantages over other QI methods but found improvement efforts were still affected by crucial contextual factors known to influence both QI efforts and ERAS implementation

The geographies of securitisation and credit scoring

This thesis draws upon contemporary research in economic geography and the social sciences to explore the spatial relationships that exist between residential mortgage lenders, investment banks and investors and the subsequent geographies that are produced through these intertwined networks. The research is informed through empirical material collected through semi-structured interviews with directors and associates working in the financial sector to see how consumer mortgages are produced and restructured into debt securities. There is a particular focus on how the UK financial sector has undergone restructuring, as a consequence of the politics of financialisation since the 1990s, which aligned the residential mortgage market with the circuits of international capital. The thesis examines three areas of banking and finance to comprehend how retail mortgages have become embedded within international finance. First, the thesis explores how deregulation in the UK initiated a spatial reorganisation of mortgage production networks and funding. Second, the research investigates the migration and adoption of automated decision-making technologies, highlighting how these devices have reshaped the geographies of banking, and are inherently geographical themselves. Third, the thesis focuses on how mortgages are (re)engineered into debt-securities, with a particular focus on how geography is used to mitigate credit and tax risks. It is argued that the restructuring of the UK retail sector and its increased integration with the international circuits of capital exacerbated the exposure of the UK’s economy to the effects of the international credit crunch. Furthermore, the thesis underlines the effect of geography which has shaped the adoption, of new financial technologies and strategies, through local regulations, epistemic cultures and histories