Economic integration, intensity of competition and R&D incentives

A two-country differentiated duopoly model is set out in which economic integration increases firms' incentives to invest in R&D, purely through the effect of increased intensity of competition between firms. The model is extended to incorporate knowledge spillovers, which, if related to the degree of integration, give rise to an inverted u-shaped relationship between R&D incentives and integration. The model is also extended to the n-firm general equilibrium case in which integration stimulates economic growth through intensity of competition. As such, the model suggests a positive growth effect of economic integration that does not rely on the usual scale effects

“Backdoor to War”: A Canadian Infantryman at Hochwald and Xanten, February–March 1945

Hugh McVicar was born in 1914 in Guelph, Ontario and graduated from Parkdale Collegiate in Toronto in late 1933. After a year at Toronto Normal School and work at a variety of occupations he joined Swift Canadian Company as a salesman. Married, with a young child and approaching 30 years of age, joining the army was “the farthest thing from his mind.” He was called up under the National Reserves Mobilization Act (NRMA) in March 1944 and immediately agreed to accept general service, meaning service overseas. As a bookkeeper he was assigned to the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps but as a driver not a clerk. After bootcamp at the CNE in Toronto and basic training at Cornwall he was sent to Red Deer, Alberta for advanced training on trucks. On arrival in England in December 1944 he passed another medical and discovered that he was now Private McVicar, infantryman

Economic integration, intensity of competition and R&D incentives

A two-country differentiated duopoly model is set out in which economic integration increases firms' incentives to invest in R&D, purely through the effect of increased intensity of competition between firms. The model is extended to incorporate knowledge spillovers, which, if related to the degree of integration, give rise to an inverted u-shaped relationship between R&D incentives and integration. The model is also extended to the n-firm general equilibrium case in which integration stimulates economic growth through intensity of competition. As such, the model suggests a positive growth effect of economic integration that does not rely on the usual scale effects.

School Quality and Staying-On in Northern Ireland - Resources, Peer Groups and Ethos

The paper examines career choice at age 16 in Northern Ireland using micro data for young people completing compulsory education in 1993. Explanatory variables include resourcerelated school characteristics, ethos-related characteristics and peer-group factors. The results suggest resources, ethos and peer group effects all play a significant role in career choice at age 16. Some of these factors, including pupil/teacher ratios, act in opposite directions on the probability of entry into Further Education College and of staying-on at school, suggesting studies of school quality on choice at age 16 should disaggregate post-compulsory education where possible.

Participation in further education in England and Wales: an analysis of post-war trends

The paper examines the time-series evidence relating to participation rates in further education in England and Wales, and uses cointegration analysis to identify a long-run statistical relationship in the data consistent with an augmented human-capital model. The recent rapid growth of participation is attributable largely to the improvements in GCSE attainment of the last decade, coupled with the expansion of higher education. Fluctuations in labour demand play a significant role in determining movements in participation rates over time, and the substantial rise in youth unemployment of the early notes was a contributed to the rapid growth of participation at this time

Participation in further education in England and Wales: an analysis of post-war trends

The paper examines the time-series evidence relating to participation rates in further education in England and Wales, and uses cointegration analysis to identify a long-run statistical relationship in the data consistent with an augmented human-capital model. The recent rapid growth of participation is attributable largely to the improvements in GCSE attainment of the last decade, coupled with the expansion of higher education. Fluctuations in labour demand play a significant role in determining movements in participation rates over time, and the substantial rise in youth unemployment of the early notes was a contributed to the rapid growth of participation at this time. Keywords; human capital, participation in further education, cointegration analysis