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This paper considers the origins and traces the history of the Social Fund, an ideologically-motivated social policy departure of the Thatcher era. It identifies the controversy, in research communities amongst others, which surrounded the establishment of the Fund, and considers the evidence of recurring difficulties in its practical operation over a thirty-year period. It then turns to the Coalition administration in Westminster’s decision to divest itself of responsibility for key parts of the Fund, devolving such obligations to local authorities in England, the Parliament in Scotland and the Assembly in Wales. The paper sets out a comparison of the approaches being developed to discharge the Fund’s prior responsibilities in the three nations. It concludes that the essential policy thrust lies in a determination to roll back central state obligations in poverty relief and income maintenance which had hitherto been accepted by all post-war administrations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines whether receipt of a Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grant has a causal impact on plant total factor productivity (TFP). To tackle the problem of self-selection into the treatment group, propensity score matching is employed. In order to control for the endogeneity of other variables in the model, estimations are performed using the system GMM estimator. The results show that for low technology manufacturing, receipt of an RSA grant leads to a fall in TFP. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Forecasting UK domestic tourists to Scotland is never an exact science, but in order to see into the future it is important to understand the correlation between economic performance and tourism revenues. In order to do this, VisitScotland, the national tourism agency for Scotland, uses econometrics (the Moffat model). VisitScotland is projecting a robust performance for UK tourism in Scotland up to 2008, based upon a stable housing market, a tight labour market and low interest rates. Therefore Scottish tourism domestic revenues should rise from £4.1bn in 2005 to £4.4bn in 2008 in terms of real expenditure (excluding inflation). This paper sets out to explain this forecast. The forecasts are based upon economic conditions and represent the opportunity for tourism; they do not account for shocks such as 9/11 or extreme weather conditions. Such projections are used as a guide to the future, rather than the exact future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We estimated the effects of poor mental health among older family members on the labour supply and incomes of younger family members living in the same household. Due to policy differences, effects for Scotland were compared with other parts of the UK. Methods: Effects were estimated using the British Household Panel Survey (waves 1999-2006), with data from 621 older respondents and 800 younger family members. Mental health was assessed using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), together with self-reported presence of depression, anxiety, or other mental health problems. Results: The associations between labour supply and mental ill-health were found to vary by gender and region of the UK. For men, there were larger negative effects in Scotland relative to the rest of the UK. For women, mental ill-health was associated with increased labour supply in Scotland, while in the remainder of the UK, a negative association was observed. Income losses accrued across all groups except among Scottish females, with the largest significant negative effects observed among men living in the remainder of the UK. Conclusions: Mental health problems among older family members are associated with significant labour market effects for younger family members. To reduce the economic consequences, better assessment of mental health among older people may be warranted. Further employment support for younger family members, in the form of more flexible work policies, might also serve to ameliorate economic losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High rates of tenancy turnover in social rented housing have increasingly been identified as problematic both in the UK and elsewhere. High turnover has been variously associated with management failings, individual vulnerability or (absence of) tenant choice. Drawing on original research into 'prematurely terminated' tenancies in Glasgow, we investigate explanatory factors associated with tenancy sustainment rates. In doing so, we interrogate the (managerialist) rationale which positions such residential mobility as potentially 'excessive' and therefore 'problematic'. The empirical findings demonstrate evidence for all three posited explanations for high tenancy turnover but also suggest that some tenants vacating their homes after only a short time may be making a positive choice. They also emphasise that, in seeking to reduce early tenancy termination, social landlords should recognise the importance of improving mainstream housing management services and the condition of the housing stock, as well as attempting to address individual vulnerability through targeted support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]