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UK community finance institutions play an important role in deprived neighbourhoods by serving households and businesses unable to access mainstream finance. This paper analyses the short-term effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on the activities and sustainability of the community finance sector by analysing longitudinal survey data for 40 providers and follow-up interviews with 25 organisations. COVID-19 resulted in an acceleration of the shift to online service delivery and temporary and permanent branch closures among community finance institutions. Further, the demand for, and volume and value of lending fell significantly during the first lockdown only recovering by the end of the summer 2020. This resulted in lower income, greater costs and lower regulatory ratios. Smaller providers in a weak financial position with more financially vulnerable customers were worst affected by the pandemic. We argue the pandemic may reduce access to finance for the financially excluded through the intensification of the shift to online services and by increasing the risk of providers serving the poorest folding or being merged with larger providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines two related methods for estimating selected environmental effects of tourism consumption associated with major events. Monitoring and evaluation procedures for major events require that event promoters and managers understand how levered tourism consumption creates both economic and environmental effects. This process is however far from straightforward. The article focuses on the case of the UK stages of the 2007 Tour de France and describes two interrelated methods for examining environmental effects. The article shows that the methods adopted can be linked to more common economic impact assessments. With respect to the Tour de France event, the paper demonstrates that the approaches when combined provide useful information for policy makers, particularly in terms of how changes in travel behavior could significantly reduce the environmental consequences of major events. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Given the anticipated negative impact of Brexit on the U.K. economy, it might be expected that self-employed individuals would have favoured remaining in the European Union. However, the self-employed are also more likely to have certain demographic characteristics that are associated with voting leave in the 2016 referendum. We investigate such potentially offsetting influences using nationally representative survey data and find that self-employed men were more, and women less, likely to be leave voters compared to the paid-employed. The differences were statistically significant for men but a Gelbach decomposition reveals that they can largely be explained by characteristics, specifically age and education. Our findings, especially for self-employed men, are discussed within the context of the important economic consequences that Brexit continues to have on small businesses in the United Kingdom as well as the need for further evidence on the voting behaviour of the self-employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: When the mental health systems of the UK and the USA are compared, one of the most striking differences is that social workers are the largest professional group in the USA and community nurses the largest in the UK. Aim and Method: This paper examines the history of the development of both professional groups in both countries, and their education and training. Results: Demand, supply and economic factors are important influences and reasons for these differences. Conclusions: Both professions have critical future workforce roles, but further consideration needs to be given to the extent to which their skills and values overlap in order to inform future workforce planning, and to reduce the extent to which the workforce pattern in both countries risks being over-determined by supply issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis contributes to a fast-growing body of literature on Sino-Western relations and the tension between economic and security interests. It takes Britain's China policy as a case study considering the Integrated Review 2021. It argues that London's stance towards Beijing has shifted – officially – from the so-called "golden era" to a complex phase of diplomatic–military tensions and scrutinised economic relations, principally because of US pressure. However, this shift de facto has not had a structural impact on the economic side of the relationship between London and Beijing. The article reaches this conclusion by framing its narrative through the lens of the economy-security conundrum at the heart of the Liberal International Order and through the lens of the New Cold War between the US and China. These two factors are crucial for understanding the change between Britain's China policy pre- and post-2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Equity crowdfunding has rapidly established itself as an important part of the funding landscape for nascent entrepreneurial ventures. To date, however, little is known about the nature of the demand for equity crowdfunding or its impact on recipient firms. This article draws on an interview-based study of entrepreneurs of 42 equity crowdfunded start-ups in the United Kingdom. The study found strong demand for this funding from these experimental and improvisational entrepreneurs within innovative, consumer-focused, early stage firms. Many entrepreneurs were classic ‘discouraged borrowers’ attracted by the ability to obtain finance quickly with relatively little diminution of their equity or autonomy. In terms of impact, equity crowdfunding seems to confer important intangible benefits to investee companies which amount to more than money. Given their strongly improvisational nature, the concept of entrepreneurial bricolage seems a suitable theoretical lens explicating the behavioural aspects of the entrepreneurs examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]