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This study adopts a critical realist approach to examine how mortgage fraud is organised in England and Wales, what the crime-commissioning processes are for its occurrence and what exogenous conditions and influences support its existence and its capacity to reproduce. The study aims to extend understanding beyond the micro-individual-level, such as causal agency (i.e. those factors that influence the decision to offend), the biographies of actors and their social relations with one another; to a level of understanding that encompasses macro-structural and facilitative factors and conditions that exist in the financial services sector. The strategy chosen to guide data collection utilises Layder's adaptive theory (1998), where theoretical propositions concerning the commission and reproduction of mortgage fraud are subject to adaptation and refinement as a consequence of incoming evidence. This strategy is supported by a multiple case study design, which involves the cross-case analysis of three multi-million-pound mortgage fraud conspiracies. The study combines criminology with convict criminology, and allies itself to an approach to sociological inquiry that employs Clegg's circuits of power theory. This theory is used as a conceptual framework to examine how the roles and activities of fraudsters and key professional agents are otherwise supported by the convergence of dispositional and facilitative conditions and influences in the financial services sector. It is this circuit that supports the existence of mortgage fraud and its capacity to reproduce, or to be disrupted before it can reproduce. Crime scripting is used as a means of transposing the circuits of power framework into criminological research, as the schema is representative of the interrelationship of the causal, dispositional and facilitative powers through which the organisation of mortgage fraud is possible.

For over a century, reports into the conditions of prisons in England and Wales have documented the mental health and wellbeing issues and the experiences of those held within them. These are experienced more acutely during transfer, transition and adaptation to prison. To address the risk of self-harming behaviour and suicide, institutional safer custody strategy has introduced support measures following a prisoner's reception into a prison establishment. Implemented throughout the prison estate in England and Wales, the most prominent intervention is Peer-Led Induction, a power-sharing initiative symbolic of reconfigured power within the prison estate. However, evaluation as to whether this initiative delivers on its aims and objectives is lacking, especially in the context of prison transfer and adaptation to the open prison estate, which itself is an under-researched area. To explore these areas, this thesis collected data through 26 semi-structured interviews, capturing the lived experience of 21 ex-prisoners who experienced Peer-Led Induction in open prison, alongside 5 prison officers involved in the process of Peer-Led Induction. In evaluating the impact of Peer-Led Induction interventions on the wellbeing of adult male prisoners in the early days following transfer, the study established that these processes place considerable strain on the participants' mental health, reconciling them with both historic and contemporary Pains of Imprisonment. The thesis demonstrates that reconfigured penal power through this power-sharing initiative faces structural and organisational impediments surrounding knowledge management and knowledge conversion, though institutional managerialism, ineffective management and resistant staff cultures. The thesis conceptualises these as indicative of 'tick-box cultures' and fulfilment of management, staff and mentor self-serving objectives. The application of power through strategies of 'responsibilisation' demonstrates that a needs-driven approach to induction is lacking; self-serving motivations, paradoxical support, and abuse and misuse of power interact to divert focus from actually helping prisoners. Peer-Led Induction points to 'intervention-itis', penal intervention as a quick fix amongst policy makers, but lacking the theoretical and evaluative foundation needed to meet its intended aims and objectives. In fact, it generates a range of unintended, 'iatrogenic' outcomes, which exacerbate the pain and 'tightness' of imprisonment. The thesis, therefore, explores the role of Programme Theory and its significance in the design, implementation, and delivery of Peer-Led Induction. The thesis can be situated within a framework of policy and intervention change to inform future Peer-Led Induction programmes and wider interventions and to deliver the best mental health and wellbeing outcomes for those men transferring and transitioning to the open estate.

This thesis analyses the subjective reasons for the migration of wealthy Chinese to four Western democratic countries in the past two decades. It explores the subjective social, economic, political, and environmental factors that influence the migration decisions of those wealthy Chinese. The study uses qualitative data from 60 semi-structured interviews with mainland Chinese migrants to Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and analysis of the resulting data shows that wealthy Chinese move abroad due to a combination of subjective reasons that include securing better quality of education, cleaner air, personal freedom and wealth security, and a comfortable and more autonomous lifestyle in Western democratic countries. The thesis illustrates that no single theory can explain the reasons behind the emigration of wealthy Chinese due to the multi-faceted characterstics of the process. This study shows that wealthy Chinese migrants pursue the goals of increased freedoms and improved political status in the country of residence by taking advantage of their economic privilege in their country of origin. Moreover, the study resonates with Hirschman's argument that poor governance and limited access to rights in undemocratic countries are important factors driving people to leave their home countries (Hirschman, 1993), even when these countries have achieived rapid economic growth. The findings contribute to the literature on Chinese migration in three ways. Firstly, they explain that the perennial problems associated with China's single-party communist rule remain significant in pushing the wealthy class to relocate to Western democratic countries. The findings also add nuance to earlier research results by revealing that the introduction of the Social Credit System, the 'original sin' problem[sup]1 , 'just one voice', and the perceived likelihood of political regression under Xi Jinping's leadership, together with weak protection of private property are identified by private entrepreneurs interviewed in this study as the most important drivers for leaving China. These political issues driving wealthy Chinese to leave their home country have been largely overlooked by prior research. Secondly, the present study illustrates Chinese migrants' heterogeneous demographic characteristics and unearths empirical evidence on the intergenerational dynamics surrounding the migration of wealthy Chinese. Thirdly, this analysis suggests that the correlations between the effects of air pollution and migration decisions may be related to the geographical region of migrants' hometowns and the specific year of migration. In short, the recent migration outflow from China has been politically motivated together with education, environmental, and lifestyle considerations.

This study seeks to contribute to the body of work on involvement which leads to empowerment (hereafter empowering involvement), in community planning with front line social care workers in Scotland through the lens of Nussbaum's Capabilities Approach (hereafter CAN) and the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. The timeliness of this study is considered in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Independent Review of Adult Social Care in Scotland, increasing demand for health and social care, sector recruitment and retention issues (Scottish Government 2019; 2021) and the introduction of Public Health Scotland, a public body focused on prevention and supporting a whole system approach to tackling inequalities (Public Health Reform, 2019). I have sought to keep people and learning from lived experience at the heart of this study by drawing on the CAN as the philosophical lens through which to explore my research question and through my chosen methodology. This interpretivist study combines participatory and conceptual elements and includes triangulation of data from participant appreciative inquiry sessions involving a front line social care worker, my own autobiographical reflections of working in front line social care, and a review of policy and available literature including research led by people with lived experience of social care. Creative involvement approaches and participant views of their role and engagement in community planning and involvement were explored. From this small-scale, in-depth research study I offer some tentative conclusions which include the need to consider involvement as both a (potentially fertile) capability and functioning in contrast to a neoliberal/utilitarian inspired instrumental view of involvement which may have a corrosive effect on capabilities and functioning and fail to recognise the transformational potential of involvement and the full potential of people including front line social care workers. This, I argue has implications for planning, practice, evaluation, quality, research, policy and innovation. Findings are presented graphically as an adaptive framework, constellation and galaxy for empowering involvement, shedding new light on the front line social care worker's role in empowering involvement in community planning. The framework, constellation and galaxy offers potential as a way of promoting and supporting a whole person, life-wide approach to planning for involvement with people at the heart, and live mapping and support for planning and connections with all contributing to improving together for empowering involvement in community planning.

Over the last decade a significant increase has occurred in referrals to the specialist Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) located at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. However, research into Gender Dysphoria (GD) specifically within children and young people (0-18 years) has not seen the same rise. In addition, more young people suffering with GD are also seen within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) across the United Kingdom. This study therefore aimed to explore how clinicians within a CAMHS think about GD and what their experiences are of working therapeutically with children and young people suffering from it. A literature review was conducted to enable learning and understanding of what theoretical and empirical knowledge has already been established within the field of GD. Special focus was placed on the psychoanalytic literature, due to the professional background of the researcher, alongside available empirical studies that consider the experiences of professionals working with individuals with GD. Second, a small-scale qualitative study was performed to explore the research questions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve CAMHS clinicians from various professional backgrounds. The data analysis, utilising thematic analysis, yielded 12 themes and 45 sub-themes which are outlined, described and discussed in detail. The findings highlight the complexity, confusion and constant changes in diagnostic terms and definition of GD as well as the therapeutic work with young people suffering from it. One main finding was that possessing both theoretical and practical experiences is key, which the professionals interviewed stressed needs to be shared with others. A great appetite for further training, knowledge and discussions was noted alongside and in order to address the uncertainty being reported by the participants. The study concludes that, further research and training is required in the field of child and young people with GD.

In the United Kingdom, approximately one million people cannot speak English well enough to access therapy in English. If there is no shared language used by both the client and therapist, then individuals require access to an interpreter so that they receive an equitable service. Research highlights the anxiety and pressures that working with an interpreter can bring for professionals. In light of the Coronavirus pandemic and increased remote working, this research aimed to explore the experience and perspectives of cognitive behavioural therapists working with language interpreters remotely. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eighteen participants who were asked about their experience of working with interpreters remotely. Data was analysed using Braun and Clarke's six phases of reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019; Braun & Clarke, 2006). The analysis resulted in five main themes being constructed: the system doesn't make it easier; therapist values of inclusive and self-reflective practice; working in a culturally sensitive way; the powerful role of the interpreter and remote therapy - different landscape, different journey. In total, 17 subthemes were created. Findings offer an understanding of how working with an interpreter impacts CBT ways of working. The findings draw attention to the impact of the organisational context where therapists work. The results also offer an insight into the relationship dynamics when introducing a third person in a remote setting as opposed to the traditional client-therapist dyad. Findings are considered in relation to competencies and therapeutic skills. Training and learning needs are highlighted, along with service level implications.

There has been extensive concern with race and racism in social work as a discipline, including empirical enquiry examining the experiences of social workers from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the experiences of BAME female social work leaders. This thesis reports on a practitioner research enquiry addressing this group's experiences. The study relied on a psychoanalytically informed, psychosocial methodological approach, alongside autoethnographic reflection. Biographical narrative interviews were undertaken with five female BAME leaders working in a local authority adult social care context. Data generated from these interviews were then subject to an in-case/cross-case analysis based on a constructivist epistemological framework. Themes identified from the analysis related to experiences in the workplace and leadership journeys, illuminating ways in which personal and professional biographies converged in the participants' understanding of the demands and challenges of leadership, as well as wider organisational and social forces that had an impact on them as professionals and BAME women, particularly racism. The analysis revealed how the participants were prompted to be attentive to both their inner experiences and work contexts to understand themselves as leaders. The study's principal contribution is in helping to develop psychosocial knowledge that may help inform action to challenge racism and organisational barriers bearing upon the career trajectories of BAME women. Key terms: Black and Minority Ethnic, leadership, psychoanalytically informed research, psychosocial social work research, race, racism, social work leadership.

This thesis consists of three chapters in empirical labour and regional economics. They generally analyze how local labour market performance varies across different times and spaces. The first chapter provides a comprehensive analysis of labour market evolutions in rural areas in four most populous European countries since 1970. We document large differences in employment growth and changes in the industry structure are fast. Furthermore, industry turnover is positively associated with employment growth. Finally, our evidence indicates that successful rural areas experience stronger employment growth in manufacturing of food and beverages. In the second chapter, I investigate the employment consequences of deindustrialization between 2010 and 2020 for cities in seven Chinese provinces, which could be viewed as China's Rust Belt, and explore the role of local multipliers. Cities within this Rust Belt reacted very differently to the aggregate decreasing trend of manufacturing employment. I document a high level of spatial heterogeneity across the local labour markets. I then study the role of local multiplier effects exploiting a shift-share approach. My estimates indicate that for every job created (lost) in the tradable sector in a given city, between 1.6 and 1.9 additional jobs are created (lost) in the non-tradable sector in the same city. The third chapter presents direct evidence on the extent to which firms' innovation is affected by access to knowledgeable labor through co-worker network connections. Displacements of inventors because of plant closures generate labor supply shocks to firms that employ their previous co-workers. We estimate (a) event-study models where the treatment is the displacement of a connected inventor and (b) IV specifications where we use such a displacement as an instrument for the hire of a connected inventor. Estimates indicate that firms take advantage of displacements to recruit connected inventors and that the improved capacity increases innovation.

This post-disciplinary practice as research thesis examines the potential of Carl Jung's therapeutic method of active imagination as a strategy for engaging with an increasingly complex and interconnected technological reality. Embracing a non-clinical, practice-driven approach, I harness James Hillman's notion of the image and the imaginal to investigate the interdisciplinary capacity and ethical dimensions of an expansive mode of image-work. My approach to practice theoretically and practically intertwines analytical psychology, feminist worlding and design speculation. Building upon Susan Rowland's work, I study image-work as an ecological alchemical craft that seeks to matter the immaterial. Through the cyclic iterative design of a video game, I mobilise and respond to image-work as a mode of myth-making that may facilitate dialogue between human and non-human intelligences. Departing from the essentialism of the hero's journey, I adopt Le Guin's Carrier Bag (1986/2019) as a feminist video game form and by utilising the framework of a video game (Bogost, 2007; Flannigan, 2013), the alchemical processes of image-work are transformed into novel interactive game mechanics. The game I design is both a vessel and a portal to an imaginal ecological realm, an open-world, procedurally generated 'living world' sandbox exploration game. This game integrates real-time, real-world data streams to invite the non-human to enter into play as player two, facilitating experimentation with possible new forms of cross-species dialogue, collaboration, and healing.

This thesis provides an intersectional analysis of the gendered impact of the UK migration policy on the experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) among migrant women from sub-Saharan Africa living in Britain. With a focus on migrant women from Nigeria with spouse visas, it highlights the specificities of their experiences of IPV and examines how their individual positions and interactions, framed through different sociocultural contexts, overlap in complex ways with migrant-specific institutional, legal and social exclusions created by the policy. Qualitative semi-structured interviews revealed that the precarity of their migrant status and the macro-structural barriers that restricted their ability to access welfare services created a multifaceted system of marginalisation that shaped their experiences and responses to IPV. Furthermore, the interaction between the women's perception of the law and legality and the structural inequalities they faced within the social environment in Britain also shaped their legal consciousness and impacted their experiences. Through the women's narratives, this thesis then explored processes of gendered resistance and resilience identified in the data by way of intentional acts of opposition against IPV in severely subordinated contexts. Findings revealed that co-existing with the violence and structural oppression the women faced were constructions of resistance and their sense of resilience against the disadvantaged spaces they occupied. This study pushes for a more nuanced and gender-sensitive approach by the UK government to cater to the welfare of migrant women without rendering the individual and structural variables that shape their experiences and responses to violence invisible.

Background: When women diagnosed with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) become mothers, much of the research has focused on the psychological outcomes of their children. Currently, there is very little evidence into how these mothers respond to perinatal mental health services and no research in the United Kingdom exploring how perinatal mental health staff engage with mothers who have this diagnosis. Aim: The aim of this research was to explore how perinatal mental health staff work effectively with mothers who have an EUPD diagnosis and to ascertain their views on the adequacy of perinatal service provision for women who have this diagnosis. Method: Reflexive Thematic Analysis was used to analyse the experiences of 13 perinatal mental health staff who engaged in semi-structured interviews. Staff were recruited from three NHS trusts in England. Results: Six themes and 13 subthemes were identified: Let's Talk About Labels; We're in This Together - The Work is Relational; The Fit Between Staff and Service; The Importance of Feeling Valued; Trying to Navigate a Complex System; Where Does the Responsibility Lie? Conclusion: The results of this study have highlighted the ways in which perinatal staff feel they work effectively with mothers who have an EUPD diagnosis, namely through relational working. Furthermore, it has highlighted the social, organisational and systemic influences which staff feel impact perinatal service provision for women with an EUPD diagnosis. As a result of these findings, numerous clinical implications and recommendations have been made.

Being one of the essential skills in the 21st Century, financial literacy is important in its own right and for individuals' life-long financial well-being. Financial literacy has been associated with a series of positive financial outcomes in previous literature. However, we still know little about how financial literacy is related to individuals' mental well-being. This thesis aims to investigate the relationships between financial literacy, financial well-being and mental well-being among adults. To realise this, three empirical studies are conducted. The first empirical study examines the relationship between financial literacy and depressive symptoms, providing the first empirical evidence of the relationship between the two concepts in a middle-income setting: China. The second empirical study provides the first longitudinal investigation on the relationship between financial literacy and depression and its underlying economic pathways, using data from a nationally representative dataset: the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) based on the U.S. The third empirical study investigates the moderating role of financial literacy in the association between financial shocks and depression aiming to further enclose the relationship between financial literacy and mental well-being. The findings highlight both positive and negative effects of financial literacy on mental well-being. On one hand, financial literacy is significantly associated with fewer depressive symptoms and financial literacy may positively impact individuals' mental well-being either directly or indirectly operated through its influence on household finances such as income and wealth. On the other hand, when individuals experience financial shocks, financial literacy can magnify the negative effect of experiencing financial shocks on mental well-being. The findings suggest that investing in acquiring or sustaining financial literacy may have the potential to protect against depression and thus promote positive mental health in adults by assuring better financial well-being. However, the observed negative psychological effect of higher financial literacy suggests that the role of financial literacy on mental health is complex. Future research is needed to further understandings of the causal impact of enhancing financial literacy on mental well-being and of its complex and multifaceted underly mechanisms.

This study investigates Silaturahim in the age of social media. It explores the impact of social media use on traditional bonds among the Malaysian diaspora who live abroad, specifically in the United Kingdom. Silaturahim is defined as a deep social relationship among family and acquaintances that is deeply ingrained in the value system of Malaysian society. In the context of the increasingly sophisticated development and widespread use of social media, this study explores how Silaturahim remains a significant factor for social cohesion. The researcher conducted focus group discussions (FGD) and in-depth interviews with members of the Malaysian diaspora in the United Kingdom. Based on purposive and snowball sampling, focus group discussions included regular social media users, while in-depth interviews addressed community leaders as well as other experts and stakeholders in Malaysian communities in the UK. Research objective RO1 aims to determine the kinds of Silaturahim activities that are practised by the Malaysian diaspora. RO2 intends to identify the young generation's understanding of Silaturahim, while RO3 explores how the young generation uses social media to maintain Silaturahim. RO4 attempts to identify types of online communication that change the way Malaysian diaspora communicate with family and friends, whereas RO5 identifies the role of the Malaysian diaspora in maintaining the Silaturahim through social media. Key findings of this study include: (RO1), social media cannot replace but, in some cases, support and enhance physical activities that remain at the centre of Silaturahim. Secondly (RO2), even though many young generations have become diaspora, they still understand and practise the Silaturahim concept, which has been passed down from generation to generation. Thirdly, (RO3), young generations use social media connections with their social circle and are able to strengthen Silaturahim accordingly. Whereas (RO4), the cultural value of Silaturahim through social media communication is still being practised for socialising to maintain the good value as it has been viewed from religious perspectives. (RO5) diaspora communities demonstrate the ability to carry out Silaturahim activities despite long physical distances through the integration of social media. The study highlights the complementary potential of traditional bonds and activities, on the one hand, and social media communication, on the other. Social media becomes a platform to connect with society and to strengthen Silaturahim by initiating traditional activities and increasing knowledge about them. It re-interprets and advances Silaturahim in the era of digital media.

Over 70,000 mothers in the UK suffer from postnatal depression, costing the NHS over £70,000 for each case. In Wales, 70% of women have no access to specialist perinatal mental health services. Women with postnatal depression experience debilitating symptoms which lead to multiple adverse outcomes. The biological and psychological causes are well established. Reduced social capital (quality and quantity of social interactions) and occupational imbalance (unequal distribution of daily activities) also increase the risk of postnatal depressive symptomology, but are less well understood. Occupational therapists maximise functioning within daily occupations (categorised as self-care, productivity, leisure and rest), using coping strategies and adaptation to overcome illness associated difficulties. Currently, few occupational therapists are involved in postnatal care. This mixed methods research aimed to explore how life experience and choices impact on the mothering role and whether daily routines affect mental health. A cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted with 212 mothers of children aged less than 18 months and living in Wales. The questions explored the social capital and occupational balance of the mothers, alongside the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale used to identify depressive symptomology. Logistic regression was used to analyse the data, with no association seen between social capital and EPDS score. Women with low occupational balance were nearly 17 times more likely to have EPDS scores ≥9 than mothers with high occupational balance. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews and activity diaries were completed using purposive sampling with 9 mothers. The explanatory sequential approach involved the questionnaire influencing the design of the interviews. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data highlighted three main themes: (i) identity and stigma; (ii) role transition and balance; and (iii) negotiating stereotypes. These results identified areas of occupational therapy involvement, including transitional change, realistic role education and potential coping strategies, which may influence future occupational therapy interventions in perinatal care.

This thesis is an empirical study on UK CPI price quote data (Mar 1988-Dec 2019) provided by the Office for National Statistics. It extends the study by Zhou and Dixon (2018). I follow Dixon and Grimme (2022) to divide price spells into four subsets which are (+, +), (+, -), (-, -), and (-, +) spells. A (+, +) spell is a price spell that started with a price increase then ended with another price increase. The questions that have been answered in this thesis are first how each type of price spell behaves over time? Second, have prices become more flexible since the 2008 financial crisis? Third, what are the determinants of nominal rigidity? I first used the crosssection method developed by Dixon (2012), then I did some non-parametric and semi-parametric analysis (Cox proportional hazard model). Finally, I used panel regression with fixed and random effects to find the determinants of size of price changes. Here are some stylized facts on the UK CPI data: 1: The average price spell in the UK is about 10 months, and (+, +) spells have the longest average duration while (+, -) spells have the shortest average duration. 2: The proportion of (+, +) spells is the biggest, and more than 50% of the spells are (+, +) spells in the services sector. 3: The average frequency of price changes, which is defined as the percentage of price quotes that changed in each month, is about 21.42%. 4: The 12-month spike pattern that was widely seen in previous literature was only found in (+, +) spells. 5: Prices have become more rigid since the 2008 financial crisis. 5: Heterogeneity can be found among the 11 COICOP divisions. 6: Macro factors matter in the price setting process, and it takes about 3 months for them to have significant effects on nominal rigidity. 7: Monthly effects and regional variations are significant. 8: Our model is good in terms of goodness of fit for the goods sector.

England and Wales' justice was threatened when they closed 51% of Magistrates' Courts during 2010/11-2019/20 for budget savings, manifested in 22% delays in case durations, 37% drops in charges, and 23% rise in crimes. However, the link between court closures and justice is widely belittled. This thesis analyses statistical correlations of court numbers with case duration, charges, and crimes by building a unique panel database of administrative statistics in England and Wales. I use court timeliness statistics from the Ministry of Justice for case duration to investigate if court closures delay cases. The ordinary-least-squares (OLS) estimates show that court closures can delay cases, and the delays can continue to accumulate for about three quarters. One explanation is that the shortage of hearing rooms and court staff lengthens the waiting duration for hearings. Findings suggest that closures could delay justice delivered to victims. For charges (from the Home Office), I compare charges' responses to court closures and case delays. My OLS results illustrate either court closures or case delays can result in reduced charges after one year, indicating a mechanism that case delays caused by court closure do not allow prosecutors to charge as many as they did before. Additionally, prosecutors' career concerns (seeking convictions) may explain why prosecutors prefer to charge easily convictable crimes. Findings emphasise justice may be selectively delivered to victims after court closures. For crimes (from the Office for National Statistics), the OLS evidence demonstrates court closures are associated with increased crimes. The rational crime theory could attribute it to lower deterrence caused by case delays and charge reduction. Discoveries stress the effectiveness of justice in addressing crimes could be at risk after court closures. These findings highlight the adverse complementary effects of court closures on justice, which supplements an assessment of previous closures and the 77 further closures. Quick and efficient supporting services could be critical during future closures.

Technological development is one of the main determinants of economic growth in the long run. In general, it is achieved by the research and development (R&D) activity and then diffusion of the new technology. This thesis examines both R&D stage and technology diffusion stage from different angles to identify how innovation affects firm competition. Most of the studies on patent licensing and R&D are based on symmetric firms, but we more often see asymmetric firms in the realistic situation. Therefore, firm heterogeneity is an important feature of this thesis. The first main chapter focuses on the diffusion stage of new technology in the presence of asymmetric licensees. That is, given the innovation has already taken place, this chapter aims to find how the asymmetric cost structure affects the most profitable strategy for an outside innovator. Moreover, it also finds that it depends on the type of innovation whether the large firm or small firm has higher incentive to pay for the license. The second main chapter focuses on R&D stage and the firm heterogeneity is characterized by both asymmetric initial production cost and asymmetric R&D spillover rate. Therefore, it aims to find how the firm heterogeneity affects the R&D choices and subsequent market structure. The result shows that the one-way spillover rate drives the small firm to invest more in R&D so that the cost gap is narrowed. The third chapter focuses on the R&D stage in the presence of uncertainty in a multi-period game. It finds the uncertainty of R&D under long-term competition makes two initially symmetric firms grow technological gap instead of evolving neck to neck. Therefore, although the model starts from symmetric firms, it captures asymmetric cases due to uncertain R&D outcomes.

This PhD thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of inflation in the UK, adopting a data-driven approach to model inflation, evaluate different measures of core inflation, and investigate the impact of monetary shocks on output. The study begins by modelling month-on-month (mom) inflation as an autoregressive process, taking into account factors such as seasonality and VAT changes. A significant 12-month lag effect on inflation was identified, leading to a degree of persistence in annual inflation. This effect was found to exist at the aggregate level and within the majority of consumer expenditure categories. The research also explored the individual components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket using the System of National Accounts (SNA) COICOP expenditure divisions up to 4 digits. The study found that inflation is best explained by itself, indicating a focus on core measures of inflation without reference to other variables. In addition to analysing mom inflation, the thesis investigated different methods for measuring core inflation and their effectiveness in predicting future inflation at the 12- month horizon. The exclusion of food and energy prices, the use of trimmed means, and the inclusion of sticky prices were evaluated. The results showed that the exclusion of food and energy measure and the sticky price index have the best forecasting performance at the 12-month horizon, while the autoregressive and seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models have the worst performance. In the third chapter, the thesis delves deeper into the intricacies of inflation persistence and the impact of monetary shocks on output. The Generalized Taylor Economy (GTE) model proposed by Dixon and Kara (2005b) was introduced, providing a flexible framework for capturing the heterogeneity of wage-setting processes across sectors. The research underscores the significant influence of long-term contracts on economic output and its persistence. Furthermore, the diverse range of contract lengths present in the economy and their potential influence on economic dynamics is significant. Measuring Core Inflation in the UK Abstract Page III Overall, this thesis has made a valuable contribution to the literature on macroeconomic modeling by providing a more comprehensive understanding of inflation persistence, the impact of monetary shocks on output, and the effectiveness of different measures of core inflation in forecasting future inflation. The findings of the study have important implications for policymakers and practitioners who rely on accurate inflation forecasts to make informed decisions.

This thesis examines the connection between education and individuals' wages using China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data, a national representative dataset provided by Peking University. In Chapter 3, we estimate the return to education in China using the Mincer (1974) wage equation. Most of the previous studies only focus on urban China, but we conduct a regional comparison of returns between urban and rural areas in our analysis. Significant and positive returns to education are found for all the waged workers in the Chinese labour market. The return to urban workers is 4.6%, which is 2.1% higher than that for rural workers, and the gap is tested to be highly significant under the OLS method. However, the urban/rural gap is largely moderated after controlling for the sample selection bias among rural workers. In Chapter 4, we examine the over-education condition for Chinese graduates doing waged jobs based on the fast expansion of Chinese higher education in recent decades. The over-education is defined as an individual's obtained education level exceeding the job requirement. We find up to 40% of graduate workers in China are overeducated, and these individuals would suffer from a wage penalty from 17.9% to 26.7% across different measures of over-education, estimated from a revised Verdugo and Verdugo (1989) model. In addition, the effect of over-education on wages cannot be explained mainly by individuals' skills heterogeneity. In Chapter 5, we further examine the various returns to education qualities and subjects for graduate workers to test whether the assumption of a homogeneous return to colleges is still satisfied in the Chinese labour market. It is estimated that graduates from key and ordinary universities enjoy significant wage premiums to those in colleges, with 39.3% and 14.0%, respectively. However, significant disparities in wages between different subject groups are not found.

Over the past decades, fiscal decentralisation (FD), which refers to the downward transfer of spending responsibilities and revenue sources within the multi-level public sector, has become a global trend. Theories of FD (i.e., fiscal federalism, FF) argue that local governments are more familiar with local demands and have greater advantages in mobilising local resources. Therefore, FD improves public service performance (PSP). However, there is still a lack of empirical evidence for this argument, particularly regarding FD's impact on healthcare services within Chinese provinces. Using secondary data from China's 26 provinces from 2006 to 2017, this research addresses the above gap. Moreover, the role of local government capacity (measured by relative wealth) in the relationships between FD and healthcare performance, which is also a key issue highlighted in FD theories, is investigated. This study focuses on two key concepts of PSP: efficiency and effectiveness, and three dimensions of FD: healthcare expenditure decentralisation (HED), total expenditure decentralisation (TED), and revenue decentralisation (RD). It is found that FD from the provincial to the sub-provincial level of government improves healthcare efficiency. Additionally, the benefit of HED for healthcare efficiency may be greater with the increase in government capacity. However, apart from HED, TED and RD are negatively associated with healthcare effectiveness, and such negative relationships fail to be addressed by increasing government capacity. Literature-based discussions suggest that the divergent effects of FD can be attributed to key features of the Chinese-style FD. That is, despite a high level of decentralisation, the performance management system (PMS) in China still follows a top-down pattern. Therefore, to gain tangible benefits such as promotion opportunities, decentralised sub-provincial cadres (e.g. bureaucrats of the local government and the healthcare department) tend to be more accountable for better healthcare efficiency - a key target highlighted by upper-level government leaders. Accordingly, cadres may pay less attention to healthcare effectiveness which is relatively ignored by their superiors.

Rationale Loneliness is considered one of the greatest public health challenges of the 21st century, with young people reported to be among the worst affected. Indeed, adolescence has long been considered a period of life when loneliness can be particularly prevalent; however, it is only in recent years that this has been linked to the challenges of identity development. Constructing a sense of identity is widely understood to be a key developmental task of adolescence, yet there is limited research concerning disadvantaged populations who may be struggling with loneliness and finding a sense of self in the world. Aim This qualitative study aimed to capture how young people from disadvantaged backgrounds construct a sense of identity through the context of an informal learning programme, designed to enhance peer connectedness and reduce loneliness. Methodology Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven young people, aged 12-17 years, accessing informal learning workshops within a deprived suburb in the UK. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed, before being subjected to reflexive thematic analysis (RTA). Results Three overarching themes were generated through the analysis: A Strengthened Sense of Identity Through Embracing Difference, Who I am Depends on the Context I am in, and A More Emotionally Attuned Self. Discussion Findings are considered in the context of existing research, and implications for clinical practice and future research are noted. The study offers insights into how safe, inclusive and informal science learning may influence a stronger sense of personal, social and emotional identity in disadvantaged youth.

How does inflation relate to people's subjective well-being (SWB)? The answer to this question is important to inform policies aimed at enhancing citizens' well-being. A number of studies found that aggregate inflation rates have a consistent negative impact on SWB. However, people's perceptions of inflation, which ultimately affect SWB, do not always match aggregate inflation statistics. This thesis contains three studies in the context of China that advance previous understanding of the inflation-SWB association. Firstly, I propose a new concept of reference-dependent inflation evaluation within a changing economic growth context. My findings suggest that an unstable inflation environment harms people's SWB. Additionally, a high GDP growth rate mitigates the negative impact of inflation on SWB. Secondly, I investigate the impact of commodity-specific inflation rates on individual SWB. To this end, I create a unique dataset by matching household expenditure data with consumer price indices. I find that the inflation of different commodities impacts SWB differently. Specifically, the inflation of advanced-need commodities leads to better SWB, as it reflects quality improvements. Finally, to explore the impact of people's inflation concerns on SWB, I develop a novel measure of inflation based on the Baidu Search Volume Index. I find that people's unexpected concerns about inflation are significantly and negatively associated with SWB. Moreover, my results suggest that the non-working older population with low income is the most vulnerable when facing high inflation, and that middle-aged and elderly people are more concerned about medicine prices than food prices.

Background: There is limited evidence in the UK which examines the first-hand experiences of non-White care leavers. This is further limited when focusing specifically on experiences of living in a foster family of a different race and/or ethnicity to the individual. The present study aimed to explore the experiences of belonging and difference for non-White individuals who have experienced foster placements with families of a different race and/or ethnicity. Method: Four non-White care leavers all with experience of living in a White foster family were interviewed. The interviews were supported using photo elicitation and data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Interviews explored the way participants make sense of their care experience and how that has shaped them as care leavers. Results: Participants described an experience of feeling like the odd one out, much of which was influenced by systemic racism and the barriers to cultural connection. Participants found ways to reconnect and find a sense of belonging. This was achieved during and after care by accessing opportunities to create the 'little family'. Participants were particularly interested in accessing racial diversity and found ways to relate to their heritage through birth family stories. Conclusion: The study highlights the difficulties children experience when attempting to integrate in a family from a different race to themselves. The findings suggest ways participants use their agency to make informed decisions to regain their cultural identity whilst in care and as care leavers.

The contingent valuation method (CVM) has been widely used by economists and statisticians to measure the benefits of non-market goods or services since the 1990s. The framework for CVM is derived from the utility function of welfare economics. CVM asks people directly about their willingness to pay (WTP) for the value of specific goods or services, or willingness to accept to give up the value of goods or services. China has achieved rapid economic growth over the past three decades, during this period, however, it also faced serious environmental challenges and problems, for example, air pollution. China and the United States are jointly responsible for 40% of the world's carbon emissions. This thesis analyses people's concerns about environmental issues using CVM. Specifically, we implement the classical maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method and the Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) simulation-based method to evaluate people's willingness to pay (WTP) for the improvement of environmental quality via support of a "geo-engineering" project. The data used in this thesis was collected through face-to-face interviewing in four cities in China, Harbin (northeast and inland), Zhengzhou (north and inland), Changsha (central-south and inland) and Zhuhai (southeast and coastal). We interviewed 1,044 participants, asked them to answer a CVM survey questionnaire and collected their responses. The CVM questionnaire included six aspects of information that could affect respondents' WTP. In addition to the social-demographics related to the respondents' preferences, e.g. gender, age, household income, we also asked about respondents' health conditions, social connections and awareness of political issues, governmental support and risks of human activities on environment and etc. Using this sample, we initially employed the step-wise and logistic regression models to identify the significant factors, then we applied the classical MLE to model the single- and double-bounded CVM answers and the WTP values, and expanded the modelling procedures to multiple-rounds bidding processes. Further more we also used MCMC to analyse the mean WTP values through multiple rounds of bidding process. MLE results suggested that the fitted mean WTP values from single-, double- and triple-bounded MLE models were CNY816.56, CNY565.79 and CNY539.27, respectively. The gap between the single- and the double-bounded estimates showed that the WTP estimates from commonly-used single-bounded approach could lead to unreliable results. We also discovered that the more respondents believed that they gained benefit from the ``geo-engineering'' project, the more they were willing to agree to the given bid, and were likely to pay a greater price; the more respondents were prepared to spend on pollution reduction products, the equated to their awareness of the harm of pollution, the more they would like to pay. Results also supported that being admitted to hospital was positively related to the value of WTP; being interested in news and public affairs had a negative effect on mean WTP. On the other hand, the estimated mean WTP values from the MCMC approach for the single, double and triple-bounded models were CNY810.82, CNY566.10 and CNY510.22, respectively, largely consistent with the results in MLE. MCMC improved WTP models because it produced more significant variables and narrower confidence intervals.

The present thesis sought to investigate optimal lineup construction methods that enhance ability to discriminate between innocent and guilty suspects. Firstly, I highlight the need for lineup construction methods that enhance eyewitness discriminability. Next, in chapter 2, I conducted a systematic literature review of suspect-filler similarity and found that there were no standardised procedures for constructing lineups in experiments. I also highlight the impact of methodological factors on discriminability. Using the feature matching model and diagnostic feature detection theory (Colloff et al., 2021; Wixted & Mickes, 2014), I argue that low similarity lineups allow the witness to focus on the perpetrators' unique features that are diagnostic of guilt, to make an accurate identification decision. However, I note that the low similarity lineup advantage holds only when lineup construction methods are fair (i.e., result in two memory strength distributions in witness memory: one for the perpetrator and one for the fillers and innocent suspect). In chapter 3, I conducted an experiment investigating lineup construction methods for distinctive suspects (e.g., with a facial tattoo). I compared a high similarity replication lineup, in which the distinctive suspects' facial tattoo is exactly replicated across lineup members; a low similarity replication lineup, in which the lineup members have a similar but non-identical distinctive facial tattoo; and a do nothing lineup in which only the suspect has a distinctive feature. As predicted by the feature matching model, I found that low similarity replication lineups yield higher discriminability compared to high similarity replication and do nothing lineups. In chapter 4, I critically evaluate the Benton Facial Recognition Test and advise on the use of psychometric tools to allow for further exploration of lineup construction methods that enhance discriminability when individual differences are also considered. Finally in chapter 5, I disentangle mixed findings in the literature to date and recommend that future research thoroughly reports lineup construction methods.

Background: Existing literature on women with anorexia points to romantic relationships with their partners as an important factor to examine, as relationships are thought to either contribute to the maintenance of the anorexia or to serve as one of the key factors that contributes to recovery. Control and power have emerged as key issues in the literature on anorexia and romantic relationships. The present study aims to understand how couples' sense-making of anorexia impacts on how they relate with each other and with the anorexia, and how this evolves over time. The study also aims to do this in the context of dominant discourses in society around eating disorders and relationships. Method: Five couples where a female partner has been diagnosed with anorexia were jointly and individually interviewed using an unstructured, narrative interview. Data were analysed using Foucauldian-informed Narrative Analysis (FNA). Results: Four narrative chapters arose from the data, namely, Gradual development of understanding of anorexia in the context of societal discourses around thinness, gender, and mental and physical health; Anorexia as the interplay between power and powerlessness; Navigating shifts in power and helplessness within the relationship; Resolution and rebalancing of power. Conclusion: The results highlight several implications for research and practice centering around the importance of acknowledging the powerlessness that underlies the need for control in an effort to combat shaming dominant discourses around anorexia and control.

While leadership research in recent years has seen a modest but growing recognition of the role of followers in the performance of leadership, the dynamics of the relationship between leaders and their immediate followers (some of whom may also be leaders in their own right), and the ways this relationship may be influenced by sectoral, cultural, and socio-economic factors, remains under-investigated, and this is the gap that the current research seeks to fill. The trend in leadership research is progressively recognising the role of followers in the success or failure of leaders. For organisations to realise their potential, the ability of leaders and followers to work together productively is relevant to the relationship. This study sought to explore and identify the factors which influence follower-leader relationship, this will be done through in-depth narrative interviews with participants from thirteen (13) organisations from two case study countries: Nigeria and the Netherlands. In answering the research questions, the influence of factors such as culture and socio-economic factors on the ability of followers and leaders to build and sustain productive relationships is explored. A grounded theory approach was employed to generate themes which were then used to construct a framework. The developed framework details a thorough, yet practical presentation of how follower-leader relationship is perceived in case study countries using themes. Some of the themes identified from data are power differential, diversity and inclusion, social integration, economic independence among others were related to tight-loose theory to analyse follower-leader relationship.

Women in Georgia face gender inequality in many aspects of their lives. While academic studies often concentrate on structural oppressions, women's experiences of everyday manifestations of gender inequality are absent from academic scholarship. Women have a space to discuss these topics only among friends and closed Facebook groups. This thesis is concerned with how women experience and respond to gender inequality in their everyday lives in urban Georgia, specifically in urban public spaces and at home. It critically engages with Western-dominated literature about space, place, and gender and explores how women are oppressed or liberated in and through these spaces. In this research, I draw on the qualitative data that emerged from the interviews with 42 women and participant observations that I conducted in the three largest cities of Georgia - Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi. Using thematic data analysis, I explored how women experienced the gendering of home and urban public spaces and how contemporary gender ideologies in the country (namely, post-socialist and contemporary neotraditionalist) influenced this process. The thesis argues that both home and urban public spaces can be sites of, on the one hand, oppression and, on the other hand, contesting, challenging and negotiating gender hierarchies. It shows the variety of ways in which women in Georgia respond to everyday manifestations of gender inequality and how they often have the potential to destabilise gendered power relations.

Background: The delivery and effective operation of public transport is fundamental for a for a transition to low-carbon emission transport systems'. However, many cities face budgetary challenges in providing and operating this type of infrastructure. Land value capture (LVC) instruments, aimed at recovering all or part of the land value uplifts triggered by actions other than the landowner, can alleviate some of this pressure. A key element of LVC lies in the increment in land value associated with a particular public action. Urban economic theory supports this idea and considers accessibility to be a core element for determining residential land value. Although the empirical literature assessing the relationship between land value increments and public transport infrastructure is vast, it often assumes homogeneous benefits and, therefore, overlooks relevant elements of accessibility. Advancements in the accessibility concept in the context of Open Science can ease the relaxation of such assumptions. Methods: This thesis draws on the case of Greater Mexico City between 2009 and 2019. It focuses on the effects of the main public transport network (MPTN) which is organised in seven temporal stages according to its expansion phases. The analysis incorporates location based accessibility measures to employment opportunities in order to assess the benefits of public transport infrastructure. It does so by making extensive use of the open-source software OpenTripPlanner for public transport route modelling (≈ 2.1 billion origin-destination routes). Potential capitalizations are assessed according to the hedonic framework. The property value data includes individual administrative mortgage records collected by the Federal Mortgage Society (≈ 800,000). The hedonic function is estimated using a variety of approaches, i.e. linear models, nonlinear models, multilevel models, and spatial multilevel models. These are estimated by the maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. The study also examines possible spatial aggregation bias using alternative spatial aggregation schemes according to the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) literature. Results: The accessibility models across the various temporal stages evidence the spatial heterogeneity shaped by the MPTN in combination with land use and the individual perception of residents. This highlights the need to transition from measures that focus on the characteristics of transport infrastructure to comprehensive accessibility measures which reflect such heterogeneity. The estimated hedonic function suggests a robust, positive, and significant relationship between MPTN accessibility and residential land value in all the modelling frameworks in the presence of a variety of controls. The residential land value increases between 3.6% and 5.7% for one additional standard deviation in MPTN accessibility to employment in the final set of models. The total willingness to pay (TWTP) is considerable, ranging from 0.7 to 1.5 times the equivalent of the capital costs of the bus rapid transit Line-7 of the Metrobús system. A sensitivity analysis shows that the hedonic model estimation is sensitive to the MAUP. In addition, the use of a post code zoning scheme produces the closest results compared to the smallest spatial analytical scheme (0.5 km hexagonal grid). Conclusion: The present thesis advances the discussion on the capitalization of public transport on residential land value by adopting recent contributions from the Open Science framework. Empirically, it fills a knowledge gap given the lack of literature around this topic in this area of study. In terms of policy, the findings support LVC as a mechanism of considerable potential. Regarding fee-based LVC instruments, there are fairness issues in relation to the distribution of charges or exactions to households that could be addressed using location based measures. Furthermore, the approach developed for this analysis serves as valuable guidance for identifying sites with large potential for the implementation of development based instruments, for instance land readjustments or the sale/lease of additional development rights.

The main objective of this thesis is to examine the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on earnings management practices in Saudi Arabia. To achieve this aim, the study first analyses the relationship between the level of compliance with the Saudi Corporate Governance Code (SCGC) and earnings management practices by employing a self-constructed corporate governance index (i.e., the compliance-index model), derived mainly from the 2017 Saudi Corporate Governance Code. Second, the study examines the association between a number of individual corporate governance mechanisms (i.e., the equilibrium-variable model) and earnings management practices in Saudi listed firms. Third, it examines the influence of family ownership on the association between corporate governance mechanisms (measured by a comprehensive governance index) and earnings management practices in Saudi listed firms. Through use of a sample of 112 Saudi listed firms between 2006 and 2017 (i.e., 994 firm-year observations) together with insights from agency theory, the compliance index model produces results showing a statistically significant and negative association between the Saudi Corporate Governance Index (SCGI) and the level of earnings management practices. However, this result does not hold for firms with high family ownership, since the results reveal that the effectiveness of corporate governance (measured by the SCGI) in constraining earnings management is reduced in Saudi firms with high family ownership. In a series of sensitivity analyses, this evidence is robust to (i) alternative earnings management models, (ii) endogeneity, and (iii) alternative proxy for family control. Regarding the equilibrium-variable model, the results indicate that Saudi firms are likely to have lower levels of earnings management practices if they have a high percentage of strictly independent directors on the boards, a larger board size, and audit committees that meet more often. Additionally, the results show that Saudi firms with higher government ownership, institutional ownership and family ownership have lower levels of earnings management practices. In contrast, the current study did not find any evidence that the strict independence of audit committee index, percentage of directors with multiple directorships, percentage of family directors on the board and percentage of blockholders ownership have any significant relationship with the extent of earnings management practices in the Saudi firms. Also, the study found that non-strict board/audit independence is not effective in reducing earnings management practices in Saudi firms. These results are moderately robust to (i) alternative earnings management models, (ii) endogeneity, and (iii) alternative proxies for strict board independence. Finally, the findings of this study indicate the effectiveness of the governance provisions provided in the 2017 Saudi Corporate Governance Code in improving governance practices in the Saudi context.

Understanding the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on firm performance as it relates to industries reliant on technological innovation is a complex and perpetually evolving challenge. To thoroughly investigate this topic, this dissertation will adopt an economics-based structure to address three primary hypotheses. This structure allows for each hypothesis to essentially be a standalone empirical paper, unified by an overall analysis of the nature of impact that ESG has on firm performance. The first hypothesis explores the evolution of CSR to the modern quantified iteration of ESG has led to the institutionalization and standardization of the CSR concept. The second hypothesis fills gaps in existing literature testing the relationship between firm performance and ESG by finding that the relationship is significantly positive in long-term, strategic metrics (ROA and ROIC) and that there is no correlation in short-term metrics (ROE and ROS). Finally, the third hypothesis states that if a firm has a long-term strategic ESG plan, as proxied by the publication of CSR reports, then it is more resilience to damage from controversies. This is supported by the finding that pro-ESG firms consistently fared better than their counterparts in both financial and ESG performance, even in the event of a controversy. However, firms with consistent reporting are also held to a higher standard than their nonreporting peers, suggesting a higher risk and higher reward dynamic. These findings support the theory of good management, in that long-term strategic planning is both immediately economically beneficial and serves as a means of risk management and social impact mitigation. Overall, this contributes to the literature by fillings gaps in the nature of impact that ESG has on firm performance, particularly from a management perspective.

Homeownership is the most prevalent tenure in most countries. One of the main purposes of households in accessing homeownership is to accumulate wealth. Homeowners are not only found to accrue housing wealth but also own more non-housing wealth than tenants. The patterns of accumulating wealth through homeownership and its socio-economic consequences in modern economies, however, have not been fully understood and examined. Using data from the 2013-2017 China Household Finance Survey and the 2015-2017 Chinese Housing Consumption Survey, this research investigated the relationships between homeownership and wealth and its components. It explored diverse mechanisms derived from different theoretical perspectives and linked homeownership with wealth inequality and housing strategies in urban China. Through a combination of the Differences-in-Differences model, Logit model, fixed-effect model and Tobit model, the empirical results from this thesis suggest that the transition of households from renting to owning is positively related to wealth holdings after controlling for relevant, confounding variables. Households accumulate housing wealth mainly through housing price appreciation and mortgage repayments, with housing price appreciation dominating. With long-term housing price increases, housing wealth accumulation has transformed from relying on saving through mortgage repayments to being more dependent on capital gains. There is a trade-off between mortgage repayments and residual savings. When controlling for socioeconomic characteristics and time-constant variables, homeowners do not own more non-housing wealth than tenants. The widely recognised notion that homeowners own more non-housing wealth than tenants comes from the result of selection. In other words, households who attain homeownership are wealthier before they become homeowners than households who remain in rental markets. Tenants do not compensate for their disadvantage in housing assets by augmenting more non-housing wealth. The favourable status of wealth holdings by homeowners relative to renters, therefore, principally arises from the accumulation of housing wealth through housing price appreciation rather than from the fixed commitments of mortgage repayments, changed saving behaviour and the accumulation of non-housing wealth through homeownership, at least for the time before 2022. Growing home ownership has typically been connected with spreading wealth and reducing wealth inequalities. The results reported in this thesis, however, indicate that associated with housing prices increasing ahead of income since 2015 in China, the accumulation of wealth through homeownership has begun to act as a possible mechanism of increasing wealth inequalities by concentrating more wealth in developed regions which attract more capital, and in the hand of homeowners, multiple-property owners, and older generations. The changes in housing price dynamics and wealth accumulation patterns also promoted the use of speculative strategies among households and, in consequence, housing policies inherited from the savings era may not be best designed to cope with challenges caused by rising housing prices. Corresponding with these findings, this thesis thus proposes policy reforms on housing, land and tax.

Using data from Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS), this thesis seeks to understand how different constellations of socioeconomic circumstances, family contexts and family relationships combine to explain differences in children's quality of life, as measured through self-reported measures of subjective well-being (SWB). The statistical methods used include confirmatory factor analysis, logistic and linear regression, fixed and random effects models, latent class analysis and structural equation modelling. Measurement is a central theme. Chapter 2 adds to the nascent literature on measurement of children's SWB to deepen understanding of what SWB is measuring in children, and why different measures have different correlates. There is support for a four-domain model of SWB -family, friends, school and appearance - which had longitudinal invariance. However, testing of this model with children of different ages, sexes and ethnicities cautions against unreflective use of composite SWB scores to compare sub-groups. The appearance domain, in particular, appears to have different salience for different sub-groups of children. Chapter 3 considers measurement of socioeconomic circumstances and finds that measures that take account of children's perspectives on their material circumstances have the strongest associations with SWB. Chapter 4, which examines family composition, finds that nuanced measures that acknowledge variation in the formality of step-parent structures and the additional layer of support provided to some families by extended family offer insights into the processes that link family structures to SWB. Chapter 5 considers children and adult perspectives on family relationship quality. Once measures of support, closeness and conflict are combined in typologies of parent-child and sibling relationships, a clear theme emerges of socioeconomic disadvantage and financial stress being associated with lower relationship quality and, in turn, with children's SWB. Neglectful parent-child relationships characterised by high levels of conflict and low warmth, and sibling relationships characterised by high conflict had the strongest associations with SWB.

Many contemporary organisations are alike in their prioritisation of and dependency on performance-based quantification practices that aim to boost profits through efficiency gains. But how do employees engaged in intellectual labour experience these organisational practices, which are typically rooted in numerically oriented discourses? To extend critical accounting management research investigating this question, this thesis analyses the experiences of employees living with coeliac disease, an autoimmune disease that is triggered by the protein gluten. This thesis reports empirical research conducted through an in-depth critical case study (Glynos and Howarth, 2007) of such performance practices and their effects on employees with coeliac disease. Adopting a three-tiered analytic approach that examines employee experiences (micro level), organisational practices (meso level) and wider policy context (macro level), the case study examines workplace practices relevant to employees with coeliac disease. I draw on the lived experiences of 17 employees in the United Kingdom, supplementing their oral accounts with references to secondary materials. The analysis is grounded in the post-Marxist discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, as well as in Glynos and Howarth's Logics of Critical Explanation (LoCE). The thesis narrates the employees' experiences of the workplace environment through their personal life stories. It also prompts further debate on performance evaluation processes and the emancipatory transformation that is required to humanise the workplace. The thesis makes an empirical contribution to critical management accounting literature on employees' lived experiences with respect to performance measures, while also contributing to debates on methodology and post-Marxist theory. More specifically, the thesis expands the scope of the application of the LoCE to a new area- employees with coeliac disease- while critically assessing dominant trends in contemporary organisational practice. In its understanding of performance as a hegemonic practice, the thesis also contributes to the wider effort to integrate accounting practices into theories of society's political nature.

This dissertation investigates "how is a political response to the Kurdish Question (KQ) justified and moulded through different interpretations of key religious sources in Turkey?". It takes into consideration the interaction of ethnic and national belonging with Islam in analyzing and comprehending the religious communities' (jamaats)' perspectives on the KQ. Therefore, taking Bediuzzaman's (the founder of the Nur Movement) words as the key religious source, this dissertation compares the perspectives of the mostly - Kurdish Nûbihar Circle and the mainly - Turkish Hizmet Movement, which benefit from the same religious sources, on the Kurdish Question. This study also questions the applicability of one of Brubaker's approaches, which argues that "claims made in the name of religion, political representation, economic sources, symbolic recognition or cultural reproduction can be thought alongside claims made in the name of ethnicity, race or nationhood", to this dissertation. The research uses primary and secondary data analysis methodology and gets primary sources by conducting elite interviews with the active members of the jamaats. The dissertation's central argument is that while legitimizing their thoughts about the KQ, both jamaats interpreted the religious sources so that they could keep their ethnic demands and achievements in line with their nationalist goals. As both jamaats framed their nationalism within a religious context, they present their perspectives on the KQ from an ethnic and Islamic-centric standpoint. Ultimately, this study faces many sides of Bediuzzaman, which reveals the role of religion in national life in Turkey from the perspective of jamaats and their fear of not being harmed by the Turkish state due to their political views.

Ecuador's constitutional history reflects this country's long run of political instability. Constituent Assemblies (CAs), convened by non-democratic and democratic leaders alike, have been mobilized 19 times to rewrite its constitution. This thesis contributes to our understanding of this volatility by offering a psychoanalytic interpretation of constitutional instability in Ecuador. Existing literature on constitutional instability focuses on legal, economic, and institutionalist explanations. However, while important, these accounts do not sufficiently elucidate the way Ecuador's political elites are affectively invested in such constitutional 'abolition-replacement events'. Drawing on archives, I conduct a discourse analysis of their 'ideological grip', focusing on the 1869 and 2007-2008 CAs, as well as the 2015 reform that abolished presidential term limits, processes influenced by Presidents García Moreno, Alfaro, and Correa. Freud conjectures that the guilt for the killing of the father of the primal horde returns through the fantasy of Messiahs, capable of delivering redemption and the promised land. Drawing on this conjecture alongside Lacanian insights, I argue that Ecuador's long-lasting history of political instability has fostered a culture prone to supporting messianic leaders, that is, lawgivers whose personages have been invested with the hope and aspiration of perpetual stability, epitomized by the setting up of CAs themselves. The affective pull of 'messianic leadership' in the constitutional politics of Ecuador can emerge out of the perceived need for political stability; and yet this messianism can also be understood as something that emerges out of the process of identification itself (with the father figure) and the quest for the lost object (the mother figure). In both cases, my argument foregrounds the psychic dimension underpinning constitutional instability in Ecuador. This thesis relies on a rhetorically informed interpretive methodology to identify this psychic dimension, pointing to the merits of applying psychoanalysis beyond the clinic to better grasp and contextualize it.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition, typically characterised by challenges in social communication and restricted or repetitive patterns of behaviours and interests. Autistic individuals are observed to also display a variety of differences and strengths in cognitive functioning, motor skills, and sensory processing, uniquely impacting individuals. Despite its heterogeneity, enhancing social communication skills and supporting physical well-being are two of the autistic community's top research priorities. Therefore, the present thesis explores communication challenges observed within autism and the use of physical activity and dance movement therapy (DMT) to enhance autistic children's social communication skills. Two systematic reviews were conducted. The first suggested the beneficial use of two fundamental DMT techniques, mirroring and rhythm, for enhancing autistic children's social communication skills. The second highlighted the beneficial effects of exergaming for the autistic population. A subsequent study then investigated common styles of rhythm and music used by dance movement therapists in their sessions with autistic children, suggesting music and rhythms with a 4/4 time signature, moderato tempo, and age-appropriate lyrics were most popular. A mixed-methods approach was later employed to examine the feasibility and potential effectiveness of a dance-based exergame in the home and school environments to enhance autistic children's social communication skills. Results suggest that the exergame can be implemented by parents and teachers in their respective environments, affords children ownership of their intervention, and is an enjoyable activity. Furthermore, limited-efficacy testing inferred the beneficial effects of the dance-based exergame, enhancing autistic children's social communication skills. This work advocates that the chosen exergame is an engaging physical activity, which addresses some of the current limitations of traditional interventions for supporting autistic children's social communication skills. Overall, the findings presented are promising and suggest additional research within this area will prove worthwhile and meaningful for the autistic population.

This thesis explores the lived experience of American students studying abroad in the UK and is interested in understanding a range of challenges and struggles students face while abroad. One unique challenge for participants was experiencing the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, which resulted in all participants returning to the US prematurely to continue their studies virtually. Whilst there are numerous studies on students studying abroad, most of these studies seek knowledge via surveys, questionnaires, or semi-structured interviews. This study was an independent doctoral study that sought rich biographic narrative data using a psycho-social interview design with six participants two months after their semester had ended. A hybrid of Wengraf's (2001) Biographic Narrative Interpretive Method (BNIM) was used to capture participants' lived experiences in their own words. Systemic and Psychoanalytic theory was used to observe, contextualise and analyse data. The findings suggest participants' struggles are, at times, displaced by the positive dominant abroad narrative, which unintentionally leaves little space for difficulties to be acknowledged and shared openly. However, when participant narratives emerged they were conceptualised as surface or deeper narratives. The surface narratives contained easier-to-describe difficulties related to differences between the US and UK educational systems. Deeper narratives contained difficulties related to emotional, psychological, and biographical narratives intersected by internalised cultural, social, and societal demands. Findings show that participants used defence mechanisms to protect themselves against the anxiety of re-telling stories about their difficult experiences. Rather than isolated experiences, the findings show these participants experienced several intersections of personal, social, familial, academic, cultural, and peer group difficulties, which impacted their study abroad experiences.

The absence of social ties or contact with others has shown robust links with markers of inflammation but the mechanisms underpinning this link remain unidentified. Previous literature suggests that associations with inflammation and the mediating mechanisms are different for each social sphere. Stress-related processes and health behaviours have been proposed as underlying mechanisms. However, the conflation of different social spheres into a single measure of isolation and the lack of mediation studies may explain why the current body of literature is unable to identify the mechanisms that underpin isolation-inflammation links. Whilst addressing these limitations, this thesis empirically investigates the role of different mediating mechanisms in the link between isolation and immunity. In the second chapter, data from Understanding Society is used in cross-sectional pathway analysis to ascertain the role of health behaviours as a mediating mechanism. In chapter three, through the use of cross-sectional pathway analysis on data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) which included cortisol data, the findings from the previous chapter were replicated and the role of stress responses as a mediator was investigated. Using data from ELSA and Understanding Society chapter four investigated the individual contribution of smoking, nutritional intake, alcohol consumption and exercise as mediators. In chapter 5 data from ELSA was used to investigate the directionality of the associations identified in the previous chapters. This thesis found that:1) health behaviours play a role in explaining the relationship between isolation and inflammation, 2) the relationship between isolation, inflammation and health behaviours varies with the social sphere missing ties and the marker of inflammation, and 3) the link between isolation and immunity made up of a network of bi-directional relationships that allow isolation to influence inflammation and vice versa. Recommended refinements to a popular social determinant of health framework are proposed.

The study grew out of a desire to examine how it feels to be denied what Hannah Arendt famously referred to as the 'right to have rights,' including the right to disobey. More specifically, this study seeks to understand how people living under particular regimes of power-characterised by distinct politics of fear, uncertainty, and silence-feel, define, and express themselves in relation to power, whether in the form of submission or resistance. In other words: How do authoritarian power dynamics affect individuals' perception of self and how does it play into and shape the everyday life of the individual? At the heart of this inquiry is the notion of the subject, which forms both the conceptual foundation and the central focus of this study. The study draws primarily on the theoretical contributions of Michel Foucault, Giorgio Agamben, and Hannah Arendt on the interplay of power, resistance, and subjectivity. To frame the discussion, a socio-historical examination of post-independence power practices in Egypt and their impact on the constitution of the political subject is conducted. Research data is generated through an art-inspired qualitative research approach, primarily using Egyptian novels as a source of data to uncover the nuances and interiorities of the process of subject formation. Through a dialogue between Western social theory and Egyptian literature, the study provides an understanding of power practice in Egypt from 1952 to the present, particularly at the level of the inner panorama of the self in society and expands it into a reading of social and political theories on the question of power, subjectivity, resistance, and agency. The study is divided into six main chapters, including an introduction and a conclusion. Each empirical chapter of this study tells the story of a particular episode in time and is somewhat self-contained, yet all chapters are connected into a large coherent reading of modern Egyptian power practices. Just as the novels examined in this study tell a story with their words, so does my research. The study concludes that the process of subject formation in Egypt should be understood as an artefact of historical continuity that connects the past to the present, not necessarily in a linear fashion, but in a way that gives it a genealogical context, and as a dynamic process of shifting subject positions. The study further argues for the limitations of the status conception of citizenship as a defining framework for the state-society relationship in the context under study and proposes instead the use of the power-subject framework as a substitute. Last but not least, the study suggests that the connection between theory and method, expressed in the very structure of the research, reveals the epistemic relevance of literature to the conceptual imagination, contributing in a sense, to the discussion of the decolonisation of knowledge production. In some ways, this interdisciplinarity underscores the sheer breadth and hybridity of the concept of subject formation that has become apparent throughout this analysis.

Background: There is minimal research into resilience with military veterans, including any role played in facilitating the ability to resist adverse outcomes after exposure to trauma. Resilience as a construct is debated within the psychological literature with little agreement as to what resilience might be, how best to conceptualise it, and therefore how to measure it or best design interventions to promote it. The present study seeks to answer the broad question "what do veterans understand resilience to mean?" seeking to further elucidate resilience as a construct, and how it impacts the health and wellbeing of veterans in ways they deem relevant. Method: A qualitative research paradigm was chosen for this study with co-production with veterans-by-experience in the planning, design, data collection and analysis. Braun and Clarke's (2006) six stage method of thematic analysis, was utilised to analyse semi-structured interviews with sixteen military veterans, who had completed at least one day of active service. This included non-combat related deployments, for example 'peace-keeping' missions. Results: Themes were developed according to what veterans understood by resilience, how it developed, and the impact of being a military veteran in this process. Veterans indicated that their experiences of resilience were those of being adaptable in face of adversity. Further themes concentrated on this adaptability as a process that developed over time, and two subthemes highlighted the influence of group identity and membership on resilience, with resilience identified as part of the military identity. Discussion: The findings locate individual experiences within existing theoretical models of resilience, and examine the broader sociocultural context of the military. Clinical implications are framed within systemic considerations and sociocultural factors such as how group identity and membership impact access and ability to use resources required to 'be resilient' in the face of the adversities experienced by military veterans.

Introduction: This thesis explores how surgical trainees engage in simulation-based training (SBT) as part of a structured programme and how they relate their training to the practice of laparoscopic colorectal surgery in the operating theatre (OT). Both these environments have their own sociocultural fingerprint, that is, social, cultural and cognitive patterns of activity, with a language and discourse unique to them. Conventional insights on how SBT benefits surgical practice outcomes are indicated by improved individual performance in specific technical tasks. In contrast, this thesis explores the strength of the social discourse in which such learning is situated, which mediates SBT to the OT. The research questions are: • Through what social mechanisms are the complex clinical skills of surgery learnt through the Welsh Laparoscopic Colorectal Training Scheme (WLCTS), and translated into the operating theatre context? • How do laparoscopic colorectal trainees perceive the value of and make their training meaningful? • How could the learning theories discussed, inform a framework which can both acknowledge the social experience of simulation in facilitating the negotiation of learning and enable the professional development of the trainees? Deep learning is a social exercise in the creation of 'semiotic' signals through negotiating multiple channels of social and material activity. Distributed cognition (DCog) and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) are employed as organising theoretical principles. Methodology: Eight participants were observed across two hemicolectomy courses in the Welsh Laparoscopic Colorectal Training Scheme, where task completion required working in pairs. Over 11 hours of video data were analysed for trainee interactions across the simulated operating table. Scores were assigned to trainees' prior experience and changes in task complexity and partial regression analysis was used to explore relationships. Nine guided conversation-style interviews were conducted with colorectal trainees immediately after the courses, followed again six to eight months later with seven participants, where they described how they made sense of their co-participation in simulation within their operating practice. Abductive thematic analysis was used on a total of 10½ hours of transcript data, to identify key themes including semiotic signals, negotiated activity and mental rehearsal as a phase between simulation training and operating. Findings: Task complexity was related to task completion time. The shared prior experience of trainees related to improved task completion times rather than individual experience. Prior experience was linked to the way interactive social cues were utilised. Task complexity was linked to the way material artefacts were exchanged between trainees. Meaningful knowledge was acquired and exchanged through the learning design of graduated task activity, model and interaction fidelity, instrument sharing and verbal and non-verbal transactions. Such 'negotiated knotworking', as an extension of CHAT, is illustrated by the interactions of these social and material activities. SBT proved valuable in improving the capacity of trainees to reflect and mentally construct the operative context, which becomes important in rehearsing clinical activity. Conclusions: The interaction of social and material exchanges during shared activity is where trainees make sense of their technical skills. Because such shared activity is present in both simulation and operation, simulation needs to provide not just task fidelity, but also an opportunity for social and material interaction in a way that is professionally recognisable in the OT. By utilising co-constructed activity and making use of multiple material and social interactions, the WLCTS enabled the development of surgical language and 'semiotic' association of mutual colorectal artifacts. Through mental rehearsal, trainees prepared, planned and made informed decisions. Sharing of prior experience signals the importance of co-dependence in role and activity negotiation. Because of these, socially organised learning theory which contains the operation activities within SBT and OT are suitable candidates for a learning framework.

There is growing evidence to suggest that children and young people are experiencing more mental health difficulties (NHS Digital, 2020) and this is especially the case for those with learning difficulties (NHS Digital, 2021). More specifically, there has been a focus on the impact of testing on children and young people's mental health (McCaldin et al., 2019). Much of the current research on test anxiety focuses on children and young people in general and uses quantitative approaches (Putwain, 2007). This research explores test anxiety in young people (Year 7 and 8) with learning difficulties in cognition and learning. A mixed methods approach was used to measure levels of trait test anxiety and to explore their experiences of test anxiety, specifically their views on tests and what they perceive contributes towards and alleviates test anxiety. The young people in this study experience a range of feelings associated with tests and exams across different levels of trait test anxiety. They reported that difficulties with understanding and writing and self-concept contributed towards test anxiety. Importantly, they perceive that practical support, emotional support and distraction and relaxation activities are ways to alleviate test anxiety. These findings link with Zeidner's (1998) Integrative Transactional Model of Test Anxiety. The implications of this research are that whilst some students with learning difficulties do not experiences high trait test anxiety, they can experience some degree of worry and anxiety. Therefore, it is important to be able to provide universal support to all students in order to provide proactive support to help with their worries regarding exams. Additionally, for some students who do experience high trait test anxiety, a more bespoke approach may be beneficial as it is clear there are many factors which can be associated with higher levels of anxiety.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the views of LGBTQ+ individuals on LGBTQ+ television media by combining the fields of media representation, audience reception, and evaluative language. I collected responses from LGBTQ+ participants in the form of questionnaires, focus group interviews, and individual interviews and used a combination of Appraisal Theory and the Tactics of Intersubjectivity to investigate, firstly, how participants use language to discuss representation and, secondly, what this reveals about how representation can be improved. I suggest that participants' language use demonstrates the importance of representation in terms of identity construction and argue that, although progress is being made, LGBTQ+ representation still needs improvement. I consider the different types of representation experienced by different groups within the LGBTQ+ community and provide recommendations for better representations based on these considerations.

Old age is a critical stage of life, in which a person's physical environment of the residential site plays an important role. However, although the most important characteristics of a suitable environment for the elderly is well described, the perceptions of older people within residential site environmental settings and their features have yet to be studied in-depth in Asian countries within rural settings. As critical points of at least two inter-related gaps, this study addresses these gaps by widening the focus on residential sites in a rural Asian context, with a mixed-methodology based on the extent of Person-Environment (P-E) fit. Thus, the principal research aims of this project are to understand how older adults perceive, utilise and relate to their residential site environments in a rural context as evaluated by older residents themselves in a case study of a village in northern Thailand. This study considers three research questions concerning the residential site environments in the rural Asian context - their concepts as the main considerations of the characteristics, the contribution to the outdoor usages and satisfaction, and the perceptions and evaluations among older people. The evidence presented in the study suggests that residential sites' environmental characteristics are essential to creating appropriate relationships between elders and their environments in a rural context and affect elders' perception, outdoor usage, and environmental satisfaction. This study contributes to the developed line of analysis of the residential site environments for ageing in a rural Asian context to broaden what has been set in that existing body of knowledge relating to living environments for older people. This research could lead to residential and rural development policy interventions and has implications for practice. The findings from this study allow elders or related organisations to promote, apply and create the appropriate and desirable residential environments in confronting an ageing society.

This thesis identifies a spatial gap in literature researching the corporation and platform Amazon, sought through a theoretical analysis into the emergence of logistical space as an organising principle in the post-industrial economy. This comes in addition to a local probe into Amazon's distribution facilities in Tees Valley in the North East of England that make up part of its UK 'fulfilment network'. It finds that there is a pattern and formula to Amazon's monopolising platform power that can be brought to bear through an applied reading of spatial sociology, Marxist geography, cargomobilities, infrastructure studies, and landscape urbanism. It draws attention to the landscapes behind the concept of the ubiquitous 'everything store' that Amazon strives to make a reality, defining these landscapes as a peripheral assemblage of physical distribution centres linked to a single digital interface through which Amazon customers are able retrieve a smorgasbord of products at almost instantaneous speeds. The analysis will show how this linking between interface and distribution network mobilises various digital technologies, geographical spaces and supply-chain infrastructures to create what to customers appears as a seamless and weightless experience of delivery, but what is really a creatively destructive method to accumulate capital in the post-industrial economy based on treating space as a means of production and time as money. For this reason, the research argues that the 'everything store' is an assault on the architectural and urban basis of society because it has become a driving force in how we plan our towns, our cities, and (especially) those bits in between. That force, it will conclude, cannot be one for good, since it is indifferent to the injury and exploitation that Amazon workers encounter when fulfilling orders, all the while creating a world in which we pay no attention to departures or journeys and all that they entail.