How Many Jobs Must We Provide for a Balanced Postwar Economy

This study investigates how unemployment and income influence the length of time an individual remains in good health. This is a complex relationship since unemployment or low income deteriorates health but poor health can become a barrier to obtaining higher income or gaining re-employment. Data are from the British Household Panel Survey, using two measures of physical health: an index of mobility problems and a measure of self-assessed health. The results show that unemployment, low income and poor education adversely affect the time that people remain in good health. These results have important implications for public policy, particularly in an age of austerity when social protection mechanisms are under threat. In fact, the results suggest that to improve health and reduce health inequality, more investment needs to be directed at policies that enhance labour force participation, improve education and reduce income inequality.     

Is There a Gold Social Seal? The Financial Effects of Additions to and Deletions from Social Stock Indices

This study investigates the financial effects of additions to and deletions from the most well-known social stock index: the MSCI KLD 400. Our study makes use of the unique setting that index reconstitution provides and allows us to bypass possible issues of endogeneity that commonly plague empirical studies of the link between corporate social and financial performance. By examining not only short-term returns but also trading activity, earnings per share, and long-term performance of stocks that are involved in these events, we bring forward evidence of a ‘social index effect’ where unethical transgressions are penalized more heavily than responsibility is rewarded. We find that the addition of a stock to the index does not lead to material changes in its market price, whereas deletions are accompanied by negative cumulative abnormal returns. Trading volumes for deleted stocks are significantly increased on the event date, while the operational performances of the respective firms deteriorate after their deletion from the social index.     

Measuring and Explaining Technical Efficiency in UK Potato Production

Technical efficiency in UK maincrop potato production is measured through the estimation of a stochastic frontier production function using cross section data for the 1992 crop year. Variations in the technical efficiency index across production units are explained through a number of managerial and farm characteristic variables following Battese and Coelli (1995). The technical efficiency index across production units ranges from 33 to 97 per cent. Irrigation of the potato crop and storage of potatoes after harvest are positively correlated with technical efficiency. Number of years of experience of growing potatoes, small scale farming practice and chitting of seed potatoes are all negatively correlated with technical efficiency.     

Financial Deepening and Economic Growth Linkages: A Panel Data Analysis

The paper examines whether a long-run relationship between financial development and economic growth exists employing panel integration and cointegration techniques for a dynamic heterogeneous panel of 15 OECD and 50 non-OECD countries over the period 1975–2000. Three different measures of financial deepening are used to capture the variety of different channels through which financial development can affect growth. Our findings support the existence of a single long-run equilibrium relation between financial deepening, economic growth and a set of control variables. Further, the evidence points to a bi-directional causality between financial deepening and growth. JEL no. O11, O16, C33     

The Neoliberal Framework of EU Urban Policy in Action: Supporting Competitiveness and Reaping Disparities

This paper concerns the gradual proliferation of the neoliberal rationale in European Union urban policies towards a specific mode of competitiveness-oriented 'policy networking'. Empirical research on the policy network of the EU URBAN Initiative in Portugal and Greece illustrates the ineffectiveness of the current approach in acknowledging the socio-economic and political specificities that influence development prospects in lagging cities. The Commission's proposals on the reform of the Funds (2007-13) suggest the incorporation of EU urban programmes in the mainstream spatial policies framework. The rationale, however, remains unchanged. The context-free emphasis put in these proposals on the 'competitiveness' target mitigates the 'cohesion' objective and risks perpetuating uneven urban development trends.