Archive | May, 2007

Economics research doesn’t add up

23 May

A recent paper at Econ Journal Watch asked the question Where would Adam Smith publish today? given that the top economics journals appear to be closed to research and researchers that do not include mathematical analysis in their work.

Sutter and Pjesky found that:

only 1.5 percent of papers published in 10 top journals in 2003-04 met a strong criterion for math-free. And one journal, the Economic Journal, accounts for 40 percent of the strongly math-free papers.

This raises concerns about where the next generation of economics researchers is going to come from, as the recent survey of lecturers from the Economics Network highlighted the fact that students poor skills when it came to mathematics, was the number one issue for academics teaching in UK economics departments today .

However, this is an issue that is being tackled. The METAL project and website will go live shortly and feature a range of learning materials including videos, online question banks and dynamic animations, specifically aimed at mathematical issues in economics. Plus there are other maths based resources from the Economics Network.

Find out more about the issue of Mathematical Economics from Intute: Social Sciences

Wolfowitz resigns from the World Bank

18 May

The World Bank has announced that Paul Wolfowitz is to step down as President from the end of June, as well as documenting the whole saga.

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Search for more Internet resources on the issue of the World Bank at Intute: Economics

Understanding and responding to housing market change

17 May

Can public policy shape housing market outcomes to achieve wider social and economic goals or must it belatedly respond to mitigate some of the negative consequences of change?

Understanding and responding to housing market change is a new research summary from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that looks at the UK housing market. The paper:

  • summarises evidence, largely from studies funded by the JRF, on recent changes in the housing market in England at national, regional, local and neighbourhood levels
  • highlights key challenges for developing public policies, intervention programmes and reforms.

Search for more Internet resources on the topic of housing at Intute: Social Sciences

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Education news round-up

15 May

The Teaching and Learning Research Programme have published a new commentary on Neuroscience and Education: Issues and opportunities authored by Dr Paul Howard-Jones of the Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol and highlights the need for improved collaboration between neuroscience, psychology and education.

HEARTS – a scheme to encourage greater emphasis on the arts in teacher training has had a positive impact on its participants – students, tutors, artists, university departments of education (UDEs) and schools – including increased collaborative working, creative outcomes for students and pupils, as well as trans-disciplinary and cross-curricular learning, according to new research from NFER.

Resources from the JISC DELL II project – Transferability of e-Portfolios in Education – are now available to view online from the ESCalate website. They include a literature review, scoping study and report on the first phase of the project.

Find more resources on the topic of education from Intute: Social Sciences.

Smoking During Pregnancy: Giving Up By Month 5 Can Prevent Underweight Babies

15 May

Royal Economic Society logoIn the latest of a series of interviews from the Royal Economic Society Conference 2007, Romesh Vaitilingam talks to Emma Tominey about the effect of smoking during pregnancy.

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Mothers who smoke during pregnancy will have smaller babies. But much of the harm is due to unobservable traits of the mother. If mums stub it out by the time they are five months pregnant, the damage is as good as undone.

At the same time, the lasting harm to babies is greatest if the mothers have low education. So a much more holistic approach to improving child health in pregnancy is needed to help thousands of children break out of the poverty trap.

Read more about the research at the Economics in Action blog.

Read more papers by Emma Tominey at EconPapers and search for more Internet resources on the issue of Women and Economics at Intute: Social Sciences

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The ‘Part-time Occupational Penalty’: Lower Quality Jobs For British Women Who Don’t Want To Work Full-time

14 May

Royal Economic Society logoIn the latest of a series of interviews from the Royal Economic Society Conference 2007, Romesh Vaitilingam talks to Victoria Prowse about the ‘Part-time Occupational Penalty’ for UK women.

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No matter what qualifications they have or how big their family is, British women face a substantial ‘occupational penalty’ if they work part-time. That is the central finding of new research by Victoria Prowse, presented to the Royal Economic Society’s 2007 annual conference at the University of Warwick.

Read more about this research at the Economics in Action blog.

Find more papers by Victoria Prowse at EconPapers and search for more Internet resources on the issues of women and employment and the labour force and market at Intute: Economics.

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Underpaid Academics and the Damaging Consequences for the Quality of UK Higher Education

11 May

Royal Economics Society logoIn the latest of a series of interviews from the Royal Economic Society Conference 2007, Romesh Vaitilingam talks to James Walker about the pay of UK academics.

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Academics are underpaid and overworked compared with other graduate professions – and this is likely to have consequences for the quality of UK degrees. That is the conclusion of new research by James Walker and colleagues, presented to the Royal Economic Society’s 2007 annual conference at the University of Warwick.

Read more about this research at the Economics in Action blog.

Find more Internet resources on the issue of the economics of education at Intute: Social Sciences.

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Higher Divorce Risk Raises Women’s Working Hours

10 May

Royal Economic Society logoIn the latest of a series of interviews from the Royal Economic Society Conference 2007, Romesh Vaitilingam talks to Kerry Papps the effect of divorce on women and work.

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Married women work more hours in the labour market when they face a high likelihood of divorce: for example, a woman who is unhappy with her marriage will work on average 283 hours more in the following year than a woman who is very happy with her marriage. In contrast, married men are unaffected by the probability of divorce.

These are among the findings of new research by Kerry Papps. The study also finds that both single men and single women work more when they have a high chance of marrying in the near future.

Read more about this research at the Economics in Action blog.

Find more papers by Kerry Papps at EconPapers and search for more Internet resources on the issues of women and economics and labour economics.

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Opportunistic Monetary Policy: Why UK Interest Rates Are Often Constant For Long Periods And Why They Are Likely To Rise Soon

9 May

Royal Economic Society logoIn the fourth of a series of interviews from the Royal Economic Society annual conference 2007, Romesh Vaitilingam talks to Costas Milas about UK interest rates.

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Monetary policy-makers do not make minor adjustments to interest rates when inflation is close to the inflation target – but they do respond vigorously when inflation begins to move further from the target. That is the central argument of new research by Professors Christopher Martin and Costas Milas, presented to the Royal Economic Society’s 2007 annual conference at the University of Warwick.

Read more about this research at the Economics in Action blog.

Find more papers by Christopher Martin and Costas Milas at EconPapers and search for more Internet resources on the topic of interest rates at Intute: Economics.

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Changing Rates of Self-employment Among British Asians

8 May

Royal Economic Society logoIn the third of a series of interviews from the Royal Economic Society annual conference 2007, Romesh Vaitilingam talks to Stephen Drinkwater about self-employment among Britain’s Asian community.

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The typical Asian working age male is now younger, better educated and more likely to be UK-born than his parents’ generation were. According to research by Ken Clark and Stephen Drinkwater, each of these factors contributes to lower rates of self-employment, particularly among men of Indian and Chinese ethnicity. This suggests greater ‘assimilation’ of these groups into the UK labour market and education system.

Read more about this research at the Economics in Action blog.

Find more papers by Ken Clark and Stephen Drinkwater at EconPapers and search for more Internet resources on the issue of entrepreneurship at Intute: Economics.

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