Measuring business activity in the UK

PublicationBook chapter
Alex Coad, David J. Storey, Entreprenörskap, Företagandets villkor, Jobbskapande, Julian S. Frankish, Richard G. Roberts, Småföretagande, Tillväxt

Abstract

Extract: Since small businesses and enterprise were ‘discovered’ by public policy in the UK during the 1960s, commencing in earnest with the publication of the Bolton Committee (1971) report, there has been considerable official interest in this form of economic activity. The Conservative Government from 1979 to 1997 initially saw enterprise as a strategy for job creation but later switched to a focus on growth. The Labour Government after 1997 continued this ‘cross-party’ support, although it placed greater weight upon the potential role of enterprise to address wider issues of ‘social inclusion’, e.g. HM Treasury (1999), than its predecessor government. The election of a Conservative-led coalition in 2010, faced with a challenging macro-economic environment, meant that once again small businesses and enterprise creation were seen as playing a critical role in a UK economy seeking to emerge from recession (Greene, 2002; Greene et al., 2008).

Frankish, J., Roberts, R., Storey, D. J. & Coad, A. (2015). “Measuring business activity in the UK”. In J. R. Bryson, & P. W. Daniels (Eds.), Handbook of Service Business – Management, Marketing, Innovation and Internationalisation (pp. 146-169). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.


Similar content

Utvärderingar av näringspolitik – en intressekonflikt mellan myndigheter, konsult-företag, politik och skattebetalare?
Article (without peer review)Publication
Colin, E., Sandström, C., & Wennberg, C.
Publication year

2021

Published in

Ekon. Debatt, 49, 30-41.

Abstract

Antalet utvärderingar av ekonomisk politik ökar explosionsartat. Det finns dock få systematiska sammanställningar av de utvärderingar som görs och det saknas kunskap om hur utvärderare skiljer sig åt gällande metoder och slutsatser, inte minst inom näringspolitiken. Vi studerar utvärderingar av 110 näringspoli-tiska insatser 2009–19 genom att granska huruvida valet av utvärderare påver-kar utvärderingarnas resultat. Privata konsulter visar sig vara den vanligaste utvärderaren av näringspolitik och deras utvärderingar skiljer sig från andra utvärderare genom att vara övervägande mer positiva till de utvärderade insat-serna. Vi diskuterar intressekonflikter som kan antas föreligga mellan utvärde-rare, myndigheter, den politiska makten och allmänheten.

Colin, E., Sandström, C., & Wennberg, C. (2021). Utvärderingar av näringspolitik–en intressekonflikt mellan myndigheter, konsultföretag, politik och skattebetalare. Ekon. Debatt, 49, 30-41.

The Effect of Marshallian and Jacobian Knowledge Spillovers on Jobs in the Solar, Wind and Energy Efficiency Sector
Article (with peer review)Publication
Aldieri, L., Grafström, J., & Vinci, C. P.
Publication year

2021

Published in

Energies, 14(14), 4269.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to establish if Marshallian and Jacobian knowledge spillovers affect job creation in the green energy sector. Whether these two effects exist is important for the number of jobs created in related fields and jobs pushed away in other sectors. In the analysis, the production efficiency, in terms of jobs and job spillovers, from inventions in solar, wind and energy efficiency, is explored through data envelopment analysis (DEA), based on the Malmquist productivity index, and tobit regression. A panel dataset of American and European firms over the period of 2002–2017 is used. The contribution to the literature is to show the role of the spillovers from the same technology sector (Marshallian externalities), and of the spillovers from more diversified activity (Jacobian externalities). Since previous empirical evidence concerning the innovation effects on the production efficiency is yet weak, the paper attempts to bridge this gap. The empirical findings suggest negative Marshallian externalities, while Jacobian externalities have no statistical impact on the job creation process. The findings are of strategic importance for governments who are developing industrial strategies for renewable energy.

Aldieri, L., Grafström, J., & Vinci, C. P. (2021). The Effect of Marshallian and Jacobian Knowledge Spillovers on Jobs in the Solar, Wind and Energy Efficiency Sector. Energies, 14(14), 4269.

Show more