The GP fundholding scheme was introduced as part of the Conservative government’s 1991NHS reforms and abolished by the Labour government in 1998. This paper presents theargument that very little was learnt about the effectiveness of the scheme before its abolition.This was because there was no...

The regulation of drug prices is an excellent example of the type of tensions that are emerging inthe UK's new system of multi-level governance. Both the benefits and regulatory burden of thePharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) are regionally concentrated. However, thoseregional...

The realisation that fast growing SMEs are major contributors to economic prosperity has seen these firms being increasingly attributed with a more central role in the development of wealth, innovation, employment and national competitiveness. Spatial proximity often positively affects knowledge...

Current research suggests that the process of knowledge creation is both networked and iterative. Synthesising the literature highlights a range of factors for analysis in knowledge-based industries. These factors are then used to examine the biotechnology sector in Queensland Australia,...

Trade and investment liberalization (trade liberalization) can promote or harm health. Undoubtedly it has contributed, although unevenly, to Asia's social and economic development over recent decades with resultant gains in life expectancy and living standards. In the absence of public health...

Interest in Barnett formula reform is on the rise again, particularly because of changes in the parties in power in the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales, and the tighter public spending heralded by the recent Comprehensive Spending Review. This article looks at whether, and to what...

The scale of the ambition to decouple emissions growth from energy consumption in the economy runs counter to several decades of debates and literatures on the limits of government. Transport biofuels are an early and influential case of the policy capacity challenge in the transition to...

Trade liberalisation is a driver of the rising burden of non-communicable diseases in Asia through its role in facilitating the growth of the region's tobacco, alcohol and ultra-processed foods industries while simultaneously restricting the capacities of governments to enact public health...

This paper sets up two competing frameworks to assess the evidence of the CAP reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. The two frameworks differ in the degree of prominence given to interest groups in affecting CAP decisions. The paper concludes that the most important mechanism behind CAP reforms is the...

The scale of the ambition to decouple emissions growth from energy consumption in the economy runs counter to several decades of debates and literatures on the limits of government. Transport biofuels are an early and influential case of the policy capacity challenge in the transition to...