The recent revival of self-employment in the UK and other advanced industrialized economies has been viewed contrastingly as an indication of economic vitality and, alternatively, as a form of labour market deficiency. These different perceptions rest essentially on two opposing processes of...

Not only are most franchisees themselves small businesses, but so are many franchisors, particularly in the formative years of their franchise businesses. High turbulence and attrition rates in the formative years of franchise businesses result in an industry profile whereby, at any one time,...

Not only are most franchisees themselves small businesses, but so are many franchisors, particularly in the formative years of their franchise businesses. High turbulence and attrition rates in the formative years of franchise businesses result in an industry profile whereby, at any one time,...

This article draws on UK data obtained from a useable sample of 673 'independent contractors' active in the field of direct sales franchising. This is a low-cost, low-entry barrier business opportunity, which, at any one time, facilitates 500,000 individuals in the UK, mostly women, experiencing...

Dominant sociological interpretations of the economic structures of industrial societies have long neglected the role of small scale economic activities. However, current rethinking, stimulated by attempts to explain economic restructuring in the 1980s, appears to offer petty capitalism and...

This article reports a study of the attitudes of small business owners to the localities in which their businesses are located and local economic development. The views of the owners contrasted strongly with those of representatives of local business bodies and economic agencies. The findings...

Although the low-template or stochastic threshold is in widespread use and is typically set to 150-200 rfu peak height, there has been no consideration on its determination and meaning. In this paper we propose a definition that is based upon the specific risk of wrongful designation of a...

Out-of-context analysis of water resources systems can result in unsustainable management strategies. To address this problem, systems thinking seeks to understand interactions among the subsystems driving a system’s overall behavior. System dynamics, a method for operationalizing systems...

This paper develops a tiered geography of local housing market areas (HMAs) that provides a national framework for spatial planning. It is derived from a theoretical understanding of the economic basis of HMAs. The analysis explores the relationships between the tiers of the HMA geography and...