Renewed interest in disadvantaged neighbourhoods is generating increasingresearch activity. Current work includes qualitative community studies andquantitative investigations of area effects on individual outcomes. This papercriticises the contribution of area effects research to date....

In this paper the author argues that social scientists need to do more toprovide policy-relevant research. Rapid technological and economicchange raise new issues about how policy should adjust that are notadequately addressed by older and narrower approaches. The authorsuggests two ways in...

A review of research evidence suggests that low levels of educationalattainment are crucial in generating and sustaining social exclusion. Testscores at school are the most effective predictor of many adult outcomes.School attendance and soft skills are also important. Reviewing the...

Childhood poverty and early parenthood are both high on the politicalagenda. The key new issue addressed in this research is the relativeimportance of childhood poverty and of early motherhood as correlatesof outcomes later in life. How far are the ‘effects’ of early motherhood onlater...

This paper represents the results of a small-scale qualitative study, exploringpublic perceptions of the redistributive effects of taxation and public spendingin the UK. Redistribution is not at the top of people’s minds when they considerthese issues and it is a complex subject on which they...

The aim of this paper is to compare academic interpretations of the termsocial exclusion with the understanding of people with direct experienceof the phenomenon. A pre-selected group of residents of deprivedneighbourhoods were asked about various aspects of the concept andtheir responses...

This paper examines pre-colonial interaction among polities along the Konkan coast, from Surat to Goa, during the long half-century c.1680-1756. Specifically it uses the dynasty of the Angrias, who were deemed pirates by the European powers but were actually an integral part of the Maratha...

This article, based on two books (Barr and Diamond 2008, forthcoming), sets out a series of principles for pension design rooted in economic theory: pension systems have multiple objectives, analysis should consider the pension system as a whole, analysis should be framed in a second-best...

This Report is about Reforming pensions in China, Chile and elsewhere.

This report is the first policy study of the China Economic Research and AdvisoryProgramme, in which eminent economists from China and abroad have participated. Thereport focuses on the problems faced by China in the reform of its social security system.On the basis of economic principles and...