Using a comprehensive international trade data set we document empirical Power Laws (PLs) for the distribution of the interaction between countries as measured by revealed comparative advantage. Using the recently developed estimator by Gabaix and Ibragimov (2011), we find strong evidence in...

The theoretically necessary and sufficient condition for the correspondence between 'revealed' comparative advantage and pre-trade relative prices derived by Hillman (1980) is analysed empirically for virtually all countries of the world over an extended period of time. This yields 10 stylized...

For the UK, defence exports provide many jobs but critics point to the morality and human rights aspects of the arms trade. Recent speeches by the foreign secretary suggest that Mr Cook is acutely aware of the trade-off between a more ethical arms export policy and jobs in the defence industry....

The level of technical efficiency in nine organizations privatized in the UK in the 1980s is assessed. Technical efficiency is measured for a number of years before and after privatization using data envelopment analysis. This non-parametric method allows efficiency to be measured without having...

Recent research suggests that the economic benefits to the UK economy from arms exports might not be that great. Surveys suggest that almost two-thirds of those that lose their job in the defence industry either retire or find new work within one year and arms exports are heavily subsidized by...

In a number of countries where health care is publicly funded, policies to introduce greater patient choice are being implemented. In most cases patient choice is seen as an instrument to reduce waiting times for elective (non-emergency) hospital services. An important issue is whether...