For the last two decades, the primary instruments for UK regional policy have been discretionary subsidies. Such aid is targeted at “additional” projects - projects that would not have been implemented without the subsidy - and the subsidy should be the minimum necessary for the project to...

In previous work we have applied the environmental multi-region input-output (MRIO) method proposed by Turner et al (2007) to examine the ‘CO2 trade balance’ between Scotland and the Rest of the UK. In McGregor et al (2008) we construct an interregional economy-environment input-output (IO)...

In the export-base model, the level of a region’s economic activity is underpinned by the performance of its export sector (Daly, 1940; Dixon and Thirlwall, 1975; Kaldor, 1970; North, 1955). This theory is now almost universally represented as a primitive version of the familiar Input-Output (IO) or...

In this paper, we use CGE modelling techniques to identify the impact on energy use of an improvement in energy efficiency in the household sector. The main findings are that 1) when the price of energy is measured in natural units, the increase in efficiency yields only to a modification of...

There have been numerous studies of the "impact" of HEIs on their host regions. These have typically focused on the demand for goods and services in the host region. The best of these studies employ regional input-output analyses. However, there has developed a "policy scepticism" about the...

This paper replicates the analysis of Scottish HEIs in Hermannsson et al (2010a) for the case of Northern Ireland in order to provide a self-contained analysis that is readily accessible by those whose primary concern is with the regional impacts of Northern-Irish HEIs. When we treat each of the...

There have been numerous attempts to assess the overall impact of Higher Education Institutions on regional economies in the UK and elsewhere. There are two disparate approaches focussing on: demand-side effects of HEIs, exerted through universities’ expenditures within the local economy;...

H<sc>ermannsson</sc> K., L<sc>isenkova</sc> K., M<sc>c</sc>G<sc>regor</sc> P. G. and S<sc>wales</sc> J. K. 'Policy scepticism' and the impact of Scottish higher education institutions (HEIs) on their host region: accounting for regional budget constraints under devolution, <italic>Regional Studies</italic>. A 'policy scepticism' has emerged that challenges...

Comparing each of the higher education institutions (HEIs) as a separate sector in the Scottish input–output table suggests that their expenditure patterns are homogenous and that any apparent heterogeneity in their conventional demand impacts depends primarily on scale. However, a...

This paper explores the system-wide impact of graduates on the regional economy. Graduates enjoy a significant wage premium, often interpreted as reflecting their greater productivity relative to nongraduates. If this is so there is a clear and direct supply-side impact of higher education...