During the past 25 years, there has been an extensive use of Area Based Initiatives (ABIs) to regenerate run-down areas in many countries. However, despite their increased popularity, evidence on their success in helping to turn around depressed areas remains elusive. The evidence base has been...

The paper presents and discusses new evidence on the nature and causes of the urban-rural shift of business activity and employment in England, derived from a matched pairs survey of over 1000 manufacturing and service businesses in remote rural, accessible rural and urban settlements. It...

Greater levels of economic integration within Europe will bring more intense competition, not least for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper identifies the key factors in the SME location decision from a survey of almost 1400 companies. The most important factor was the...

During the 1980s and the 1990s there were a number of policy initiatives designed to tackle the problems of the urban areas in the UK. By the early 1990s these initiatives represented the commitment of over £1 billion of public expenditure each year. The initiatives encompassed 'area'-based...

This paper relates to the study of National Non Domestic Rates (NNDR), a property tax related to the rateable value of buildings not used for domestic purposes. Rateable values are reviewed every five years while the NNDR multiplier is adjusted annually in line with the RPI. The research...