scholarly journals How entrepreneurship, culture and universities influence the geographical distribution of UK talent and city growth

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Cowling ◽  
Neil Lee

Purpose The creation and distribution of human capital, often termed talent, has been recognised in economic geography as an important factor in the locational decisions of firms (Florida, 2002), and at a more general level as a key driver of economic growth (Romer, 1990). The purpose of this paper is to consider how talent is created and distributed across the cities of the UK and the key factors which are driving this spatial distribution. They also consider what the economic outcomes of these disparities are for cities. Design/methodology/approach The multivariate models can estimate the dynamic inter-relationships between human capital (talent), innovative capacity, and economic value added. These can be estimated, using talent as an example, in the form: human capital measurei =α0i+α1i innovative capacity +α2i quality of life + α3i labour market indicators + α4i economic indicators + α5i HEI indicators + β6i population demographics + β7i population + υi. Findings The first finding is that talent is unequally distributed across cities, with some having three times more highly educated workers than others. Talent concentration at the city level is associated with entrepreneurial activity, culture, the presence of a university, and to a lesser degree the housing market. This feeds into more knowledge-based industry, which is associated with higher gross value added. Research limitations/implications The research is limited in a practical sense by the fact that UK data at this level have only become available quite recently. Thus, it is only possible to capture talent flows and city growth in a relatively small window. But the prospects going forward will allow more detailed analysis at the city level of the relationship between talent flows and local economic growth. And additional insights could be considered relating to the on-going changes in the UK university system. Practical implications The question of whether universities are simply producers of talent or play a much broader and deeper role in the socio-economic landscape and outcomes of cities is an open one. This research has identified what the key drivers of city level economic growth and knowledge creation are, and sought to explain why some cities are capable of attracting and harnessing three times more talent than other cities. This has significant implications for the future development of UK cities and for those seeking to address these imbalances. Social implications Universities are a major economic agent in their own right, but they are increasingly being asked to play a wider role in local economic development. The authors’ evidence suggests that universities do play a wider role in the growth and development of cities, but that there are large discrepancies in the subsequent spatial distribution of the talent they create. And this has significant implications for those seeking to address these imbalances and promote a broader and less unequal economic landscape. Originality/value The authors explore how cities create economic value via a process whereby talent is attracted and then this stimulates knowledge-based industry activity. The originality relates to several key aspects of the work. First, the authors look at the stock of talent, and then the authors explore how “new” talent from universities is attracted by looking at graduate flows around the cities of the UK, differentiating between top-level graduates and less talented graduates. The authors then allow a wide variety of economic, cultural, and population factors to influence the locational decision of talented people. The results highlight the complexity of this decision.

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 907-928
Author(s):  
Chris Hattingh ◽  
Juan-Pierré Bruwer

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the factors that led to Cape Town’s gay village to transform from a “gaytrified” tourism mecca to a “heterosexualised” urban space, from a gay leisure space owner perspective. Design/methodology/approach Empirical observations of the six remaining gay leisure space owners in De Waterkant (population) are taken into account by using semi-structured interviews. All narratives are analysed in Altas.ti – qualitative data analysis software – to identify applicable factors, which participants believe are contributing to the “de-gaying” of Cape Town’s gay village. Findings From the conducted analyses, it becomes apparent that Western theorisation of the “de-gaying” of gay villages is not universally applicable as certain factors contributing to De Waterkant’s demise appear to be location-specific, suggesting that Western theory is insufficient to explain gay spatial realities in non-Western contexts such as South Africa. The identified factors responsible for the “de-gaying” of De Waterkant adversely affect Cape Town’s status as a gay capital and its ability to market this gay neighbourhood to attract the gay tourism market. This may result in lost socio-economic opportunities considering the financial contribution of gay travellers to the local tourist economy. Originality/value This study is the first of its kind to use first-hand narratives of the six remaining gay business owners in De Waterkant and marks the first attempt to investigate the factors, from a non-Western perspective, which led to the “de-gaying” of Africa’s only gay village. Taking into account the socio-economic value added by gay tourism, the findings provide the first non-Western perspective on the demise of Africa’s and South Africa’s only gay neighbourhood from a gay leisure space owner perspective, including the possible repercussions on Cape Town’s local tourist economy. Some tactical considerations and recommendations are suggested to ensure the continuation of gay tourism in the city.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marijana Cvetanoska ◽  
Predrag Trpeski

The link between education and economic growth has been the subject of public debate, and it has been widespread interest among economists in solving key economic problems. As a determinant of human capital, which is one of the factors of production, education has its own contribution in the process of globalization where economies are transformed and based on knowledge. Particularly higher education has a high economic value because it causes the formation of human capital and it is often seen as vital for a continued growth performance, prosperity, and competitiveness in national and global economies. Higher education contributes to the economic growth by producing higher-level skills and competencies needed for a shift towards knowledge-based economy. For these reasons, countries all over the world especially the developing countries such as North Macedonia, are giving higher education special attention to facilitate the economic growth. In this study, the co-integration between higher education and economic growth in North Macedonia is analyzed using dynamic methods. Toda Yamamoto's approach for Granger's causality (TY) developed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) is used to analyze the causality between economic growth and higher education. For this aim, a bivariate VAR model is constructed. This study provides an evidence for the causality between higher education and economic growth in North Macedonia. Moreover, a key role of higher education institutions is to drive innovation, with the aim of finding solutions to global challenges. Today, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a danger that COVID-19 will destabilize this educational level, with serious consequences. Therefore, the challenges that higher education is faced are emphasized in order to help education institutions and policy-makers to reflect on them and be prepared to address them, while re-emphasizing the role of higher education in supporting to conform the post-COVID19 pandemic.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerrie Sadiq ◽  
Richard Krever

Purpose Tax policymakers are currently navigating a path through a delicate dialectic of macro- and micro-level policy responses to the economic dislocation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this paper is to examine initial tax measures that are aimed at helping taxpayers needing liquidity, solvency and income support. Design/methodology/approach This study undertakes a review of key tax policy responses of six jurisdictions across the globe that have similar tax regimes and virus mitigation strategies (albeit with different outcomes). Key initiatives implemented from February to April 2020 by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and the UK are examined. Findings This study indicates that tax concessions are a crude and mostly ineffective way of assisting individuals and enterprises in difficulty. In the longer term, if the crisis prompts desirable reforms such as extending the recognition of tax losses, the income tax system will emerge fairer and more efficient. Practical implications An investigation of the short-term reforms announced relating to asset write-offs, tax deferral, tax losses and goods and services tax/value-added tax rates in light of the liquidity, income support and stimulus objectives shows that in some cases the policies may have been misguided. The findings can be used by policymakers as the basis for designing better targeted alternative non-tax responses. Originality/value Jurisdictional responses to tax policy reforms during a modern period of significant economic dislocation have yet to be documented in the literature. Specifically, this paper highlights the limitations of tax policy initiatives as a response to financial hardship.


Significance However, the recovery has also led to supply bottlenecks and labour shortages, which have resulted in inflationary pressures. While most of the pandemic-related impacts on the economy are expected to be transitory, longer-term challenges such as export performance, net migration and productivity will weigh on economic growth.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1928-1947
Author(s):  
Svitlana Shevelova ◽  
Svitlana Plaskon

Purpose Despite an increasing volume of literature focussed on foreign direct investment (FDI) in transition economies, there has been little research into FDI in Ukraine. The relationship between the inflows of FDI (IFDI) and absorptive capacity (AC) has been under-researched in the peripheral transition countries like Ukraine. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the appropriateness of the Ukrainian economy’s AC to attract IFDI and facilitate economic growth with a particular focus on AC factors, such as the potential of human resources to absorb innovation and benefit from research and development (R&D) expenditure. Design/methodology/approach This study presents a thoughtful research design: there is an analysis of the AC framework for justification and selection factors that allows a measurement of the potential of Ukraine’s AC to attract and exploit IFDI. The study uses data from 25 regions in Ukraine for the 1996–2015 period. To estimate the effects of IFDI on Ukrainian economic growth, a Cobb–Douglas production function is used. As an appropriate instrumentation technique for dynamic panel data, the Generalised Method of Moments is used to provide unbiased and efficient estimates of the results. The application of the interactive term in this study allows the authors to indicate the existence of complementarities between IFDI and human capital, in particular with higher education, that afford opportunity to absorb new technologies and benefit from IFDI. Findings The resulting model indicates that R&D expenditure benefited very significantly in evolving country’s innovation system due to economic growth. Physical and human capital has not been used effectively in Ukraine to facilitate economic growth and attract IFDI. The number of patents is not significant in all of the regression models. Moreover, IFDI in Ukraine for the 1996–2015 period did not significantly impact on economic growth. However, the AC of human capital, in particular those with a higher education, is relatively relevant to benefit from IFDI. Practical implications The findings have important implications for governmental policy, which should be based on improving the business climate, a strategy for digital development, innovation, migration, institutional and regional policies aimed at the achievement of country’s sustainable economic growth. The government should increase R&D expenditure as an important factor of gross domestic product growth and introduce grants, loans and other financial supports for encouraging students to continue university education. Originality/value The originality and value of this paper is empirical and methodological. The empirical results of this study enable a conclusion about the appropriate level of the country’s absorptive capability required to benefit from IFDI. The paper also contributes to the existing academic debate and proves that despite the well-established theoretical framework for the IFDI–AC economic impact context, a new theorisation is needed to explore the full complexity of the country’s explicit relationship between AC and IFDI. Future research should be focussed on examining not only groups of countries but also distinctly the country’s explicit relationship between AC and IFDI with the particular attention for the under-researched countries: the peripheral transition economies to discover new research niches for theory building. This study presents an original methodological approach with a careful justification of the theoretical framework for hypothesis development, an appropriate sample and an original application of seminal research methods based on the Cobb–Douglas production function. This study proves that the interactive term, which allows indication of the existence of complementarities between IFDI and other variables, is appropriate for measuring AC in countries with smaller amounts of IFDI.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 6-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iryna Oleynikova ◽  
Zhanna Balabaniuk

Nowadays the main potential for growth comes from the ability to innovate and succeed with breakthrough ideas. However, despite growing importance of the subject matter, there are still no standard practices that would perform such a measurement and employ tendencies of human capital circulation. Various attempts have been made over recent years, but none have achieved general acceptance among experts in the business field. Although there is no universally accepted theory, each has its own strengths and weaknesses in the deriving approximate value of intellectual capital for various companies. In this work, we looked over some theories that have been suggested to estimate intellectual capital and analyzed data from Ukrainian IT companies in order to prove how important measurement of intellectual capital and human capital circulation trends to allow for much better representation of an organization’s competitive position. Additionally, the impact of intellectual capital on various Key Performance Indicators, such as Economic Value Added and Weighted Average Cost of Capital, was examined with supporting financial analysis performed. The paper concludes with an overview of methodological and managerial implications of the research, theoretical and practical limitations and possible improvements, and considerations for further research in the field of study.


2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 388
Author(s):  
Brata Wibawa Djojo

Human capital is a valuable asset of any company, especially for competent human resources and contributes both to the company. The performance evaluation given to employees annually can be defined and standardized by the company. However, the question is how big the contribution of human resources to sales and profit contribution is. Case studies take data from one branch of a general insurance company in Indonesia, Jakarta branch. Measurement is done by taking samples of data from 2007, 2008, and 2009. The study measures the risk of several components: (i) Human Capital Revenue Factor, (ii) Human Economic Value Added, (iii) Human Capital Cost Factor, (iv) Human Capital Value Added, and (v) Human Capital Return on Investment. Results of research can provide guidelines for the management, especially for management of JLI in view of Human Capital contribution to corporate objectives, namely in terms of staffing and agency. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 410-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santi Gopal Maji ◽  
Mitra Goswami

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on Indian traditional sector and compare the relative importance of IC on corporate performance of Indian knowledge-based sector (engineering sector) and traditional sector (steel sector). Design/methodology/approach Secondary data on 100 listed Indian firms, comprising of 44 firms from the engineering sector and 56 from the steel sector, are collected from “Capitaline Plus” Corporate database for a period of 14 years from 1999-2000 to 2012-2013. IC and its components are computed using Pulic’s value-added intellectual coefficient model and firm performance is measured by return on asset. Fixed effect regression model is used to investigate the hypothetical relationship between IC and firm performance. Further, quantile regression is used to check the robustness of the results. Findings The results indicate that IC efficiency and physical capital efficiency are positively and significantly associated with the firm performance for both the sectors. Regarding the components of IC, the coefficient of human capital efficiency is positive and significant, but the present effort fails to disentangle any significant influence of structural capital efficiency on firm performance. However, the results indicate that the influence of IC efficiency on firm performance is significantly greater in case of knowledge-based sector than that of traditional sector. Practical implications The findings of the study are useful for the decision makers, as the results indicate that the IC plays crucial role in value creation not only for knowledge-based firms but also for the firms belonging to the traditional manufacturing sector. Originality/value In the Indian context, this is the first study to examine the relative importance of IC in a knowledge-based sector and a traditional sector using appropriate methodology.


foresight ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 469-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Ravetz ◽  
Ian Douglas Miles

Purpose This paper aims to review the challenges of urban foresight via an analytical method: apply this to the city demonstrations on the UK Foresight Future of Cities: and explore the implications for ways forward. Design/methodology/approach The methodology is based on the principles of co-evolutionary complex systems, a newly developed toolkit of “synergistic mapping and design”, and its application in a “synergy foresight” method. Findings The UK Foresight Future of Cities is work in progress, but some early lessons are emerging – the need for transparency in foresight method – and the wider context of strategic policy intelligence. Practical implications The paper has practical recommendations, and a set of propositions, (under active discussion in 2015), which are based on the analysis. Originality/value The paper aims to demonstrate an application of “synergy foresight” with wide benefits for cities and the communities within them.


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