http://hdl.handle.net/2262/2799 Sat, 25 May 2013 16:15:14 GMT 2013-05-25T16:15:14Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/8618 Title: Economic management in Ireland post-EMU: policy implications of globalisation and regionalisation Author: Bradley, John Abstract: In today’s increasingly globalised economy, it is something of a paradox that while policy-making autonomy is being progressively ceded by states to supranational organisations, regions within nation states have also begun to assert their rights to a greater degree of administrative and policy self-determination. However, just as the exercise of certain types of policy autonomy in the past for small states like Ireland was not always without problems, policy integration of regions into nation states – such as Scotland and Northern Ireland – has not necessarily provided them with guaranteed participation in the prosperity of other richer regions within their nation state. Description: Read before the Society, 18 February 1999 Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/8618 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/8581 Title: Economic management in Ireland post-EMU: Ireland’s potential within EMU Author: Geoghegan, Brian Abstract: A tendency to seriousness is not usually a characteristic associated with the Irish but our national image may be in the process of being redefined as we treat the management of success with almost as much caution and worry as we did the management of the crises of the past. The economy has outperformed all the prognostications – the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), damned at the time for being over optimistic in its medium-term review, was, as it turned out, far too cautious; the emigration problem has been reversed; standards of living are close to EU average; employment is booming; public finance surpluses are forecast for a number of years and business confidence remains high even if we are at the cusp of this extraordinary period. As we assess the implications of the new monetary and exchange rate straightjacket for our booming economy, it is right that serious reflection be given to the appropriate policy mix for economic management. Description: Read before the Society, 18 February 1999 Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/8581 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/8505 Title: Proceedings of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland: one hundred and fifty second session – 1998/99 Author: SSISI Description: One hundred and fifty second session – 1998/1999 Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/8505 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/2679 Title: Higher education participation in Northern Ireland Author: Osborne, Robert Abstract: This paper seeks to provide an overview of higher education participation in Northern Ireland. The aims are to set out quantitatively, the main dimensions of participation located within a comparative United Kingdom (UK) context, to identify the main social characteristics of participation, to draw upon qualitative research evidence to contextualise the patterns identified and to briefly discuss the relevant public policies. The paper draws upon a range of official statistical sources and the findings from research conducted in the past twenty years in Northern Ireland. - [Introduction] Description: Read before the Society, 20 May 1999 Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/2679 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/2678 Title: The demographic and socio-economic characteristics of migrants, 1986-1996 Author: Punch, Aidan; Finneran, Catherine Abstract: In the paper we draw on the following data sources: the censuses of 1986, 1991 and 1996 and the annual Labour Force Surveys (LFSs) for 1987 to 1997. Data from the annual series of population and migration releases are also used. This series was introduced in 1994 and covers the period since 1986. The paper commences with a consideration of some of the technical issues relating to the migration questions used in the above data sources. Section 3 deals with the stock of persons usually resident in this country who were either born abroad or who lived outside the country for a period of one year or more. The characteristics of the Irish-born and foreign-born persons who make up this group are compared with those of persons who never emigrated. To-date the only information published on the two categories of migrants is the basic demographic information published in the census reports. Section 4 examines the annual gross inflow data derivable from the censuses and labour force surveys while section 5 sets out the available information on the characteristics of the households from which persons have emigrated. The main findings of the paper are summarised in the final section and a number of topics for further study are suggested. - [p.2] Description: Read before the Society, 13 May 1999 Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/2678 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/2661 Title: Regional income differentials and the issue of regional equalisation in Ireland Author: Boyle, G. E.; McCarthy, Thomas G.; Walsh, Jim Abstract: The policy perspective we will argue for in this paper has three broad aspects. First, we will argue that policies of redistribution that have an explicit regional emphasis are unlikely to be justified in Ireland's unitary State. Second, we will stress the importance of agglomeration economies in sustaining regional productivity imbalances at least in the 1990s. Third, we will argue that there is a key role for State investment strategies and user-cost pricing schemes which concentrate on expanding the commuting compass of those existing centres of concentration that have sufficient critical mass to generate and re-generate agglomeration economies. - [Extract p.3] Description: Read before the Society, 15 April 1999 Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/2661 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/2660 Title: Innovation policy in Ireland: economic ideas and institutional diversity Author: Kane, Aidan Abstract: For academic economists, the questions ‘what are the sources of technological progress?’ and ‘to what extent can policy assist innovation?’ appear now to be increasingly almost co-extensive with the central question of economic science: ‘what determines the wealth of nations?’. To use the title of Joel Mokyr’s (1992) compelling and accessible historical survey, economists now seek to understand the ‘lever of riches’. This is, at least for mainstream macroeconomists, mainly a process of rediscovery, in that for most of the post-war period, they shared in, or perhaps more accurately, created, the same trance of short-run economic policy management which mesmerised policymakers. The macroeconomic research agenda has decisively turned, for fifteen years or more, towards bringing technological change and innovation within the ambit of economic explanation, in the hope of bringing to a long-running conversation, if not a new language, then a least a modern and rigorous idiom. Description: Read before the Society, 25 March 1999 This lecture is delivered under the auspices of the Barrington Trust (founded by the bequest of John Barrington, Esq.) with the collaboration of the Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland. Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/2660 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/2659 Title: Corporate profitability in Ireland: overview and determinants Author: Nugent, Jim Abstract: The study of profits is important not only because of the information it provides about the health of the economy in any given year, but also because profits are a key determinant of growth and employment in the medium-term. Changes in profitability are an important contributor to economic progress via the influence profits have on the investment and savings decisions of companies. This is because a rise in profits improves the cash-flow position of companies and offers greater flexibility in the source of finance for corporate investment (i.e. through retained earnings). Easier access to finance facilitates greater investment which boosts productivity, productive capacity, competitiveness and employment. This paper has a number of objectives. Firstly, it presents an overview of recent trends in profitability in Ireland, both at a manufacturing/sectoral level as well as at a broader macroeconomic level. Secondly, the paper tries to determine, in an impressionistic way, the range of likely factors (such as exchange rates and the degree of monopoly power) which influence movements in profitability. A third objective is to briefly review the capital structure of Irish industry and the implications for the financial well-being of the corporate sector. Finally, the paper explores the relation between profits/retentions with investment and employment, which is a key motivation for the study of profits in the first place. Description: Read before the Society, 26 November 1998 Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/2659 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/2658 Title: Public expenditure in the regional economy of Northern Ireland: has the growth of the 1970s been sustained? Author: Hutchinson, Graeme Abstract: In terms of the overall objective of the paper, the primary focus for analysis relates to the way in which the growth of public expenditure in Northern Ireland has changed since the 1970s. Simpson (1980) documented this period and highlighted that public expenditure grew at a dramatic rate, due to a combination of factors: expanding the level of public services; counteracting local economic problems, particularly job losses within the manufacturing sector and addressing the problems of the so-called ‘troubles’. However, what of the 1980s and 1990s? Has this period marked a change in the pattern of public expenditure growth in Northern Ireland? Has there been a return to a level of public expenditure more in keeping with the rest of the UK? It is to these issues that this paper seeks to address. - [Introduction p.2] Description: Read before the Society, 22 October 1998 Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/2658 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z