Jane Bryan

Training and performance in small firms

This article explores the relationship between training and growth in small manufacturing businesses. Research on training undertaken at the macro-level highlights a series of earnings and productivity returns. However, firm-level research has generally yielded more ambiguous results. A review of small firms research indicates that the relationship between training and growth has rarely been considered within the wider context of other factors that may influence growth. Training literature also appears to be more concerned, perversely, with its impacts on firm inputs (employment growth) rather than output (sales) growth. Other considerations also complicate understanding of the relationship between training and performance, since training may be provoked by employment growth (but not theoretically by sales growth), and has a tendency to be associated with larger firms. These considerations are examined with respect to two types of training (in-house training and ex-house management training) using information from a sample of 114 small manufacturing firms in Wales.

Assessing the Role of the Arts and Cultural Industries in a Local Economy

The authors examine the economic impacts of the arts and cultural industries on the Welsh economy. The impact of defined sectors were assessed within an input-output modelling framework. By using this methodology they seek to estimate the sectoral impacts on employment, output, and incomes in Wales and also to assess the significance of sectoral interdependencies. A number of policy implications are discussed.

Road infrastructure and economic development in the periphery: the case of A55 improvements in North Wales☆

Abstract This paper examines the impact of a major road improvement programme on the economic development of North Wales. The paper identifies the economic impacts of the road on a selection of firms and organisations in North Wales, and provides a modelling framework to examine the static and dynamic effects of road improvements. Road improvements across North Wales are found to be a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for economic development in this peripheral area.

Assessing the Economic Significance of Port Activity: Evidence from ABP Operations in Industrial South Wales

The paper seeks to improve the evidence base surrounding regional ports and their economic impact. The paper reveals that industries dependent on the port infrastructure are actually key regional players, often operating in relatively fast growth sectors, and contributing to the economic and social needs of the local economy. The focus in the case element of the paper is the operations of Associated British Ports (ABP) plc in industrial South Wales. In examining the direct and indirect consequences of the port activity the paper adopts an input–output framework of analysis. A better contextualization of the economic impact of ports is shown to be necessary in the devolved policy-making environment in the region.

Investigating the Potential of Key Sectors Using Multisectoral Qualitative Analysis: A Welsh Case Study

The authors examine the use of multisectoral qualitative analysis (MSQA) for evaluating the potential of key sectors in a regional case. They examine the desirability of policy focusing on the promotion of key sectors. It is suggested that the tools used to identify, and then to justify, key sectors are generally underdeveloped. The authors provide a review of selected methods to identify and classify key growth sectors, and their strengths and weaknesses. Given the weaknesses inherent in these approaches, it is particularly important for policymakers to consider methods which can test and extend key-sector evaluation. The authors suggest that MSQA provides an effective and policy-relevant means of forming conclusions on sector potentials, and report on a pilot exercise undertaken in the Welsh economy.

The contribution of tourism to the UK economy: satellite account perspectives.

This paper reports on recent UK progress towards the construction of a tourism satellite account. The nature of the account is explained and the paper argues that the tourism satellite account provides an indication of the contribution of visitor-related service activity to the UK economy. The paper demonstrates that a consistent accounting of tourism industry activity potentially provides new information for policymakers and the tourism industry itself. The account can inform decisions in terms of directing scarce resources, and in identifying critical elements in tourism sector success or failure. Moreover, the tourism satellite account permits the industry to be understood in the mainstream of economic analysis.

Developing a framework for assessing the socioeconomic impacts of museums: the regional value of the 'flexible museum'

The role of museums as agents of culture, education and even nationhood is widely recognised. However, the potential for museums to contribute to regeneration processes is also important. Urban development literature has demonstrated the importance of creative capital in economic development processes. Then, evaluating museums in economic terms, covering issues including visitor numbers and resulting tourism consumption, provides only a partial indication of museum ‘value’. This paper reports research undertaken with Amgueddfa Cymru—National Museum Wales to establish the economic impact of museums, but which also developed a conceptual framework to assess other elements of museum contribution. In particular, the paper picks up on research challenges on the need to test critically how far culture can be at the heart of local regeneration. The paper also addresses a challenge from the literature that a wider group of stakeholders might be involved in establishing the ‘value’ of services emanating from museums.

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE SEA EMPRESS SPILLAGE

ABSTRACT The Sea Empress oil spillage has had a substantial impoverishing effect on what was already a poor part of a poor region. The major negative impact has been on the local tourism industry, ...

Regional Electricity Generation and Employment in UK Regions

ABSTRACT Regional electricity generation and employment in UK regions. Regional Studies. A number of electricity-generation technologies reduce carbon emissions, but with different economic and employment effects, partly consequent on how far generation capacity supports regional supply chains. In devolved regions these issues are important because of the role given to renewable electricity generation in economic development strategies. This paper analyses the regional employment supported by different electricity-generation technologies, illustrating trade-offs between generation scale and employment intensity, and shows that the regional employment supported under all pathways is modest compared with the regional economic scale. The policy implications are investigated.