Applying a public policy evaluation methodology for local socio-economic impacts: an exploration in realistic modelling

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Assessing an experimental approach to industrial policy evaluation:Applying RCT+ to the case of Creative Credits

Experimental methods of policy evaluation are well-established in social policy and development eco-nomics but are rare in industrial and innovation policy. In this paper, we consider the arguments forapplying experimental methods to industrial policy measures, and propose an experimental policy eval-uation approach (which we call RCT+). This approach combines the randomised assignment of firmsto treatment and control groups with a longitudinal data collection strategy incorporating quantitativeand qualitative data (so-called mixed methods). The RCT+ approach is designed to provide a causativerather than purely summative evaluation, i.e. to assess both ‘whether’ and ‘how’ programme outcomesare achieved. In this paper, we assess the RCT+ approach through an evaluation of Creative Credits – aUK business-to-business innovation voucher initiative intended to promote new innovation partnershipsbetween SMEs and creative service providers. The results suggest the potential value of the RCT+ approachto industrial policy evaluation, and the benefits of mixed methods and longitudinal data collection.

Political parties and public policy in the German Länder:when parties matter

When Parties Matter looks at the extent to which political parties can make a difference to public policy, focusing on the regional level in Germany. Politicians of the left and the right sometimes have radically different views, but inevitably the combined forces of legal and financial constraints, bureaucracy, public expectations and the 'weight of history' restrict their ability to translate political disagreement into policy change. Giving a detailed examination of education policy, childcare and family policy, and labour market policy in three German regions between 1999 and 2006, this book provides insights into what politicians can and cannot achieve, in particular at the level below the nation-state.

The Long-Term impact of Business Support? - Exploring the Role of Evaluation Timing using Micro Data

The original contribution of this work is threefold. Firstly, this thesis develops a critical perspective on current evaluation practice of business support, with focus on the timing of evaluation. The general time frame applied for business support policy evaluation is limited to one to two, seldom three years post intervention. This is despite calls for long-term impact studies by various authors, concerned about time lags before effects are fully realised. This desire for long-term evaluation opposes the requirements by policy-makers and funders, seeking quick results. Also, current ‘best practice’ frameworks do not refer to timing or its implications, and data availability affects the ability to undertake long-term evaluation. Secondly, this thesis provides methodological value for follow-up and similar studies by using data linking of scheme-beneficiary data with official performance datasets. Thus data availability problems are avoided through the use of secondary data. Thirdly, this thesis builds the evidence, through the application of a longitudinal impact study of small business support in England, covering seven years of post intervention data. This illustrates the variability of results for different evaluation periods, and the value in using multiple years of data for a robust understanding of support impact. For survival, impact of assistance is found to be immediate, but limited. Concerning growth, significant impact centres on a two to three year period post intervention for the linear selection and quantile regression models – positive for employment and turnover, negative for productivity. Attribution of impact may present a problem for subsequent periods. The results clearly support the argument for the use of longitudinal data and analysis, and a greater appreciation by evaluators of the factor time. This analysis recommends a time frame of four to five years post intervention for soft business support evaluation.

The long-term impact of business support? - Exploring the role of evaluation timing using micro data

The original contribution of this work is threefold. Firstly, this thesis develops a critical perspective on current evaluation practice of business support, with focus on the timing of evaluation. The general time frame applied for business support policy evaluation is limited to one to two, seldom three years post intervention. This is despite calls for long-term impact studies by various authors, concerned about time lags before effects are fully realised. This desire for long-term evaluation opposes the requirements by policy-makers and funders, seeking quick results. Also, current ‘best practice’ frameworks do not refer to timing or its implications, and data availability affects the ability to undertake long-term evaluation. Secondly, this thesis provides methodological value for follow-up and similar studies by using data linking of scheme-beneficiary data with official performance datasets. Thus data availability problems are avoided through the use of secondary data. Thirdly, this thesis builds the evidence, through the application of a longitudinal impact study of small business support in England, covering seven years of post intervention data. This illustrates the variability of results for different evaluation periods, and the value in using multiple years of data for a robust understanding of support impact. For survival, impact of assistance is found to be immediate, but limited. Concerning growth, significant impact centres on a two to three year period post intervention for the linear selection and quantile regression models – positive for employment and turnover, negative for productivity. Attribution of impact may present a problem for subsequent periods. The results clearly support the argument for the use of longitudinal data and analysis, and a greater appreciation by evaluators of the factor time. This analysis recommends a time frame of four to five years post intervention for soft business support evaluation.

ICT adoption and ebusiness development:Understanding ICT adoption amongst ethnic minority businesses

This paper builds upon a series of studies that have identified the comparatively low uptake of ICT amongst EMBs (Ram and Smallbone, 1999; Foley and Ram 2002; Allinson et al., 2004). Existing studies have only tentatively considered the causal factors for this lower adoption rate in comparison to non-EMBs. Within the context of a pilot study, aiming to understand ICT adoption amongst EMBs, an action research approach is adopted as a means of influencing, evaluating and underpinning ICT adoption (Beckinsale and Ram, 2006). The approach is methodologically distinctive in its utilization of action research with a critical realist approach as a means of policy evaluation; this is conducive to 'policy learning', and the understanding of causal mechanisms in the EMBs. Actors involved in the implementation were interviewed, as well as the business owners themselves. Another distinguishing feature is the application of Yap et al.'s (1992) schema to identify causal mechanisms, to examine actions and experiences and to understand the impact on the EMBs studied. The findings highlight the complex interaction and relationships of internal and external factors in shaping approaches to ICT implementation. Factors such as size, strategy and business age are germane but so too, albeit to a lesser degree, are cultural influences such as involvement in co-ethnic networks. Significantly, changes to particular causal mechanisms such as business support altered adoption and implementation of ICT. Distinct issues for Chinese and Asian-owned business and potentially more broadly EMBs are identified providing a framework for other EMBs. © The Author(s) 2010.

The board of directors, executives and risk knowledge management

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and Knowledge Management (KM) both encompass top-down and bottom-up approaches developing and embedding risk knowledge concepts and processes in strategy, policies, risk appetite definition, the decision-making process and business processes. The capacity to transfer risk knowledge affects all stakeholders and understanding of the risk knowledge about the enterprise's value is a key requirement in order to identify protection strategies for business sustainability. There are various factors that affect this capacity for transferring and understanding. Previous work has established that there is a difference between the influence of KM variables on Risk Control and on the perceived value of ERM. Communication among groups appears as a significant variable in improving Risk Control but only as a weak factor in improving the perceived value of ERM. However, the ERM mandate requires for its implementation a clear understanding, of risk management (RM) policies, actions and results, and the use of the integral view of RM as a governance and compliance program to support the value driven management of the organization. Furthermore, ERM implementation demands better capabilities for unification of the criteria of risk analysis, alignment of policies and protection guidelines across the organization. These capabilities can be affected by risk knowledge sharing between the RM group and the Board of Directors and other executives in the organization. This research presents an exploratory analysis of risk knowledge transfer variables used in risk management practice. A survey to risk management executives from 65 firms in various industries was undertaken and 108 answers were analyzed. Potential relationships among the variables are investigated using descriptive statistics and multivariate statistical models. The level of understanding of risk management policies and reports by the board is related to the quality of the flow of communication in the firm and perceived level of integration of the risk policy in the business processes.

Accessibility, deprivation and rural planning policies.

Since the Second World War a range of policies have been implemented by central and local government agencies, with a view to improving accessibility to facilities, housing and employment opportunities within rural areas. It has been suggested that a lack of reasonable access to a range of such facilities and opportunities constitutes a key aspect of deprivation or disadvantage for rural residents. Despite considerable interest, very few attempts have been made to assess the nature and incidence of this disadvantage or the reaction of different sections of the population of rural areas to it. Moreover, almost all previous assessments have relied on so-called 'objective' measures of accessibility and disadvantage and failed to consider the relationship between such measures and 'subjective' measures such as individual perceptions. It is this gap in knowledge that the research described in this thesis has addressed. Following a critical review of relevant literature the thesis describes the way in which data on 'objective' and 'subjective' indicators of accessibility and behavioural responses to accessibility problems was collected, in six case study areas in Shropshire. Analysis of this data indicates that planning and other government policies have failed to significantly improve rural resident's accessibility to their basic requirements, and may in some cases have exacerbated it, and that as a result certain sections of the rural population are relatively disadvantaged. Moreover, analysis shows that .certain aspects of individual subjective' assessments of such accessibility disadvantage are significantly associated with more easily-obtained 'objective' measures. By using discriminant analysis the research demonstrates that it is possible to predict the likely levels of satisfaction with access to facilities from a range of 'objective' measures. The research concludes by highlighting the potential practical applications of such indicators in policy formulation, policy appraisal and policy evaluation.

Critical practice and the public pedagogy of environmental and conservation media

This article addresses the reluctance of mainstream corporate and commercial media to critically address major environmental and conservation issues. The resulting public pedagogy largely reproduces the neoliberal ideology informing much conservation practice and discourse. Nonetheless, the media retains an unrealised critical educative potential that needs to be drawn upon by critical media practitioners and educators. To do this, educators need to be cognisant of the phenomenological experience of spectatorship, the aesthetic form and relational contexts of media consumption, production and informal learning. Referring to the work of Vivian Sobchack, Henry Giroux, Pierre Bourdieu and Gilles Deleuze, the article argues that if critical practitioner-educators apply an analytic framework informed by critical realism, counter-hegemonic elements found within corporate and independent media productions and conservation initiatives may be rearticulated and re-presented in a more positive manner. For this to occur, critical media practitioners-educators need to recognise that feasible political and normative alternatives are both available and practically possible. The article ends by discussing some relatively recent non-fiction productions that express a commonality between human and non-human animals and so form the basis of a critical environmental education-media practice.

Time for action? Elementary engineering education - Challenging teachers, policy makers and parents

Grounded in the findings of a three year exploratory student whereby teachers' and policy makers' perceptions of elementary level engineering education were analysed, this paper focuses upon three strands of engineering education activity: Pedagogy: Practice, and: Policy. Taking into account the challenges associated with introducing engineering education at an elementary level across the UK, the paper critiques the role played by the 'competition model' in promoting engineering to children and 4 to 11 years. In considering the 'added value' that appropriately developed engineering education activities can offer in the classroom the discussion argues that elementary level engineering has the potential to reach across the curriculum, offering context and depth in many different areas. The paper concludes by arguing that by introducing the discipline to children at a foundational level, switching on their 'Engineering Imaginations' and getting them to experience the value and excitement of engineering, maths and applied science a new "Educational Frontier" will be forged. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2014.

Canadian province-building : the state as educator and entrepreneur in Alberta

This study provides an account and analysis of the development of systems of educational provision In capitalist democracies, especially in connection with the social origin and relative autonony of those systems. Using the case study of Athabasca University, a Canadian distance-education institution in the province of Alberta, the study is a critical work of historical sociology, in which the shifting social role of a system of educational provision during two transitions of a regional political economy is analyzed. Comparative observations are made in reference to other systems of educational provision and organizations, in particular the training department of a large Company based In the same region as the Unversity. The study explores the social origin and relative autonomy of systems of educational provision In relation to educational ideologies, which are themselves associated with social ideologies. Pierre Bourdieu's theoretical construction of "fields of power'' allows for a consideration of power as a relational phenomenon in the study. In other words, power is understood as being exercised in a way that simultaneously takes account of the power of other actors and groups. Fields of power also allow for an analysis of power as it is exercised at various levels of organizations and within society. The study is organized in two phases. First, an account is developed of the historical period in which the Unlversity and the Company were created, but especially the period of establishment for the Unlversity, 1970 - 75. Conclusions are offered concerning the causal associations between the historical antecedents that gave rise to the two organlzations. It is argued that both the University and the Company were established In part to enact the AIberta government's efforts to enhance Its powers within the Canadian federation (a process called province-building), The second phase is concerned with a more recent period of three years, 1993 - 95. By this time, province-building was not as significant a concern for policy-makers, and the organizational responses of the University and the Company reflected this shift. A divergence of practice is observed at the University and the Company, with actors at the Company encouraging the development of collectivist values for employees, while at the University no such overt strategy was followed, The study concludes that a consumerist model of education developed by the University in 1970 - 75 and expanded In 1993 - 95 contributed significantly to the institution's social origin and relative autonomy. The model was used as an Ideology in the earlier period and as a strategy In the later one, serving to forestall the institution's closure during both periods of crisis, though Ieading to ambiguous social outcomes. A consumerist model may on the one hand be progressive in that expanded access to educational opportunities is made possible. On the other hand, the consumerist model will tend increasingly to provide educational services to those social segments that already have access to educational opportunities.

Breaking down barriers:teenage girls’ perceptions of engineering as a study and career choice

Background: Stereotypically perceived to be an ‘all male’ occupation, engineering has for many years failed to attract high numbers of young women [1,2]. The reasons for this are varied, but tend to focus on misconceptions of the profession as being more suitable for men. In seeking to investigate this issue a participatory research approach was adopted [3] in which two 17 year-old female high school students interviewed twenty high school girls. Questions focused on the girls’ perceptions of engineering as a study and career choice. The findings were recorded and analysed using qualitative techniques. The study identified three distinctive ‘influences’ as being pivotal to girls’ perceptions of engineering; pedagogical; social; and, familial. Pedagogical Influences: Pedagogical influences tended to focus on science and maths. In discussing science, the majority of the girls identified biology and chemistry as more ‘realistic’ whilst physics was perceived to more suitable for boys. The personality of the teacher, and how a particular subject is taught, proved to be important influences shaping opinions. Social Influences: Societal influences were reflected in the girls’ career choice with the majority considering medical or social science related careers. Although all of the girls believed engineering to be ‘male dominated’, none believed that a woman should not be engineer. Familial Influences: Parental influence was identified as key to career and study choice; only two of the girls had discussed engineering with their parents of which only one was being actively encouraged to pursue a career in engineering. Discussion: The study found that one of the most significant barriers to engineering is a lack of awareness. Engineering did not register in the girls’ lives, it was not taught in school, and only one had met a female engineer. Building on the study findings, the discussion considers how engineering could be made more attractive to young women. Whilst misconceptions about what an engineer is need to be addressed, other more fundamental pedagogical barriers, such as the need to make physics more attractive to girls and the need to develop the curriculum so as to meet the learning needs of 21st Century students are discussed. By drawing attention to the issues around gender and the barriers to engineering, this paper contributes to current debates in this area – in doing so it provides food for thought about policy and practice in engineering and engineering education.

The link between HR practices, psychological contract fulfillment, and organizational performance:the case of the Greek services sector

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of human resource (HR) practices on organizational performance through the mediating role of psychological contract (expressed by the influence of employer on employee promises fulfillment through employee attitudes). The study is based on a national sample of 78 organizations from the public and private services sector in Greece, including education, health, and banking, and on data obtained from 348 employees. The statistical method employed is structural equation modeling, via LISREL and bootstrapping estimation. The findings of the study suggest that employee incentives, performance appraisal, and employee promotion are three major HR practices that must be extensively employed. Furthermore, the study suggests that the organization must primarily keep its promises about a pleasant and safe working environment, respectful treatment, and feedback for performance, in order for employees to largely keep their own promises about showing loyalty to the organization, maintaining high levels of attendance, and upholding company reputation. Additionally, the study argues that the employee attitudes of motivation, satisfaction, and commitment constitute the nested epicenter mediating construct in both the HR practices–performance and employer–employee promise fulfillment relationships, resulting in superior organizational performance. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.