Locating climate adaptation in urban and regional studies

an article by Andrew P. Kythreotis (University of Lincoln, UK;  University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK; Cardiff University, UK), Andrew E. G. Jonas (University of Hull, Kingston-Upon-Hull, UK) and Candice Howarth (University of Surrey, Guildford, UK) published in Regional Studies Volume 54 Issue 4 (April 2020)

Abstract

This paper adds new insights to the relationship between city-regionalism, the territorial logics of the competition state and how climate adaptation is located in state spaces. Whilst climate adaptation governance is positioned within national economic sectors, it highlights an emerging city-regional policy dimension to such governance.

The spatial reconfiguration of climate change adaptation governance reflects a tension between three quite distinct processes:

1. the sector-driven territorial logic of the national competition state;
2. the emergence of city-regionalism as an adaptation governance response to increased competition; and
3. the assertion of ‘national’ political priorities in the implementation of climate adaptation across subnational territories.

Future climate adaptation governance research needs to address the uneasy relationship between the rise of city-regionalism and the sector-led priorities of the competition state.

JEL Classification: Q54

Labels:
climate_change_adaptation, climate_policy_and_governance, city-regionalism, territorial_logics, competition_state,

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The dynamics of depoliticisation in urban governance: Introducing a directly elected mayor

an article by David Sweeting (University of Bristol, UK) and Robin Hambleton (University of the West of England, Bristol, UK; Director of Urban Answers) published in Urban Studies Volume 57 Issue 5 (April 2020)

Abstract

Within the context of debates regarding depoliticisation, this article considers how the introduction of a directly elected mayor system of governance impacts on urban politics.

Directly elected mayors are now a fundamental feature of many political systems. They have been widely introduced as a reform to improve processes of local democracy, enhance the effectiveness of governing practices and to offer a more potent form of city leadership.

This article focuses on developments in England, by presenting the case of Bristol, a city epitomising many aspects of modern neo-liberalised urban development. Bristol adopted a mayoral system in 2012 and the article presents empirical data from before and after this reform pertaining to two frameworks to understand city leadership.

We conclude that the move to mayoral governance, in Bristol in the 2012–2016 period, eroded the influence of party politics and led to the adoption of elements of a leadership style associated with a depoliticisation of urban politics in the city. Nevertheless, the analysis suggests that the mayoral model also provides significant space for the expansion of political agency on the part of the city leader, not least because power becomes concentrated in the mayoral position.

Labels:
city_leadership, depoliticisation, directly_elected_mayors, governance, local governmen_, politics,

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Managing economic lockdowns in an epidemic

a column by Emanuel Ornelas (Sao Paulo School of Economics-FGV) for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal

Countries worldwide are implementing lockdown measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Very soon, the question will be how to lift the lockdowns while keeping the epidemic in check.

This column uses basic economic principles to shed light on the key trade-offs.

A central message is that there is no ‘health versus economics’ dichotomy. Rather, some degree of lockdown is typically optimal in a crisis like this, balancing economic costs against health benefits. Moreover, the optimal level of lockdown is dynamic, changing over time and eventually becoming more lenient.

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Labels:
COVID-19, coronavirus, lockdown, containment,

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Family spending before the coronavirus crisis helps us to understand its potential impact

a post by Fahmida Rahman for the Resolution Foundation blog

Last week the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published its annual rundown of how UK households spent their money. These statistics provide the most detailed and direct insight into current living standards, and with a coronavirus-driven economic crisis in the making, they also give us a guide as to how we might expect things to pan out in the rest of this very unusual year.

The big picture from the ONS release is that, after several years of steady increases, household spending has stagnated. In 2018-19, average weekly household spending was £586, down slightly on the year before and not far off from the figure for 2016-17 (£582).

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Smart-working: Work flexibility without constraints

a column by Marta Angelici (University Milan Bicocca, Italy) and Paola Profeta (Bocconi University, Milan, Italy) for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal

The outbreak of coronavirus has led to a huge increase in ‘smart working’ across the world, but little is known about the economic effects of this mode of working.

This column uses an experiment with workers in a large, traditional company in the multi-utility sector in Italy to show that the introduction of smart working can have a positive effect on productivity, well-being and work-life balance. By removing the rigidity related to particular hours of work, it may contribute to reducing gender gaps in the labour market.

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Labels:
smart_working, telecommuting, flexible_working,

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Untangling child welfare inequalities and the ‘Inverse Intervention Law’ in England

Calum Webb and Kate Morris (The University of Sheffield, UK), Paul Bywaters (Huddersfield University, UK), Jonathan Scourfield (Cardiff University, UK) and Claire McCartan, Lisa Bunting and Gavin Davidson (Queen’s University Belfast, UK) published in Children and Youth Services Review Volume 111 (April 2020)

Highlights

• Multilevel models were used to reanalyse child welfare inequalities data.
• Robust quantitative evidence for the ‘inverse intervention law’ and social gradient.
• Evidence of an ‘income inequalities intervention law’ mirrors international research.
• Average 55-75 per cent increases in CWI for one SD increases in deprivation.
• Less equal/deprived LAs social gradients 5x stronger than more equal/deprived LAs.

Abstract

This article addresses some potential limitations of key findings from recent research into inequalities in children’s social services by providing additional evidence from multilevel models that suggest the socioeconomic social gradient and ‘Inverse Intervention Law’ in children’s services interventions are statistically significant after controlling for possible confounding spatial and population effects.

Multilevel negative binomial regression models are presented using English child welfare data to predict the following intervention rates at lower super output area-level: Child in Need (n = 2707, middle super output area [MSOA] n = 543, local authority [LA] n = 13); Child Protection Plan (n = 4115, MSOA n = 837, LA n = 18); and Children Looked After (n = 4115, MSOA n = 837, LA n = 18).

We find strong evidence supporting the existence of a steep socioeconomic social gradient in child welfare interventions.

Furthermore, we find certain local authority contexts exacerbate this social gradient. Contexts of low overall deprivation and high income inequality are associated with greater socioeconomic inequalities in neighbourhood intervention rates.

The relationship between neighbourhood deprivation and children looked after rates is almost five times stronger in local authorities with these characteristics than it is in local authorities with high overall deprivation and low income inequality.

We argue that social policy responses addressing structural determinants of child welfare inequalities are needed, and that strategies to reduce the numbers of children taken into care must address underlying poverty and income inequality at both a local and national level.

Labels:
social_work, child_protection, deprivation, income_inequality, children’s_social_care, England,

Depressing.

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The economic impact of coronavirus on UK businesses: Early evidence from the Decision Maker Panel

Nicholas Bloom and Scarlet Chen (Stanford University, USA), Philip Bunn and Pawel Smietanka (Bank of England, UK) and Paul Mizen (Centre for Finance, Credit and Macroeconomics, University of Nottingham, UK) for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal

The spread of COVID-19 has created an important new source of concern for firms.

This column reports the findings of the latest Decision Maker Panel survey of UK CFOs, which show that businesses expected the spread of the virus to have a large impact on their sales over the next year. The impacts on sales were expected to be material across all sectors, but businesses in accommodation and food, leisure and transport services expected to be most severely impacted.

The survey also suggests that COVID-19 is now a more important source of uncertainty than Brexit for most UK businesses.

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Labels:
COVID-19, coronavirus, Decision_Maker_Panel,

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