Data on New Zealand manufacturing plants are used to examine the impact of trade liberalization on plant exit. Recent theories suggest that the prospect of a declining market might cause firms to adopt strategic behavior that causes low cost plants to exit first. This hypothesis is generally...

This paper studies the impact of R&D spending on output as well as forecasting the impact of a regionally enhanced R&D tax credit on the 'user cost' (or price) of R&D expenditure and subsequently the demand for R&D. The example we use of a 'disadvantaged' region is Northern Ireland (partly...

Many studies have established the importance of investment in R&D to facilitate innovation and consequently improve firm productivity. Firms decide whether or not to undertake R&D depending on a range of factors such as market orientation, business objectives, competitive advantages and...

This paper uses detailed industry-level data for the UK regions which, based on the standard cross-sectional regression model, suggests that 'strong' convergence was occurring during the period 1963-92, even though plotting these data and considering their variation over time would tend to...

Harris R. and Trainor M. (2007) Impact of government intervention on employment change and plant closure in Northern Ireland, 1983-97, Regional Studies 41, 51-63. Financial assistance to manufacturing industry is an important element of the industrial development policy in Northern Ireland. This...

The environmental performance of SMEs (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) is an area of major policy concern. Environmental Performance in Small and Medium Sized Companies reports on factors influencing the environmental performance of SMEs across four European countries: the UK, Ireland,...