The creation of the Social Exclusion Unit by the present government in 1997 is just one example of the increased desire by both academics and policy-makers to understand more about the factors that lead to individuals and communities becoming excluded from mainstream society. Of the many aspects...

This paper examines optimal business development strategies for rural firms given thespecific characteristics of their rural business environment. An investigation of rural businessstrategy informs public policy formation by helping to determine how rural firms would reactto changes in their...

All governments are concerned with tackling the problems of areas that experience sustained decline and underperformance. In the UK, several factors have combined to raise profound questions about future government policy in this area. First, it is becoming increasingly clear that the recession...