This article explores the value to households in different income groups of benefits from public spending on education, the National Health Service and subsidies to local authority housing. Its results are drawn from secondary analysis of the 1987 General Household Survey (GHS). The paper...

For over 65 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has purchased commodity foods for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) in an effort to support both schools and food producers. Based on data from 339 Minnesota school districts from 2001–2008, this research examined whether the NSLP's...

<title/> This article examines collaborations between primary care trusts in the commissioning of secondary care services in England. It applies principal-agent theory qualitatively to two case studies. The theory suggests that collaboration should take place if organizations share relevant information...

We examine the vertical transmission of overweight drawing upon a sample of English children, both adopted and non-adopted, and their families. Our results suggest strong evidence of an intergenerational association of overweight among adoptees, indicating transmission through cultural factors....

Sir William Beveridge in his famous report wanted to eliminate the five giants of want, squalor, idleness, ignorance and disease: the giants of too little. However, the problems facing welfare states are more the giants of too much: the giants of excess. For health in particular, excessive...

Government support of private (occupational and personal) pensions through tax relief is an important element in the UK’s retirement income system. However, the current tax relief system is regressive, lacks transparency and is difficult to control. This paper argues that it should be replaced...

This paper reviews the performance of the National Health Service under the Labour government of Tony Blair. It shows that there have been some dramatic increases in resources going into the service, but also that these do not seem to be delivering the improvements in activities that might have...