Research Fellow, Associate Director of ADRC-Wales
Cardiff University
02920870328
As an applied quantitative researcher, I have undertaken a variety of research projects examining a variety of issues related to employment and the labour market.
This research has been based on large scale primary data collection, as well as conducting analysis on secondary and administrative data sources. As Associate Director of the Wales Administrative Data Research Centre, I am responsible for managing the User Support function of ADRC-Wales.
Prior to joining WISERD, I worked at the Institute for Employment Research at Warwick University (1999-2006) and the Office for National Statistics (2006-09).
The project aimed to highlight the potential value of an important but currently underutilised dataset, the Welsh Local Labour Force Survey (WLLFS). The main aim was to provide new evidence relating to labour market transitions in Wales. In terms of the analysis we propose
The aim of the European Social Fund (ESF) Leavers' Survey was to assist in assessing the effectiveness of the 2007-2013 ESF Convergence and Competitiveness Programmes in Wales. The two ESF Operational Programmes (referred to as the Convergence and Competitiveness Programmes)
About the Centre The main aim of ADRC WALES is to create a world-class administrative data research centre, that is widely known for its ability to access, link and make safe use of data for high quality research. Our work will be underpinned by a robust Governance framework
Overview In partnership with Old Bell 3 Ltd and IFF Research, WISERD undertook a survey of ERDF assisted businesses under the Convergence and Competitiveness Programmes for WEFO. The survey findings supplement existing Programme monitoring data to assess the effectiveness of
Overview The UK Strategy for Data Resources for Social and Economic Research (referred to as the National Data Strategy – NDS) sought to identify, prioritise and assist in the development of and access to research data. It provided a strategy for how different organisations
This project is currently considering the potential value of an analysis of virtual patterns of trade union organisation and mobilisation and specifically the contribution of social media to the rescaling of trade unionism. This includes both: the virtual linkages of the
Overview This project builds on previous WISERD research into geographical variations in trade union membership in Wales. (Beynon, Davies and Davies, 2012). The research programme derives from this analysis, which suggested that in South Wales collective understandings,
The overall aim of the proposed research was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the secondary analysis of administrative data-sets to delineate patterns of participation in higher education (HE) and, thereby, to contribute to the development of policy and professional
Overview This project was concerned with the impact on workers, their families and neighbourhoods of the closure of the Anglesey Aluminium (AA) smelter in September 2009, formerly one of the major employers in the Holyhead area. Previous studies of the impact of factory
The National Equality Panel’s report An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK provided a milestone in our understanding of relationships between people’s characteristics and their financial position. Through detailed analysis of complex datasets, some newly available, it
The research was concerned with examining the degree of integration of people for whom their national origins or those of their parents lies in a country outside the European Union. The justification for studying the living conditions of neighbourhoods in which there is a
The Census of the Population remains a key element of the quantitative research undertaken by the social science community in the UK. It provides an essential snapshot of socio-economic circumstances in the UK and is fundamental to research in many disciplines since it
Overview The existence of a ‘brain drain’ of graduate labour from Wales has long been a focus of debate (for example, Drinkwater and Blackaby, 2004, c.f. Fevre, 2004). Welsh and English higher education and labour markets are interconnected (for example, Rees and Taylor,
Overview Work has long been acknowledged as an important social determinant of health with research being conducted as to how a range of workplace, personal and job characteristics influence occupational health. Recent research has demonstrated the importance of the economic
Overview The involvement of workers and their representatives in consultation on arrangements for managing risks to health and safety at work is a key element of the requirements of the EU Framework Directive 89/391. While there are differences in provisions between member
Overview The key aim of this project, funded by emda (the East Midlands Development Agency), was to provide a detailed assessment of the issue of in-work poverty in the East Midlands and its implications for regional economic performance. The project provided: a systematic
Overview WISERD funded a boost to the Skills and Employment Survey to be carried out across Britain in 2012. The overarching aim of the survey was to collect data on skills and employment experiences of those working in Britain in 2012, making it a key and distinctive
Overview The Pupil Deprivation Grant was introduced in 2012-13 and provides schools with additional resource to raise levels of achievement of a particular group of economically disadvantaged learners. This two-year evaluation looked at how schools have used this new grant
WISERD undertook an independent evaluation of the Foundation Phase early years education policy for the Welsh Government. The Foundation Phase (FP) is an early intervention approach to learning for all children aged three to seven years in Wales. It is based on principles of
The Dynamics of Disability and Work in Britain
A journal article in The Manchester School. Volume 86, Issue 3. This paper examines the dynamic relationship between work-limiting disability and labour market outcomes using longitudinal data created by matching individuals in the Local Labour Force Survey (2004–10). By...
Age and Work-Related Health: Insights from the UK Labour Force Survey
A Journal Article in An International Journal of Employment Relations. Volume 54, Issue 1. Data from the UK Labour Force Survey (LFS) are used to examine two methodological issues in the analysis of the relationship between age and work-related health. First, the LFS is...
Do high-performance work practices exacerbate or mitigate the gender pay gap?
A journal article in Cambridge Journal of Economics. Volume 39, Issue 2. The impact of performance-oriented work practices on the gender pay gap has been the subject of considerable conjecture but little empirical investigation. Using the 2004 and 2011 British Workplace...
Collective learning, effective demand, loss of work and loss of direction: The growing regional divide
A journal article in Regional Studies . Volume 46, Issue 7. The local economy relies on a division of labour that develops highly specialized skills. In searching for an understanding of the growing work gap within the United Kingdom, emphasis is placed on recessions that...
Sources of variation in trade union membership across the UK: the case of Wales
A journal article in Industrial Relations. Volume 43, Issue 3. This article deals with issues relating to trade union density and the fact that while over the past 30 years, union densities have followed a declining path in all regions, this retreat was not uniform across...
The impact of the business cycle on occupational injuries in the UK
A journal article in Social Science & Medicine. Volume 69, Issue 2. This paper investigates the cyclical fluctuations in rates of workplace injury for the UK from 1986 to 2005. Time series analysis shows that, in aggregate terms, the rate of minor injuries is pro-cyclical...
Exploring neglected dimensions of social policy: The social division of welfare, fiscal welfare and the exemplar of local taxation in England
A journal article in Social Policy & Administration. Volume 43, Issue 1. Titmusss Social Division of Welfare (SDW) thesis is a vitally important but much neglected element of social policy analysis. This article seeks to explore the SDW, with a particular focus on fiscal...
How Does Workplace Monitoring Affect the Gender Wage Differential? Analysis of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey
A journal article in An International Journal of Employment Relations. Volume 46, Issue 4. This paper outlines the development of a new data source that combines workplace information from the Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS) with employee data from the Annual...
Local taxation and the relationship between incomes and property values
A journal article in Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy. Volume 25. The authors' concern is with the relationship between household income and property value, within the context of the debate about the fairness of council taxöthe property-based system of local...
The family gap in pay in Europe: a cross-country study
A journal article in Labour Economics , Volume 12, Issue 4. In this paper we present estimates of the penalty in pay associated with motherhood for 11 European countries. Firstly, analysis of the European Community Household Panel Survey (ECHP) reveals that significant...
On the 20th November, researchers from universities and third sector organisations came together at the London offices of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations ( NCVO ) for a symposium on the relationship between the family and civil...
Schools can be hugely influential in students’ choices about higher education, irrespective of the grades they achieve, research has found. The Study led by WISERD’s Professor Chris Taylor followed the educational pathways of all Year 11 pupils...
Rhys Davies reveals how official figures have under-estimated the presence of trade unions within UK workplaces over many years. This morning, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) published its latest estimates for trade...
The Welsh Government have announced plans to expand their pilot network for high achieving school pupils. WISERD and ADRC-Wales researchers Rhys Davies and Dr Suhaer Yunus contributed to the OB3 Research evaluation of the Seren Network , which helps...
New research highlights the need for policy support to be directed towards helping those who develop a disability to retain work owing to the lasting negative effect on employment even when they recover. WISERD academics Professor Melanie Jones and...
Rhys Davies presented his work at the Labour Force and Annual Population Surveys User Conference 2016 today, at the Royal Statistical Society in London. Data producers and data users came together to share updates on the development of these surveys...
Since the introduction of its well-being programme in 2010, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has introduced a number of questions into its surveys in an attempt to measure the well-being of the population in the UK. The Annual Population...
Declining levels of trade union membership is often cited as evidence that trade unions have become less relevant within the modern UK economy. In 2012, particular attention was given to this issue as levels of union membership among TUC affiliated...
Today WISERD launches its new webpages related to the research programme on trade unions within the WISERD Civil Society Centre: www.wiserd.ac.uk/unions 'Declining levels of trade union membership is often cited as evidence that trade unions have...
From 2018, companies with more than 250 employees will be required to make their gender pay gap publicly available online. Employers that fail to address gender pay disparities will also be highlighted in new league tables intended to drive progress....
Analysis released on assessment of outcomes for people leaving ESF projects. A report assessing the outcomes for those leaving ESF projects, designed to increase engagement in the labour market and improve the skill levels of the workforce, is now...
Professor Alan Felstead and Rhys Davies discussion following the launch of their research on the 2012 Skills and Employment Survey. They found that workers in Wales are paid less than elsewhere in Britain and do lower skilled jobs, but they were the...
A recent project on Welsh graduate mobility by WISERD researchers has been featured on the front page of the Western Mail today (January 5 th 2012). The research project – ‘ Stay, leave or return? Patterns of Welsh Graduate mobility’ – was undertaken...
WISERD is funding a boost to the Skills and Employment Survey to be carried out across Britain in 2012. The overarching aim of the survey is to collect data on skills and employment experiences of those working in Britain in 2012, making it a key and...
Conference
UK Data Services Labour Force Survey Users Conference
Conference paper " Making Sense of Official Estimates of Trade Union Membership" delivered at the UK Data Services Labour Force Survey Users Conference. davies.pdf File size: 476.62 KB Making Sense of Official Estimates of Trade Union Membership
Conference
2016 Work and Pensions Economics Group (WPEG) Conference
Rhys Davies presented a paper, co-authored with Alex Bryson,"What Do Unions Do In Wales? The Case of Job Satisfaction" Conference paper available here