News and Blog

Wales’ largest social science conference is taking place at the new Bay Campus at Swansea University tomorrow. Now in its seventh year, the WISERD Annual Conference brings together practitioners, policy makers and social scientists to discuss and debate themes such as health; social care; wellbeing; education; culture & values; environment; labour markets; devolution; and civil…

Before the referendum our post on ‘Religion and the EU Referendum’ examined how preferences for the UK’s membership of the European Union were affected by the religious affiliations of Christian voters. We found notable differences between the denominations, with Anglicans, Methodists and Baptists supporting a withdrawal from the EU, Presbyterians and those of no religious…

Professor David Blackaby featured on BBC Radio Wales’s ‘Good Morning Wales’ talkinig about Tata Steel’s potential strategic partnership with Thyssenkrupp AG

Bennett and Segerburg write about connective action, personalised content sharing across media networks, which is different from but can be combined with the more traditional collective action or the formation and mobilisation of collective identities (for example marching against government austerity measures). Connective action for political purposes using social media to campaign, lobby and petition…

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 Survey, the largest regular household survey undertaken by the ONS, now includes a suite of…

The European Union receives a bad press, especially in the UK, for its alleged inability to deal with crises. The British press is world class in its ability to misinform, but the way in which the Commission has handled the Greek debt crisis has not helped the cause of European unity. The EU negotiators representing…

In a new WISERD blog post, entitled ‘Need for Non-Market Institutions for Inter Country Transfers: A lesson from the EU Referendum‘, Professor Shanti Chakravarty, an Emeritus Professor of Economics at Bangor University, reflects on the work of his colleague at Bangor – Professor R. Ross MacKay – in understanding the reasons why the EU might have started…

On 25th June, just two days after Britain voted to leave the EU, the small Welsh valleys town of Ebbw Vale hit the headlines (Town showered with EU cash votes to leave EU.) The article questions why a town that, like so many others in Wales, has received billions in EU funding for infrastructure and economic re-generation…

Professor David Blackaby featured on BBC Radio Wales’s ‘Good Morning Wales’ about Tata Steel, Political uncertainty, Pensions and Brexit

In the weeks, months and years following 23rd June 2016, the long-term consequences of a majority Brexit vote will slowly unfold. Regardless of whether the British economy continues in freefall or stabilises, to what degree EU leaders, not wanting to be seen giving the UK a ‘good deal’, continue trading with the UK and whether or…