Research Projects
Work and Labour Markets
The UK gender Pay gap 1998-2013: What is the role of the public sector? The Quarterly Labour Force Survey was used to compare gender wage gap in the public and private sectors between 1998 and 2013 and to identify the contribution of the sectoral employment allocation to the
Pay determination and outcomes in the public sector Data from the Labour Force Survey was used to investigate public sector wage differential in the UK 1994 to 2012. In the first of a set of analyses, three separate sub-periods are considered in detail, each characterise
This research aimed to improve understanding of the implications of introducing a living wage policy in Wales. In March 2009, The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) commissioned an exploratory study into the implications of introducing a Living Wage in Wales. This report
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
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
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)
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
The overall aim of the project was to provide an analytical review of the research literature on graduate employability and skills, with due attention to the diversity of the approaches that have been adopted. In particular, the review was designed to draw out the
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 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
Overview Existing quantitative evidence points to differences between Welsh speakers and non-Welsh speakers in terms of labour market outcomes, however little is known about the precise mechanisms underlying such differences. A range of factors were identified which may
In 2010 the UK coalition Government committed itself to an active policy of fiscal consolidation designed to ‘eliminate’ the structural deficit by the end of the current parliament (HM Budget, March 2011). As part of their consolidation plans the Government announced its
Pay and Job Quality: Is the Grass Greener in the Public Sector? The unadjusted public-private sector pay differential has attracted considerable political interest since the coalition government came to power in the UK in 2010. It has been used to justify changes to pay
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
This project utilised a range of econometric approaches to analyse entrepreneurial activity, the growth in Social enterprise and the changing role of the third sector. Research focused on the early stages of entrepreneurial activity and also on the survival and performance
Aims The aims of the project were to examine the pay statistics for Wales, for 2008 and other relevant years to determine possible reasons for the widening of the pay gap between women and men. Methodology The research methodology was desk based analysis of published data
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 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
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