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The impact of entrepreneurship training and small business experience on future entrepreneurial activity in the UK

This paper considers three basic questions: Who gets enterprise training or work experience in small businesses? Do... Show more
This paper considers three basic questions: Who gets enterprise training or work experience in small businesses? Does this make a difference to future entrepreneurial activity? Does this improve business outcomes? Thus, the first strand of [investigation] considers what types of people get access to enterprise training or gain experience of working in smaller businesses. This will help establish whether these experiences are widely available throughout the general population or whether they are confined to specific groups. The second strand of investigation explicitly questions whether exposure to enterprise training or work experience in smaller businesses has an identifiable impact on the labour market choices that people make subsequently. In short, do people who are exposed to enterprise and smaller business then become more likely to pursue an entrepreneurial career? The final strand questions whether it can make a difference in terms of identifiable business outcomes.
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Authors: Cowling, Marc

Corporate authors: Institute for Employment Studies (Great Britain) (IES)

Date: 2009

Geographic subjects: Europe; Great Britain

Resource type: Report, paper or authored book

Series name: IES working paper

Subjects: Performance; Outcomes; Employment ... [+] Show more
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The geographical distribution of UK talent: causes and consequences

In this paper the author considers, in a UK context, how talent is distributed across the larger cities of the UK a... Show more
In this paper the author considers, in a UK context, how talent is distributed across the larger cities of the UK and the key factors which appear to be driving this spatial distribution. He also considers what the potential economic outcomes of these disparities are for cities in the UK. The first finding is that talent is unequally distributed across cities, with some having three times more highly educated workers than others. Talent concentration at the city level is associated with entrepreneurial activity, culture, the presence of a university, and to a lesser degree the housing market. This appears to feed into more knowledge based industry, which is, in turn, associated with higher gross value added.
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Authors: Cowling, Marc

Corporate authors: Institute for Employment Studies (Great Britain) (IES)

Date: 2009

Geographic subjects: Europe; Great Britain

Resource type: Report, paper or authored book

Series name: IES working paper

Subjects: Qualifications; Skills and knowledge; Economics ... [+] Show more
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Job matching in the UK: determinants and implications of underskilling and overskilling

One of the most oft-cited reasons for the UK’s lack of competitiveness is skills shortages. Yet the issue is normal... Show more
One of the most oft-cited reasons for the UK’s lack of competitiveness is skills shortages. Yet the issue is normally discussed in the framework of a pool of inadequately skilled, unemployed labour who cannot hope to fill the job requirements of firms. In this paper we consider job-skills mismatches of those individuals fortunate enough to have jobs and question whether firms are failing to utilise the skills of their existing labour force. Further, we also consider whether firms are hiring workers not capable of fulfilling their job requirements without adequate training provision.
Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

Authors: Cowling, Marc

Corporate authors: Institute for Employment Studies (Great Britain) (IES)

Date: 2007

Geographic subjects: Europe; Great Britain

Resource type: Report, paper or authored book

Series name: IES working paper

Subjects: Statistics; Labour market; Research ... [+] Show more
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Ideopolis: knowledge city-regions

This report documents a research project that aimed to investigate whether ‘knowledge cities’ have distinct qualiti... Show more
This report documents a research project that aimed to investigate whether ‘knowledge cities’ have distinct qualities, what factors create a knowledge city, and what contribution ‘knowledge’ makes to economic success and quality of life in a city. An ‘ideopolis’ is defined as ‘a sustainable knowledge city that drives economic success in the wider city-region’. It is characterised by the following: high levels of economic success; high levels of knowledge intensity based on The Work Foundation’s definition of knowledge intensity; a diverse industry base including distinctive specialist niches; a university that has a mutually beneficial relationship with the city, leading to industries built upon research strengths, transfer of knowledge to businesses and the retention of graduates; strong communications infrastructure and good transport links within the city and to other cities, including air, rail and road; distinctive long-term ‘knowledge city’ offer to investors and individuals alike, created by public and private sector leaders; strategies to ensure that deprived communities also benefit from the economic success associated with knowledge. Show less

Authors: Jones, Alexandra; Williams, Laura; Lee, Neil; Coats, David ... [+] Show more

Corporate authors: The Work Foundation (Great Britain)

Date: 2006

Geographic subjects: Europe; Great Britain

Resource type: Report, paper or authored book

Subjects: Skills and knowledge; Industry; Economics ... [+] Show more
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Job matching in the UK and Europe

This study has examined the job matching issue from two perspectives.The first is the viewpoint of employees, deriv... Show more
This study has examined the job matching issue from two perspectives.The first is the viewpoint of employees, derived from the European Working Conditions Survey, conducted in 1996 and 2000. Using a self-report measure of job matching, we have been able, using univariate statistics and multinomial analysis, to examine the following questions: What is the extent of job-skills mismatches amongst those in work in the UK labour market? How has this varied across EU countries and across time? What types of workers are most likely to be mismatched to their jobs? Are job-skills mismatches associated with lower levels of training? Are firms training the ‘wrong’ workers (i.e. those who do not need the training in order to fill the job requirements, rather than those who lack the skills required to do their jobs)? Second, and drawing on our empirical findings, we have conducted qualitative research in four organisations in the UK which employ some of the workers we have identified as most likely to experience job-skills mismatches to explore in finer detail why, and how, this occurs.
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Authors: Bevan, Stephen; Cowling, Marc

Corporate authors: Sector Skills Development Agency (Great Britain) (SSDA) ... [+] Show more

Date: 2007

Geographic subjects: Europe; Great Britain

Resource type: Report, paper or authored book

Series name: SSDA research report

Subjects: Vocational education and training; Skills and knowledge; Research ... [+] Show more
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Economic evaluation of the Small Firms Loan Guarantee (SFLG) scheme

The [Small Firms Loan Guarantee] SFLG was the UK government's primary debt finance instrument, which was establishe... Show more
The [Small Firms Loan Guarantee] SFLG was the UK government's primary debt finance instrument, which was established in 1981. SFLG seeks to address the market failure in the provision of debt finance by providing a government guarantee to banks in cases where a business with a viable business plan is unable to raise finance because they can not offer security for their debt and/or lack a track record. This rationale still underpinned the SFLG at the time of the evaluation. The key characteristics of the scheme are the government guarantee (the proportion of the outstanding loan balance covered by the government in the event of loan default) and the government premium (paid by businesses). Over the last decade, take up of the scheme has averaged around 4,500 loans per year. In January 2009, SFLG was replaced by the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), which opened the scheme to a wider number of businesses, with the specific objective to facilitate new bank lending in response to the credit crunch. The main objective of this research is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the wider economic impact of SFLG arising from supported businesses being able to access loans that they would otherwise not have received. The impact of SFLG is assessed on a number of business outcomes including employment change, sales change, labour productivity, likelihood to export, and propensity to introduce new products and processes.
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Authors: Cowling, Marc

Corporate authors: Great Britain. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) ... [+] Show more

Date: 2010

Geographic subjects: Europe; Great Britain

Resource type: Government report or paper

Subjects: Evaluation; Finance; Governance ... [+] Show more
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Understanding self-employment for people with disabilities and health conditions

The green paper 'Improving lives: the future of work, health and disability' [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 136.... Show more
The green paper 'Improving lives: the future of work, health and disability' [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 136.734] highlighted the potential advantages of self-employment for people with disabilities and health conditions, and the importance of support for those who wish to pursue self-employment. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had little evidence regarding the benefits of self-employment for disabled people and those with health conditions and the particular difficulties these individuals face. DWP commissioned this research to build the evidence base in this area and to understand: (1) the experience of self-employment for individuals with disabilities and health conditions; (2) the additional barriers they face when starting, sustaining or growing in self-employment; and (3) what works in terms of self-employment support. The findings have identified barriers and benefits to self-employment for individuals with disabilities and health conditions as well as types of support wanted in this area. DWP is using the findings to: influence the design of the future offer for self-employment in the interests of people with a health condition or disability; inform work on the future of New Enterprise Allowance; and develop the roles of Universal Credit work coaches for the self-employed.
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Authors: Adams, Lorna; Cartmell, Becky; Foster, Rowan; Foxwell, Matthew ... [+] Show more

Date: 2019

Geographic subjects: Great Britain; Europe

Resource type: Government report or paper

Series name: Department for Work and Pensions research report

Subjects: Employment; Participation; Disability

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The impact of entrepreneurship training and small business experience on future entrepreneurial activity in the UK

The geographical distribution of UK talent: causes and consequences

Job matching in the UK: determinants and implications of underskilling and overskilling

Ideopolis: knowledge city-regions

Job matching in the UK and Europe

Economic evaluation of the Small Firms Loan Guarantee (SFLG) scheme

Understanding self-employment for people with disabilities and health conditions