Media Briefings

The RES distributes Media Briefings summarising new economic research findings presented at its annual conference and published in each issue of The Economic Journal. Media briefings are also distributed in connection with other RES events and activities, such as the Annual Public Lecture and the Policy Lecture series.

To display media briefings for the current and past years, please click on the year selectors above.

Annual Conference Reports/Overviews produced by conference rapporteurs, leading economics journalists attending conference, are also available.

If you would like to receive these briefings via email, please contact RES Media Consultant, Romesh Vaitilingam, on +44-7768-661095 (email: romesh@vaitilingam.com).

Featured Media Briefings

EXPERIENCE MAKES YOU TOUGHER: Evidence from Competition Commission decision-making

The chances of a company being found guilty of abuse of a monopoly position by the UK’s Competition Commission increase enormously if the chair of the... More

‘ANIMAL SPIRITS’: How the stock market drives unemployment – and what to do about it

The stock market and the unemployment rate are like two drunks walking down the street tied together with a rope, according to Professor Roger Farmer,... More

BOOSTING THE HOUSING MARKET IS NOT THE WAY OUT OF A CRISIS

Governments and central banks should think twice before designing policies aimed at the housing market in an effort to stimulate household demand and... More

From the RES Conference: Raising UK school leaving age likely to reduce teenage pregnancies

Raising the compulsory school leaving age in the UK is likely to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy, currently among the highest in Europe. That is... More

DEPENALISING CANNABIS LED TO INCREASE IN DRUG-RELATED HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS

A temporary policy of removing penalties for possessing cannabis in the London borough of Lambeth increased the number of admissions to hospital for... More

May 2013

USING MARKETS TO FORECAST CLIMATE CHANGE: New study shows their potential for prediction

Markets could be used to predict climate change and other long-term events, according to research by Dr Lionel Page and Professor Robert Clemen,... More

WHEN ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY IS HIGH, POLITICIANS BECOME LESS SHORTSIGHTED AND ADOPT POLICIES FOR THE LONG TERM

Periods of high economic uncertainty like the current one are particularly favourable for the adoption of long-term policies, such as fiscal... More

THE IMPACT OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ON WAGES

Evidence from Denmark’s ‘flexicurity’ system Unemployment insurance has a significant impact on how people’s wages change over time, according to... More

April 2013

ROUGH DIAMONDS’: HOW GREATER EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY HAS LED TO GREATER INEQUALITY OF OUTCOMES

Rising inequality in the US since the 1970s can be explained by the rising equality of opportunity in education, according to analysis... More

SOMALI PIRACY COSTS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND MILLIONS OF JOBS

For every $120 million seized by pirates operating off the coast of Somalia, the cost to the shipping industry and their customers is as high as $3.3... More

China's export subsidies benefit Western consumers to the detriment of their own people

Research by Fabrice Defever and Alejandro Riaño, presented at the Royal Economic Society’s 2013 annual conference claims that if China removed its... More

THE UK’S PRODUCTIVITY AND EMPLOYMENT MYSTERY

GDP per hour – labour productivity – in the UK remains lower than at the beginning of the recession in 2008. A special session at the Royal... More

ITALIAN-SPEAKING CHILDREN LESS PATIENT THAN GERMAN SPEAKERS

Children in northern Italy whose first language is German are more patient than their Italian-speaking peer group, according... More

POCKET MONEY DISCOURAGES CHILDREN FROM SAVING: EVIDENCE FROM THE BRITISH HOUSEHOLD PANEL SURVEY

Children who are given pocket money are much less likely to save than those who have part-time work such as a paper... More

THE FRENCH ARE TAUGHT TO BE MISERABLE: EVIDENCE FROM HAPPINESS SURVEYS

France’s education system and its cultural ‘mentality’ are to blame for the French being less happy than their wealth and lifestyle would suggest.... More

March 2013

STRENGTHENING PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: THE CASE DEPENDS ON ‘NORTHERN’ FIRMS SELLING NEW PRODUCTS IN ‘SOUTHERN’ MARKETS

The value of stronger global protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) – for example, through the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of... More

SHORTAGE OF MEN RAISES BIRTHS OUTSIDE MARRIAGE: EVIDENCE FROM POST-WAR GERMANY

A scarcity of men relative to women can lead to an increase in the proportion of children born to unmarried mothers. That is the central finding of... More

PAYING FOR PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE MAKES YOU MORE LIKELY TO USE HEALTHCARE SERVICES

People in the UK who buy their own private health insurance are more likely to use healthcare services – visiting their GP or going to hospital – than... More

CRIME FALLS WITH LONGER SENTENCES FOR HABITUAL OFFENDERS

Selectively sentencing habitual offenders to longer prison terms can dramatically lower crime rates. When targeted at the most hardened habitual... More

‘THE CHILD IS FATHER OF THE MAN’: POLICIES FOR BETTER CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ARE THE ENGINE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH

Providing children with the foundations for a longer and healthier life gives them the incentives to value the future more and to make better choices... More

OPTIMAL BANK CAPITAL: TO REDUCE THREAT OF SYSTEMIC FINANCIAL CRISES, BASEL III REQUIREMENTS SHOULD BE MUCH HIGHER

The desirable amount of equity funding for banks to use is very much larger than they have had in recent years and higher than agreed under the Basel... More

February 2013

FISCAL CONSOLIDATION WILL NOT BOOST GROWTH

Current efforts at fiscal consolidation are unlikely to raise economic growth, according to research by Huixin Bi, Eric Leeper and Campbell Leith,... More

‘FISCAL SPACE’: A NEW MEASURE OF THE SUSTAINABILITY OF PUBLIC DEBT

Greece, Iceland, Italy, Japan and Portugal all have limited or no available room for fiscal manoeuvre before markets force them to tighten policies... More

SOVEREIGN RISK: THE IMPACT OF STRAINED GOVERNMENT FINANCES ON MACROECONOMIC STABILITY

When the economy is flat-lining or in recession, fiscal stimulus will only be effective when concerns about sovereign risk (the possibility that the... More

REDISTRIBUTION AND PUBLIC DEBT AS WAYS TO BOOST THE ECONOMY

A ‘Robin Hood’-style redistribution policy, which takes money from the rich and gives it to the poor, can boost consumption and output, although at... More