Category: Uncategorized

By Dr Mathieu Despard, UNC-Greenboro (USA) International Visiting Fellow at CHASM, University of Birmingham If you are visiting the U.S. and attending a dinner party, here’s a sure-fire way to make evening conversation lively. State one of the following: We should cancel all student debt. Student debt is a result of poor choices. Like so … Continue reading “Should we cancel student debt or make loan repayment affordable? Lessons from the U.S. and U.K.”

By Dr Jing Du Assistant Professor in Finance, Birmingham Business School British households are taking a huge hit due to rising energy prices. The energy regulator Ofgem admitted that the annual bill of British households will rise faster this winter than previously forecast. According to Cornwall Insight, it is predicted that the typical domestic customer … Continue reading “Soaring UK Household Energy Bills and Bumper Energy Company Profits: What should the Government, Energy Companies and Consumers Do?”

By Dr Heather Jeffrey Birmingham Business School in Dubai, University of Birmingham In the midst of what has been a long, hot summer in the UK, many have been looking forward to getting away after over two years of severely reduced international mobility due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. However, many have had their hopes … Continue reading “Passenger caps and staff shortages: a crisis for tourism”

By Dr James Davies Research Fellow, City-REDI, Birmingham Business School With the 2022 Commonwealth Games taking over the city of Birmingham this summer, it’s a perfect moment to consider the raft of potential economic and cultural benefits to the region as a result of the games, whilst exploring some of the misconceptions and challenges that … Continue reading “The Legacy of Mega-Events: Exploring the challenges in creating a lasting impact from the 2022 Commonwealth Games”

By Dr Scott Taylor Professor in Leadership & Organisation Studies, Department of Management Women were formally excluded from practising politics, and from participation by voting, until relatively recently. As the UK Parliament rises today for its summer recess, there will some who hope that the break, along with the Conservative leadership drama, is enough to … Continue reading “Is British politics really a misogynistic profession?”

By Dr Sarah Montano and Dr Inci Toral Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham whilst there is no doubt that retail is struggling to recover from the pandemic and faces an uncertain future due to the cost-of-living crisis, there will still be retailers that do well. The British Retail Consortium has recently announced that retail … Continue reading “How to save falling retail sales”

By Dr Andy Hodder Department of Management, Birmingham Business School All of this comes at a time when strike action has been in long-term decline, and union membership levels are at 23.1% in the UK. However, low levels of strike action clearly do not mean that conflict at work has disappeared. Industrial action appears to … Continue reading “Are we having a summer of discontent?”

By Professor Dan Herbert and Dr Sarah Montano Birmingham Business School “You want to go where everyone knows your name and they’re always glad you came!” – Cheers theme tune A recent report found that over the last decade the total number of pubs in England and Wales has dropped to below 40,000. This represents … Continue reading “Is the local lost? Pub closures and community”

Professor David Bailey  Department of Management, Birmingham Business School Particular attention needs to be paid to the development of skills in the region and the changing demands of an evolving sector (particularly with disruption linked to the shift to EVs, automation, digitalization and globalization far beyond the EU). What are the implications for Brexit for … Continue reading “Shocks, resilience and regional industry policy: Brexit and the automotive sector in two Midlands regions”

By Dr Holly Birkett and Dr Sarah Forbes Co-directors of the Equal Parenting Project Put simply, COVID-19 has created an opportunity to rethink work, to normalise flexible working and fathers caring, breaking down many of the barriers men and particularly fathers have faced in the past Over the past decade a key question in the … Continue reading “Has COVID-19 set gender equality back decades? Not in the workplace”