Changing Scotland: Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey

Description

The Scottish Parliament opened in 1999. Since this devolution of powers, there has been an increase in the demand for empirically-based, policy relevant, comparative research to help design policies and determine their impact. Changing Scotland uses longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey to improve our knowledge and understanding of the impact of devolution on the lives of people in Scotland. It is the first time that BHPS data has been used in this way. The book provides a detailed examination of social, economic, demographic and political differences, especially those involving dynamic behaviour such as residential mobility, unemployment duration, job mobility, income inequality, poverty, health and deprivation, national identity, family structure and other aspects of individual's lives as they change over time. This data provides a 'baseline' for policy formulation and for analysing the impact of subsequent differential developments arising out of devolution. The book is also an invaluable resource for establishing pre-existing differences between England and Scotland and evaluating the impact of policy initiatives by the Scottish Executive. Changing Scotland is important reading for academics and postgraduate students in social policy, economics and politics, as well as policy makers, government social researchers and those with an interest in innovative research methods in social science.

John F. Ermisch FBA is Professor of Economics in the Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Essex. Robert E. Wright is Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics, University of Stirling.

"This book is an extremely timely and effective demonstration of how 'evidence-based' research can inform policy formulation and evaluation in a devolved Scotland. The comparative studies of this important book provide a high quality benchmark against which subsequent contributions to policy analysis in Scotland will be measured." Peter McGregor, Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde