Bruce N Walker
Biographic Data
| ID | 4447175 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Bruce N Walker |
| GIVEN NAMES | Bruce N |
| FAMILY NAME | Walker |
| SIGNATURE | WALKER B N |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Birmingham |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8503-5621 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 43 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 18 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1979 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The past, present, and promise of sonification
The use of sound to systematically communicate data has been with us for a long time, and has received considerable research, albeit in a broad range of distinct fields of inquiry. Sonification is uniquely capable of conveying series and patterns, trends and outliers...and effortlessly carries affect and emotion related to those data. And sound-either by itself or in conjunction with visual, tactile, or even olfactory representations-can make dat…
Welfare or Work? Low-Income Working Households' Housing Consumption in the Private Rented Sector in England
This paper is concerned with issues of equity and efficiency in the Housing Benefit (HB) system in the private rented sector (PRS) in England. Using information from a survey of low- income working households (LIWH) and in-depth interviews with LIWH families, it addresses two policy-relevant questions. First, there are mixed findings on whether the current HB system enables HB recipients to consume more housing than is available to otherwise simi…
Getting a policy to ‘stick
English The attempts of English central government to control the rents that social housing landlords set for individual properties offer a fruitful example of the role that context and content play in shaping policy implementation. Since the early 1970s there have been three initiatives to assert greater central control over this policy variable. Using a modified version of the conceptual framework proposed by van Meter and van Horn (1975), this…
The Use of Discretion in a Rule-Bound Service
This paper is concerned with how administrators in the Housing Benefit (HB) service in Great Britain have reacted to the discretionary powers given to local authorities as a result of the introduction of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs). DHPs can be awarded to HB claimants deemed to require additional assistance with their housing costs. The paper first argues that the HB service can be categorized as ‘rule-bound’ before outlining the DHP re…
The performance of social landlords in Great Britain
This paper examines the evidence concerning the performance of landlords within and between the two social housing sectors in Great Britain. It considers both the measured performance of landlords in the two sectors and the factors that appear to influence that performance. In doing so it discusses some of the broad issues involved in performance measurement in social housing before reviewing some of the previous work in the field that throws lig…
The effects of rent restructuring on social housing in English rural areas
Setting the Rents of Social Housing
The question of how the rents of social housing should be set has been a matter of debate in many European countries. This paper draws on research into the probable impacts of the UK government's policy to restructure rents in England to explore some of the issues involved in determining the rents of social housing. The paper discusses why social rent setting is a particular issue in the UK and how the government is seeking to address it through …
Modelling Tenants' Choices in the Public Rented Sector
This paper uses a stated preference (SP) approach to examine the potential housing choices of tenants in the UK public housing sector. The paper begins by explaining the policy significance of the choices that such tenants might make if alternative dwellings were offered to them. It then discusses the SP approach in general before explaining the way in which it is used in this study. The results of the SP modelling exercise are presented. These s…
Monitoring and Motivation in Principal‐Agent Relationships
This paper examines a number of issues concerning the effects of monitoring on principals and agents involved in the provision of local authority services subject to competition. It examines, and then extends, existing theoretical work indicating the potential for sub‐optimal outcomes which result from the principal introducing monitoring schemes which focus upon the measurable aspects of the agent’s performance. The paper then departs from the r…
Perspectives on contractual relationships and the move to best value in local authorities
This article is concerned with the nature of the contracting relationship in local authorities. After considering some of the implications of a basic model of contracting (principal‐agent theory) and questioning some of its implications, we briefly examine whether the Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) regime is likely to have forced many clients and contractors into the more adversarial style of contract management that the theory predicts. …
Pricing Public Housing Services
This paper is concerned with the determination of rents in the local authority sector. It concentrates on the determination of relative rents in particular. Local authorities in England have traditionally had autonomy in determining the rents for individual dwellings in their housing stock, but the 1989 Local Government and Housing Act introduced the requirement that the relativities in the public sector should be determined with reference to tho…
The Distribution of Housing Tax-expenditures and Subsidies in an Urban Area
This paper examines the distribution of housing tax-expenditures and subsidies among households in the owner-occupied and public-rented sectors in the Birmingham area, UK. Subsidies to tenants are defined as the difference between market rents and the rents actually set. Tax-expenditures to owner-occupiers are defined as the absence of tax on imputed rental income and capital gains. The results presented indicate that tax-expenditures tend to be …
Public sector costs of board and lodging accommodation for homeless households in London
This paper represents an attempt to assess the total and comparative costs to the public sector of using board and lodging accommodation to house homeless households in London. Such an analysis is timely, given the rate of increase both in homelessness and in the use of this form of accommodation. After identifying relevant public sector costs it is estimated that the annual costs of keeping 4,000 households in such accommodation are between £30 …
The Demand for Professional League Football and the Success of Football League Teams
This paper examines the relationship between the league standing of English professional football teams and the rank and size of the SMLA in which they are located, and the influence of population, among other factors, on attendances at football fixtures. The paper commences with a brief review of existing work in this area and concludes on the basis of empirical work presented here that the demonstrated influence of population on both league sta…
Income Distribution, City Size and Urban Growth
Urban Planning and Social Welfare
The rationale which welfare economics provides for urban planning activity seems to be fairly well established, and welfare economic theory can thus be seen as a valuable basis for a theory of planning. However, two major issues concerning the impact of planning activity on social welfare still need to be considered even if this basis is accepted. The first of these is the question of distribution. If society considers some distributions of welfa…
Income Distribution, City Size and Urban Growth
Income Distribution, City Size and Urban Growth
Modelling Tenants' Choices in the Public Rented Sector
This paper uses a stated preference (SP) approach to examine the potential housing choices of tenants in the UK public housing sector. The paper begins by explaining the policy significance of the choices that such tenants might make if alternative dwellings were offered to them. It then discusses the SP approach in general before explaining the way in which it is used in this study. The results of the SP modelling exercise are presented. These s…
Perspectives on contractual relationships and the move to best value in local authorities
This article is concerned with the nature of the contracting relationship in local authorities. After considering some of the implications of a basic model of contracting (principal‐agent theory) and questioning some of its implications, we briefly examine whether the Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) regime is likely to have forced many clients and contractors into the more adversarial style of contract management that the theory predicts. …
Monitoring and Motivation in Principal‐Agent Relationships
This paper examines a number of issues concerning the effects of monitoring on principals and agents involved in the provision of local authority services subject to competition. It examines, and then extends, existing theoretical work indicating the potential for sub‐optimal outcomes which result from the principal introducing monitoring schemes which focus upon the measurable aspects of the agent’s performance. The paper then departs from the r…
Pricing Public Housing Services
This paper is concerned with the determination of rents in the local authority sector. It concentrates on the determination of relative rents in particular. Local authorities in England have traditionally had autonomy in determining the rents for individual dwellings in their housing stock, but the 1989 Local Government and Housing Act introduced the requirement that the relativities in the public sector should be determined with reference to tho…
Urban Planning and Social Welfare
The rationale which welfare economics provides for urban planning activity seems to be fairly well established, and welfare economic theory can thus be seen as a valuable basis for a theory of planning. However, two major issues concerning the impact of planning activity on social welfare still need to be considered even if this basis is accepted. The first of these is the question of distribution. If society considers some distributions of welfa…
Getting a policy to ‘stick
English The attempts of English central government to control the rents that social housing landlords set for individual properties offer a fruitful example of the role that context and content play in shaping policy implementation. Since the early 1970s there have been three initiatives to assert greater central control over this policy variable. Using a modified version of the conceptual framework proposed by van Meter and van Horn (1975), this…
The Use of Discretion in a Rule-Bound Service
This paper is concerned with how administrators in the Housing Benefit (HB) service in Great Britain have reacted to the discretionary powers given to local authorities as a result of the introduction of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs). DHPs can be awarded to HB claimants deemed to require additional assistance with their housing costs. The paper first argues that the HB service can be categorized as ‘rule-bound’ before outlining the DHP re…
Setting the Rents of Social Housing
The question of how the rents of social housing should be set has been a matter of debate in many European countries. This paper draws on research into the probable impacts of the UK government's policy to restructure rents in England to explore some of the issues involved in determining the rents of social housing. The paper discusses why social rent setting is a particular issue in the UK and how the government is seeking to address it through …
Welfare or Work? Low-Income Working Households' Housing Consumption in the Private Rented Sector in England
This paper is concerned with issues of equity and efficiency in the Housing Benefit (HB) system in the private rented sector (PRS) in England. Using information from a survey of low- income working households (LIWH) and in-depth interviews with LIWH families, it addresses two policy-relevant questions. First, there are mixed findings on whether the current HB system enables HB recipients to consume more housing than is available to otherwise simi…
The performance of social landlords in Great Britain
This paper examines the evidence concerning the performance of landlords within and between the two social housing sectors in Great Britain. It considers both the measured performance of landlords in the two sectors and the factors that appear to influence that performance. In doing so it discusses some of the broad issues involved in performance measurement in social housing before reviewing some of the previous work in the field that throws lig…
The effects of rent restructuring on social housing in English rural areas
The Demand for Professional League Football and the Success of Football League Teams
This paper examines the relationship between the league standing of English professional football teams and the rank and size of the SMLA in which they are located, and the influence of population, among other factors, on attendances at football fixtures. The paper commences with a brief review of existing work in this area and concludes on the basis of empirical work presented here that the demonstrated influence of population on both league sta…
Income Distribution, City Size and Urban Growth
Income Distribution, City Size and Urban Growth
Income Distribution, City Size and Urban Growth
Urban Planning and Social Welfare
The rationale which welfare economics provides for urban planning activity seems to be fairly well established, and welfare economic theory can thus be seen as a valuable basis for a theory of planning. However, two major issues concerning the impact of planning activity on social welfare still need to be considered even if this basis is accepted. The first of these is the question of distribution. If society considers some distributions of welfa…
Income Distribution, City Size and Urban Growth
The Demand for Professional League Football and the Success of Football League Teams
This paper examines the relationship between the league standing of English professional football teams and the rank and size of the SMLA in which they are located, and the influence of population, among other factors, on attendances at football fixtures. The paper commences with a brief review of existing work in this area and concludes on the basis of empirical work presented here that the demonstrated influence of population on both league sta…
Public sector costs of board and lodging accommodation for homeless households in London
This paper represents an attempt to assess the total and comparative costs to the public sector of using board and lodging accommodation to house homeless households in London. Such an analysis is timely, given the rate of increase both in homelessness and in the use of this form of accommodation. After identifying relevant public sector costs it is estimated that the annual costs of keeping 4,000 households in such accommodation are between £30 …
The Distribution of Housing Tax-expenditures and Subsidies in an Urban Area
This paper examines the distribution of housing tax-expenditures and subsidies among households in the owner-occupied and public-rented sectors in the Birmingham area, UK. Subsidies to tenants are defined as the difference between market rents and the rents actually set. Tax-expenditures to owner-occupiers are defined as the absence of tax on imputed rental income and capital gains. The results presented indicate that tax-expenditures tend to be …
Pricing Public Housing Services
This paper is concerned with the determination of rents in the local authority sector. It concentrates on the determination of relative rents in particular. Local authorities in England have traditionally had autonomy in determining the rents for individual dwellings in their housing stock, but the 1989 Local Government and Housing Act introduced the requirement that the relativities in the public sector should be determined with reference to tho…
Perspectives on contractual relationships and the move to best value in local authorities
This article is concerned with the nature of the contracting relationship in local authorities. After considering some of the implications of a basic model of contracting (principal‐agent theory) and questioning some of its implications, we briefly examine whether the Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) regime is likely to have forced many clients and contractors into the more adversarial style of contract management that the theory predicts. …
Monitoring and Motivation in Principal‐Agent Relationships
This paper examines a number of issues concerning the effects of monitoring on principals and agents involved in the provision of local authority services subject to competition. It examines, and then extends, existing theoretical work indicating the potential for sub‐optimal outcomes which result from the principal introducing monitoring schemes which focus upon the measurable aspects of the agent’s performance. The paper then departs from the r…
Modelling Tenants' Choices in the Public Rented Sector
This paper uses a stated preference (SP) approach to examine the potential housing choices of tenants in the UK public housing sector. The paper begins by explaining the policy significance of the choices that such tenants might make if alternative dwellings were offered to them. It then discusses the SP approach in general before explaining the way in which it is used in this study. The results of the SP modelling exercise are presented. These s…
The effects of rent restructuring on social housing in English rural areas
Setting the Rents of Social Housing
The question of how the rents of social housing should be set has been a matter of debate in many European countries. This paper draws on research into the probable impacts of the UK government's policy to restructure rents in England to explore some of the issues involved in determining the rents of social housing. The paper discusses why social rent setting is a particular issue in the UK and how the government is seeking to address it through …
The performance of social landlords in Great Britain
This paper examines the evidence concerning the performance of landlords within and between the two social housing sectors in Great Britain. It considers both the measured performance of landlords in the two sectors and the factors that appear to influence that performance. In doing so it discusses some of the broad issues involved in performance measurement in social housing before reviewing some of the previous work in the field that throws lig…
The Use of Discretion in a Rule-Bound Service
This paper is concerned with how administrators in the Housing Benefit (HB) service in Great Britain have reacted to the discretionary powers given to local authorities as a result of the introduction of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs). DHPs can be awarded to HB claimants deemed to require additional assistance with their housing costs. The paper first argues that the HB service can be categorized as ‘rule-bound’ before outlining the DHP re…
Getting a policy to ‘stick
English The attempts of English central government to control the rents that social housing landlords set for individual properties offer a fruitful example of the role that context and content play in shaping policy implementation. Since the early 1970s there have been three initiatives to assert greater central control over this policy variable. Using a modified version of the conceptual framework proposed by van Meter and van Horn (1975), this…
Welfare or Work? Low-Income Working Households' Housing Consumption in the Private Rented Sector in England
This paper is concerned with issues of equity and efficiency in the Housing Benefit (HB) system in the private rented sector (PRS) in England. Using information from a survey of low- income working households (LIWH) and in-depth interviews with LIWH families, it addresses two policy-relevant questions. First, there are mixed findings on whether the current HB system enables HB recipients to consume more housing than is available to otherwise simi…
The past, present, and promise of sonification
The use of sound to systematically communicate data has been with us for a long time, and has received considerable research, albeit in a broad range of distinct fields of inquiry. Sonification is uniquely capable of conveying series and patterns, trends and outliers...and effortlessly carries affect and emotion related to those data. And sound-either by itself or in conjunction with visual, tactile, or even olfactory representations-can make dat…
Economics (16 works) · Public economics (12 works) · Business (11 works) · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism (9 works) · Housing Market and Economics (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · Market economy (7 works) · Economic growth (6 works) · Economic rent (6 works) · Labour economics (6 works)