The Knowledge Exchange Seminar Series (KESS) is the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, formally partnering a legislative arm of government – the Northern Ireland Assembly – with academia. Aiming to encourage debate and improve understanding, KESS provides a forum to present and disseminate research findings in a straightforward format, making those findings easily accessible to decision-makers. Seminars are free to attend. To register email raise@niassembly.gov.uk

Agenda

1.30pm – RaISe – Welcome

1.35pm – Assembly Committee Chair – Opening Remarks

1.45pm – Dr Gareth Campbell (QUB) – How should NI respond to Corporation Tax cuts in ROI and GB?

The Fresh Start Agreement committed the NI Executive to reducing the corporation tax rate in Northern Ireland to 12.5% from 2018. The intention was to make the tax rate in NI the same as in ROI, and lower than in GB. However, within the past year the Irish government has cut its tax rate on certain types of profits to just 6.25%. Meanwhile, the British government has promised to cut its tax on profits to 17%. Further corporation tax rate cuts in ROI are possible, and in GB are very likely. This research analyses how the NI Executive should respond. It argues that simply maintaining the 12.5% rate, the default approach, would be the worst possible option. Matching cuts on an ad hoc basis would be unlikely, and suboptimal even if it happened. A much better approach would be to publicly commit now to match any cuts in the GB rate, reducing the NI rate to 11.5% by 2020, and possibly to 7% by 2025 if the GB rate is cut further. The best approach would be to commit to more than match any cuts in the main rate of corporation tax, but leave the small profits tax rate unchanged.

2.05pm – Mr Richard Johnston and Miss Laura Heery (Ulster) – Competitiveness Scorecard for NI

Competitiveness is a key driver in the rate of economic growth and living standards.  Ulster University’s Economic Policy Centre (UUEPC) developed the Competitiveness Scorecard on behalf of the Economic Advisory Group, taking a similar approach to the Republic of Ireland’s National Competitiveness Council.  The Scorecard benchmarks NI’s relative competitiveness against a range of competitor nations over a five-year period in more than 150 indicators.  There are eleven pillars that make up the Scorecard, including macroeconomic and fiscal sustainability, quality of life, environmental sustainability, business environment, business performance, education and skills and innovation, research and development.  The presentation will focus on outcomes (economic, quality of life and environmental), the economic environment (labour supply, productivity etc.) and policy drivers (Education and skills, Innovation R&D etc.)

In overall terms, NI’s competitiveness performance has improved marginally over the last 5 years, but remains below average for the countries analysed within the Scorecard.  In terms of individual pillars, NI performs well in the business environment, quality of life and business performance elements of the Scorecard.  In contrast, NI’s performs less well in terms of productivity, employment & labour supply and macro and fiscal sustainability elements.  The Competitiveness Scorecard acts as a barometer of relative competitiveness, acts as a useful tool to direct policy-makers towards the key issues that require intervention and also provides an indication of the scale of the challenge facing NI.

2.25pm – Discussion

2.45pm – Comfort Break

2.55pm – Dr Sharon McClements, Prof Martin Haran and Mr Andrew McErlane (Ulster) – Unlocking Benefits and Opportunities through Social Infrastructure

Research has established that social infrastructure provision positively influences economic growth and social development, and a review of historical spending in NI indicates an identified need to upgrade and replace social infrastructure. Yet, as the UK Government continues to implement its austerity policies, the NI Executive has been subject to imposed budgetary cuts and as a result, capital budgets have been restrained. Against this backdrop, there is a necessity to review social infrastructure provision policies and the mechanisms by which it is provided in NI.

Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) have been the predominant mechanism for large social infrastructure provision in the UK and will continue to be utilised through the new Private Finance 2 (PF2) model, introduced in 2013. Similarly, in the Scotland, the Scottish Futures Trust approach to infrastructure investment is based on joint ventures between the Scottish Territories and private sector partners. In providing the new NI Executive solution-based recommendations, this presentation deliberates on the application and compatibility of the strategic infrastructure investment approaches adopted by both UK and Scottish Governments as potential strategies for increased social infrastructure investment and the opportunity to enhance economic growth and social development in Northern Ireland.

3.15pm – Dr Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos (OU) – Options for public debt management

Austerity policies in the wake of the 2008 global financial meltdown have left a host of developed capitalist economies struggling with very high levels of sovereign indebtedness. Given that prospects for economic growth still remain anaemic, and that financial risks have not been completely eliminated, the recovery process is slow and fragile. Contemporary policy-making thus encounters an unusual debt overhang puzzle. How important is this issue for the European economies? Is there an easy way out? Should policy-makers continue to rely on ‘business as usual’, or should they seek answers in the unchartered waters of unorthodox solutions? How important is central banking to tackling the problem? Drawing on my policy proposal for the resolution to the European sovereign debt overhang and my book on the political economy of contemporary financialised capitalism, the seminar will discuss a number of policy options in relation to how public debt can be managed in a sustainable way. The key lessons to policy-makers are that economies with weak currencies are better off within monetary unions and that unorthodox central bank policies are the only means to overcome the contradictions of a monetary union in the absence of fiscal integration.

3.35pm – Discussion

4.05pm – RaISe – Closing Remarks

4.10pm – Networking and Refreshments