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Improving individuals’ financial knowledge, skills and behaviours

Summary of the impact

The Personal Finance Research Centre (PFRC) at the University of Bristol conducted research between 2004 and 2006 to develop the UK's first quantitative baseline survey of financial capability. The survey was a significant departure from previous methodologies in that it not only assessed knowledge, but also skills and behaviours. The survey results became the basis for the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) understanding of financial capability in the UK, and PFRC's analysis of the survey findings were used to set priorities for its National Strategy for Financial Capability, worth £90 million. One of the findings of the survey was that young people are much less financially capable than their elders. As a result, a priority within the National Strategy was to educate young people. A number of programs were put in place including Learning Money Matters, which offered free advice, support and resources to schools between 2006 and 2011. The program successfully reached over 2 million young people in 4,259 schools, and in 2011 economic wellbeing and financial capability became a statutory part of school curriculum in England. Overall, the FSA strategy was deemed successful, exceeding its target of reaching 10 million people. International bodies regard the FSA's baseline survey as a model for their own work and the UK methodology has been adopted by countries including Ireland, Canada and the Netherlands. The World Bank has led a substantial research and evaluation programme in low and middle income countries that uses the UK approach.

Submitting Institution

University of Bristol

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Banking, Finance and Investment

Enhancing Effectiveness, Structure and Consumer Protection in Financial Regulation

Summary of the impact

Loughborough University research into financial regulation has had a significant and enduring influence on how regulatory bodies are structured and how they use economic analysis. This work has been credited with shaping the groundbreaking culture and methodology of financial regulation in the UK with respect to consumer protection, recognising the special characteristics of retail financial products and contracts and applying cost-benefit and regulatory impact analysis in decision-making processes. It has also played a major role in redefining financial regulatory structure in the UK and South Africa. In addition, the research is now being used to help develop and guide approaches to ensuring high standards of bank regulation and consumer protection across the EU through the European Banking Authority's Banking Stakeholder Group.

Submitting Institution

Loughborough University

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Banking, Finance and Investment
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Improving Financial Capability and Wellbeing in Britain

Summary of the impact

Between 2008 and 2011 Essex researchers were funded by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to investigate the determinants and effects of an individual's `financial capability'. Since 2010 the results of this research have informed Money Advice Service initiatives, under the direction of the FSA, to increase the financial capability of people negotiating significant life events. The research has also raised awareness among mental health providers and policy makers of the benefits that financial management skills have in building resilience and improving wellbeing. In particular, the Money Advice Service used the team's findings to develop an online service for people experiencing divorce/separation and a redundancy guide for people faced with job loss. The research also influenced the current government's policy objectives surrounding wellbeing and child poverty.

Submitting Institution

University of Essex

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Economics: Applied Economics

Improving access to financial services for UK low-income households

Summary of the impact

The Personal Finance Research Centre (PFRC) at the University of Bristol conducted a major research programme that shaped UK financial inclusion policy and informed research and policy internationally. PFRC carried out seminal research to measure the level and nature of financial exclusion in the UK. Subsequent studies looked at ways of improving access to banking, credit, insurance and savings that could reduce the `poverty premium' paid by low-income households. PFRC's research directly informed UK central government policy which resulted in the successful achievement of a shared government-banking industry target to halve the number of adults in households without a bank account (from two million to 890,000) and funding to extend affordable credit union loans and savings products to an additional one million low-income people.

Submitting Institution

University of Bristol

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

Impact of applied demand analysis on competition policy

Summary of the impact

The methodological and applied work on micro-econometric demand analysis outlined here has been repeatedly used by the UK Competition Commission (since 2002) and the Co-operation & Competition Panel (now Monitor) of the UK Department of Health (since 2009) in their respective competition analyses, and by the Hong Kong Consumer Council in its Public Estate Supermarket Study (since 2011). It contributed to the European Commission White Paper on the quantification of antitrust damages (2010), underpinning some of the econometric methodology proposed there to assess cartel damages in EU Courts. Beckert's work in the area of micro-econometric demand analysis connects micro-economic demand theory with various econometric methodologies to assess demand-side substitution in the presence of taste heterogeneity. His research is disseminated through articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, policy articles, and through consultation by antitrust authorities, think tanks and economic consultancies.

Submitting Institution

Birkbeck College

Unit of Assessment

Economics and Econometrics

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics, Econometrics

The ethics of finance and business

Summary of the impact

This case study looks at the impact on the international finance industry and big business of research conducted at Heythrop College by Catherine Cowley. Cowley's work is transforming the ethical framework with which some of the most powerful corporations in the world operate and how they understand their role in society, as well as influencing the direction and content of the public debate over the ethics of finance and business.

Submitting Institution

Heythrop College

Unit of Assessment

Theology and Religious Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Statistics
Economics: Applied Economics
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Banking, Finance and Investment

Global Microfinance: Fighting against poverty in developing countries

Summary of the impact

This case study refers to the work of Professor Thankom Arun of the Institute of Global Finance and Development (IGFD) at UCLan, who has been working very closely with Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and international development agencies to understand and tackle the critical issue of finance in the development process. The ingenuity and originality of this type of research has had a profound impact on national and international policy debates, challenging and disproving misunderstandings about the inability of the poor to engage effectively with financial services provision, such as savings and insurance. The research has had a significant direct impact on the functioning of microfinance institutions at the local and grassroots level and on the delivery of financial services to some of the most vulnerable communities around the world.

Submitting Institution

University of Central Lancashire

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Economics: Applied Economics
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Banking, Finance and Investment

Improved decision-making for traders and private investors in financial markets

Summary of the impact

Research from the Open University Business School (OUBS) on the practices of traders and the link between emotions and financial decision-making has underpinned developments in a new client education platform at a leading European bank, Saxo Bank. The bank has created training tools to support improvements in client decision-making and trading and made these available on its public portal to its own clients and the public as part of its value proposition. The research has also led to development of the BBC Lab UK Big Money Test which was featured in the BBC television series Watchdog. The research is influencing policy makers in the UK and internationally and has been instrumental in the formation a new private-sector firm.

Submitting Institution

Open University

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Econometrics
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Banking, Finance and Investment
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology

Improving consumer decisions and outcomes through regulatory decisions

Summary of the impact

Research undertaken at the University of East Anglia (UEA) has identified whether consumers are likely to switch supplier, whether they are likely to get a good deal, and how companies are likely to respond to specific regulatory intervention. Such research findings challenge regulators to make better decisions. An appropriate regulatory framework leads to better decisions by consumers, helping markets to work better, and resulting in lower prices and bills. This is particularly critical in the energy and water sector, which are of crucial importance to each of the 25 million households in the UK, and where implementation of some of these research findings could lead to reductions of 6% in household energy bills (which translates to a total saving of over £2.1 billion a year).

Submitting Institution

University of East Anglia

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Marketing
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

Sustainable Growth for Farming and Small Food Businesses through the use of Consumer Insight

Summary of the impact

Prof. Andrew Fearne's consumer insight research project influenced marketing practice in almost 400 farming and small food businesses, while helping eight food industry associations and regional development agencies meet their remits. It also supported local supplier initiatives at the UK's largest supermarket, Tesco. A recent participant survey showed that 89% of farmers and small food producers who engaged with the project found that the consumer insight was either `quite' or `extremely useful'. Meanwhile, the project helped Tesco grow its sales of local food and drink from £0.5 billion (2005) to over £1 billion (2012) against average retail sales growth of less than 5% per year over the same period (Office of National Statistics).

Submitting Institution

University of Kent

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Business and Management, Marketing

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