Economic and Social Review 

About: Economic and Social Review is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Irish & Population. It has an ISSN identifier of 0012-9984. Over the lifetime, 700 publications have been published receiving 10476 citations.

Sustainable Food Systems for Future Cities: The Potential of Urban Agriculture*

Abstract: Populations around the world are growing and becoming predominately urban, fueling the need to re-examine how urban spaces are developed and urban inhabitants are fed. One remedy that is increasingly being considered as a solution to inadequate food access in cities, is urban agriculture. As a practice, urban agriculture is beneficial in both post-industrial and developing cities because it touches on the three pillars of sustainability: economics, society, and the environment. Historically, as well as currently, economic and food security are two of the most common reasons for participation in urban agriculture. Urban agriculture not only provides a source of healthful sustenance that might otherwise be lacking, it can also contribute to a household’s income, offset food expenditures, and create jobs. Social facets are another reason for populations to engage in urban agriculture. A garden or rooftop farm is a place where people come together for mutual benefit, often enhancing the common social and cultural identity for city residents. Larger urban farms also participate in community enrichment through job training and other educational programmes, many of which benefit underserved populations. Finally, urban agriculture can play an important role in the environmental sustainability of a city. As a form of green infrastructure, urban farms and community food gardens help reduce urban heat island effects, mitigate urban stormwater impacts and lower the energy embodied in food transportation. This paper will describe a multi-year study undertaken by the Urban Design Laboratory at the Earth Institute to assess the opportunities and challenges associated with the development of urban agriculture in New York City (NYC). The paper will present metrics on potential growing capacity within the City inclusive of both rooftop and land-based options, results from a survey of New York City based urban farmers that gathered information on the challenges and barriers to food production in NYC, with a focus on rooftop farming, and data from an environmental monitoring study on a commercial rooftop farm in Brooklyn. The paper will use the results of the multi-year study to provide insight into the potential role of urban agriculture to creating a more sustainable food system for New York City and cities elsewhere.

Resolving Ireland?s banking crisis

Abstract: The Irish banking system has been, in effect, on a life-support system since September 2008. Complacency resulted in the banks fuelling the late stage of an obvious construction bubble with massive foreign borrowing, leaving them exposed to solvency and liquidity risks which in past times would have been inconceivable. The Government's steps to put the system back on a sound basis must have regard both to protecting taxpayers' interests and to ensuring that credit flows to the economy are not hampered by inadequate capital or liquidity.

Fiscal rules, fiscal institutions, and fiscal performance

Abstract: This paper was delivered as the inaugural F. Y. Edgeworth Lecture at the Sixteenth Annual Conference of the Irish Economic Association

The Effect of Attendance on Grade for First Year Economics Students in University College Cork

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between attendance and grade, controlling for other factors, in first year economics courses in University College Cork. Determinants of both class attendance and grade are specified and estimated. We find that attendance is low, at least by comparison with US evidence. Hours worked and travel time are among the factors affecting class attendance. Class attendance, and especially tutorial attendance has a positive and diminishing marginal effect on grade, while hours worked in a part-time job have a significant negative effect on grade.

The Labour Market Characteristics and Labour Market Impacts of Immigrants in Ireland

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is twofold. We first produce a labour market profile of non- Irish immigrants who arrived in Ireland in the ten years to 2003. We then go on to use the labour market profile in estimating the impact of immigration (non-Irish) on the Irish labour market. Immigrants are shown to be a highly educated group. However, they are not all employed in occupations that fully reflect their education levels. The model of the labour market that we use to simulate the impact of immigration differentiates between low-skilled and high-skilled labour. This allows us to estimate the impact of immigrants (a) if they were employed at a level fitting their education and (b) if they were employed in occupations below their educational level. Our results show that under scenario (a) immigrants who arrived between 1993 and 2003 increased GNP by between 3.5 and 3.7 per cent, largely by lowering skilled wages by around 6 per cent and increasing Ireland’s competitiveness. Under scenario (b), the increase in GNP is reduced to 3 per cent because the impact on skilled wages is lower. If we assume that immigration is primarily unskilled, the impact on earnings inequality found under (a) and (b) is reversed.