Conversations on the Political Economy of Constitutional Change in Scotland

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project will deliver a series of high-level 'conversations' involving social scientists, businesspeople and policymakers in Scotland. The aim is to foster knowledge exchange that uses social science research to inform business and policymaker views in policy debates on constitutional change in Scotland. The focus is on the political economy of constitutional change: the ways in which alternative constitutional choices may impact on economic policy and performance. This knowledge exchange activity will be designed by a liaison group of academics, businesspeople and policymakers to produce and evidence base, and make possible evidence-based analysis of the economic dimensions of constitutional change in the run-up to the constitutional referendum planned by Scotland's SNP government. We propose dispassionate and non-partisan evidence and analysis that brings together Scotland-specific and UK-wide considerations on the political economy of constitutional change. The evidence and analysis will be presented in four 'conversations' that bridge different sectors and bring social science research to the benefit both of the Scottish policy community (where knowledge exchange links are already strong) and the business community (where academic-business links are weaker). A liaison group of academics, businesspeople and policy makers convened by the Academy of Government at the University of Edinburgh and the business-facing David Hume Institute will identify sources of evidence, commission analysis, identify key interlocutors across the three sectors to engage in the conversations, and disseminate the content and conclusions of the conversations through channels targeted to distinct business, policy and academic audiences.