News

Entitled "Enhancing UK Trade and SME Resilience: Strategic Responses to Brexit thorough Innovation, Policy, and Global Value Chains" will give the CBP £65,000 to accelerate and expand its research impact during 2024-2026.

The Encyclopedia will cover a wide array of topics, theories, and applications related to productivity, ensuring it is a valuable reference for years to come.

A report on the impact of the 2021 UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, three years on

A veterinary deal with the European Union could increase UK agricultural and food exports by over a fifth, according to new research.

Jun Du, Professor of Economics at Aston University, explains why an UK Industrial Strategy underpinned by a strategic framework to support the EV industry is essential for the future prosperity of the region. 

Jun Du, Professor of Economics at Aston University, explains why investing in battery infrastructure is so critical to the future prosperity of the industry.

Oleksandr Shepotylo, Senior Lecturer of Economics at Aston University, explains why negotiating the current terms of the Rules of Origin Agreement between the UK and the EU is so critical to the future prosperity of the industry.

Researchers have called for urgent policy intervention and a focussed effort to ensure the UK’s automotive industry remains a critical pillar of the British economy.

The Centre for Business Prosperity (CBP) hosted a discovery day on 2 May for the UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT), bringing together researchers and policy-makers from both organisations to establish a new partnership. 

The Centre for Business Prosperity are pleased to announce two PhD Studentships that will commence October 2023.

The Centre for Business Prosperity seeks to appoint a highly motivated and talented researcher with the ability and interest in providing excellence in research and impact in the field of International Business Economics.

Professor Jun Du, Dr Beyza Satoglu and Dr Oleksandr Shepotylo have published the article ‘How did Brexit affect UK trade?’ in Contemporary Social Science.

Dr Dalila Ribaudo has published an article “Tracking the Van. The role of forward linkages in logistics MNEs’ location choices across European NUTS3 regions” in the Regional Science Association International (RSAI).

Dr Tasos Kitsos, along with co-authors Simone Maria Grabner (Institute for SME Research) & Andre Carrascal-Incera (University of Oviedo), have published the article ‘Industrial Embeddedness and Regional Economic Resistance in Europe’ in Economic Geography.

On 1st March 2023, Professor Jun Du, Dr Uzoamaka Nduka and Dr Oleksandr Shepotylo gave an on-line presentation entitled “Service Trade Barriers and Firm Performance: A UK Perspective” at the The Productivity Institute’s Brown Bag Seminar.

Professor Jun Du and Dr Bach Nguyen  have published an article “The ‘Play’ of Institutions and Firm Investment: Evidence from a Transition Economy” in the International Journal of Finance & Economics.

The EU is preparing to abandon its longstanding restrictions on state aid to take on US and Chinese subsidies over green technologies. 

Professor Jun Du has published a new ERC Insight Paper ‘Business Confidence, TCA Adaptation, and Export Performance’.

International trading has always been risky. But UK traders exporting to the EU have faced major hurdles over the last two years due to Brexit-related changes and uncertainties.

Professor Jun Du, along with co-authors  Sourafel Girma, Holger Görg, Ignat Stepanok, have had a paper ‘Who wins and who loses from state subsidies?’ published in the Canadian Journal of Economics.

Professor Jun Du, Dr Tasos Kitsos and Professor Anne Green (University of Birmingham) have successfully secured an application to the Midlands Graduate School ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership Joint Studentships for the project proposal ‘Enabling Skills for Transitions to a Green Economy’.

‘You can’t do business without them’, says an owner of a food shop serving a local migrant community, talking about his social ties with customers who he consults for advice.

Research by Professor Jun Du, Dr Emine Beyza Satoglu and Dr Oleksandr Shepotylo was cited in the Centre for Brexit Studies Blog (Birmingham City University) ‘Some New Year Good Cheer With Home-Made Green Brew’.

The paper entitled “The endogamy tradition and the business performance of informal owner-manager ventures in sub-Saharan Africa” won the best paper award at the 6th Biennial Africa Academy of Management Conference.

Researchers Professor Tomek Mickiewicz (CBP), Dr Neha Prashar (CBP), Dr Anastasia Ri (ERC), and Professor Mark Hart (ERC) came together to complete a study into local social capital and the role that it plays in supporting start-up activities. 

Research by Professor Jun Du about the fall in exported product types was quoted in The Economist article, ‘Assembling a Better British Relationship with Europe’.

Research from the publication ‘TCA, Non-tariff Measures and UK Trade’ (ERC Research Paper No. 98, June 2022) by Prof Jun Du and Dr Oleksandr Shepotylo was cited by the British Chambers of Commerce in ‘The Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Two Years on – Proposals for Reform by UK Business’. 

Research into post Brexit trade by Prof Jun Du and Dr Oleksandr Shepotylo featured in the Financial Times article ‘UK Businesses Struggle to Trade with EU Two Years after Brexit Deal’.

On 15 December 2022, Prof Jun Du was interviewed for BBC Newsnight report by Ben Chu discussing the impact of Brexit on UK trade 2 years on.

The ERC and CBP research teams at Aston have been awarded two additional projects worth £50k in a series commissioned by the Scottish Government. 

Dr Sajid Chaudhry has been awarded £3,894 from the Research Impact Fund to visit the Institute of Economic Affairs in Accra, Ghana. Drawing on his research, Sajid hopes to inform a scientific basis for introducing bank taxation in Ghana.

Dr Arash Sadeghi, Prof Jun Du, Dr Mustapha Douch & Prof Stephen Roper were awarded for being one of the International Management Division HKUST Best Paper in Global Strategy finalists 

On 9th August 2022, Dr Oleksandr Shepotylo was invited to participate in The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Roundtable: The Economic Risks of War in Ukraine

As far as trade is concerned, the EU exit has been rather costly to the UK. At the Centre for Business Prosperity, we have been tracking the performance of UK trade in recent years. 

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a major role in most economies. According to Word Bank, they represent more than 50% of employment worldwide and contribute up to 40% of national income (GDP)

Prof Jun Du and Dr Oleksandr Shepotylo have had a book chapter ‘Brexit and UK Services Trade’ published in ‘The Economics of Brexit: What Have We Learned?’ by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR).

Prof Jun Du and Dr Oleksandr Shepotylo, have published a new article in Comment Central entitled ‘Why has the UK-EU TCA so far Proven Costly?’

Professor Jun Du attended the ERC State of Small Business Britain Conference held at The Shard in London. Prof Jun Du spoke on the ‘Unlocking SME potential after the pandemic’ discussion panel about export and productivity.

Professor Jun Du spoke on the Global Trade Review GTR2022 expert panel on how innovation and digital can help export and growth, which is the largest trade conference in the UK with 600 exporters and trade finance industries around the world

Dr Sajid Chaudhry, along with co-authors Dr Rizan Ahmed (University of Birmingham), Chamaporn Kumpamool (Khon Kaen University) and Chonlakan Benjasak (Walailak University),  have published a new article entitled ‘Tail Risk, Systemic Risk and Spillover Risk of Crude Oil and Precious Metal’ in Energy Economics.

The estimated total number of households now predicted to be in fuel poverty due to the latest price cap rise from 1 April 2022 is 6.32 million. This could rise to 8.5 million by the end of 2022.

Jun Du, Chris Jones, Yama Temouri, Vahid Jafari-Sadeghi, Emine Beyza Satoglu, Xiaocan Yuan, Santiago Gallego De Cáceres from Centre for Business Prosperity presented seven papers in the 2022 Academy of International Business (AIB) UK Conference

The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership’s (CISL) Banking Environment Initiative (BEI) highlights the need for financial institutions to institutionalise sustainability throughout their organisations in their Bank 2030 report.

Banks that adopt eco-friendly policies usually exhibit lower risk. We used data from US banks to calculate their tail risk. Our analysis shows that environmentally friendly banks are often compensated in the form of low risk. 

Prof Jun Du, Dr Meng Song and Dr Oleksandr Shepotylo have been awarded £20,000 from the AHRC funded Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre (PEC) at Nesta.

Prof Chris Jones, Dr Matt Olczak, Dr Yama Temouri (Aston University) and Prof Stephen Davies (University East Anglia) have obtained funding £165,037 from the Leverhulme Trust for a project.

The Centre for Business Prosperity are pleased to launch a new reading club series presented by CBP Markets and Policy theme, led by Dr Matthew Olczak, entitled “Tax Avoidance and Competition”.

The Centre for Business Prosperity is delighted to announce the launch of the inception of Paper Development Clinic (PDC) as a core activity of the Centre.

The Centre for Business Prosperity are pleased to announce the launch of the Entrepreneurship Seminars 2022 Series presented by CBP Entrepreneurship and Regional Development theme, led by Prof. Tomasz Mickiewicz.