Economy & Finance Blog Archive
Here you will find an archive of Economy & Finance Blog articles published before 1 January 2020, divided into their relevant categories.
Economy

Is Northern Ireland ‘Open’ for business? Examining the social and economic impact of sporting events
Reading Time: 7 minutes This article draws on recent experiences of Government-funded sporting events in Northern Ireland (NI), highlighting a number of those events, in particular their economic and social benefits. Such past events have helped to develop NI’s

Northern Ireland trade in goods, 2018
Reading Time: 3 minutes This blog post provides an overview of Northern Ireland’s (NI) current position with regard to trade in goods and updates our previous blog on NI’s trade in goods in 2017. It uses the most recent

Regional devolution for Northern Ireland: What’s the big deal?
Reading Time: 5 minutes On 26 March 2019, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (NI) signed an agreement between the United Kingdom (UK) Government, the NI Civil Service and six of the 11 NI district councils. This gave
Employment & Labour Market

National Minimum Wage: Effects and future
Reading Time: 7 minutes Do you know the hourly minimum wage rates for workers in Northern Ireland? Currently, the rates are determined under three separate schemes: the ‘National Living Wage’; the ‘National Minimum Wage’; and, the ‘Real Living Wage’.

What is the Gender Pay Gap in Northern Ireland in 2019?
Reading Time: 5 minutes By Michael Scholes & Aidan Stennett To highlight International Women’s Day, this blog article updates a previous one examining the Gender Pay Gap in Northern Ireland, by presenting the latest 2018 data. The UK Government

What is the gender pay gap in Northern Ireland?
Reading Time: 6 minutes By Michael Scholes & Aidan Stennett Please note: we have posted a new version of this blog article using the most recent data, see here. To highlight International Women’s Day, the following article updates our
Energy

Is the sun setting on Northern Ireland renewable electricity?
Reading Time: 3 minutes There was considerable growth in the development of renewable electricity over the previous Northern Ireland Assembly mandate. Changes to renewable electricity support may impact the ability to achieve similar levels of growth in the future.
Enterprise and Investment

Where and why does Invest NI invest in NI?
Reading Time: 10 minutes This post examines financial support provided by Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) to businesses located in Northern Ireland (NI) from 2013-14 to 2017-18, identifying key impacts arising from that funding. What is Invest NI? As
Finance

Northern Ireland public finances: An update
Reading Time: 3 minutes This blog article provides an update on Northern Ireland public finances in the absence of fully functioning devolved government. It explains recently enacted budget legislation and notes political developments of relevance to future Northern Ireland

Is Northern Ireland underrated? Examining the context for a review of our rating system
Reading Time: 7 minutes On 9 May 2019 the Permanent Secretary for the Department of Finance (DoF) announced a fresh appraisal of the fundamental features of the Northern Ireland (NI) rating system. This article provides some context for the

We don’t need no education!
Reading Time: 8 minutes The finances of Northern Ireland’s schools have been in the spotlight for some time. For example, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee at Westminster is currently holding an Inquiry into Education funding. In June 2018, Northern
Research and Innovation

Where and why does Invest NI invest in NI?
Reading Time: 10 minutes This post examines financial support provided by Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) to businesses located in Northern Ireland (NI) from 2013-14 to 2017-18, identifying key impacts arising from that funding. What is Invest NI? As

How is Northern Ireland performing in science, technology, engineering and maths?
Reading Time: 5 minutes This week sees people across Northern Ireland getting interested and involved in science through the Northern Ireland Science Festival. We thought we would join the celebration of all things scientific by taking a look

From an economic to an industrial strategy
Reading Time: 5 minutes Following on from a recent blog post on ‘a revised strategy for Northern Ireland’s Economy’, this post looks at the Department for the Economy’s draft Industrial Strategy and highlights some of the key similarities and