25 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh EH8 9LN

Tel/Fax (0131) 667 9609

e-mail: Hume.Institute@ed.ac.uk Internet: http://www.ed.ac.uk/~hume/

Professor Brian Main, Director of The David Hume Institute said: "The aim of this series has been to provide a forum for discussion of some of the major devolution policy issues and developments which have been on Scotland's political agenda in the past 3 years. The Institute is delighted to welcome Professor Jeffery and Professor McGregor and it is expected that there will be lively and informed discussion following this seminar. We are grateful to the ESRC (Economic & Social Research Council) for their sponsorship of this seminar"

Professor Peter McGregor: The Barnett formula, at least in principle, governs changes in the budget of the Scottish Parliament. Our research examines the consequences for the Scottish economy of strict adherence to the Barnett formula. Our results indicate that rigorous application of the Barnett formula ultimately implies a decline in economic activity in Scotland relative to that in England of up to 5% in terms of employment. The end result does depend importantly, however, on the wage bargaining and migration processes, and is likely to take many years to be established.

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Professor Charlie Jeffery: will take the discussion of the Barnett Formula by McGregor as a starting point - but will take a different perspective. The rhetoric on need associated with the Barnett debate strikes at the heart of a conundrum facing the UK as it does all decentralised states. A claim for higher per capita funding in Scotland in order to meet higher/different Scottish needs is, put bluntly, a claim on the tax revenues paid in south-east England (as, indeed, are similar claims about need in Northern Ireland, Wales and various English regions).

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Professor Charlie Jeffery is the Director of the ESRC research programme "Devolution and Constitutional Change in the UK". He is responsible for co-ordinating over 30 projects on devolution to a total value of £4.7M. He is also Deputy Director of the Institute for German Studies at the University of Birmingham where he has personal Chair in German Politics. His main specialism is in German federalism and the role of the Länder in European policy.

He is currently involved in researching multi-level electoral politics in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, and the regional role in EU decision-making in projects funded by the Leverhulme Trust as part of its ‘Nations and Regions’ Programme.

Professor Peter McGregor is Professor and Head of the Department of Economics at the University of Strathclyde.

He is a former Research Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute, has held visiting academic posts in Sweden and Germany, and has consultancy experience in the Middle and Far East. He has acted as a UNDP-funded consultant to the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister's Department, Malaysia and has been a member of the Bank of England's Panel of Academic Consultants.

He is a past editor of Regional Studies and has published widely in books and in professional journals, including European Economic Review, Oxford Economic Papers and the Journal of Regional Science.

Current research interests include regional economic modelling, the economics of devolution and regional sustainability and the evaluation of regional economic policies.

The views that will be expressed by the speaker are his own and do not commit the Trustees or Officers of the Institute in any way.

The David Hume Institute, 25 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh EH8 9LN

Catriona Laing Tel/Fax (0131) 667 9609

e-mail: Hume.Institute@ed.ac.uk