Fertility travels on the rise
AROUND 80 MILLION women worldwide are infertile and growing numbers are seeking infertility treatment outside their country of residence. New research into this phenomenon in
the UK finds that a shortage of egg donors, the consequent perceived waiting times for treatment and issues of cost were significant drivers of this trend. Contrary to media reports of ‘fertility tourists’, many of the participants studied had decided to travel abroad following a long infertility journey in the UK and reported this to be a ‘last chance’ to have a child, although some had delayed motherhood for a variety
of reasons. While experiences of overseas treatment were broadly positive, participants reported initial anxieties and practical difficulties pre- and post-treatment. To reduce the need for fertility travelling, researchers suggest a threefold approach: improving public funding of treatment in the UK, tackling the UK donor shortage and improving patient-centred care. n
i Contact Professor Lorraine Culley,
De Montfort University Email
lac@dmu.ac.uk Telephone 0116 2757753 ESRC Grant Number RES-000-22-3390
Peace pays financial dividends
A new theory-based modelling approach developed at the London School of Economics provides a way to assess the economic value of reduced violence in areas of conflict. Researchers based their study on
Northern Ireland – a region with a long history of conflict but more recent experience of peace. Their study aimed to assess the impact of peace by using variation in violence within Northern Ireland to study one important economic aspect of the peace process and the dividend that it brought to residents of Northern Ireland: the impact on house prices. Findings show, as expected, that violence had a negative impact on house prices. In contrast, the peace process brought a significant, positive effect on houses prices. For Belfast, where violence was greatest, the estimated increase in house prices is between 5.9 per cent and 16.6 per cent.
“The method that we are proposing
for looking at conflict has potentially valuable applications in other contexts such as Iraq and Israel/Palestine,” says researcher Professor Tim Besley. “Sustaining peace is always a challenge in places where there are long-lived political and social tensions. It is necessary to convince those involved in supporting and perpetrating violence that there are manifest benefits to peace. “This study shows that home
owners’ willingness to pay to live in regions where violence decreased in Northern Ireland created a tangible stake in the maintenance of the peace process by capitalising the future value of peace.” n
i Contact Professor Timothy Besley, London
School of Economics and Political Science Email
pressoffice@lse.ac.uk Telephone 020 7955 7060 ESRC Grant Number RES-051-27-0166
IN BRIEF
CROWD MANAGEMENT Better understanding of crowd behaviours and dissemination of good practice are needed to improve crowd management, safety and event success, given added impetus by the forthcoming London 2012 Olympic Games. This project aims to transfer knowledge gained during previous research on crowd behaviours to the wider crowd event preparation and management community. ESRC Grant Number RES-189-25-0269
HEALTHY RESOURCE Young people with Coeliac Disease (CD) must not only follow a life-long gluten-free diet, but juggle this against the need for, among other challenges, peer acceptance. This project aims to develop a DVD resource for young people with CD to help them through the difficult transition from childhood to young adulthood when they must manage the condition themselves. ESRC Grant Number RES-189-25-0209
VALUE CREATION Based on a study of a social enterprise in the East of England, researchers will explore the relationship between organisational behaviour and broader institutional forces focusing on how organisational dynamics such as culture are influenced by external social processes. The aim is create insights for social enterprises seeking to manage the apparent conflict between the creation of social and commercial value. ESRC Grant Number RES-070-27-0050 A Mid-Career Development Fellowship
SUMMER 2011 SOCIETY NOW 9
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