Independence in the modern world. Wealthier, happier, fairer: why not Scotland?
This paper sets out a detailed analysis of the UK’s performance across a range of economic and social indicators relative to that of ten European countries. It is the first in the 'Building a new Scotland' series, focusing on independence.
Acronyms and definitions
BERD
Business Enterprise Research and Development
DDC
Danish Disruption Council
EEC
European Economic Community
ESF
EU Structural Funds
ESRI
Economic and Social Research Institute (Ireland)
EU
European Union
Eurostat
The statistical office of the European Union
FDI
Foreign Direct Investment
GDP
Gross domestic product (OECD definition of GDP)
GFCF
Gross Fixed Capital Formation
Gini coefficient
A measure of inequality in the distribution of household income. The Gini coefficient is based on the comparison of cumulative proportions of the population against cumulative proportions of income they receive, and it ranges between 0 (or 0%) in the case of perfect equality and 1 (or 100%) in the case of perfect inequality (OECD definition of Gini coefficient)
HDI
United Nations Human Development Index
ICT
Information and communications technology
IMA
UK Internal Market Act 2020
IMF
International Monetary Fund
IT
Information Technology
JSC
Job Security Council
LMP
Labour market policy
MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament
NSET
National Strategy for Economic Transformation (Scottish Government publication)
OBR
Office for Budget Responsibility
OECD
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
ONS
Office for National Statistics
PPPs
Purchasing Power Parities (OECD definition of PPPs)
R&D
Research and development
SDI
Scottish Development International
SPF
Shared Prosperity Fund
Social Mobility
'Social mobility can be understood as the movement in personal circumstances either "upwards" or "downwards" of an individual in relation to their parents. In absolute terms, it is the ability of a child to experience a better life than their parents' (World Economic Forum definition of social mobility)
SGC
Sustainable Growth Commission
UB
Unemployment Benefit
UK
United Kingdom
USD
United States Dollars
WEGo
Wellbeing Economy Governments
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