Levelling Up and Productivity: The Role of Industrial Policy, Institutions and Fiscal Mechanisms
Productivity PuzzlesShow Notes
How do we level up regions in a sustained manner - raising productivity and living standards, and reducing inequalities? Why do institutions matter and what should change to make it work?
The government introduced its Levelling Up agenda to the UK as part of its 2019 election manifesto and a long-promised White Paper on the subject is expected soon. There has been no shortage of suggestions in recent months on what to do to advance economic and social progress in UK-wide regions and cities, and how to reduce inequalities between places and groups in the population.
In this episode, we’ve stepped back a bit from those critical needs and asked ourselves the questions of how policy, institutions and fiscal mechanisms can become less centralised, better coordinated and more long-term oriented.
Host Bart van Ark talks with three of The Productivity Institute’s thematic leads - Professors Diane Coyle, Andy Westwood and Philip McCann - to discuss their recent research relating to Levelling Up in relation to UK industrial policy, local growth and fiscal implications of governance devolution.
Productivity Puzzles is sponsored by Capita and brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research body involving nine academic institutions across the UK, eight Regional Productivity Forums throughout the nation, and a national independent Productivity Commission to advise policy makers at all levels of government.
For more information:
UK’s Industrial Policy: Learning from the past? By Diane Coyle and Adam Muthar
Read the Insight Paper Read the Executive Summary
Levelling Up, Local Growth and Productivity in England by Andy Westwood, Marianne Sensier and Nicola Pike
Read the Insight Paper Read the Executive Summary
The fiscal implication of levelling up and UK governance devolution by Philip McCann
Read the Insight Paper Read the Executive Summary
Ahead of the government’s White Paper in Levelling Up expected in 2022, The Productivity Institute has collated its “Levelling Up” related insights
Levelling Up: Insights from The Productivity Institute
The Productivity Institute is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. To find out more, visit: https://esrc.ukri.org/about-us/strategy-and-priorities/productivity/
Find out more about at www.productivity.ac.uk
More from Productivity Puzzles
Is the UK’s recent productivity recovery a sign of lasting improvement? How could AI, technology adoption and shifting global economic conditions shape the country’s future productivity?
Generative AI has moved from curiosity to everyday tool with remarkable speed. But the big productivity question is not simply whether people are using it; it is whether firms, sectors and economies can turn that use into lasting productivity gains.
Why do firms invest when they do and not necessarily when they should? Are firms too cautious to invest? Or just realistic about uncertainty? Is the real investment gap about money or about mindset?
If one in five working‑age people are inactive, what does that say about the UK’s productivity problem? Why does ill health push so many people out of work in the UK, but not in peer countries?
If universities are engines of growth, why isn’t productivity accelerating? What’s the point of educating graduates if regions can’t keep or use them?