CEP in the News 2006
In a general discussion about ‘happiness’ – the individual’s and society’s – columnist remarks that happiness theory such as Richard Layard’s is a current craze.
This article appeared in the Times Online on December 31, 2006
Link to article.
Related Publications
Happiness - Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard.
Buy it online
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Mental Health Policy Group
webpage
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
Professor Stephen Nickell, has been awarded a CBE for services to economics.
Alumnus Professor Nickell taught economics at LSE for 13 years, latterly as School Professor
of Economics from 1998 to 2005. He was a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank
of England until 2006, and is now warden of Nuffield College, Oxford.
This article appeared in BBC News Online on December 30, 2006
Click here to view The Queen's list (full honours list).
Also in
The Guardian
New Year honours in Education
Link to article
The Telegraph
Working with the Chancellor no bar to making the New Year List
Link to article
Related Links
Stephen Nickell's
webpage
Thanks to some truly original thinking - on subjects as diverse as the web and global warming - mankind stands on a glorious threshold.
The Observer published Richard Layard’s Depression Report, arguing that because one in six of us suffers from anxiety or depression the
greatest contribution the government could make to promoting well-being is to prioritise the improvement of mental-health care.
This article appeared in the Observer on December 24, 2006
Link to article.
The Depression Report:
A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Happiness - Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard.
Buy it online
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Mental Health Policy Group
webpage
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
Linda Yueh was recorded for ‘FOCUS 2006 - Economic Trends’ broadcast by Radio Singapore.
This broadcast featured on Radio Singapore on December 22, 2006
Link to transcript.
Related links
Linda Yueh's
webpage
Globalisation Programme
webpage
A research paper by
Paul Willman, of the London School of Economics, and
Alex Bryson, of the Centre for Economic Performance, claims unions are weaker on key financial measures than for 50 years. Alex Bryson quoted as saying "Unions have found it hard to organise in new businesses, and even in unionised workplaces many workers are never asked to join."
This article appeared in The Financial Times on December 21, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
'Accounting for Collective Action: Resource Acquisition and Mobilization in British Unions', by Paul Willman and Alex Bryson,
Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No.768, December 2006.
Related Links
Alex Bryson
webpage
Manpower Human Resource Lab
webpage
Labour Markets Programme
webpage
Linda Yueh, Associate of the Globalisation Programme at the Centre for Economic Performance, appeared on Today’s Business on CNBC Europe to discuss the outlook for the Chinese economy in 2007.
Linda Yueh appeared on CNBC Europe on December 20, 2006
Video link
Related Links
Linda Yueh
webpage
Globalisation Programme
webpage
Further broadcast
December 28 2006
CNBC Europe, ‘Worldwide Exchange’
The government appears to have backed
Richard Layard’s recommendations for increases in therapy provision to tackle depression – overall funding has increased over the past decade although from a very low base. In fact mental health services have been disproportionately affected by cuts in 2006.
This article appeared in The Guardian on December 20, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Depression Report: A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard
webpage
The Mental Health Policy Group
webpage
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
Article refers to the book
Unemployment, by
Richard Layard, and contrasts the later work
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science.
This article appeared in the Economist on December 19, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Unemployment: Macroeconomic Performance and the Labour Market by
Richard Layard,
Stephen Nickell and
Richard Jackman. New edition published January 2005.
Happiness - Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
European versus US Unemployment: Different Responses to Increased Demand for Skill?, Richard Jackman, Richard Layard,
Marco Manacorda and
Barbara Petrongolo,
CEP Discussion Paper No349, June 1997.
Combatting Unemployment: Is Flexibility Enough?, Richard Jackman, Richard Layard and Stephen Nickell,
CEP Discussion Paper No.293, March 1996.
How Much Unemployment is Needed for Restructuring?: The Russian Experience, Richard Layard and Ansgar Richter, CEP Discussion Paper No.238, April 1995. (No electronic copy available.)
Unemployment: The Way Forward for Europe, Richard Layard,
CEP Occasional Paper No.7, August 1994.
Unemployment in the OECD Countries, Richard Layard and Stephen Nickell, CEP Discussion Paper No.81, June 1992. (No electronic copy available.)
Understanding Unemployment, Richard Layard, CEP Discussion Paper No.4, May 1990. (No electronic copy available.)
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness Research Programme
webpage
Labour Markets Research Programme
webpage
Research has shown that talking therapies work just as well as antidepressant drugs in the short term, but in the long term they are more effective at preventing relapse. However, a Mail investigation has found these guidelines are being consistently ignored, because talking therapies are not funded across the NHS.
Richard Layard argues for a commitment from the government to fund the training of 10,000 extra therapists across the UK.
This article appeared in The Daily Mail on December 19, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Depression Report: A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Mental Health Policy Group
webpage
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
How the Democrat party in the USA do not have a serious commitment to make people happier – by raising people’s taxes. Cites
Richard Layard’s book
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science as advocating taxation to make us happy!
This article appeared in In These Times online on December 18, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness - Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness Research Programme
webpage
An article on the research from the Centre for Economic Performance by
Steve Gibbons and
Olmo Silva that finds pupil ability and background, rather than teaching standards, account for higher attainment levels at faith primary schools.
This article appeared online on HULIQ.com - Hickory, North Carolina, USA on December 18, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Faith Primary Schools: Better Schools or Better Pupils? by Stephen Gibbons and Olmo Silva,
CEE Discussion Paper No.72, November 2006.
Related Links
Stephen Gibbons
webpage
Olmo Silva
webpage
Education and Skills
webpage
An article in the Greek newspaper
Kathimerini related to the management study done in 2004 by
Nick Bloom and
John Van Reenen.
This article appeared in Kathimerini (Greece) on December 17, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
'Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries' by Nick Bloom and John Van Reenen,
CEP Discussion Paper No.716, March 2006
Related Links
Nick Bloom
webpage
John Van Reenen
webpage
Productivity and Innovation Research Programme
webpage
‘For example, foreign-owned businesses in the UK make significantly better use of information technology than domestically-owned ones, mainly due to enlightened management practices that can better exploit fast-changing technologies.’
Comment refers to work by
Nick Bloom,
Raffaella Sadun and
John Van Reenen “It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do IT – testing explanations of productivity growth using US affiliates”, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics.
This article appeared in NESTA (Making innovation flourish) published December 2006
Link to article
Related Publication
CEP Report
It Ain’t What You Do It’s the Way that You Do IT – Testing Explanations of Productivity Growth Using US Affiliates, by Nick Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen.
Related Links
Nick Bloom
webpage
Raffaella Sadun
webpage
John Van Reenen
webpage
Productivity and Innovation Research Programme
webpage
An article by Glen Hubbard discussing productivity in which he cites research by
Nick Bloom and
John Van Reenen.
'...in a knowledge-intensive economy, the firms with better practices for process techniques, goal setting, performance evaluation, and human resources management should be found, by reasonably objective observers, to exhibit generally better performance. And indeed that correlation was found in recent research by economists Nick Bloom of Stanford University and John Van Reenen of the London School of Economics....'
This article appeared in the Strategy + Business - magazine on December 15, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries by Nick Bloom and John Van Reenen,
CEP Discussion Paper No.716, March 2006
Related Links
Nick Bloom
webpage
John Van Reenen
webpage
Productivity and Innovation Research Programme
webpage
Linda Yueh recorded an interview for the BBC World Service on US-China strategic dialogue.
The interview was broadcast on the BBC World Service - 'The World Today' on December 14, 2006
BBC World Service
Related Links
Linda Yueh
webpage
Globalisation Research Programme
webpage
Further press cuttings
16-18 December 2006
BBC World Service - 'World Business Review' [No direct link to broadcast.]
Linda Yueh interviewed on US-China strategic dialogue.
Wednesday 22 December 2006
Radio Singapore International - 'Focus 2006'
[No direct link to broadcast.]
Linda Yueh spoke on economic trends/China’s economic development.
A report by
Stephen Gibbons and
Olmo Silva, commissioned by the Department of Education and Skills, says that religious affiliation of schools has little impact on their results. Church of England and Roman Catholic schools have fewer children from poor backgrounds and are more likely to be targeted by 'pushy' parents.
This article appeared in the National Secular Society on December 11, 2006.
Link to article
Related Publications
Faith Primary Schools: Better Schools or Better Pupils? by Stephen Gibbons and Olmo Silva,
CEE Discussion Paper No.72, November 2006.
Related Links
Stephen Gibbons
webpage
Olmo Silva
webpage
Education and Skills
webpage
In an article on how happiness research is starting to show up in policy proposals,
Richard Layard's campaign for more government funding to provide cognitive behavioural therapists is cited.
This article appeared in Slate (a US daily magazine on the web) on December 9, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness - Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Details
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness Programme
webpage
Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
Article about the rise of the popularity of the subject of happiness, which refers to
Richard Layard, emeritus professor of economics at LSE, and a leading figure in this field.
This article appeared in the Socialist Worker, December 9, 2006, Issue 2030
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
Faith primary schools make little difference to children's future prospects, government-funded research by
Stephen Gibbons and
Olmo Silva of the Centre for Economic Performance shows.
This article appeared in the The Daily Mail on December 8, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Faith Primary Schools: Better Schools or Better Pupils' by Stephen Gibbons and Olmo Silva,
CEE Discussion Paper No.72, November 2006.
Related Links
Stephen Gibbon
webpage
Olmo Silva
webpage
Education and Skills Research Programme
webpage
Faith primary schools make little difference to children's future prospects, government-funded research shows. A Report from
Stephen Gibbons and
Olmo Silva from the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE warns that sending a child to a faith primary will give them only a 'very small advantage' over a pupil at the secular school down the road.
This article appeared in The Evening Standard on December 8, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Faith Primary Schools: Better Schools or Better Pupils' by Stephen Gibbons and Olmo Silva,
CEE Discussion Paper No.72, November 2006.
Related Links
Stephen Gibbon
webpage
Olmo Silva
webpage
Education and Skills Research Programme
webpage
A study by
Stephen Gibbons and
Olmo Silva from the Centre for Economic Performance says that better teaching and links to the Church have little to do with results.
This article appeared in The Daily Telegraph on December 8, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Faith Primary Schools: Better Schools or Better Pupils' by Stephen Gibbons and Olmo Silva,
CEE Discussion Paper No.72, November 2006.
Related Links
Stephen Gibbon
webpage
Olmo Silva
webpage
Education and Skills Research Programme
webpage
Linda Yueh interviewed by CNBC's Moira Fogarty on China's opening of its banking sector under its WTO obligations.
The broadcast was given on December 8, 2006
Video link
Further news items
CNBC on December 6, 2006
Linda Yueh interviewed for 'Europe Squawk Box' (Europe's leading financial news channel) on China's planned reforms of its banking sector.
Video link
Related Links
Linda Yueh
webpage
Globalisation Research Programme
webpage
In an article regarding cognitive behavioural therapy as effective and economical treatment of depression and anxiety,
Richard Layard's book
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science cited.
This article appeared in The Times Online on December 7, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness - Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Details
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness Programme
webpage
Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
Research by
Fernando Galindo-Rueda of CEP cited in article on the government's aim to raise the minimumn school-leaving age from 16.
This article appeared in The Guardian on December 6, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
'The Long-Term Impacts of Compulsory Schooling: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in School Leaving Dates' by Emilia Del Bono and Fernando Galindo-Rueda, Working Paper of Institute for Social and Economic Research,
Paper 2006-44, November 2006, University of Essex: Colchester.
Related Links
Fernando Galindo-Rueda
webpage
Education and Skills Research Programme
webpage
Linda Yueh an Associate of the Globalisation Programme at the Centre for Economic Performance addressed a conference at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin on 'The Rise of Asia in International Affairs' on Friday 24 November, 2006 by.
This article appeared in the Sudan Tribune on November 26, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
Linda Yueh
webpage
"Economic reform" has been the banner slogan of Japanese governments for the last 10 years, and the new government promises more of it.
An article by Ronald Dore
This article appeared in the Japan Times on 9 November 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
Ron Dore's
webpage
Environment Secretary David Miliband and Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling will jointly chair a Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance. Members of the Commission will be drawn from business, NGO's, academia, trade unions and public sector organisations. Professor John Van Reenen is amongst those who have provisionally agreed to sit on the commission.
This article appeared in the Government News Network on 8 November 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
John Van Reenen's
webpage
DTI Environmental Industries Unit
webpage
DEFRA
website
For the past 100 years Russia has been a country of extreme ideas, and extreme policies based on those ideas. This has resulted in an overall poor economic performance and immense human suffering. As so often in Russian history, what happens now depends very much on one man and on the attitudes of others to him.
This article refers to Richard Layard and a visit he made to Moscow in 1992
This article appeared in Online Opinion on 8 November 2006
Link to article.
Urban sprawl does not affect weight in any way, researchers at the University of Toronto, the London School of Economics and Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain, have found.
This article appeared in the Hindustan Times on 5 November 2006
Article also appeared in:
NewKerala.com
Yahoo News India
SouthAsiaNews.com
Related Publications
Fat City: The Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Obesity, Jean Eid, Henry G Overman, Diego Puga and Matthew A Turner, November 2006, Paper No'
CEPDP0758
Related Links
Henry Overman's
webpage
Diego Puga
webpage
Many believe urban sprawl spawned human sprawl, rising obesity levels, but Canadian, British and Spanish researchers say the obese choose sprawl. Researchers at the University of Toronto, LSE and University Pompeu Fabra in Spain released a working paper entitled Fat City: Questioning The Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Obesity that found no evidence that urban sprawl affects weight.
This article appeared on United Press International online on 2 November 2006
Link to article.
Related Publications
Fat City: The Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Obesity, Jean Eid, Henry G Overman, Diego Puga and Matthew A Turner, November 2006, Paper No'
CEEDP0758
Related Links
Henry Overman's
webpage
OTTAWA - Don't blame your ballooning waistline on urban sprawl, say researchers at the University of Toronto.
Despite numerous studies that have blamed obesity on suburban living, researchers at the U of T, the London School of Economics and Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain say people who are at risk of becoming obese choose to move to the suburbs because they prefer to drive, not walk.
This article appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on 1 November 2006
Link to article.
Related Publications
Fat City: The Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Obesity, Jean Eid, Henry G Overman, Diego Puga and Matthew A Turner, November 2006, Paper No'
CEEDP0758
Related Links
Henry Overman's
webpage
Does urban sprawl really cause human sprawl? Not according to research conducted at the University of Toronto, the London School of Economics and Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain. In the recently released working paper, Fat City: Questioning The Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Obesity, researchers find no evidence that urban sprawl affects weight.
This article appeared in the EurekAlert, USA on 1 November 2006
Link to article.
Related Publications
Fat City: The Relationship Between Urban Sprawl and Obesity, Jean Eid, Henry G Overman, Diego Puga and Matthew A Turner, November 2006, Paper No'
CEEDP0758
Related Links
Henry Overman's
webpage
DESPITE the ritualistic condemnation by the Australian Industry Group, the federal minimum wage ruling handed down yesterday by the Australian Fair Pay Commission was welcomed by all interested parties. The Government, sensitive to criticism that its decision to abolish the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and hand its wage-setting powers over to the newly created AFPC was just a ploy to erode minimum wages, greeted the decision as a vindication of its WorkChoices legislation.
This article refers to Professor David Metcalf’s report on the British minimum wage and the Low Pay Commission.
This article appeared in the Canberra Times on 27 October 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
David Metcalf's webpage
The Low Pay Commission's website
Unemployment has hit a five-year high, according to official figures published yesterday but the number of people in employment also rose - to an all-time high of 29.02m. The parallel growth in both employment and unemployment has left labour market experts scratching their heads for previous historical examples. ‘I can't immediately recall another period when this has happened, which suggests that it is unusual,’ said Alan Manning, professor of economics LSE.
This article appeared in the Financial Times on 19 October 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
Alan Manning's
webpage
Überdies sei Outsourcing auch kein immerwährender Prozess, betont Anthony Venables von der London School of Economics. Vor bestimmten Produktionsschritten mache die Jobverlagerung Halt. "Eine dichte Anordnung wirtschaftlicher Aktivität funktioniert oft besser als eine zerstückelte", weiß Venables.
A study by the Fabian Society to mark the centenary of the first call for a national minimum wage (NMW) shows that the government's decision in 1999 to put a floor under the pay of the poor and the exploited has been a success. Employers' organisers bemoaned the fact that the NMW would involve still more red tape. However, in his study, David Metcalf, LSE, found that there was a far greater chance of a company being inspected for poverty pay when the old wages councils were in existence in 1988 than there is today.
This article appeared in The Guardian on 16 October 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
David Metcalf's
webpage
Research published yesterday by Professor David Metcalf of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, showed that the minimum wage, which was introduced in 1999 and has benefited about two million workers, has reduced pay inequality between men and women.
This article appeared in Reuters online on 14 October 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
Daivd Metcalf's
webpage
The minimum wage has reduced pay inequality between men and women but is likely to have cut corporate profitability, according to research published yesterday. About two million workers, equivalent to one in 10, have benefited from its introduction in 1999, according to Professor David Metcalf, of the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
This article appeared in the Financial Times on 14 October 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
David Metcalf's
webpage
Article about parenting which refers to the independent study into childhood led by Lord Layard, emeritus professor of economics at the London School of Economics.
This article appeared in the Financial Times 13 October 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
The Good Childhood Inquiry
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Mental Health Policy Group
programme overview
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
A McKinsey study in association with LSE, surveying 700 mid-sized companies in Europe and the US suggests that family-owned companies managed by the eldest son are generally poorly managed compared to others. In India, the scene is largely different—where very few family-owned companies are completely professionally managed, and some eldest sons of families have done really well.
This article appeared in the Hindustan Times on 13 October 2006
Link to article.
Related Publications
Management Practices Across Firms and Nations, Nick Bloom, Stephen Dorgan, John Dowdy, Tom Rippin and John Van Reenen December 2004,
Download Paper
Related Links
Management Interviews and Government Policy:
about the project
CEP Productivity & Innovation Research Programme
homepage
Article about US economist Edmund Phelps who has won a Nobel Prize, officially called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences. Includes quote from Professor Christopher Pissarides, of the Centre for Economic Performance: ‘The prize was richly deserved and long overdue. He revolutionised our way of thinking about the inflation-unemployment trade-off, which has influenced policymakers since the 1960s.’
This article appeared in the Times Online on July 22, 2005
Link to article.
The economy of the European Union has failed to live up to the expectations set by the Lisbon agenda in 2000, according to an economic research centre.
This article appeared in London Stock Exchange Online on 10 October 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
CEP Policy Analysis page
The Lisbon Agenda
The European Union has no hope of achieving its goal of becoming the most competitive economy in the world by 2010, according to LSE.
This article appeared in the Times Online on July 22, 2005
Link to article.
Related Links
CEP Policy Analysis page
The Lisbon Agenda
The US economy is continuing to outperform and outstrip its EU counterpart, a new report claims, despite a concerted innovation drive from the latter. Today's study from the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), part of LSE, says that US productivity in terms of GDP per hour is 15 per cent higher than in the EU. When translated into GDP per capita, the US economy is about a third more productive than that of the European member states
This article appeared in InTheNews online on 10 October 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
CEP Policy Analysis page
The Lisbon Agenda
The European Union has no hope of meeting its targets for boosting innovation by 2010, and may never achieve its goals without wide-ranging reform, LSE said Tuesday. In 2000, the EU agreed on a strategy - known as the Lisbon Agenda - for closing the productivity gap with the US by the end of this decade. But according to a report by the LSE's Centre for Economic Performance, ‘progress has been poor.’
This article appeared in EasyBourse on 10 Ocotober 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
CEP Policy Analysis page
The Lisbon Agenda
When the head of Arcelor was trying earlier this year to fend off the take-over bid from Mittal, he described his company as the Airbus of European steel - a symbol of Europe's unity and its ability to compete with all comers in strategic industries.
A few weeks ago Christopher Mohn, German head of Lycos Europe, called for the creation of an Airbus of the internet, a counterpart to US rivals such as Google and Ebay. Mr Mohn was referring to Quaero, the search engine project backed by the French and German governments and several big companies. Catching up with Google might take a long time, he said, but the attempt was worth making...
This article appeared in the Financial Times on 9 October 2006
Link to article (subscription only).
Related Links
Sir Geoffrey Owen's webpage
Working mothers with young children are put under terrible strain by ‘macho’ employers who judge them on the hours they put in and not the quality of their work, says the Government's unofficial ‘happiness tsar’, Lord Layard. Emeritus professor of economics at LSE and author of the best-selling book Happiness, Lord Layard said there was never a golden age of childhood.
This article appeared in the Telegraph on 7 October 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Children's Society
The Good Childhood Inquiry
Academics earn more per hour than most other highly qualified workers, but they put in more overtime than most other professionals in the public sector, a report has revealed. The report’s authors are Dr Vignoles, reader in the economics of education at the Institute of Education and lecturer at the Centre for the Economics of Education, LSE and James Walker.
This article appeared in the THES on 6 October, 2006
Link to article (subscription only).
Related Publications
Higher Education Academic Salaries in the UK, Anna Vignoles with James Walker & Mark Collins, Forthcoming CEE Discussion Paper
Related Links
Centre for the Economics of Education (CEE)
website
Article about the manufacturing economy in the UK. According to the Centre for Economic Performance, a research centre at LSE, US manufacturers based in the UK have world-class productivity levels and other multinationals, including those that are UK owned, are not far behind. The problem is the 'long tail' of poor performers says John van Reenen, CEP director. His latest research shows that objective assessments of managerial prowess seems to explain much of the difference between the UK and other countries in the manufacturing sector with family-owned and controlled companies often performing particularly poorly.
This article appeared in the Financial Times on 3 October 2006
Link to article.
Related Publications
Measuring and Explaining Management PRactices Across Firms and Nations, Nick Bloom, John Van Reenen March 2006
download paper
Related Links
John Van Reenen's
webpage
The Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) has teamed up with recruitment firm Manpower to launch a new global HR research laboratory
This article appeared on PersonnelToday.com on 26 September 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
Manpower Human Resources Lab
website
Family-owned companies run by outsiders appear to be better managed than other companies, a study finds, while family-owned companies run by eldest sons tend to be managed relatively poorly.
This article refers to research conducted by the CEP's Management Interviews and Government Policy team
This article appeared in the Bangkok Post on 25 September 2006
Link to article.
Related Publications
Management Practices Across Firms and Nations, Nick Bloom, Stephen Dorgan, John Dowdy, Tom Rippin and John Van Reenen December 2004,
Download Paper
Related Links
Management Interviews and Government Policy:
about the project
CEP Productivity & Innovation Research Programme
homepage
Manpower Inc. today announced that it has launched a new global research laboratory, the Manpower Human Resources Lab at the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at teh London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
This article appeared on OnRec.com on 21 September, 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
Manpower Human Resources Lab
website
Trends in human resources will be studied as a result of a link-up between the London School of Economics (LSE) and Manpower.
The Manpower Human Resources Lab was launched last week at the LSE, a joint initiative between the recruitment agency and the Centre for Economic Perdormance, part of the LSE...
This article appeared on RecruiterMagazine.co.uk on 19th September 2006
Link to article.
Related links:
Manpower Human Resources Lab webpage
A majority of young people feel that their parents care about them but fewer feel they are understood in the home, according to a survey of children's happiness. The Good Childhood Inquiry’s panel includes Lord Layard, emeritus professor at LSE and author of the best-selling book Happiness.
This article appeared in the Times Educational Supplement (TES) on 18 September, 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
The Good Childhood Inquiry
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Mental Health Policy Group
programme overview
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
An inquiry into the state of childhood was launched today by the Children's Society. The Good Childhood Inquiry has a panel of 12 childhood experts, including Lord Layard, Emeritus Professor at LSE.
This article appeared in In The News on 18 September, 2006
Link to article.
Related Links
The Good Childhood Inquiry
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Mental Health Policy Group
programme overview
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
Members of the Good Childhood Inquiry panel, including the economist
Richard Layard will call for evidence from children, young people and adults about childhood in the UK.
This article appeared in the Sun on September 18, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
The Good Childhood Inquiry
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Mental Health Policy Group
programme overview
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
Cognitive behaviour therapy has a high success rate among people suffering depression and anxiety. It can make them feel happier. The positive findings have prompted an eminent British economist, and happiness guru,
Professor Lord Richard Layard, to argue in favour of training thousands of therapists in the technique.
This article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on September 16, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Depression Report: A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Link
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Mental Health Policy Group
programme overview
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
This article on happiness refers to Lord Richard Layard's book
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science and includes comments from him.
This article appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald on September 16, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness - Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
Some of the latest research findings on the effectiveness of recent education policies, was presented Tuesday 12 September by Dr Anna Vignoles at the launch of the Manpower Human Resources Lab at the Centre for Economic Performance.
This press release appeared in egovmonitor online on September 14, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Education Policy in the UK, by Dr Anna Vignoles, Deputy Director, Centre for the Economics of Education at CEP and Professor Stephen Machin, Director, CEE.
Manpower Launch Special Report:
Human Resources, the Labour Market and Economic Performance: A look back and a look forward by Romesh Vaitilingam.
Related Links
The Manpower Human Resources Lab was launched on Tuesday 12 September 2005
details
Manpower Human Resources Lab
webpage
Anna Vignoles’
webpage
Stephen Machin’s
webpage
Romesh Vaitilingam's
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education
webpage
Article discussing the role of the state in economy. ‘A body of theoretical work by a group of influential economists including Daron Asemoglu of MIT, Harvard's Philippe Aghion and Fabrizio Zilibotti of LSE has determined the optimal level of state involvement in the economy in association with how far it is behind the current cutting edge of technology.’
This article appeared in The Moscow Times on September 14, 2006
Link to article
Further Links
Latest CEP Discussion Paper by D Acemoglu, P Aghion, C Lelarge, J Van Reenen and F Zilibotti published online in May 2006
Technology, Information and the Decentralization of the Firm, Paper No'
CEPDP0722
Daron Acemoglu is an Associate of the
Productivity and Innovation research group.
Linda Yueh interviewed on UK-China trade and business relations.
Interview broadcast on BBC World TV on September 13, 2006
[No direct link]
Further links
Linda Yueh is an Associate of the CEP's
Globalisation Programme.
Further press cuttings
Thursday September 14, 2006
CNBC Europe – ‘Squawk Box’
Linda Yueh interviewed on China-Germany economic relations.
[No direct link]
The government's continuing efforts to radically shake up Britain's education system reflects the limited success reforms carried out so far have had, it was claimed last night by
Anna Vignoles. Dr Vignoles presented the findings of her research into the education system at the launch of a new human resource study centre, arguing that efforts to introduce competition to Britain's education system has not produced any "substantial gains".
This article from Inthenews.co.uk online September 13, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Education Policy in the UK, by Dr Anna Vignoles, Deputy Director, Centre for the Economics of Education at CEP and Professor Stephen Machin, Director, CEE.
Manpower Launch Special Report:
Human Resources, the Labour Market and Economic Performance: A look back and a look forward by Romesh Vaitilingam.
Related Links
The Manpower Human Resources Lab was launched on Tuesday 12 September 2005
details
Manpower Human Resources Lab
webpage
Anna Vignoles’
webpage
Stephen Machin’s
webpage
Romesh Vaitilingam's
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education
webpage
Successive education reforms by the U.K. government have failed to lift general skills levels or raise the overall ability level of university graduates, according to a leading academic think tank.
Anna Vignoles, from LSE's Centre for Economic Performance, said in a paper published on Wednesday that there had also been ‘no substantial gains’ in educational standards from government efforts to introduce more competition between schools.
This article appeared in the Easy Bourse (France) on September 13, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Education Policy in the UK, by Dr Anna Vignoles, Deputy Director, Centre for the Economics of Education at CEP and Professor Stephen Machin, Director, CEE.
Manpower Launch Special Report:
Human Resources, the Labour Market and Economic Performance: A look back and a look forward by Romesh Vaitilingam.
Related Links
The Manpower Human Resources Lab was launched on Tuesday 12 September 2005
details
Manpower Human Resources Lab
webpage
Anna Vignoles’
webpage
Stephen Machin’s
webpage
Romesh Vaitilingam's
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education
webpage
Article looks at this year's annual economic symposium organised by the Federal Reserve bank of Kansas City. It refers to a paper presented at the symposium by
Tony Venables which ‘noted the entrenched advantages of agglomerations of economic activity.’
This article appeared in The Financial Express (Bangladesh) on September 11, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
Tony Venables'
webpage
The Globalisation research programme
webpage
Linda Yueh interviewed on ‘The World Today’, discussing the outcome of the China-EU summit.
This interview was broadcast by the BBC World Service on September 11, 2006
Link to
The World Today webpage
Related Links
Linda Yueh’s
webpage
The Globalisation research programme
webpage
Britain's 12 million children and teenagers are the unhappiest and unhealthiest of any wealthy European country, a major new study has revealed. These findings are seen as evidence for an independent inquiry into what makes a good childhood, being launched next week by the Government's ‘happiness tsar’, the economist
Lord Layard.
This article appeared in The Independent on September 11, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
The Good Childhood Inquiry
Details
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Wellbeing research programme
webpage
The Happiness programme
webpage
Richard Layard claims that public policy should be directed towards making society happier.
This article appeared in Spiked online on September 11, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness - Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Details
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness Programme
webpage
Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
We have become so used to studies of what makes people unhappy that when
Professor Richard Layard of the London School of Economics published a book on happiness it was a success partly because serious thought about contentment was so rare.
This article appeared in the Observer on September 10, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness - Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Details
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness Programme
webpage
Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
In a paper given at the annual economic symposium organised by the Federal Reserve bank of Kansas City at Jackson Hole, Wyoming,
Tony Venables noted the entrenched advantages of agglomerations of economic activity - the gains from proximity.
This article appeared in The Australian (Australia) on September 7, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
Tony Venables is Director of the
Globalisation Research Programme at CEP.
A study highlighted in Richard Layard's book, Happiness, showed that Swiss in cantons with the most direct democracy were happier than those with more limited rights.
This article appeared in The Herald on September 5, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard’s
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
Wellbeing research programme
webpage
Why are IT products and services masqueraded as business solutions? Surely, they are only tools? McKinsey's and LSE, have examined whether IT had actually improved productivity in around 100 European manufacturing companies. Companies that made major investments in IT, but which made few changes to their management practices, saw only a 2 per cent boost in productivity.
This article appeared in CIO, Australia on September 5, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Management Practices Across Firms and Nations by Nick Bloom, Stephen Dorgan, John Dowdy, Tom Rippin and John Van Reenen
Related Links
Nick Bloom’s
webpage
John Van Reenen's
webpage
Productivity and Innovation research programme
webpage
Stephen King, managing director of economics at HSBC, discusses Richard Layard’s book ‘Happiness: Lessons from a New Science’.
This article appeared in The Independent on September 4, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard’s
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
Wellbeing research programme
webpage
Other press cuttings
The Times, September 4, 2006
Swiss know the answer to apathy
To re-engage disillusioned voters, Britain should adopt a version of direct democracy. Mention of Richard Layard’s book ‘Happiness: Lessons from a New Science’
Back in June
Professor Lord Layard published research to show that only a quarter of those who suffer from mental illness, in terms of anxiety and depression, are getting proper treatment.
This article appeared in The Independent on September 4, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Depression Report: A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Link
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Mental Health Policy Group
programme overview
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
Further press cuttings
The Independent on September 4, 2006
Claire Rayner: John Hogan. How could he?
Easily enough. The father, whose leap from a balcony killed his son, suffers from clinical depression. Don't condemn him.
It is great to hear that Lord Layard, the "happiness tsar", and the Government are to spend a little more money on those suffering from depression...
This Sunday, 3 September 2006, The Observer newspaper circulated to all its readers a copy of the LSE’s Depression Report, written by the Centre for Economic Performance’s Mental Health Policy Group, led by Professor Lord Richard Layard.
The report has received the support of The Observer, The Guardian, the Royal College of General Practitioners and leading mental health charities – Mind, Rethink, the Mental Health Foundation and the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.
Click here to download the report
The gifted 28-year-old could do anything - except beat depression. Now the Government's 'happiness tsar',
Richard Layard, is calling for more help for people like Charlie.
This article appeared in The Independent on September 3, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Depression Report: A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Link
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Mental Health Policy Group
programme overview
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
Tobias Kretschmer interviewed for the
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany's largest daily papers. Dr Kretschmer talked about the German university system and its challenges for training young academics. (This was part of a series of interviews about academics who return to German universities from posts abroad.)
This article appeared in Sueddeutsche Zeitung on August 30, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
Tobias Kretschmer is Director of the CEP's
Explaining Productivity and Growth in Europe, America and Asia research group.
Poverty and work are what make most of us miserable - and therapy is not the solution.
Richard Layard - a consultant to the government - called for a huge increase in the number of publicly funded psychological therapists.
This article appeared in The Guardian on August 28, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
Tony Venables, a professor at the London School of Economics, gave the central bankers an alternative explanation. Production may be inherently "lumpy" due to positive agglomeration effects, which cause similar businesses to cluster together to take advantage of specialist labour pools, knowledge spillovers and complementary business activities.
This article appeared in the Financial Times on August 28, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
Professor Tony Venables'
webpage
Globalisation research programme
webpage
Further Press Cuttings
Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2006
Offshore Outsourcing Finds Fans at Fed Forum
Comment from Professor Tony Venables
[Subscription only]
Daily O'Collegian, September 1, 2006
Do not bash free trade
Reference to article in the Wall Street Journal which discusses the symposium where Professor Anthony Venables talked about the wages of industries in rich countries and poor countries.
We have more money and more stuff; now we just want more joy
Though the US has had increasing prosperity and economic security there has been no corresponding increase in contentment. This happiness flatline, prominent British economist
Richard Layard calls a "plateau of happiness," a disconnect between what we have and how we feel. Layard's critically acclaimed book, "Happiness: Lessons from a New Science," was recently published in paperback.
This article appeared in the Charlotte Observer, N. Carolina news online on August 19, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
British scholar
Richard Layard [has] diagnosed England’s depression as resulting from a government obsessed with market ideology, pushing its people into limitless competition. The consequence of this is stress, and many falling behind their fellow countrymen.
This article appeared in The Hankyoreh (S. Korea) on August 12, 2006
Link to article
Related Publication
Depression Report: A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Related links
Mental Health Group
webpage
Richard Layard’s
webpage
Research comparing children's wellbeing across 25 countries paints a picture of dysfunctional British families failing to talk to each other or eat together. Government adviser Lord Layard has already announced an inquiry into the wellbeing of British children.
This article appeared in the Daily Mail on August 6, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
The Good Childhood Inquiry
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Wellbeing research programme
webpage
While Richard Layard of LSE has started the debate around dynamics of happiness and its place in public policy in recent years, Bentham and other utilitarians of the 19th century have indeed laid the foundations.
This article appeared in the Financial Express online on August 5, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by
Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness Research
Lesbians in the United Kingdom earn 35 percent higher salaries than their straight counterparts, and the nation’s gay men earn one percent less than comparable straight men, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported on Friday. The findings, the results of a four-year government Labour Force Survey, have prompted economists and sociologists around the country to speculate as to what causes the ‘gay pay effect.’ A publication produced by the London School of Economics, which conducted some of the research, said: ‘The average pay differentials conceal much variation across age groups, education, regions and sectors of the economy.’
This article appeared in the Bay Window newspaper, New England, USA on August 3, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Gay Pay in the UK by
Reza Arabsheibani,
Alan Marin and
Jonathan Wadsworth
CentrePiece Volume 11 Issue 1 Summer 2006
Related Links
Reza Arabsheibani's
webpage
Alan Marin's
webpage
Jonathan Wadworth's
webpage
In his book
Happiness (Allen Lane, 2005),
Richard Layard, from the London School of Economics and a member of the House of Lords, looks at a paradox of the past 50 years.
This article appeared in The Age (Australia) on August 2, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard.
Details
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Happiness Research Programme
webpage
Article by
Dr Andrew Charlton, research officer at the
Centre for Economic Performance at LSE.
This article appeared in the The Canberra Times, Australia on July 31, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
Andrew Charlton's
webpage
Globalisation research programme
Women will have to wait up to a further 150 years for equal wages to their male counterparts, according to the latest British research. The gap between men and women had been narrowing for the past 30 years but had become static, analysts at the
Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics said.
This article appeared in The West Australian, Australia on July 30, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Gender Pay Gap by Alan Manning in
CentrePiece Volume 11 Issue 1 Summer 2006
'The Part-time Pay Penalty' by Alan Manning and Barbara Petrongolo,
CEP Discussion Paper No. 679, March 2005
'The Gender Gap in Early Career Wage Growth' by Alan Manning and Joanna Swaffield,
CEP Discussion Paper No. 700, July 2005
The Women and Work Commission (2006),
Shaping a Fairer Future
Related Links
Alan Manning's
webpage
Labour Markets research programme at CEP
Trade unionists have urged employers to carry out audits of their pay-scales to ensure gender equality between male and female staff. Research by LSE shows women in Europe could be earning less than their male counterparts for the next 150 years. In Ireland, men earn an average of €180 a week more than women.
This article appeared in Ireland online on July 29, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Gender Pay Gap by Alan Manning in CentrePiece Volume 11 Issue 1 Summer 2006
'The Part-time Pay Penalty' by Alan Manning and Barbara Petrongolo, CEP Discussion Paper No. 679, March 2005
'The Gender Gap in Early Career Wage Growth' by Alan Manning and Joanna Swaffield, CEP Discussion Paper No. 700, July 2005
The Women and Work Commission (2006), Shaping a Fairer Future
Related Links
Alan Manning's webpage
Labour Markets research programme at CEP
Also in
• News.com, Australia
150-year wait for equal pay: study
• RTE.ie, Ireland
Women to wait 150 years for equal pay - study
• FinFacts, Ireland
Study says fall in UK gender pay gap masks some less positive developments in recent years
• Times of India
Eves have to wait 150 more yrs for equal pay
• Agency France Presse
Women to wait 150 years for equal pay: British study
[No link]
• Evening Standard
‘150 years’ to close gender salary gap
[No link]
• The Gold Coast Bulletin, Australia
Fair pay day is years away
[No link]
• Daily Star
150-year delay for fair pay
[No link]
• Advertiser, Australia
Gender gap; Equal pay for women now '150 years away'
[No link]
Gay men earn considerably lowe wages than their heterosexual colleagues and are less likely to be in work according to an article in the Centre for Economic Performance's
CentrePiece Magazine.
This article appeared in the The Guardian on July 28, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Gay Pay in the UK by
Reza Arabsheibani,
Alan Marin and
Jonathan Wadsworth
CentrePiece Vol. 11, Issue 1, Summer 2006
Related Links
Reza Arabsheibani's
webpage
Alan Marin's
webpage
Jonathan Wadsworth's
webpage
Men in same-sex relationships were paid 6% less than their heterosexual counterparts, and were also 3% less likely to be employed, according to the Centre for Economic Performance.
This article appeared on the Workplace Law Network online on July 28, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Gay Pay in the UK by
Reza Arabsheibani,
Alan Marin and
Jonathan Wadsworth
CentrePiece Volume 11 Issue 1 Summer 2006
Related Links
Reza Arabsheibani's
webpage
Alan Marin's
webpage
Jonathan Wadworth's
webpage
The Labour Markets Research Programme
webpage
Further press cuttings
Gay.com, July 28, 2006
The pink pound, a myth?
The Centre for Economic Performance's CentrePiece magazine reported that men in gay relationships were paid 6% less than straight men and 3% were less likely to be employed.
The columnist refers to a letter in which he is directed to look at work the LSE has done in evaluating happiness.
Richard Layard, an LSE expert on happiness ponders what happiness is anyway, channelling evidence from neuroscience, psychology and surveys.
This article appeared in the Wall Street Journal on July 28, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard.
Details
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Happiness Research Programme
webpage
Further press cuttings
July 28, 2006
Seychelles Nation
Happy Planet Index (HPI) -Islands are homes of happy people
The Seychellois are the second happiest people in Africa after Sao Tome and Principe, another island nation, according to the Happy Planet Index (HPI) designed by the British think tank New Economics Foundation (NEF).
Richard Layard, director of the
Well-Being Programme at LSE’s
Centre for Economic Performance, said that the index was an interesting way to tackle the issue of modern life’s environmental impact. ‘It reminds us that it is not good enough to be happy today if we are impoverishing future generations through global warming. Over the last 50 years, living standards in the West have improved enormously but we have become no happier’.
A study by the
Centre for Economic Performance published in its
CentrePiece magazine today, found that despite having equal opportunity legislation regarding sexual orientation in the workplace since December 2003, gay men are still paid around 6% less than heterosexual colleagues.
This article appeared in the Pink News on July 28, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Gay Pay in the UK by
Reza Arabsheibani,
Alan Marin and
Jonathan Wadsworth
CentrePiece Volume 11 Issue 1 Summer 2006
Related Links
Reza Arabsheibani's
webpage
Alan Marin's
webpage
Jonathan Wadworth's
webpage
Women could earn less than men for the next 150 years because of discrimination and ineffective government policies, according to leading economic analysts. Thirty years after equality laws began to reduce the disparity between male and female pay, the narrowing gap has now almost stalled, they say. In the report by the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), at LSE, the imbalance has been blamed partly on the penalisation of women who take maternity leave and work part time after having children.
This article appeared in the Times on July 28, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Gender Pay Gap by Alan Manning in
CentrePiece Volume 11 Issue 1 Summer 2006
'The Part-time Pay Penalty' by Alan Manning and Barbara Petrongolo,
CEP Discussion Paper No. 679, March 2005
'The Gender Gap in Early Career Wage Growth' by Alan Manning and Joanna Swaffield,
CEP Discussion Paper No. 700, July 2005
The Women and Work Commission (2006),
Shaping a Fairer Future
Related Links
Alan Manning's
webpage Labour Markets research programme at CEP
The article looks at the rising academic stars in different subjects including Professor John Van Reenen, the director of the LSE Centre for Economic Performance. His study of 730 companies in the UK, US, France and Germany found that the caricature of the UK being badly managed is accurate.
This article appeared in the Times Higher Educational Supplement on July 28, 2006
[No link available.]
Related Publications
The joint McKinsey Group/CEP Report,
Management Practices across Firms and Nations by
Nick Bloom,
Stephen Dorgan,
John Dowdy,
Tom Rippin and
John Van Reenen published in June 2005.
Nick Bloom, Stephen Dorgan, John Dowdy, Tom Rippin and John Van Reenen published the article
Management Practices; the Impact on Company Performance in the
Summer 2005 issue of CentrePiece Magazine.
Related Links
John Van Reenen’s
webpage
The
Productivity and Innovation research programme at CEP
Authoritative new research highlights a "gay pay effect", which means that lesbians can earn 35% more than comparable straight women.
This article appeared in the BBC News on July 28, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Gay Pay in the UK by
Reza Arabsheibani,
Alan Marin and
Jonathan Wadsworth
CentrePiece Volume 11 Issue 1 Summer 2006
Related Links
Reza Arabsheibani's
webpage
Alan Marin's
webpage
Jonathan Wadworth's
webpage
Further press cuttings:
BBC, Business, July 28, 2006
Lesbians 'earn bigger salaries'
Lesbians in couples earn more than heterosexual women in relationships - but for gay men the opposite is true, findings indicate. Academic research says gay women in couples earn 35% more than their straight counterparts.
The author of the article refers to Professor Richard Layard’s theories about how people can become happier: ‘Consider just three findings from the ‘new science of happiness’ as
Richard Layard, the economist and Labour peer, describes it. Above about £15,000, increasing your income adds little to your happiness. Believing in God makes you happy. Getting divorced makes you unhappy. These facts explain why Westerners are no happier now than 50 years ago; our increased wealth has been accompanied by more divorce and less belief in God.’
This article appeared in the Times on July 27, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard.
Details
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Happiness Research Programme
webpage
Richard Layard, emeritus professor of economics at the LSE and also a government adviser on mental health issues, will chair the first independent national inquiry into childhood in the UK, managed by the Children’s Society.
This article appeared in the Guardian on July 26, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
Click here for more information on The Good Childhood Inquiry
Richard Layard's
webpage
The
Wellbeing research programme at CEP
More press cuttings:
The Press and Journal, July 24, 2006
Two-year study of childhood launched
Lord Layard of the London School of Economics will chair the Good Childhood Inquiry, which is a major study aiming to reveal and address the important issues that children in Britain are facing today.
Yorkshire Post, July 24, 2006
Inquiry aims for 'new vision' of childhood
Daily Mail, July 25, 2006
Children facing a wealth of problems
Lord Layard, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, said with regard to child poverty in Britain: ‘Our wealth as a society has clearly not bought us the kind of childhood we want for our children.’
[No links available]
Rising affluence has done nothing to improve the lives of children, a leading Government adviser said yesterday. While incomes and living standards have soared over 50 years, children in Britain have become some of the worst-off in Europe in terms of mental health and well-being,
Lord Layard said.
This article appeared in the Daily Mail on July 24, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
The Good Childhood Inquiry Details
Richard Layard's
webpage
The
Wellbeing research programme
Jealousy.
In office life, jealousy is the thing that motivates employees to race into work each morning to keep all the cogs going round. Economists such as
Richard Layard have worked out that we are not made happy by having sufficient income, responsibility or respect to meet our needs. No way is that enough for Homo competitus. We yearn for just a little bit more than the guy in the next cubicle.
This article appeared in the Times on July 20, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard’s
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
Wellbeing research programme
webpage
A BBC News story quotes Richard Layard, director of the Well-Being Programme at the London School of Economics’ Centre for Economic Performance, as saying that the [Happy Planet] index “was an interesting way to tackle the issue of modern life’s environmental impact.”
This article appeared in the World Hum (California) online on July 14, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by
Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness Research
If I were Richard Layard, I'd be happy to be the happiness czar, comments Sholto Byrnes.
This article appeared in the Times on July 12, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Happiness Research Programme
webpage
The Mental Health Group
website
Further media item:
Saturday 8 July
ABC Radio (US)
Richard Layard gave an interview relayed across the US discussing how money cannot buy happiness.
[No link]
Schoolchildren will take self-esteem classes to raise standards and cut crime. The anti-depression classes, due be introduced in South Tyneside, Manchester and one rural location, have been approved by
Lord Layard, the Government's "happiness" tsar.
This article appeared in the Independent on July 9, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard.
Details
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Happiness Research Programme
webpage
Further press cuttings:
Evening Standard on Tuesday 11 July
Public enemy No 1: happiness
From September next year state school pupils will be given 'lessons in happiness', after LSE professor Richard Layard recently identified lack of happiness to be the country's biggest social problem.
[No link]
Linda Yueh was interviewed on the BBC World Service on consumerism and savings in China.
This interview was aired by the BBC World Service World Business Review on July 8, 2006
Audio link
Related Links
Linda Yueh's
webpage
The Globalisation Research Programme's
webpage
Fair Trade for All, a polemic by Nobel Prize winner Stiglitz and LSE academic
Andrew Charlton about the Doha round of the global trade talks, is mentioned with regard to the issues of relieving poverty in the developing world.
This article appeared in the Financial Times on July 7, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development is an Oxford University Publication.
Details
Related Links
Andrew Charlton's
webpage
Globalisation Research Programme
webpage
Research by Richard Layard suggests that the health of the nation is determined by more diverse factors than its GDP, for example.
This article appeared in The Western Mail on July 6, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Depression Report - A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The Mental Health Group
webpage
Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
Further media item:
Tuesday 4 July
BBC Radio Essex
Richard Layard gave a live interview on The Depression Report.
[No link]
The debate sparked by Professor Richard Layard's proposal - that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) could pay for itself by reducing the numbers of people on incapacity benefit - is in danger of losing its way. This is because the effectiveness of CBT in treating depression is being linked to the assumption that it will also get people back to work – this link is unproven.
This article appeared in the Guardian on July 6, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Depression Report - A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard’s
webpage
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
Studies show that once personal wealth exceeds about $12,000 a year, more money produces virtually no increase in life satisfaction. In part, said
Richard Layard of the London School of Economics, who has studied the phenomenon closely, people feel wealthy by comparing themselves with others. When incomes rise across a nation, people's relative status does not change.
This article appeared in the Miami Herald on July 4, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard’s
webpage
The Happiness Research Programme
webpage
Further press cuttings
Hamilton Spectator, Canada, July 4, 2006
Happiness is a state of mind money can't buy
Giving may buy a lot more happiness than getting, according to the latest psychological research.
Link
The Wall Street Journal, July 6, 2006
Money really can’t buy happiness, studies show
Richard Layard of the London School of Economics says that happiness in no way depends on personal wealth.
[No link available]
When it comes to money, giving may buy a lot more happiness than getting. In part, said Richard Layard of the London School of Economics, who has studied the phenomenon closely, people feel wealthy by comparing themselves with others.
This article appeared in the Washington Post on 3 July 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard’s
webpage
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
The Happiness Research Programme
webpage
Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary says "A half-an-hour lunch break is the legal minimum for an average working day, but shockingly over half the UK workforce take less than this. This sort of work pressure is not healthy for the employee and it is not healthy for business." The Government's employment guru,
Lord Layard, has called for a shorter working week, arguing that public policy should be aimed at raising levels of happiness.
This article appeared in the Daily Mail on June 26, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Happiness Research
webpage
Richard Layard's
webpage
Debt is a problem that spans the social spectrum. People are becoming adrift from old notions of delayed gratification - that you save first before you purchase. Sydney economist
Andrew Charlton, based at the London School of Economics, says: "The advent of buy now pay later enables people to telescope their future consumption to today. We used to save for something and now we don't. The idea of squirrelling money away in order to purchase a car, or a house, or sofa, has disappeared."
This article appeared in The Age, Australia on June 21, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
Andrew Charlton is a Research Officer with the Globalisation Programme at the Centre for Economic Performance
The Globalisation Research Programme's
webpage
Are mental health drop-in centres, where the public discuss their psychological problems with professionals, the solution to tackling Britain's rising tide of misery, as this week's
Richard Layard report says? The Depression Report, published this week and co-authored by Layard, an LSE professor, became the latest chapter in what is now known as the "happiness agenda" when it suggested that everyone who needs it should have access to therapy on the NHS.
This article appeared in the Guardian on June 21, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Depression Report - A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard’s
webpage
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
The Happiness Research Programme
webpage
Further press cuttings
The Guardian - Letters, June 21, 2006
Talking up the benefits of therapy
Richard Layard has done us all a great service in putting centre stage our mental welfare, highlighting the devastating extent of depression and signposting psychotherapy as a means of cure. But in advocating cognitive behavioural therapy as the sole solution to this problem, he tends to promote an overly monochromatic model for dealing with a complex condition.
Research by the Centre for Economic Performance suggests that British groups have benefited greatly from US R&D spending simply by placing offices in Silicon Valley and paying attention to what is going on.
This article appeared in the Financial Times on June 20, 2006
[No link available]
Related Publications
How Special is the Special Relationship? Using the Impact of R&D Spillovers on UK Firms as a Test of Technology Sourcing, by Rachel Griffith, Rupert Harrison and John Van Reenen.
CEP Discussion Paper No.659, November 2004
Further information
Rachel Griffith is a Deputy Director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies
Rupert Harrison is a Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and University College London
John Van Reenen's CEP
webpage
Productivity and Innovation Research Programme
webpage
Long-term unemployment would be more quickly eradicated if the government employed more psychotherapists, according to academics at the London School of Economics.
This article appeared in the Herald on June 20, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Depression Report - A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard’s
webpage
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
The Mental Health Group,
programme overview
Further press cuttings
Morning Star, June 20, 2006
Government urged to help mentally ill return to work
Professor Richard Layard of the London School of Economics says the government should make options for psychiatric treatment available to employees suffering from depression as this could help them get back to work.
The introduction of "talking therapies" rather than just drugs to deal with depression and chronic anxiety would pay for itself by reduced expenditure on incapacity benefits, according to a study from the London School of Economics. A course of treatment costs about £750 and by 2013 it should be possible to train 10,000 extra therapists to provide a service everywhere, the group led by
Professor Richard Layard, a former government adviser, said.
This article appeared in the Financial Times on June 19, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Depression Report - A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard’s
webpage
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
The UK incapacity benefit bill could be cut by spending more on psychotherapy, a group of economists says. The team from the London School of Economics says expanding therapy services would even pay for itself. The Depression Report, published on Monday, says a course of psychotherapy costs £750 - the same as a month's incapacity benefit and lost tax.
This article appeared in the BBC News online on June 19, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Depression Report - A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard’s
webpage
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
'The Depression Report', is an account of the dire consequences of ignoring the epidemic. Professor Layard's research shows that savings would be made if the one million sufferers of mental illness currently claiming incapacity benefit, at a cost of £750 each per month, were targeted with the right treatment.
This article appeared in The Observer on June 18, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Depression Report - A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard’s
webpage
The Wellbeing Research Programme
webpage
Further press cuttings
The Observer, June 18, 2006
Depression, a disease that we must defeat
Britain spends peanuts on an illness that affects millions. Yet the solution is within our grasp. Comment by Richard Layard, chairman of the Mental Health Policy Group of the LSE's Centre for Economic Performance.
David Cameron spoke recently of wellbeing — the new Conservative buzz word. It is true that wellbeing is not quite the same as happiness, but the idea clearly has its origins in the work of
Professor Lord Layard of the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE, who caused a great stir a year ago with his views on happiness in society and what promotes it.
This article appeared in the Sunday Times June 18, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
The power of the old school tie has never been stronger or more damaging to society as a whole.
Research by
Jo Blanden,
Paul Gregg and
Steve Machin for the Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics shows that while the proportion of children from the bottom 20 per cent gaining degrees has only increased fractionally since the 1970s, at the same time, the proportion from the top 20 per cent achieving degrees has more than doubled.
This article appeared in The Guardian on June 18, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Social Mobility in Britain: Low and Falling by Jo Blanden, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin. Article in
CentrePiece, Vol.10, Issue 1, Spring 2005.
Report for the Sutton Trust,
Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America by Jo Blanden, Paul Gregg and
Stephen Machin.
Changes in Intergenerational Mobility in Britain by Jo Blanden, Alissa Goodman, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin
Centre for the Economics of Education Discussion Paper No.026, June 2002.
Related Links
Jo Blanden's
webpage
Paul Gregg's
webpage
Steve Machin's
webpage
Alissa Goodman's
webpage
Interview on productivity at the workplace given by
Tobias Kretschmer.
Aired Thursday, 15th June, Morning Show with Lorna Milton, 4.30-6.30am
[No link available]
Further broadcasts
CNN: Aired Friday, 16th June, Business International, 7.30-8.00pm
Interview given by Tobias Kretschmer on Bill Gates' announcement to step down as Chief Software Architect at Microsoft in 2008.
[No link available]
Further Links
Tobias Kretschmer's
webpage
Explaining Productivity and Growth in Europe, America and Asia Research Programme
webpage
Productivity and Innovation Research Programme
webpage
A joint article by Raffaella Sadun and Andrea Prat (Sticerd) in the Italian online economics newspaper talking about the demographic differences between US and Italian top managers.
This article appeared in LaVoce online on June 13, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
Raffaella Sadun's
webpage
Productivity and Innovation Research Programme
webpage
John Van Reenen, Director of the Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics, was interviewed for this morning's Business Breakfast shown on BBC television. Professor Van Reenen spoke about a new revised OECD jobs strategy report titled
OECD Employment Outlook - 2006 Edition: Boosting Jobs and Incomes.
This interview was broadcast by the BBC on June 13, 2006
[No link available.]
Related Links
John Van Reenen’s
webpage
Rising health care costs and a lack of adequate social security has made consumers, especially in rural areas, cautious about spending. "To promote consumption, the government needs to reduce motives for saving by providing better social security," said
Linda Yueh, an Associate with the
Globalisation Research Programme at the Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics. It must also "increase incomes with a focus on rural areas."
This article appeared in Bloomberg News online on June 13, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
Linda Yueh's
webpage
The Globalisation Research Programme
webpage
Spending a fortune on a home because it is near a top school may be a waste of money. Your child will do almost as well no matter who their classmates are, a new study has concluded. Steve Gibbons, one of the authors of the report, said: 'Although the attainment of a child's peer-group does matter, the effects are small. His study - from the Centre for the Economics of Education at the London School of Economics - measures the impact a move of school will have on GCSE results.
This article appeared in the Observer on June 11, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Peer Effects and Pupil Attainment: Evidence from Secondary School Transition by
Stephen Gibbons and
Shqiponje Telhaj,
Discussion Paper No. 0063, Centre for the Economics of Education, LSE, May 2006.
Related Links
Stephen Gibbons'
webpage
Shqiponje Telhaj’s
webpage
Centre for the Economics of Education
website
Fabio Pagan ne parla lunedì 5 giugno alle 11.30 con Antonio Golini, docente di demografia all'università La Sapienza di Roma, e con Raffaella Sadun, economista della London School of Economics.
Aired on Rai.it Radio 3 on June 5, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
Raffaella Sadun's
webpage
Productivity and Innovation Research Programme
webpage
Richard Layard of the London School of Economics says the quality of family life and other close relationships is most important for personal happiness. Satisfactory jobs come second.
This article appeared in the Daily Mail on June 1, 2006
No link available.
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by
Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness Research
Linda Yueh was interviewed on BBC World Service’s Business Daily on the state of WTO negotiations.
This article appeared in the BBC World Service on June 1, 2006
No link available.
Further link
Linda Yueh's
webpage
Also
• CNBC Europe’s Squawk Box
Spoke about the Bank of China IPO
• Reuters Business Update
Spoke on the global economy/OPEC meeting.
Richard Layard’s theories about achieving happiness are mentioned with regard to the incorporation of happiness as part of the political agenda of both the Conservative and Labour parties.
This article appeared in the Guardian on June 1, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard.
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
The quest for happiness has been man’s obsession since time immemorial, but if anything it has proven a most elusive of goals. But now we finally have the secret. The landmark discovery was made by Lord
Richard Layard, a British Labour peer and a professor emeritus at the London School of Economics. The Sunday Times reports that the professor found that the road to human happiness leads through high taxation.
This article appeared in The American Thinker online on May 30, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard.
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
Economists, used to dealing with hard numbers, have started to study happiness. Lord
Richard Layard, the London School of Economics’ professor and Labour peer, is the most prominent British economist to turn his attention to happiness
This article appeared in the Sunday Times on May 28, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard.
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
Mention of research by
Jo Blanden,
Paul Gregg and
Stephen Machin from CEP, that finds social mobility in the UK has declined.
This article appeared in The Daily Telegraph on May 24, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Report for the Sutton Trust,
Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America by Jo Blanden, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin.
Changes in Intergenerational Mobility in Britain by Jo Blanden, Alissa Goodman, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin
Centre for the Economics of Education Discussion Paper No.026, June 2002.
Social Mobility in Britain: Low and Falling by Jo Blanden, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin. Article in
CentrePiece, Vol.10, Issue 1, Spring 2005.
Related Links
Jo Blanden's
webpage
Paul Gregg's
webpage
Steve Machin's
webpage
Alissa Goodman's
webpage
Give 'fair trade' a chance, says
Andrew Charlton.
This article appeared in Business Standard online on May 23, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Andrew Charlton is an Oxford University Publication. A description of the book and details on how to order a copy are available from the Oxford University Press
website.
Related Links
Andrew Charlton is a Research Officer with the
Globalisation research programme at CEP.
Professor Richard Layard of the London School of Economics has established that there is no link between personal happiness and national wealth, especially above a certain level of development.
This article appeared in the Financial Times on May 23, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
Wellbeing research programme
webpage
"Ask yourself if you are happy," John Stuart Mill wrote, "and you cease to be so." If Mill was right - and he was - bibliophiles are in trouble. Books about happiness are pouring off the presses. Happiness: Lessons from a new science by
Richard Layard in comparison to the latest published literature on happiness.
This article appeared in The New Statesman on May 22, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard.
Related Links
Episode guide for the BBC2 programme
‘The Happiness Formula’ being broadcast on Wednesday evenings at 7pm.
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
Article on the BBC’s Wednesday evening programme 'The Happiness Formula'.
Richard Layard, professor at the Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics, argues that because relative wealth makes poorer people unhappy, rich people should be taxed more.
This article appeared in The Times on May 20, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science
Related links
Episode guide for The Happiness Formula showing on BBC2 Television on Wednesday evenings, 7pm.
Richard Layard’s
webpage
Happiness
research
For Britain to become a happier nation, economic growth should cease to be the top priority of government, says
Professor Lord Layard, government adviser and director of the CEP's Wellbeing research programme. Lord Layard is a contributor to
The Happiness Formula which is broadcast on BBC Two on Wednesdays at 7pm.
This article appeared on the BBC News online on May 17, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science
details
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
Mention of a 2004 study by
Stephen Nickell that compares tax issues of France, Germany and Italy with the United States.
This article appeared in TCS Daily on May 16, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Employment and Taxes by Stephen Nickell, Discussion Paper No.634, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE, May 2004.
Related link
Stephen Nickell is an Associate of the Labour Market’s research programme at CEP.
According to a study by
John Van Reenen and
Raffaella Sadun of the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE, in industries that rely heavily on IT, U.S. companies had greater productivity gains than their European counterparts.
This article appeared in the CIO Magazine on May 15, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Global Information Technology Report 2005-2006 published by the World Economic Forum.
Details.
(See chapter 2.2: 'Information Technology and Productivity, or 'It Ain’t
What You Do, It’s the Way that You Do I.T.' by John Van Reenen and Raffaella Sadun, pp.55-60.)
It Ain’t What You Do, It’s the Way that You Do I.T. – Testing Explanations of Productivity Growth Using US Affiliates by
Nick Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen
Work Life Balance, Management Practices and Productivity by Nick Bloom,
Toby Kretschmer and John Van Reenen
Related Links
John Van Reenen's
webpage
Raffaella Sadun's
webpage
Nick Bloom's
webpage
Tobias Kretschmer's
webpage
Productivity and Innovation research group
webpage
In November 2005, Professor Richard Layard of CEP, recommended 10,000 more therapists should be trained in cognitive behavioural therapy. He also called for a network of 250 dedicated psychological centres to be set up.
This article appeared in BBC News online on May 11, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Case for Psychological Treatment Centres by Richard Layard
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Wellbeing research programme
webpage
How to help the 'forgotten half'. Rigid teaching styles are preventing the 'forgotten half' from attaining necessary skill levels, writes
Hilary Steedman, senior research fellow in the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
This article appeared in the Daily Telegraph on May 3, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
Hilary Steedman's
webpage
The
Education and Skills Programme
Richard Layard of LSE, has persuaded the government that there is a link between happiness and economic prosperity.
This article appeared in the Financial Times on May 1, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science
details
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
Further press cuttings:
The Financial Times, May 1, 2006
How to be happy
Richard Layard's book
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science quoted in an article discussing research into happiness before the start of a new BBC series exploring "what could it be that makes us happy?"
This article appeared in BBC News online on April 30, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
Wellbeing research programme
webpage
Researchers from the University of Toronto and London School of Economics are using satellite data and aerial photography to track the evolution of land use in the continental United States. The research is detailed in the May isse of The Quarterly Journal of Economics.
This article appeared in United Press International on April 26, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Quarterly Journal of Economics,
Volume 121, Issue 2 - May 2006
Related Links
Henry Overman's
webpage
The Globalisation Research Programme
webpage
Research has suggested that poverty in teenage years has had an increasing effect in keeping people poor when they get to middle age. Report by
Jo Blanden and
Steve Gibbons of CEP, for the Joseph Rowntree Trust.
This article appeared on BBC News, April 25, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Persistence of Poverty Across Generations by
Jo Blanden and
Steve Gibbons
Further press cuttings:
Easier Financial News, 25 April 2006
Poverty twice as likely to persist across generations
Community Newswire, 25 April 2006
New study shows poverty persists across generations
In the news.co.uk, 25 April 2006
Teenage poverty 'sets tone for adulthood'
My Finances.com, 25 April 2006
Born poor, stay poor
24 dash.com, 25 April 2006
Teens caught in poverty trap
Firstrung, UK, 27 April 2006
Poverty twice as likely to persist across generations, shows new CEP/JRF (Joseph Rowntree) research
A conference at CEP and a new JRF publication have demonstrated clearly the strong link between childhood poverty and its continuing persistence across adulthood.
A new report by economists
John Schmitt and
Jonathan Wadsworth finds that the earnings gap between immigrant and US-born workers increased substantially between 1980 and 2000. The report, Changing Patterns in the Relative Economic Performance of Immigrants to Great Britain and the United States, 1980-2000, was written by John Schmitt, economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and Jonathan Wadsworth, economist at the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
This article appeared in Common Dreams Newswire Washington DC online on April 18, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Changing Patterns in the Relative Economic Performance of Immigrants to Great Britain and the United States, 1980-2000 by John Schmitt and Jonathan Wadsworth
CEP Election Analysis, April 2006, by Jonathan Wadsworth
Immigration: the Evidence from Economic Research
Related Links
Labour Markets
webpage
Britain is caught in an uncharacteristic bout of insecurity about foreign ownership of its industry. Given the choice of British-controlled or well-run companies, the UK takes the latter. The British have had too much experience of the alternative: bad labour relations and weak management led to a decline in British manufacturing from the 1950s. A study by McKinsey & Co and the Centre for Economic Performance, of 700 medium-sized manufacturing companies in France, Germany, Britain and the US found that the British-owned ones were still worst managed on average.
This article appeared in The Australian (FT News) on April 11, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Joint CEP/McKinsey Report,
Management Practices Across Firms and Nations by
Nick Bloom,
Stephen Dorgan,
John Dowdy,
Tom Rippin and
John Van Reenen
Related Links
Productivity and Innovation research programme
webpage
Nick Bloom’s
webpage
John Van Reenen’s
webpage
A joint LSE/McKinsey study found that French and German companies were even better than US ones at running shopfloor operations. Meanwhile,
Nick Bloom, at the Centre for Economic Performance, said with regard to the reservations against foreign takeovers: "The French seem to think foreign takeovers and Anglo-Saxon practices are bad but things that work in the UK work there, too."
This article appeared in the Financial Times on April 10, 2006
Link to article
Further reading
Joint CEP/McKinsey Report,
Management Practices Across Firms and Nations by
Nick Bloom, Stephen Dorgan, John Dowdy, Tom Rippin and
John Van Reenen
Further link
Productivity and Innovation Programme
Is a minimum wage socially and economically meaningful or does it only increase unemployment?
Professor Stephen Machin of the Centre for Economic Performance answers in a 'Head-to-Head'.
This article appeared in Business Spotlight: Global Business, April 2006 Issue
Audio link
Further Reading
Minimum Wages and Firm Profitability by Mirko Draca, Stephen Machin, John Van Reenen
Discussion Paper No 715, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics, February 2006
The Effects of Minimum Wages on Employment: Theory and Evidence from Britain
by Richard Dickens, Stephen Machin, Alan Manning
Discussion Paper No 183, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics, January 1994
Further links
Richard Dicken's
webpage
Mirko Draca's
webpage
Stephen Machin's
webpage
Alan Manning's
webpage
John Van Reenen's
webpage
The Labour Markets Research Programme
webpage
CEP research by
Nick Bloom,
Tobias Kretschmer and
John Van Reenen found that American firms and their European subsidiaries are better managed and the superior management practices account for more than half of the productivity gap between American and European firms.
This article appeared in The Washington Post on March 27, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Work-Life Balance, Management Practices and Productivity by Nick Bloom, Tobias Kretschmer and John Van Reenen
Related Links
Nick Bloom's
webpage
Tobias Kretschmer's
webpage
John Van Reenen's
webpage
Productivity and Innovation Research Programme
The research report
Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America by
Jo Blanden,
Paul Gregg and
Steve Machin, cited in a discussion about the difference in this government's idea of the role of education from the beliefs that pioneered the comprehensive school education ideal.
This article appeared in the New Statesman on March 6, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Report for the Sutton Trust,
Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America by Jo blanden, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin.
Changes in Intergenerational Mobility in Britain by Jo Blanden, Alissa Goodman, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin,
Centre for the Economics of Education Discussion Paper No.026, June 2002.
Social Mobility in Britain: Low and Falling by Jo Blanden, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin. Article in
CentrePiece Spring 2005.
Related Links
Jo Blanden's
webpage
Paul Gregg's
webpage
Steve Machin's
webpage
Alissa Goodman's
webpage at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)
Richard Layard of the Centre for Economic Performance and author of the book
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science has explored the relationship between happiness and work.
This article appeared in the Financial Times on March 2, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science
details
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
Happiness research
webpage
John Van Reenen comments on the possible economic effect of a two-hour sleep pill.
This article appeared in Media Life Magazine on February 27, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
John Van Reenen's
webpage
The CEP's
Productivity and Innovation research programme
Two scholars explore the fragility of contentment. Richard Layard's book
Happiness: Lessons from a new Science quoted.
This article appeared in The New Yorker on February 27, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard.
Related Links
Happiness Research
webpage
Richard Layard's
webpage
Research from the Centre for Economic Performance by
Barbara Petrongolo and
Alan Manning for The Women at Work Commission says that millions of women suffer a pay penalty when in part-time occupation.
This article appeared in The Observer on February 26, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
The Part-Time Pay Penalty by Barbara Petrongolo and Alan Manning. A report for the
Women and Equality Unit published November 2004.
CEP's Winter 2005/06
CentrePiece 'in brief':
The Part-Time Pay Penalty by Barbara Petrongolo and Alan Manning.
Related Links
Barbara Petrongolo's
webpage
Alan Manning's
webpage
Research from the CEP offers some answers to the question of how the "education, education, education" Government has done so far.
This article appeared in The Guardian on February 24, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
'Education, Education, Education': the evidence on school standards, parental choice and staying on by
Sandra McNally, CEP Policy Analysis, February 2006.
Excellence in Cities by Sandra McNally and colleagues in
CentrePiece Volume 10 Issue 3, Winter 2005/06.
A joint work between CEP and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS):
Excellence in Cities: Evaluation of an Education Policy in Disadvantaged Areas’ by
Stephen Machin, Sandra McNally and
Costas Meghir.
Related Links
Sandra McNally's
webpage
A report written by
Jo Blanden,
Paul Gregg and
Stephen Machin for the Sutton Trust in 2005 referred to in an article discussing the Scottish Executive's 'Schools of Ambition' project. The project aims to raise standards of education in comprehensive schools sited mainly in disadvantaged areas.
This article appeared in The Herald on February 24, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America by Jo Blanden, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin
Changes in Intergenerational Mobility in Britain by Jo Blanden, Alissa Goodman, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin,
Centre for the Economics of Education Discussion Paper No.026, June 2002.
Article by Jo Blanden, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin in
CentrePiece, Spring 2005, titled
Social Mobility in Britain: Low and Falling.
Related Links
Jo Blanden's
webpage
Paul Gregg's
webpage
Stephen Machin's
webpage
What makes someone a good businessperson is not, necessarily, what will make that person an entrenpreneur. The Director of the Centre for Economic Performance,
John Van Reenen, makes some interesting observations.
This article appeared in The Times Online on February 20, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
John Van Reenen's
webpage
John Van Reenen comments with regard to the latest rise in cross-border takeovers.
This article appeared in The Financial Times on February 9, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
John Van Reenen's
webpage
Productivity and Innovation Research Programme
webpage
The lack of a "true trade round" that benefits developing nations has inspired Stiglitz's latest work, Fair Trade For All: How Trade Can Promote Development, which is co-authored by
Andrew Charlton, a Research Officer with CEP's
Globalisation programme.
This article appeared in the Times Higher Education Supplement on February 09, 2006.
Link to article
Related Publications
Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development is an Oxford University Publication. A description of the book and details on how to order a copy are available at:
Oxford University Press webpage
The Centre for Economic Performance's magazine
CentrePiece features research by
Marco Manacorda and
Enrico Moretti about the reasons why young boys in Italy live longer with their parents, in contrast with those in other industrialised countries.
This article appeared in The Independent's Business Comment section on February 5, 2006
Link to article. (Only available to purchase by Independent Portfolio subscriber.)
Related Publications
Mamma's boys? Why most young Italian men live with their parents by Marco Manacorda and Enrico Moretti in
CentrePiece Magazine Volume 10, Issue 3, Winter 2005/06.
Intergenerational transfers and household structure. Why do most Italian youths live with their parents? by Marco Manacorda and Enrico Moretti.
Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No.536, June 2002.
Related Links
Marco Manacorda's
webpage
Enrico Moretti's
webpage
Research by
Marco Manacorda and
Enrico Moretti published in the Winter 2005/06 issue of
CentrePiece magazine questions whether Italian parents are really as altruistic as they like to think...
This article appeared in The Guardian on February 3, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Mamma's boys? Why most young Italian men live with their parents by Marco Manacorda and Enrico Moretti in
CentrePiece Magazine Volume 10, Issue 3, Winter 2005/06.
Intergenerational transfers and household structure. Why do most Italian youths live with their parents? by Marco Manacorda and Enrico Moretti.
Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No.536, June 2002.
Related Links
Marco Manacorda's
webpage
Enrico Moretti's
webpage
Related media interest on 2nd and 3rd February, 2006
Radio Capital News 02.02.06
BBC Radio 5 Euronews 03.02.06
BBC World News – Europe Today 03.02.06
Featured on
Corriere della sera online 03.02.06
Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics and chair of the Brooks World Poverty Institute at the University of Manchester, and
Andrew Charlton of LSE, are the co-authors of Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development.
"Opening the door to trade is one thing, but the real challenge is to help developing countries go through it."
This article appeared in The Independent on February 03, 2005
Link to article
Related Publications
Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development is an Oxford University Publication. A description of the book and details on how to order a copy are available at:
Oxford University Press webpage
Related Links
Andrew Charlton is a Research Officer with CEP's
Globalisation programme.
Professor Richard Layard has said that spending on mental-health provision is desperately underfunded.
This article appeared in the Guardian on January 25, 2006
Link to article
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The CEP's
Wellbeing research programme
Research by
Richard Layard of the Centre for Economic Performance, concluded that relationship between happiness and GDP was not especially intimate once an economy was sufficiently developed to provide most people with a reasonable standard of living.
This article appeared in The Financial Times on January 25, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science by Richard Layard
Lionel Robbins Memorial Lectures 2002/03:
Happiness: Has Social Science a Clue?
Related Links
Richard Layard's
webpage
The CEP's
Wellbeing research programme
A major study, which included CEP, concluded that, first, companies with more advanced management practices achieved greater productivity and more return for shareholders, and second, the greater the level of competition in a given industry sub-sector, the higher the standard of management practices.
This article appeared in the Daily Telegraph on January 16, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Work-Life Balance, Management Practices and Productivity by
Nick Bloom,
Toby Kretschmer and
John Van Reenen
Related Links
The CEP
Productivity and Innovation programme.
Article cites the book published by the Nobel prize-winning economist
Joseph Stiglitz and
Andrew Charlton of the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE, titled 'Fair Trade For All: how trade can promote development'.
This article appeared in The Age online (Australia) on January 14, 2006
Link to article
Related Publication
Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development by Joseph Stiglitz and Andrew Charlton is available from Oxford University Press.
Related Reading
CEP Policy Analysis,
The Doha Round: Freer and Fairer Trade?
Large well-managed companies with a wide global reach provide a happier work-life balance for their employees, a study by
Nick Bloom,
Toby Kretschmer and
John Van Reenen at the Centre for Economic Performance has suggested.
This article appeared on the BBC News online on 10 January, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Work-Life Balance, Management Practices and Productivity by Nick Bloom, Toby Kretschmer and John Van Reenen
Related Links
The CEP
Productivity and Innovation programme.
Providing employees with a good work-life balance does not lead to higher productivity, according to research published today. The study by three academics at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics finds that the evidence for "the win-win view, espoused by the government, that better work-life balance will improve productivity is rejected" and that "there is no relationship between productivity and work-life balance once good management is accounted for".
This article appeared in The Financial Times on January 10, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Work-Life Balance, Management Practices and Productivity by
Nick Bloom,
Toby Kretschmer and
John Van Reenen
Related Links
The CEP
Productivity and Innovation programme.
In a paper to be released today, a trio at the London School of Economics -
Nick Bloom,
Tobias Kretschmer and
John Van Reenen - sort through a hard drive's worth of data on 732 manufacturing firms in the United States and Europe, assessing their policies on work hours, vacation, assistance for child care and so on. Then they test whether the most fiercely productive companies in their sample treat workers badly. They find no such correlation.
This article appeared in The Washington Post on January 9, 2006
Link to article
Related Publications
Work-Life Balance, Management Practices and Productivity.
Related Links
CEP Event:
‘Work-Life Balance: Trade-off or Complimentarity’ on Tuesday 10th January 2006, 6pm Old Theatre
Companies that are bigger, more globalised and better managed provide a better work-life balance for their employees, according to new research
Work-Life Balance, Management Practices and Productivity by
Nick Bloom,
Tobias Kretschmer and
John Van Reenen.
What’s more, tough product market competition improves management practices but without any detrimental impact on work-life balance. At the same time, the researchers find no evidence that firms with good practices on work-life balance – shorter hours, flexible working, family-friendly policies, etc. – have higher productivity.
The study uses an innovative survey tool on over 700 manufacturing firms in France, Germany, the UK and the United States to ask questions about management practices and work-life balance. It finds that:
• Well-managed firms do not work ‘harder’ but ‘smarter’ – employees in well-run firms typically have a better work-life balance.
• In particular, management practices associated with good ‘people management’ – such as fostering talent, rewarding and retaining well performing staff and consistent training opportunities – are likely to be found in conjunction with good work-life balance practices – family-friendly policies, flexible working, shorter hours, more holidays, childcare subsidies, etc.
• In well-managed firms, the hours worked by both managerial and non-managerial staff are not significantly higher than those in badly run firms. This again confirms the finding that working smarter not harder is the key determinant to successful management.
• The share of women in management relative to non-management is significantly higher in firms with better work-life balance. In other words, the ‘glass ceiling’ does not seem to exist nearly as strongly in firms that treat their employees well.
The researchers describe two opposing views on the effects and efficacy of good practices on work-life balance – the pessimistic ‘Chirac’ view and the optimistic ‘win-win’ view:
• The view associated with the French president is that ‘Anglo-Saxon neo-liberalism’, encapsulated by tougher product market competition and globalisation has undesirable consequences. Although these forces raise productivity, they come at the expense of misery for workers in the form of long hours, job insecurity and intense and unsatisfying work.
• The win-win view (espoused by the present UK government) argues that better work-life balance will improve productivity and employers are mistakenly failing to treat their workers as assets and implement better work-life balance practices.
This study finds evidence for a hybrid view between these two polar extremes:
• The evidence does not support the Chirac view: there is, in fact, a positive association between management and work-life balance. Similarly, the view that competition and globalisation are bad for work-life balance is not supported: there is no relationship between tougher competition and work-life balance. And larger firms – which are typically more globalised – also have better work-life balance practices.
• But the win-win view that better work-life balance will improve productivity is also rejected: there is no relationship between productivity and work-life balance once good management is accounted for.
• Instead, well-managed firms can choose to introduce better work-life balance practices or not. If they do introduce them, this neither penalises them in terms of productivity nor does it significantly reward them.
Dr Nick Bloom comments:
‘Based on these results, it simply is not true that globalisation is such a disaster for employees. Employees in larger, more globalised firms seem to be much better off in terms of their working lives than those in smaller, more national firms.’
‘This conclusion suggests that improving work-life balance is socially desirable – workers obviously like it and firm productivity does not suffer. For firms, this will be worth weighing up more seriously. Most of the best-run firms in our sample treated their employees very well.’
Professor John Van Reenen adds:
‘But we also need to be cautious before inferring that the results give a carte blanche for governments to regulate for better work-life balance.’
’Good work-life balance seems to be something that well-run firms in competitive markets do naturally. They need to treat their employees well to keep them – if not, their competitors will hire them away. Government policies on work-life balance should take this into account.’
Further information
‘Work-Life Balance, Management Practices and Productivity’ by Nick Bloom, Tobias Kretschmer and John Van Reenen is published on Tuesday 10 January by the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP).
The research will be presented for the first time at a public meeting – Work-life Balance and Productivity – Trade-off or Complementarity? – at the London School of Economics, Old Building, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE at 6pm on Tuesday 10 January. [
More]
Speakers: John Dowdy, partner, McKinsey & Co; Sarah Jackson, chief executive, Working Families; Julie Mellor, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers and former head of the Equal Opportunities Commission; John Van Reenen, director, CEP.
Chair: Stephanie Flanders, economics editor, BBC Newsnight.
The research is financially supported by the
Anglo-German Foundation, the
Economic and Social Research Council and the
Advanced Institute for Management Research.
For further information: contact Nick Bloom on 07775-862671, 0207-955-7286 or 0207-955-7284 (emails: n.bloom@lse.ac.uk; t.kretschmer@lse.ac.uk; j.vanreenen@lse.ac.uk).
