The What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth: some lessons from the first ten years
Danielle Mason, Max Nathan and Henry G. Overman
What can policy do to increase local economic growth? This is a question that has challenged decision makers and academics for decades. It's also a fundamental question today, when the UK government has made economic growth one of its priorities - in the face of a decade of slower growth and tight budgets. Research and evaluation have a crucial role to play in providing answers and increasing the effectiveness of policy making. Unfortunately, making sense and making use of the evidence is not easy, especially for those tasked with delivering better economic outcomes for their communities. The What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth (known as What Works Growth) was founded in 2013 to work with policy makers and help address these challenges. This chapter summarises what we have learnt from our first three phases of activity.
28 April 2023
Published in The What Works Centres: lessons and insights from an evidence movement (2023), Michael Sanders, Jonathan Breckon and David Halpern, pp. 113-124, Policy Press
This Chapter is part of the centre's Urban programme.
This publication comes under the following theme: What determines urban growth and urban decline and what should be the role of policy?