Growth
The Growth programme studies the determinants of productivity and innovation. Research looks at new technologies, management practices, investment, R&D, skills, competition and regulation of labour and product markets.
As Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman wrote: "Productivity isn't everything, but, in the long run, it is almost everything. A country's ability to improve its standard of living over time depends almost entirely on its ability to raise its output per worker."
Our programme has researched the determinants of productivity empirically, focusing on the role of new technologies, management practices, investment, R&D, skills, competition and regulation of labour and product markets in shaping innovation and productivity both in the private and public sectors. There is a strong focus on linking empirical findings to practical policy and economic theory.
Detailed analysis of the evidence on the determinants of productivity has helped inform the options available to policymakers in dealing with the UK's laggard productivity performance. This was set out in two LSE Growth Commissions and their reports and continues in our work on industrial policy.
In looking at productivity in both the private and public sector we have discovered wide variations in productivity across firms and organisations, even within narrowly defined sectors. To get at the causes of this the programme has, since 2004, conducted the world's first survey of management practices and their impact on firm productivity by carrying out in-depth interviews of over 20,000 firms in 35 countries (the World Management Survey). Organisations such as the UK's Office for National Statistics, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, have incorporated elements of the CEP's survey into their own surveys and we partnered with the US Census Bureau to generate the Management and Organizational Practices Survey (MOPS) now in its third wave and emulated by 10 other countries around the world. Surveys have also been conducted of hospitals and schools.
While the quantity of economic growth matters, so does its quality.
Economic growth in the past was associated with spectacular increases in greenhouse gas emissions. If we want to avoid catastrophic climate change, the global economy must embark on a less emission-intensive growth plan going forward. Much of this will depend on the development and adoption of new "clean" technologies. A core theme of the programme is an understanding of the drivers and barriers of this "clean transition".
Economic growth can also be destructive if it is not equitable. Much of the global growth in recent years benefited those at the top of the income distribution while leaving many behind. The programme explores why that is the case (eg. is it because of the emergence of superstar firms?) and what might be required to make growth more equitable (eg. can we develop policies to find the "lost Einsteins"?)
Featured Work
Growth publications
Giammario Impullitti and Pontus Rendahl
12 February 2025
Nuriye Melisa Bilgin, Ester Faia and Gianmarco Ottaviano
31 January 2025
Silvia Appelt, Matej Bajgar, Chiara Criscuolo and Fernando Galindo-Rueda
29 January 2025
Davide M. Coluccia and Gaia Dossi
27 January 2025
Sara Calligaris, Chiara Criscuolo, Josh De Lyon, Andrea Greppi and Oliviero Pallanch
26 January 2025
Robert J.R. Elliott, Viet Nguyen-Tien, Eric Strobl and Chengyu Zhang
24 January 2025
Philippe Aghion, Simon Bunel and Xavier Jaravel
14 January 2025
Felix Bracht and Dennis Verhoeven
6 January 2025
Pia Andres, Carl Benedikt Frey and Giorgio Presidente
5 January 2025
Bennet Feld, Thiemo Fetzer, Prashant Garg and Peter Lambert
24 December 2024
Johannes Boehm and Xavier Jaravel
16 December 2024
Sara Calligaris, Miguel Chaves, Chiara Criscuolo, Josh De Lyon, Andrea Greppi and Oliviero Pallanch
13 December 2024
Aadya Bahl, Henry G. Overman and Esin Serin
6 December 2024
Monica Langella and Valeria Zurla
1 December 2024
Capucine Riom and Anna Valero
1 December 2024
Pia Andres, Ralf Martin, Maxwell Read, Esin Serin, Arjun Shah and Anna Valero
25 November 2024
Tessa Hall, Alan Manning and Rebecca Rose
22 November 2024
Nicholas Bloom, Philip Bunn, Paul Mizen, Prachi Srivastava, Gregory Thwaites and Ivan Yotzov
20 November 2024
Giuseppe Berlingieri, Sara Calligaris, Chiara Criscuolo and Rudy Verlhac
19 November 2024
Flavio Calvino, Chiara Criscuolo, Luca Fontanelli, Lionel Nesta and Elena Verdolini
18 November 2024
Johannes Boehm and Xavier Jaravel
16 November 2024
Saul Estrin, Andrea Herrmann, Moren Levesque, Tomasz Mickiewicz and Mark Sanders
15 November 2024
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