Labour market dynamics

CEP discussion paper

The civil war reduced slave owners' economic power but increased their political influence

Did Southern elites? economic losses from abolition translate into diminished political influence? Using novel census-linked data on state lawmakers across four slave owning and two Northern states (1850?1880), we docume...Read more...

Luna Bellani, Anselm Hager and Stephan Maurer

14 May 2026

Blog

The Conversation:

Do petrol retailers really 'price-gouge' during oil price spikes?

Nikhil Datta and Johannes Brinkmann examine petrol retailers' behaviour during oil price fluctuations to judge the validity of profiteering concerns....Read more...

Johannes Brinkmann and Nikhil Datta

20 March 2026

CEP report

Road to recovery: Self-employed on the mend?

The eighth LSE-CEP survey of the self-employed shows weekly hours of the self-employed are now seeing some signs of recovery, compared with the last data collection in June 2023. The positive increase in work hours is tr...Read more...

Robert Blackburn, Stephen Machin and Maria Ventura

29 January 2026

CEP discussion paper

When do employers share? Rent sharing, monopsony and minimum wages

When firm productivity or product demand rises, workers typically share in the gains through higher wages or expanded employment. We show that for firms under monopsony with a binding minimum wage, this link from firm ga...Read more...

Ihsaan Bassier and Joshua Budlender

13 November 2025

CentrePiece article

Skills in the age of AI

A focus on wellbeing at work can help employees thrive....Read more...

Mary O'Mahony and Christopher A. Pissarides

21 October 2025

CentrePiece article

The doctor will see you now: comparing online and in-person consultations

Online consultations with doctors are convenient for patients and produce similar health outcomes to in-person visits. But research by Amanda Dahlstrand, Nestor Le Nestour and Guy Michaels finds that deciding which patie...Read more...

Amanda Dahlstrand, Nestor Le Nestour and Guy Michaels

20 February 2025

Blog

The Conversation:

How the national living wage helps the UK's poorest households: new research

The UK's national living wage has just been raised by 10% to #11.44 per hour. It is now payable for all workers aged 21 and over, where previously it was for those aged 23 and over. Introduced in 2016 as the flagship pol...Read more...

Giulia Giupponi

11 April 2024

Blog

LSE British Politics and Policy:

The national minimum wage - 25 years on

This month marks 25 years since a national minimum wage was introduced in the UK. Once a controversial policy, due to fears that it would lead to fewer jobs, it has instead proven to be highly successful. The minimum wag...Read more...

Stephen Machin

1 April 2024

Blog

Economics Observatory:

What next for Poland's economy?

Poland's new government is prioritising competent policy-making, the rule of law and investment in skills and education. There is real promise that new policies will be based on solid research evidence, including the app...Read more...

Pawel Bukowski and Wojciech Paczos

20 March 2024

Blog

Project Syndicate:

Should Workers Fear AI?

While hand-wringing about AI's implications for work and labour markets is understandable, economic history and current data make clear that the most common fears are largely overblown. Current applications are nowhere n...Read more...

Christopher A. Pissarides

11 March 2024

Journal article

LSE Public Policy Review:

The value and limits of unemployment insurance

This paper reviews some recent findings regarding unemployment and unemployment insurance in particular, drawing on comprehensive administrative data from Sweden. Firstly, it explores the value of unemployment insurance,...Read more...

Jonas Kolsrud and Johannes Spinnewijn

1 March 2024

Blog

LSE Business Review:

Does providing gig workers with unemployment insurance create a moral hazard?

Non-standard workers doing short-term, flexible jobs are a growing segment of the labour force, which poses difficult questions. Is it good policy to provide unemployment insurance to them? Do people engage in gig work b...Read more...

Jonas Kolsrud and Johannes Spinnewijn

29 February 2024

Blog

Vox EU:

Forward-looking labour supply responses to changes in pension wealth

As populations age, the strain on government budgets will keep pension reform at the forefront of political campaigns and policy debates worldwide. Elisabeth Artmann, Nicola Fuchs-Schundeln and Giulia Giupponi analyse ho...Read more...

Elisabeth Artmann, Nicola Fuchs-Schundeln and Giulia Giupponi

22 September 2023

Blog

UK in a Changing Europe:

Daniel Chandler on rehabilitating liberalism and the political implications of economic inequality (podcast)

Daniel Chandler talked to Professor Anand Menon on this week's episode of the UKICE (I Tell) podcast about his new book, Free and Equal: What Would a Fair Society Look Like?, what his top two policy recommendations for K...Read more...

Daniel Chandler

25 August 2023

Blog

Trade Talks:

Did responsible sourcing by multinationals help workers in poor countries? (podcast)

A series of industrial accidents that killed workers in the supply chains of multinational corporations triggered backlash by Western consumers. In response, many global companies committed to treat workers in poor count...Read more...

Jose P Vasquez

16 July 2023

Blog

LSE Review of Books:

Book Review: Free and Equal: What Would a Fair Society Look Like? by Daniel Chandler

In 'Free and Equal: What Would a Fair Society Look Like?' Daniel Chandler considers how the work of twentieth-century philosopher John Rawls could inform policymaking to build a fairer society with reduced inequality and...Read more...

Daniel Chandler

16 June 2023

Blog

LSE British Politics and Policy:

Re-imagining politics to build a fairer society: Q&A with Daniel Chandler

For Daniel Chandler, some key insights into reforming our politics to make it more inclusive, egalitarian and democratic come from the philosopher John Rawls. In his latest book Free and Equal: What Would a Fair Society ...Read more...

Daniel Chandler

14 June 2023

Blog

LSE:

Daniel Chandler: The Simple Idea That Could Solve Our Political Problems (video)

Inequality, climate change, culture wars and disaffection with politics - these are just some of the seismic issues we face in the UK in 2023. But while different schools of political thought might suggest different solu...Read more...

Daniel Chandler

13 June 2023

Blog

Economics Observatory:

Should the UK government get active about economic inactivity?

Concerns about a rise in economic inactivity have prompted new policies aimed at discouraging early retirement and encouraging the labour force participation of women with young children. Such interventions would be more...Read more...

Stephen Machin and Jonathan Wadsworth

26 May 2023

Blog

LSE Business Review:

Train in vain? Skills, tasks, and training in the UK labour market

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt pledged that measures in the budget would help break down barriers that stop people working. One issue is how to ensure we have the skills the economy needs. Nye Cominetti, Rui Costa, Andrew Eyles,...Read more...

Nye Cominetti, Rui Costa, Andrew Eyles, Kathleen Henehan and Sandra McNally

16 March 2023

Blog

Vox EU:

The labour market in Ukraine: Rebuild better

Rebuilding Ukraine will require emergency measures that address the effects of war alongside structural reforms that address pre-existing political and economic issues. Giacomo Anastasia, Tito Boeri, Marianna Kudlyak and...Read more...

Giacomo Anastasia, Tito Boeri, Marianna Kudlyak and Oleksandr Zholud

26 January 2023

Blog

CEPR:

The labour market in Ukraine: Rebuild better

Giacomo Anastasia, Tito Boeri, Marianna Kudlyak and Oleksandr Zholud write about how the Ukrainian labour market can be rebuilt effectively in this chapter of 'Rebuilding Ukraine: Principles and policies', which offers a...Read more...

Giacomo Anastasia, Tito Boeri, Marianna Kudlyak and Oleksandr Zholud

7 December 2022

Blog

Economics Observatory:

Minimum wages and living wages: what happens in times of inflation?

It is widely accepted that minimum wages are an effective way to help workers at the lower end of the income distribution without damaging their job opportunities. But while the UK's minimum wage has risen faster than th...Read more...

Alan Manning

22 August 2022

External report

Power plays

The cost of living crisis and the return of strikes over pay and conditions have brought the issue of worker power to the fore in 2022. Although some have pointed to a tight labour market as enabling workers to demand hi...Read more...

Ufuk Altunbuken, Pawel Bukowski, Stephen Machin and Hannah Slaughter

7 July 2022

Blog

VoxEU:

Trade with nominal rigidities: understanding the unemployment and welfare effects of the China shock

Researchers examine how increased competition from China impacts the welfare of the US labour market....Read more...

Andres Rodriguez-Clare, Mauricio Ulate and Jose P Vasquez

17 May 2022