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Blogs

Online comment, analyses, and debate by CEP researchers on today's economic and social policy issues.

Photo of people on crossroads. Published under CC0 Public Domain. From https://unsplash.com/photos/MEwhzMxZJac
Why we need to do something about the monopsony power of employers

Monopsony decreases worker mobility, keeping wages lower than they would be in a competitive market, writes Alan Manning. Read more...
Photo of London's financial district. Published under CC0 Public Domain. From https://unsplash.com/photos/7ojyp-IXW7w
The implications of Brexit for the UK economy

After the UK left the EU, Gerard Lyons, Vicky Pryce and John Van Reenen took questions from LSE staff, students and members of the public on the economic impact of Brexit. Read more...

All Blogs

Blog
LSE Business Review:
The use of designer reputation to build tall in London

Height exemptions are made easier when a world-famous architect is involved, but the process carries hidden costs, writes Paul Cheshire....Read more...

Paul Cheshire

27 October 2020

Blog
State of Working Britain Blog:
Two Things About Ethnicity Pay Gaps that May Have Passed You By

Last week the ONS published a study setting out recent trends in ethnicity pay gaps. Despite lots of caveats in the article, many papers duly reported the end of pay gaps by ethnicity. There are reasons to think however...Read more...

Jonathan Wadsworth

20 October 2020

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Monetary financing: why the government should not be worrying about the deficit

Alan Manning writes that government should stop worrying about the current deficit, financing it less by issuing debt though being clear that this is a temporary policy for exceptional circumstances. He explains how mone...Read more...

Alan Manning

20 October 2020

Blog
LSE Covid-19 blog:
How zero-carbon investments can allay the coming jobs crisis

Unemployment is going up and will rise further. In an extract from a new LSE Centre for Economic Performance report, Nicholas Stern (LSE) sets out how investment in zero-carbon goods and services can create jobs and rede...Read more...

Nicholas Stern

19 October 2020

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Planning for the Future: some solutions for our housing crisis at last?

The white paper, Planning for the future, published in early August 2020 represents the first serious attempt to reform our dysfunctional land use planning system since its inception. Although the Barker report’s diagnos...Read more...

Paul Cheshire

1 October 2020

Blog
LSE Covid-19 blog:
How do globalisation and pandemics interact? Surprising insights from a new model

Pandemics are only possible because of international travel. But – perhaps surprisingly – in the absence of social distancing a more globalised country will not necessarily suffer a worse outbreak. Pol Antràs (Harvard), ...Read more...

Paul Antràs, Stephen J. Redding and Esteban Rossi-Hansberg

30 September 2020

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Productivity growth in one country affects the relative income and welfare of its trade partners

One of the most dramatic changes in the world economy over the past half century has been the emergence of China as a major force in world trade. A central question in international economics is the implications of such ...Read more...

Benny Kleinman, Ernest Liu and Stephen J. Redding

15 September 2020

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
UK Labour Market Under COVID Part 3: Layoffs, Hiring & Wages

Recessions, usually signify a rise in layoffs. Even the last recession, which was accompanied by much more wage moderation than previous ones, generated a significant rise in redundancies. This time it is a little differ...Read more...

Jonathan Wadsworth

4 September 2020

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
What’s Happening to the UK Labour Market under COVID-19? Looking for signs of excess and what it shows (so far). Part 1

Six months into the worst pandemic of the modern era, the worst recession of the modern era and yet and yet .... the labour market is proving to be remarkably resilient (so far) – at least along the dimensions normally ...Read more...

Jonathan Wadsworth

4 September 2020

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
What's Happening to the Labour Market under COVID-19? Part 2

So if unemployment, employment or more marginal types of working appear little changed under COVID, things are different from normal if we look elsewhere. Figure 1 shows the percentage of workers who say they had a job b...Read more...

Jonathan Wadsworth

4 September 2020

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Why we need to do something about the monopsony power of employers

Monopsony decreases worker mobility, keeping wages lower than they would be in a competitive market, writes Alan Manning...Read more...

Alan Manning

26 August 2020

Blog
LSE Covid-19 blog:
COVID-19: cities get hit first, but do not necessarily get hit harder

Is there a link between population density and COVID-19 spread and severity in the United States? Felipe Carozzi, Sandro Provenzano and Sefi Roth (Centre for Economic Performance, LSE) found denser locations were more li...Read more...

Felipe Carozzi, Sandro Provenzano and Sefi Roth

19 August 2020

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
The COVID Generation social mobility test: how to level up an even more unequal playing field created by the pandemic

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin explain just how badly those aged under 25 appear to be faring in the labour market. They outline five proposals through which the government can help address both the classroom and wo...Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

13 August 2020

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
The UK labour market and COVID-19: how to measure excess, where to look for it, and what it shows

Think the outlook for the UK labour market in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic looks bad? But just how bad? And along which dimensions? Jonathan Wadsworth answers these questions. He concludes that the crisis was mar...Read more...

Jonathan Wadsworth

28 July 2020

Blog
LSE Covid-19 blog:
Free media help combat the spread of COVID-19

What is the best response to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic? Although some success stories and key lessons are emerging (early response, large-scale testing, effective containment), countries have adopted a s...Read more...

Timothy Besley and Sacha Dray

22 July 2020

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Firms closer to universities tend to have better management practices

Management matters for explaining differentials in productivity between and within countries and sectors. Across countries, management practices – as measured in the World Management Survey (WMS) – explain on average aro...Read more...

Andy Feng and Anna Valero

20 July 2020

Blog
LSE Covid-19 blog:
How to stop UK’s declining social mobility amid COVID-19

COVID-19 is increasing the divide in life chances between rich and poor. Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin (LSE) propose urgent actions to tackle economic and educational inequalities in Britain. Social distancing meas...Read more...

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

17 July 2020

Blog
LSE Covid-19 blog:
An LSE action plan for a strong and sustainable recovery

What does ‘building back better’ actually mean? Nicholas Stern, Sam Unsworth, Anna Valero, Dimitri Zenghelis, James Rydge and Nick Robins (LSE) set out the actions the government needs to take to deliver a sustainable re...Read more...

Nick Robins, James Rydge, Nicholas Stern, Sam Unsworth, Anna Valero and Dimitri Zenghelis

8 July 2020

Blog
LSE Business Review:
UK economic problems: diagnosing is easier than coming up with solutions

With Boris Johnson’s launch of his “New Deal” and Michael Gove’s speech on “the privilege of public service”, the government has made clear its intention to press ahead with the domestic agenda of “levelling-up” and refo...Read more...

Alan Manning

8 July 2020

Blog
LSE Covid-19 blog:
We need more progressive taxation, and a wealth tax, to pay for the COVID-19 rescue packages

The cost of COVID-19 rescue packages will likely be partly financed by increased inflation, which will disproportionally affect less-affluent people and workers, including frontline NHS staff. Pawel Bukowski (LSE) and Wo...Read more...

Pawel Bukowski and Wojciech Paczos

7 July 2020

Blog
LSE Covid-19 blog:
Home is not a safe place for everyone: domestic abuse between partners increased during lockdown

What has happened to the prevalence and nature of domestic abuse during lockdown? Crime economists Ria Ivandic and Tom Kirchmaier collaborated with the Strategic Insights Unit (SIU), from the Metropolitan Police, to answ...Read more...

Ria Ivandic and Tom Kirchmaier

30 June 2020

Blog
CVER Blog:
What you study vs where you study: how FE choices affect earnings and academic achievement

Read more...

Esteban Aucejo, Claudia Hupkau and Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela

25 June 2020

Blog
LSE Covid-19 blog:
Parts of the economy less hit by the pandemic are exposed to bigger negative impacts from Brexit

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK has been continuing its preparations to leave the EU by the end of 2020. COVID-19 has had a huge negative impact on the UK economy and Brexit will present another profound change in ...Read more...

Josh De Lyon and Swati Dhingra

23 June 2020

Blog
LSE Covid-19 blog:
Ralf Martin & John van Reenen | The case for a COVID-19 carbon tax

Ralf Martin and John Van Reenen (LSE) explain how a carbon tax could both help pay for the enormous costs of the pandemic and encourage ‘clean’ investment. Crucially, it should be levied in a few years’ time, when the UK...Read more...

Ralf Martin and John Van Reenen

2 June 2020

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
No Recourse to Public Funds: More than a quick fix needed for immigration rules

The Prime Minister recently appeared surprised to hear that most non-EEA migrants with temporary leave to remain in the UK are not eligible to claim benefits, and hinted at a review in the light of COVID-19. Alan Manning...Read more...

Alan Manning

2 June 2020

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Abolishing the NHS surcharge for health and care workers is not as generous as it sounds – a pay rise is needed

The government was recently been forced to re-think its plans to continue charging workers in health and social care for using the NHS. But how many pay the surcharge and how much would it cost to abolish it? In answerin...Read more...

Alan Manning

29 May 2020

Blog
LSE Brexit:
EU trade is just as important to the UK as it was in 2016. Why?

Has EU trade become less important to the UK since the referendum? Thomas Sampson (LSE) finds it has not. He discusses why this might be the case and whether COVID-19 could be the trigger for more UK firms to permanently...Read more...

Thomas Sampson

28 May 2020

Blog
LSE Business Review:
How will Covid-19 shape the future economic role of the British state?

When the pandemic has passed into history, what will be its implications for the role of the state in our economy? Some think it will (or should be) the replacement of one -ism with another. But to see the issues we face...Read more...

Alan Manning

20 May 2020

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Building back better: policies for a strong and sustainable recovery

The Covid-19 crisis is already inflicting serious damage on both the UK and the global economy. This raises questions on the appropriate policies for a strong and sustainable recovery, contributing to global efforts to a...Read more...

Sam Unsworth and Anna Valero

18 May 2020

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
COVID-19 and educational losses: The case for sending the youngest back to school

Jo Blanden and Birgitta Rabe discuss the decision to send the youngest students back to school this summer. They explain why doing so may be important for children’s education and wellbeing, as long as health risks can b...Read more...

Jo Blanden and Birgitta Rabe

15 May 2020

Blog
LSE Business Review:
How is Covid-19 affecting businesses in the UK?

The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown have highlighted the need for real-time data to understand the spread of the disease, identify vulnerable groups and design policies to mitigate the health and economic fallout of the c...Read more...

Josh De Lyon and Swati Dhingra

7 May 2020

Blog
LSE Business Review:
The future of apprenticeships is in the balance

The unprecedented economic upheaval brought by the Covid-19 pandemic raises several concerns for the functioning of the English apprenticeship system, particularly in the medium-term as economic and social activity resum...Read more...

Guglielmo Ventura

2 May 2020

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
COVID-19 and Higher Education: some of the effects on students and institutions and how to alleviate them

Monica Langella discusses some potential negative effects of the pandemic on higher education, particularly those pertaining to online assessment, university offers, and labour market outcomes. She offers evidence-based ...Read more...

Monica Langella

30 April 2020

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Covid-19 and the international trade downturn: lessons from 2008

The current Covid-19 outbreak is raising a number of growing concerns about the UK economy and its capacity to cope with the current situation and recover in the near future. One particular area of concern, in the UK and...Read more...

Giordano Mion

29 April 2020

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
COVID-19: Crashing the Economy so what will it do for the Housing Market?

To speculate usefully about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Britain’s housing markets one needs a clear analytical understanding of how our housing markets work and what forces cause them to change. Given the e...Read more...

Paul Cheshire and Christian Hilber

17 April 2020

Blog
CVER Blog:
Training grants: a useful policy to address skills and productivity gaps?

As work changes, firm-provided training may become more relevant for good economic and social outcomes. However, so far there is little or no causal evidence about the effects of training on firms. Pedro Martins looks at...Read more...

Pedro Martins

13 March 2020

Blog
LSE European Politics and Policy Blog:
The implications of Brexit for the UK economy

The United Kingdom has now formally left the European Union, but what does the future hold for the British economy? Following a recent event at LSE, Gerard Lyons, Vicky Pryce and John Van Reenen took questions from LSE s...Read more...

Gerard Lyons, Vicky Pryce and John Van Reenen

4 February 2020

Blog
BSI Economics:
Elections britanniques : quels enjeux pour le Brexit ? (Policy Brief)

Utilité de l’article : A l’approche des élections britanniques, l’incertitude quant à la tournure que prendra le Brexit est toujours importante. Cet article expose les scénarios possibles à ce jour ainsi que leurs conséq...Read more...

Elsa Leromain

10 December 2019

Blog
LSE Brexit:
Immigration is no longer the most pressing concern among the electorate

Immigration is no longer the most pressing concern among the electorate going into this election that it was prior to the Brexit referendum, writes Jonathan Wadsworth (LSE). More than three years on, concerns about Europ...Read more...

Jonathan Wadsworth

3 December 2019

Blog
LSE Brexit:
Three years on: the UK is paying a high economic price for its decision to leave the EU

How has the Leave vote affected the UK economy, ask Swati Dhingra and Thomas Sampson (LSE) in this second of two blogs based on the CEP Election Analysis briefing on Brexit. It summarizes CEP research on how the referend...Read more...

Swati Dhingra and Thomas Sampson

2 December 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Brexit will leave the UK worse off economically in all scenarios

Since the UK voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, Brexit has dominated UK politics and economic policy. Three and a half years after the referendum, the UK is yet to leave the EU, there is no certainty over if...Read more...

Swati Dhingra and Thomas Sampson

30 November 2019

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
The UK’s housing crisis: what should the next government do?

Since 2015, neither the government nor any opposition party has had any effective policy to tackle our housing crisis symbolised most starkly by Starter Homes. To the extent there has been action, it is largely ineffecti...Read more...

Paul Cheshire and Christian Hilber

29 November 2019

Blog
LSE Brexit:
Economic consequences of Brexit are overwhelmingly negative

The economic consequences of Brexit are overwhelmingly negative, estimate Swati Dhingra and Thomas Sampson (LSE). The more the UK distances itself from the EU’s economic institutions and policies, the greater will be the...Read more...

Swati Dhingra and Thomas Sampson

26 November 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
John Van Reenen: ‘A lot of promises are just smoke and mirrors’

As director of LSE's Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) up to 2016, British economist John Van Reenen led a team of academic researchers who produced detailed analysis of the consequences a divorce from the European U...Read more...

John Van Reenen

25 November 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Economic insecurity breeds support for the right

Economic insecurity breeds support for the right Economic insecurity is attracting growing attention in social, academic, and policy circles. It has arguably risen for a number of reasons in recent years: the Great Rece...Read more...

Walter Bossert, Andrew E. Clark, Conchita D'Ambrosio and Anthony Lepinteur

23 November 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Eurosceptic votes are less likely when EU interventions visibly boost local job markets

Eurosceptic votes are less likely when EU interventions visibly boost local job markets Anti-systemic political movements have emerged in recent years in a large number of countries across the globe. These parties genera...Read more...

Riccardo Crescenzi, Marco Di Cataldo and Mara Giua

16 November 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Give us the right to choose

On Saturday 19 October 2019, the UK Parliament faces a historic choice over whether or not to vote through the new deal agreed by Boris Johnson and the European Union. Members should demand that the Johnson deal be put t...Read more...

John Van Reenen

18 October 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
When free trade lands on the banking desk

The effect of trade liberalisation on economic activity remains one of the most important questions in economics. While prominent theories of international trade show that free trade improves the allocation of resources ...Read more...

Fadi Hassan

15 October 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Measuring the effect of innovation on productivity inside firms

The role of innovation in explaining economic performance has been a focus of economic research for decades, and many questions remain unanswered. One of the main challenges is how we measure innovation. Only by improvin...Read more...

Max Nathan and Anna Rosso

2 October 2019

Blog
VOX:
New dawn fades: The post-referendum rise in import costs has hurt UK workers

Some commentators argue that globalisation is systematically connected to the real-wage and productivity stagnation seen across the developed world. This column analyses the relationship between international trade and w...Read more...

Rui Costa, Swati Dhingra and Stephen Machin

1 October 2019

Blog
CVER Blog:
Is there a socio-economic gap in students’ academic match?

Young people from less well-off backgrounds are more likely to pursue lower ranked upper-secondary qualifications than their prior attainment would suggest that they can achieve. Recent research from Konstantina Maragko...Read more...

Konstantina Maragkou

27 September 2019

Blog
LSE Review of Books:
Book Review: Social Mobility and its Enemies by Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin

In Social Mobility and its Enemies, Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin offer a thought-provoking assessment of the state of social mobility in Britain. In the context of much social and political change and rising level...Read more...

Ross Goldstone

25 September 2019

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Dirty Density: Air Quality and the Density of American Cities

Read more...

Felipe Carozzi

29 August 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Why No-Deal Brexit is a battle for the soul of our nation

We are careening towards the most extreme form of Brexit imaginable – flouncing out of the European Union (EU) after 46 years, without any transition plan. Operation Yellowhammer, a leaked secret report from the governme...Read more...

John Van Reenen

26 August 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Compact cities have many advantages – clean air isn’t one of them

Air pollution is bad for us. We all know that polluted air is detrimental to our health and recent research shows that it can also affect our performance in education, productivity at work and even our safety. This has i...Read more...

Felipe Carozzi and Sefi Roth

22 August 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Is the big-box store killing Main Street?

The opening of big-box stores – i.e., large chain supermarket stores – has been a political concern in many countries over the last 20 years. Their critics claim they create enormous negative externalities in pre-existin...Read more...

Maria Sanchez-Vidal

21 August 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Trade with China benefited US consumers

International trade is widely viewed as creating winners and losers in an economy. Influential work has documented that US labour markets were heavily disrupted by the surge of imports following China’s joining the World...Read more...

Xavier Jaravel and Erick Sager

20 August 2019

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Why banning the construction of second homes in St. Ives and elsewhere has been a bad idea and what to do instead

Read more...

Stephen Gibbons

19 August 2019

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Residential mobility in the UK: how distance and local economic conditions drive residential choices

Monica Langella and Alan Manning find that high unemployment in an area induces people to move away, and has an even stronger effect on the attractiveness of that area to potential movers. They also find that younger and...Read more...

Monica Langella and Alan Manning

18 August 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
Can economic incentives promote a more equal gender division of house chores?

Gender identity norms such as the male bread-winner model are possible drivers of persistent gender inequalities in the labour market. However, the extent to which they restrict the behaviour of couples is debated. While...Read more...

Andrea Ichino, Martin Olsson, Barbara Petrongolo and Peter Skogman Thoursie

29 July 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
How the Panama Canal reshaped the economic geography of the United States

In the early 20th century a ship travelling from San Francisco to New York or on to Europe first had to travel over 13,000 miles around the entirety of South America. That all changed in August of 1914 with the opening o...Read more...

Stephan Maurer and Ferdinand Rauch

27 July 2019

Blog
LSE Business Review:
The 2018 trade war: consumers are paying a high price

Over the course of 2018, the Trump administration imposed import tariffs on approximately $283 billion of US imports, with rates ranging between 10 and 50 per cent. In response, US trading partners, especially China, ret...Read more...

Mary Amiti, Stephen J. Redding and David E. Weinstein

24 July 2019

Blog
CVER Blog:
Changing Aspirations and Outcomes in Post-16 Education

In this latest blog post, Steven McIntosh of University of Sheffield discusses CVER contributions to the recent Augar Review of Post-18 Education, and the findings that came out of that research. CVER have been contribut...Read more...

Steven McIntosh

25 June 2019

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Amplifying Islamophobic hate crime: UK media in the wake of terror attacks

Ria Ivandic,Tom Kirchmaier, and Stephen Machin study the empirical connections between local anti-Muslim hate crimes and international jihadi terror attacks. They find that local Muslim populations face a media-magnified...Read more...

Ria Ivandic, Tom Kirchmaier and Stephen Machin

8 May 2019

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Childhood circumstances and young adult outcomes: the role of parental financial problems

Is there a relationship between childhood circumstances and outcomes later on in life? Andrew E. Clark, Conchita D’Ambrosio, and Marta Barazzetta consider the cognitive and non-cognitive consequences on young adults who ...Read more...

Marta Barazzetta, Andrew E. Clark and Conchita D'Ambrosio

29 April 2019

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Financial innovation in mortgage products spurred the rapid increase in credit and house price growth during the last housing boom

Read more...

Stephen Gibbons

26 April 2019

Blog
CVER Blog:
The Changing Demand for Skills in the UK

In this latest blog post, Andy Dickerson and Damon Morris changes in skill utilisation and returns to skills over time in the UK. ‘Skills’ have long been a major policy priority, yet they are hard to measure. Skills...Read more...

Andy Dickerson and Damon Morris

25 April 2019

Blog
CVER Blog:
Family Matters: how early disadvantage impacts employment outcomes of young people

Dr Stefan Speckesser, Dr Matthew Bursnall and Jamie Moore share the findings of a new report. A new NIESR and Impetus report on young people Not In Education, Employment and Training (NEET) reveals that young people wit...Read more...

Matt Bursnall, Jamie Moore and Stefan Speckesser

25 April 2019

Blog
CVER Blog:
Higher vocational education: An alternative to degrees?

A detailed picture of earnings effects of university degrees is emerging, but not much is known about the benefits of higher vocational education. A recent report by the IFS provides evidence on the extensive earnings b...Read more...

Hector Espinoza and Stefan Speckesser

2 April 2019

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Valuing the environmental benefits of canals using house prices

Read more...

Stephen Gibbons

2 April 2019

Blog
CVER Blog:
Devolution at any cost?

Since the introduction of the apprenticeships levy in April 2017, local leaders up and down the country have relentlessly called for it to be devolved. The rationale is that local leaders know better than the central gov...Read more...

Chiara Cavaglia, Sandra McNally and Henry G. Overman

6 March 2019

Blog
CVER Blog:
High performing but less academic students need more ways to get on

Dr Stefan Speckesser of NIESR and CVER discusses a comparison study of 16 to 18-year-old students following A-Level or vocational and technical routes. It shows us that Non-A-level students need more options for progress...Read more...

Stefan Speckesser

7 February 2019

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
Measure for Measure: Has the Government Already Met its Net Immigration Target Without Noticing?

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Jonathan Wadsworth

24 January 2019

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Do foreign migrants ‘grease the wheels’ of the labour market?

Read more...

Henry Overman

11 December 2018

Blog
CVER Blog:
New Causal Evidence Suggests Technical Education Positively Impacts Students

Shaun M. Dougherty of Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, on the positive effects of the US Career and Technical Education (CTE) system. Vocational education and training (VET) has a long history in Britain and Eur...Read more...

Shaun M. Dougherty

7 December 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
The Economic Impacts of Constraining Second Home Investments

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Henry Overman

19 November 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Measuring Urban Economic Density

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Henry Overman

13 November 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
The Making of Modern London

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Henry Overman

30 October 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
How much will households pay to avoid council tax?

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Henry Overman

15 October 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Incubators, accelerators and local economic development

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Max Nathan

1 October 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
There is a housing crisis: there are not enough houses being built and they are becoming ever less affordable; and they are getting smaller…

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Henry Overman

24 September 2018

Blog
CVER Blog:
Do older apprentices get the same earnings boost as younger ones?

There has been a huge increase in the number of people over the age of 25 who are undertaking apprenticeships. Prior to 2007, there were essentially no apprentices in this age group in England; in 2016/17, nearly half of...Read more...

Steven McIntosh and Damon Morris

7 September 2018

Blog
CVER Blog:
Does starting an apprenticeship boost young people’s earnings?

Apprenticeships feature in the vocational education systems of many countries, although their popularity varies widely. They are especially prevalent in countries like Austria, Germany and Switzerland and virtually absen...Read more...

Chiara Cavaglia, Sandra McNally and Guglielmo Ventura

7 September 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
The Beeching Axe: the consequences of massive rail disinvestment

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Stephen Gibbons

7 August 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Turning Brownfields Around: the Role of Demand in Land Re-Development

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Felipe Carozzi

11 July 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Did the Blitz enhance London’s economy?

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Stephen Gibbons

14 June 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Inclusive Growth in cities: Good intentions, difficult policy

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Neil Lee

12 June 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
The ‘Bedroom Tax’: How did families react? Did the policy achieve its objectives?

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Stephen Gibbons

16 May 2018

Blog
ESRC blog:
Becoming a Research Institute: the Centre for Economic Performance

by Stephen Machin As Director of the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at LSE, I am delighted that the Centre has been named as one of the two inaugural ESRC Research Institutes. This is testament to the achievements...Read more...

Stephen Machin

10 May 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Does gentrification displace low-income renters in Britain? In short: Yes!

Read more...

Stephen Gibbons

3 May 2018

Blog
CVER Blog:
Missing the mark at GCSE English: the costly consequences of just failing to get a grade C

School students who narrowly fail to achieve a grade C in their GCSE English exam pay a high price, according to new research by Stephen Machin, Sandra McNally and Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela. Getting above or failing to re...Read more...

Stephen Machin, Sandra McNally and Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela

13 April 2018

Blog
CVER Blog:
Choosing the best counterfactual for assessing the returns to qualifications

Sophie Hedges of London Economics summarises a new paper which finds that, for both males and females, non-achievers are generally closer in their observable characteristics to the achievers, than are individuals who onl...Read more...

Sophie Hedges

11 April 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Housing: the happy self-delusion of ‘no shortage’

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Paul Cheshire

29 March 2018

Blog
CVER Blog:
Apprenticeships are changing: The Levy a year in

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Matt Bursnall and Stefan Speckesser

28 March 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Who benefits from neighbourhoods designated as conservation areas?

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Stephen Gibbons

20 March 2018

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Empty homes, longer commutes: the unintended consequences of more restrictive local planning

Read more...

Paul Cheshire, Christian Hilber and Hans R. A. Koster

12 March 2018

Blog
CVER Blog:
Do BTEC qualifications pay?

London Economics' Pietro Patrignani with a closer look at BTEC qualifications. BTEC qualifications are career-based qualifications and can be taken at different levels of the Regulated Qualification Framework (RQF) betw...Read more...

Pietro Patrignani

26 February 2018

Blog
CVER Blog:
Which skill signals matter truly in getting a job?

Lisa Simon from the ifo Center for the Economics of Education on the impact of skill signals on hiring decisions Individuals make costly investments (in terms of time, effort or money) to signal skills to potential emplo...Read more...

Lisa Simon

2 February 2018

Blog
CVER Blog:
How much do college principals matter?

CVER's Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela, along with Camille Terrier and Clémentine Van Effenterre have been looking at evidence from Further Education Colleges in England, and ask How much do college principals matter? The past ...Read more...

Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela, Camille Terrier and Clémentine Van Effenterre

19 December 2017

Blog
CVER Blog:
Apprenticeship and automotive skills: the UK, Germany and Spain compared

CVER's Hilary Steedman and colleagues have been looking at training in one area of the automotive sector Car Service is central to the supply chain of the wider automotive sector, identified as a leading performer in t...Read more...

Hilary Steedman

5 December 2017

Blog
CVER Blog:
Do apprenticeships pay?

The government aims to massively increase the number of apprenticeships and to make this a more important part of the post-16 educational landscape. In our research - published today by the Sutton Trust - we investigate ...Read more...

Chiara Cavaglia, Sandra McNally and Guglielmo Ventura

30 November 2017

Blog
CVER Blog:
The Payoff to Vocational Qualifications: Reconciling Estimates from Survey and Administrative Data

Steve McIntosh and colleagues from the University of Sheffield and London Economics look at what different types of data can tell us about the payoff to vocational qualifications. Researchers looking to estimate the pay...Read more...

Steven McIntosh

24 November 2017

Blog
CVER Blog:
Do secondary school peers influence educational decisions?

Sophie Hedges from London Economics, together with NIESR's Stefan Speckesser, has been looking at how students make choices about their education after GCSEs. Following the increase in the education participation age, i...Read more...

Sophie Hedges and Stefan Speckesser

13 November 2017

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
Distributive Politics Inside the City?

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Felipe Carozzi

19 October 2017

Blog
CVER Blog:
Investment in adult skills in decreasing in the UK – here’s why we should be worried

NIESR's Matt Bursnall and Stefan Speckesser ask are we right to be concerned about access to skills in the UK? Recently, the FT showed that contrary to popular belief the most troubling issue for SMEs in Europe is not ac...Read more...

Matt Bursnall and Stefan Speckesser

11 October 2017

Blog
CVER Blog:
What are the labour market outcomes associated with vocational education and training?

Pietro Patrignani is a Senior Economic Consultant at London Economics working on CVER projects. In this blog he looks at the outcomes for those on vocational paths using newly matched data. For the first time, the match...Read more...

Pietro Patrignani

9 October 2017

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Where industry is strong and where it’s weak – key facts of UK business geography

Financial services aren’t as London-centric as the creative industries, and the coast-inland divide is growing, write Sandra Bernick, Richard Davies, and Anna Valero. The UK’s financial services industry is not nearly as...Read more...

Sandra Bernick, Richard Davies and Anna Valero

2 October 2017

Blog
CVER Blog:
Three million new apprenticeships – but how many of these are completed and achieved?

Matt Bursnall and Stefan Speckesser from CVER and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research ask what do we currently know about apprenticeship achievement? The government’s target to create three million ...Read more...

Matt Bursnall and Stefan Speckesser

25 September 2017

Blog
CVER Blog:
The benefits of intermediate level skills

Using findings from a study of all countries of the European Union, CVER's Vahé Nafilyan and Dr Stefan Speckesser look at new evidence on the economic and social cost of low skills A new major study by the European Cent...Read more...

Vahé Nafilyan and Stefan Speckesser

5 September 2017

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
What’s happened to rents in London and the UK after the Brexit referendum? Evidence from a new rental index.

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Stephen Gibbons

29 August 2017

Blog
CVER Blog:
Brexit and the skills challenge

Sandra McNally, CVER's Director, on skills in the UK in light of Brexit. The UK’s productivity suffered a shock in 2008 from which it has not recovered, and the ‘skills problem’ needs to be addressed. Within the c...Read more...

Sandra McNally

21 August 2017

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
Brexit and the UK's Immigration Needs

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Jonathan Wadsworth

7 August 2017

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
The Local Economic Impacts of Brexit

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Henry Overman

27 July 2017

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
Is There a Public Sector Pay Premium?

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Jonathan Wadsworth

25 July 2017

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
Interesting Times: Immigration and the UK Election

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Jonathan Wadsworth

4 July 2017

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
East Side Story: Historical Pollution and Neighbourhood Sorting

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Stephan Heblich, Alex Trew and Yanos Zylberberg

22 May 2017

Blog
CEP Urban and Spatial Programme Blog:
The impact of EU development funds in poorer UK regions and the prospect of Brexit

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Marco Di Cataldo

17 April 2017

Blog
ESRC blog:
How English care homes have coped with the National Living Wage

Giulia Giupponi is an ESRC-funded PhD student at the London School of Economics and a research assistant at the Centre for Economic Performance. Stephen Machin is Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics ...Read more...

Giulia Giupponi and Stephen Machin

12 April 2017

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Does immigration harm the job prospects of the UK-born? Brexit and the UK labour market

Following the referendum vote to leave the European Union, the UK faces a trade-off between retaining access to the Single Market and restricting free movement of labour. Barbara Petrongolo considers the likely impact of...Read more...

8 October 2016

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
Let's Talk about Immigration: Young People, Jobs and Training

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Jonathan Wadsworth

5 October 2016

Blog
ESRC blog:
The ‘photo-finish effect’: when third place winners are happier than second

Laura Kudrna, a London School of Economics scholarship PhD candidate, researches the effects of achievement on happiness, particularly focusing on examples of when greater success – be it financial, academic, romantic, o...Read more...

Laura Kudrna

18 August 2016

Blog
LSE European Politics and Policy Blog:
The aftermath of the Brexit vote – the verdict from a derided expert

John Van Reenen was disappointed but not surprised by the UK’s vote to Leave the EU. Whilst his own research predicts serious economic and political damage in the case of Brexit, he thought a Leave vote was a real possib...Read more...

John Van Reenen

3 August 2016

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
The aftermath of the Brexit vote – the verdict from a derided expert

John Van Reenen was disappointed but not surprised by the UK’s vote to Leave the EU. Whilst his own research predicts serious economic and political damage in the case of Brexit, he thought a Leave vote was a real possib...Read more...

John Van Reenen

2 August 2016

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Who voted Leave: the characteristics of individuals mattered, but so did those of local areas

Individual demographics had a huge effect in determining the outcome of the referendum, but the characteristics of local areas mattered as well, explain Monica Langella and Alan Manning. Immigration, the decline in manuf...Read more...

Monica Langella and Alan Manning

6 July 2016

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Foreign investors love Britain – but Brexit would end the affair

Foreign investment brings many benefits to the UK, including higher pay and productivity. But a Brexit vote could end it all, write Swati Dhingra, Gianmarco Ottaviano, Thomas Sampson and John Van Reenen. First, not being...Read more...

Swati Dhingra, Gianmarco Ottaviano, Thomas Sampson and John Van Reenen

22 June 2016

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Why leaving the EU would almost certainly damage our economic prospects

The economic consequences of leaving the EU have been a central focus of the referendum campaign. As June 23 draws near, Jagjit Chadha, Paul Johnson and John Van Reenen bring together the conclusions from their research ...Read more...

Jagjit Chadha, Paul Johnson and John Van Reenen

21 June 2016

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
No one would be spared: how the costs of Brexit would be distributed across households

That leaving the EU would damage the overall economy is now being treated as more of a fact than a speculation. But those for Brexit argue that the rich will be negatively affected while the poor will benefit. This is no...Read more...

Holger Breinlich, Swati Dhingra, Thomas Sampson and John Van Reenen

3 June 2016

Blog
LSE European Politics and Policy Blog:
The ‘Britain Alone’ scenario: how Economists for Brexit defy the laws of gravity

There is a degree of consensus among economists that a Brexit will make us worse off. The exception is recent work by Economists for Brexit. Their forecast of income gains from Brexit contrasts with all other economic an...Read more...

Swati Dhingra, Gianmarco Ottaviano, Thomas Sampson and John Van Reenen

2 June 2016

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
The ‘Britain Alone’ scenario: how Economists for Brexit defy the laws of gravity

There is a degree of consensus among economists that a Brexit will make us worse off. The exception is recent work by Economists for Brexit. Their forecast of income gains from Brexit contrasts with all other economic an...Read more...

Swati Dhingra, Gianmarco I. P. Ottaviano, Thomas Sampson and John Van Reenen

30 May 2016

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
SWOB 10. EU-turn if you want to. Brexit & Immigration

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Jonathan Wadsworth

11 May 2016

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
SWOB 9. Is it Worth It? Are there too many graduates in the UK?

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Jonathan Wadsworth

18 April 2016

Blog
LSE European Politics and Policy Blog:
Growth multiplier: How university expansion increases national income

What impact do universities have on a country’s economy? Outlining the results of a study of universities across 78 countries, Anna Valero and John Van Reenen find that doubling the number of universities in a region inc...Read more...

Anna Valero and John Van Reenen

25 March 2016

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
The question is not whether Brexit will cost the UK in economic terms but how much

For over two years, a research team at the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) has been studying the likely impact of the UK leaving the European Union. Their latest report focuses on the impact of ‘Brexit’ through cha...Read more...

Swati Dhingra, Gianmarco Ottaviano, Thomas Sampson and John Van Reenen

21 March 2016

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
SWOB 8: Employment Performance: UK versus the USA. Jury Out

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Jonathan Wadsworth

18 March 2016

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
SWOB 7:International Women's Day: Reasons to be (a little bit) cheerful about women in the UK labour market, 1, 2, 3

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Jonathan Wadsworth

11 March 2016

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
SWOB 6: Record Employment in the UK? Well yes but.......

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Jonathan Wadsworth

4 March 2016

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
SWOB 5: Rumours of the end of the job for life are a little exaggerated (but not if you're male)

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Jonathan Wadsworth

25 February 2016

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
SWOB 4:Where Have All the Men Gone? Men, Women & Employment in the UK

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Jonathan Wadsworth

16 February 2016

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
SWOB 3: Are Immigrants Taking All the New Jobs?

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Jonathan Wadsworth

9 February 2016

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
SWOB 2: Is the Rise in Low Skilled Jobs holding back Wage Growth?

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Jonathan Wadsworth

2 February 2016

Blog
The State of Working Britain blog:
The State Of Working Britain Blog: 1. Are we there yet? Full Employment in the UK

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Jonathan Wadsworth

26 January 2016

Blog
ESRC blog:
Making the world a happier place

Professor Lord Richard Layard directs the Wellbeing Programme at the ESRC Centre for Economic Performance, and has made major contributions on unemployment, inflation, inequality and post-Communist reform. Author of the ...Read more...

Richard Layard

28 September 2015

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Corbyn and the political economy of nostalgia

Voting for Jeremy Corbyn as leader is a gut reaction to Labour’s electoral defeat. Corbyn does point to some real economic problems facing Britain but his policies are based largely on the kind of wishful thinking that i...Read more...

John Van Reenen

15 August 2015

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Productivity Plan: A sound framework, but gaps in policy persist. More is needed to get productivity growing again

Following the summer budget, the government released a productivity plan aimed at dealing with a chronic issue facing the UK’s economy. Anna Valero and John Van Reenen review the plan, writing that overall the plan is br...Read more...

Anna Valero and John Van Reenen

17 July 2015

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Summer budget 2015: Osborne is right to raise wages, but a clearer productivity plan is required

Yesterday, George Osborne delivered the new government’s first budget in which he surprised many by hiking the minimum wage significantly. John Van Reenen reviews the measures introduced, writing that the Chancellor is r...Read more...

John Van Reenen

9 July 2015

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Where is the real Manifesto for Growth?

As voters go to the polls in a knife-edge election, Labour’s popularity on the NHS is counter-balanced by the Tory’s reputation for economic competence. But is this reputation deserved? John Van Reenen writes that a real...Read more...

John Van Reenen

7 May 2015

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
The NHS: Promises and productivity

In the general election debate about healthcare, all the parties are seeking to portray an NHS protected from major public sector expenditure cuts, with expansion in some areas. But according to Alistair McGuire and John...Read more...

John Van Reenen

22 April 2015

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Regarding public service spending, the UK electorate faces real choices this election

The possible spending plans of Labour and the Tories illustrate the fact that there are real choices to be made at the election, writes John Van Reenen. When viewed over the longer term, the state of the UK economy is no...Read more...

John Van Reenen

30 March 2015

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Budget 2015: What the Chancellor said and didn’t say

Who would have thought an election was around the corner? John Van Reenen looks at what George Osborne had to say in the budget speech as well as what he didn’t say; the Chancellor neither mentioned the productivity prob...Read more...

John Van Reenen

18 March 2015

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Austerity in the UK: past, present and future

In this article, John Van Reenen looks at the UK’s economic performance since the global financial crisis and assesses the impact of austerity policies. He also examines the fiscal plans of the three major parties over t...Read more...

John Van Reenen

11 March 2015

Blog
LSE American Politics and Policy Blog:
Experts react to the Scottish referendum result: The Nays have it

On 18 September, Scotland voted against independence from the United Kingdom by a margin of 55-45 per cent, an event that will be of interest to many in the U.S. given the commentary made there by many in the lead up to ...Read more...

John Van Reenen

20 September 2014

Blog
LSE European Politics and Policy Blog:
Leaving the European Union would likely have a significant negative impact on the UK’s economy

How would leaving the EU affect the UK’s economy? Gianmarco Ottaviano, João Paulo Pessoa, Thomas Sampson and John Van Reenen outline findings from a new report on the economic consequences of a ‘Brexit’. They indicate th...Read more...

Gianmarco Ottaviano, Thomas Sampson and John Van Reenen

22 May 2014

Blog
LSE American Politics and Policy Blog:
Firms with more structured management practices are more productive, innovative and have faster employment growth.

In 2010, the US Census Bureau conducted the first large-scale survey of management practices in America, gathering data on more than 30,000 manufacturing plants. Nicholas Bloom and colleagues find strong links between es...Read more...

John Van Reenen

20 May 2014

Blog
LSE European Politics and Policy Blog:
The state of the UK economy: Diagnosis, prognosis and recommended treatment

The UK economy has experienced a prolonged period of weakness over the last five years. John Van Reenen writes that the real problems for the UK are inadequate long-run investment in infrastructure, innovation and human ...Read more...

John Van Reenen

6 January 2014

Blog
LSE European Politics and Policy Blog:
UK Spending Review 2013: A triumph of politics over reason?

The UK’s Spending Review has been forced on the British Chancellor because weak economic growth has blown a hole in the deficit reduction programme. John Van Reenen welcomes the partial reversal of the hugely damaging cu...Read more...

John Van Reenen

29 June 2013

Blog
LSE European Politics and Policy Blog:
Small isn’t always beautiful: The cost of regulation on French firms

France has a raft of labour-market regulations that kick in for firms with 50 workers or more. Luis Garicano and John Van Reenen use this threshold to identify the economic effects of size-contingent regulations. Such po...Read more...

Luis Garicano and John Van Reenen

1 June 2013

Blog
LSE European Politics and Policy Blog:
No Triple Dip does not mean a good recovery for the UK

John Van Reenen reacts to the news this week that the UK has avoided economic contraction in the last quarter. Whilst Osborne may see this as cause to celebrate, there is nothing commendable about an economy that continu...Read more...

John Van Reenen

27 April 2013

Blog
LSE European Politics and Policy Blog:
The economic legacy of Margaret Thatcher is a mixed bag

John Van Reenen analyses the economic legacy of Margaret Thatcher. In the late 1970s, when the UK was behind other developed nations in terms of material wellbeing, her supply side policies spurred economic revival. Ther...Read more...

John Van Reenen

13 April 2013

Blog
LSE European Politics and Policy Blog:
The books that inspired John Van Reenen: “I think I always enjoy reading Conservative thinkers more than leftist ones. It’s much more fun to have books that really challenge your positions rather than confirming your prejudices”

In a cross-post from the LSE Review of Books blog, John van Reenen, Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Economic Performance LSE, talks us through the must-read comics that first inspired his interest i...Read more...

John Van Reenen

17 November 2012

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
From ‘Plan B’ to ‘Plan V’: what the UK economy needs to reboot and rebalance growth

With the threat of stagflation and interest rate rises, the current economic climate shows little sign of improvement in the near future. John Van Reenen finds that the government’s severe austerity programme, with its v...Read more...

John Van Reenen

25 February 2011

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Academy schools under Labour combated disadvantage and increased pupil achievement: the coalition’s new policy may exacerbate existing inequalities

With the recent accusation that Michael Gove has been sending ‘mixed messages’ over academy schools, it is clear that the policy is still very controversial. Stephen Machin and James Vernoit take a step back and compar...Read more...

Stephen Machin and James Vernoit

18 November 2010

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
To avoid creating a ‘lost generation’, with perhaps a fifth of all 18 year olds unemployed and outside training, a new push on apprenticeships would help

With record numbers of young people not gaining university places, the viability of apprenticeships could make a huge difference in preventing a ‘lost generation’ out of touch with the labour market. Dr Hilary Steedman o...Read more...

Hilary Steedman

13 September 2010

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
LSE Centre for Economic Performance – A Note on Academy School Policy

The Academies programme3 was first introduced by the Labour government in September 2002, with the stated aim of improving the educational outcomes of some of the most disadvantaged pupils in English secondary schools. T...Read more...

Stephen Machin and James Vernoit

10 August 2010

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
LSE Centre for Economic Performance: Reducing Crime: More Police, More Prisons or More Pay?

Crime is usually high on the list of voter concerns. This might seem surprising since total crime has fallen significantly since the mid 1990s. Yet two thirds of the population still (wrongly) think that crime is rising ...Read more...

Olivier Marie

28 July 2010

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
Hospital competition is good for patients, and for efficiency

The coalition government has taken great pains to assure the public that the NHS budget will be ‘ring-fenced’, and thus not subject to the cuts of 20 to 40 per cent forecast for other Whitehall departments. At the same t...Read more...

Zack Cooper

12 July 2010

Blog
LSE British Politics and Policy:
LSE Centre for Economic Performance – all election analyses are now available

The complete series of Election Analyses from the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) is now available, summarising research evidence on some of the key policy battlegrounds of the 2010 UK General Election. The followi...Read more...

5 May 2010