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CentrePiece

The Centre's magazine features new research and policy ideas from the CEP. Written for non-specialist readers, CentrePiece articles are analytical, rigorously-evidenced and showcase the latest economic methods. Published three times a year.

By Raphael Whittle
CentrePiece Autumn 2024: Policy for happier lives

This month's CentrePiece cover story looks at how choosing policies that most improve wellbeing would radically change government priorities.
Illustration from CentrePiece Autumn 2024
AI and climate action: how UK firms are responding

How do employers believe the two big upheavals of AI and climate change will affect jobs, profits and resilience?

Latest CentrePiece articles

CentrePiece article
in brief... Designing carbon markets that deliver change

Ever since the European Union created its market-based carbon policy, governments and businesses have been keen to assess its impact. Jonathan Colmer, Ralf Martin, Mirabelle Muûls and Ulrich Wagner explain why analysing ...Read more...

Jonathan Colmer, Ralf Martin, Mirabelle Muûls and Ulrich J. Wagner

18 October 2024

CentrePiece article
Better work: whose business is it?

Regulating the labour market is essential to address the inherent imbalance of power between employers and employees. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the state needs to intervene more than it already does. Alan Ma...Read more...

Alan Manning

18 October 2024

CentrePiece article
Parenthood and academia

Women are underrepresented in senior academic positions in economics. Ria Ivandic and Anne Sophie Lassen assess the impact of having children on men and women's career trajectories....Read more...

Ria Ivandic and Anne Sophie Lassen

18 October 2024

CentrePiece article
How to build a citizen

Schools are where the next generation learns not only how to understand the world but also how to change it. Research by Simon Briole, Marc Gurgand, Eric Maurin, Sandra McNally, Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela and Daniel Santin ...Read more...

Simon Briole, Marc Gurgand, Eric Maurin, Sandra McNally, Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela and Daniel Santin

18 October 2024

CentrePiece article
The unequal health effects of smart tech in the workplace

How does technological progress affect workers' health? Melanie Arntz, Sebastian Findeisen, Stephan Maurer and Oliver Schlenker explore the effects of digitalisation and find evidence of worsening health among manual wor...Read more...

Melanie Arntz, Sebastian Findeisen, Stephan Maurer and Oliver Schlenker

18 October 2024

CentrePiece article
Spending public money to create happier lives

Choosing policies that most improve wellbeing would radically change government priorities. David Frayman, Christian Krekel, Richard Layard, Sara MacLennan and Isaac Parkes explain the science behind the new approach....Read more...

David Frayman, Christian Krekel, Richard Layard, Sara MacLennan and Isaac Parkes

18 October 2024

CentrePiece article
AI and climate action: how UK firms are responding

Are businesses in the UK embracing artificial intelligence? And what are they doing to meet net-zero targets? Juliana Oliveira-Cunha, Bruno Serra-Lorenzo and Anna Valero report on how employers believe the two big upheav...Read more...

Juliana Oliveira-Cunha, Bruno Serra-Lorenzo and Anna Valero

18 October 2024

CentrePiece article
in brief... Could a new policy institution help solve the UK’s productivity problem?

Comparatively sluggish productivity growth is one of the UK’s biggest policy challenges. Past strategies to solve the problem have lacked both sustained commitment and proper evaluation. Anna Valero and Bart van Ark call...Read more...

Anna Valero and Bart van Ark

20 June 2024

CentrePiece article
How climate change concerns affect voters

The effects of climate change have become far more noticeable in recent years, with abnormally high temperatures recorded across the world. Maria Cotofan, Karlygash Kuralbayeva and Konstantinos Matakos examine how spikes...Read more...

Maria Cotofan, Karlygash Kuralbayeva and Konstantinos Matakos

20 June 2024

CentrePiece article
in brief... Why representation in economics matters

To inspire the next generation of black economists, how important is it for them to see people like themselves working in the profession? Felicia Odamtten, an economist at the Resolution Foundation and founder of The Bla...Read more...

Felicia Odamtten

20 June 2024

CentrePiece article
The national minimum wage: 25 years on

It is now just over a quarter of a century since a national minimum wage was introduced in the UK. Once a source of controversy due to fears that it would lead to fewer jobs, the policy has instead proved to be highly su...Read more...

Stephen Machin

20 June 2024

CentrePiece article
Police workload linked to victim statement withdrawals

Partners or family members are responsible for nearly half of the women killed each year in the UK, and many of these deaths follow long periods of domestic abuse. Yet in recent years, the rate of statement withdrawal by...Read more...

Tom Kirchmaier and Ekaterina Oparina

20 June 2024

CentrePiece article
The economic costs of the failing planning system

Paul Cheshire began to investigate the economic effects of the UK’s planning system 40 years ago. Here he draws on a recent public lecture – and panel discussion with Stephen Aldridge, Kate Barker and Simon Wolfson – to ...Read more...

Paul Cheshire

20 June 2024

CentrePiece article
Online tutoring can transform education for disadvantaged youngsters

Online tutoring can transform education for disadvantaged youngsters Online tutoring has emerged as an effective strategy for narrowing the educational gaps that were exacerbated by the pandemic. Lucas Gortazar, Claudia ...Read more...

Lucas Gortazar, Claudia Hupkau and Antonio Roldan Mones

20 June 2024

CentrePiece article
A generation scarred by the Covid-19 pandemic

The impact of the pandemic on education means that pupils in England are on course for lower GCSE grades well into the 2030s. Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles, Esme Lillywhite and Stephen Machin say that the school system ...Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles, Esme Lillywhite and Stephen Machin

20 June 2024

CentrePiece article
Do large firms generate positive productivity spillovers?

The potentially negative effects of market concentration on consumers and workers has received much attention, but Mary Amiti, Cédric Duprez, Jozef Konings and John Van Reenen find that big firms can also promote product...Read more...

Mary Amiti, Cedric Duprez, Jozef Konings and John Van Reenen

20 February 2024

CentrePiece article
In brief... The discussion of immigration needs to improve

Those who believe in a more open, liberal approach to immigration often frame their argument as being on the side of ‘good economics’ versus ‘bad politics’. Alan Manning explains why the arguments presented as ‘good econ...Read more...

Alan Manning

20 February 2024

CentrePiece article
How much is your time worth?

Wages indicate how much people want for their time at work, but how can we find out what value they place on time spent doing other things? Christian Krekel and George MacKerron analyse over two million responses to a sm...Read more...

Christian Krekel and George MacKerron

20 February 2024

CentrePiece article
How where you live affects your pay

Tackling inequality between regions within a country has become a political priority across much of the advanced world. Luis Bauluz, Pawel Bukowski, Mark Fransham, Annie Seong Lee, Neil Lee, Margarita Lopez Forero, Filip...Read more...

Luis Bauluz, Pawel Bukowski, Mark Fransham, Annie Seong Lee, Neil Lee, Margarita Lopez Forero, Filip Novokmet and Moritz Schularick

20 February 2024

CentrePiece article
Ending stagnation

What can be done to address Britain’s relative economic decline over the past decade and a half? The final report of the Economy 2030 Inquiry presents an ambitious strategy for reversing decades of under-investment, by t...Read more...

20 February 2024

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