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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 Spring 2025: China's solar power

This month's CentrePiece cover story looks at how competition from China shaped European solar firms.
Illustration from CentrePiece Spring 2025
Remembering Daniel Kahneman

Barbara Tversky remembers having had a 'front row seat' on the evolving ideas of the pioneer of behavioural economics.

Latest CentrePiece articles

CentrePiece article
How Brexit affected the trade of UK firms

The UK left the EU’s single market and customs union at the start of 2021, entering into the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU. Rebecca Freeman, Marco Garofalo, Enrico Longoni, Kalina Manova, Rebecca Mari, Thom...Read more...

Rebecca Freeman, Marco Garofalo, Enrico Longoni, Kalina Manova, Rebecca Mari, Thomas Prayer and Thomas Sampson

20 February 2025

CentrePiece article
in brief... Successful caps on fees disprove the idea that it’s unwise to meddle with free markets

Jan David Bakker and Nikhil Datta show how the success of a reform of letting agents’ fees was partly due to their hidden nature....Read more...

Jan David Bakker and Nikhil Datta

20 February 2025

CentrePiece article
Revving up wages: How rising productivity has benefited car industry workers

Fast productivity growth in the UK car industry led to staff in the sector earning about 37% more than the average manufacturing employee by the 2010s. But Andreas Teichgraeber and Tim Obermeier show that while wages wen...Read more...

Tim Obermeier and Andreas Teichgraeber

20 February 2025

CentrePiece article
Remembering Daniel Kahneman

Following an LSE event discussing the legacy of Daniel Kahneman (5 March 1934 to 27 March 2024), Barbara Tversky remembers him and his work....Read more...

Barbara Tversky

20 February 2025

CentrePiece article
Daniel Kahneman: a legacy

The late Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman had a long association with CEP. At an LSE event, Richard Layard, Gillian Tett and Paul Dolan discussed how his work influenced psychology, economics and society – and their experi...Read more...

Paul Dolan, Richard Layard, Gillian Tett and Helen Ward

20 February 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

CentrePiece article
in brief... Do try this at work: the AI chatbot that can interview at scale

Large language models can conduct interviews at speed and at scale. Friedrich Geiecke and Xavier Jaravel present a new open source platform to support this innovative form of qualitative research....Read more...

Friedrich Geiecke and Xavier Jaravel

20 February 2025

CentrePiece article
How China’s rise has shaped innovation and exit among European solar firms

Should policymakers protect European firms by restricting imports of solar technology from China? Pia Andres finds that Chinese competition has resulted in many European firms going out of business, but it has also promp...Read more...

Pia Andres

20 February 2025

CentrePiece article
Property rights empower women inventors

Breakthrough innovations occurred when women obtained the right to reap economic rewards from their inventions. Ruveyda Nur Gozen shows how such inclusive policies are a critical driver of economic growth....Read more...

Ruveyda Nur Gozen

20 February 2025

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

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