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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.

Centrepiece cover image. Credit: Rapheal Whittle
Spotlight on economic inactivity: Autumn 2023 edition of CentrePiece

This month's CentrePiece cover story reveals a need for policymakers to target the key groups for whom economic inactivity is a longstanding issue.
Illustration from CentrePiece Summer 2023
Low investment Britain: policies to promote foundations for growth

The UK investment ecosystem needs rewiring across the board to increase firms' desire to invest in productive and sustainable assets, and to enhance their ability to do so.

Latest CentrePiece articles

CentrePiece article
CEP Insights: Places and...

CEP research on cities and regions examines the drivers of spatial disparities - what leads certain parts of the country to be richer and others poorer? It explores the impact on economic development and policies that ma...Read more...

20 October 2023

CentrePiece article
In brief... What girls study influences their offspring's health at birth

Educational reform can have a powerful impact on people's health with benefits for the next generation. Pilar Cuevas-Ruiz, Cristina Borra and Almudena Sevilla show how....Read more...

Cristina Borra, Pilar Cuevas-Ruiz and Almudena Sevilla

20 October 2023

CentrePiece article
In brief... The pandemic of 1918: effects on religiosity and innovation

When faced with catastrophic events, do people turn to religion or science? Enrico Berkes, Davide Coluccia, Gaia Dossi and Mara Squicciarini find that both reactions can occur at the same time: people affected by the flu...Read more...

Enrico Berkes, Davide M. Coluccia, Gaia Dossi and Mara P. Squicciarini

20 October 2023

CentrePiece article
Scars of war

Deaths of soldiers in wartime naturally have a powerful impact on the communities from which they come. Research by Edward Pinchbeck, Felipe Carozzi and Luca Repetto reveals how losses in the first world war have reverbe...Read more...

Felipe Carozzi, Edward W. Pinchbeck and Luca Repetto

20 October 2023

CentrePiece article
The rising tide of school absences in the post-pandemic era

New research reveals that school attendance in the UK is still well below the pre-pandemic norm. Andrew Eyles, Esme Lillywhite and Lee Elliot Major outline the scale of continued absenteeism among pupils across the count...Read more...

Lee Elliot Major, Andrew Eyles and Esme Lillywhite

20 October 2023

CentrePiece article
Will the NHS long-term workforce plan solve the current crisis?

Proposals to solve staffing shortages in the NHS focus on training more staff and retaining those already working in surgeries, clinics and hospitals. But Giuseppe Moscelli, Jo Blanden, Marco Mello and Melisa Sayli say t...Read more...

Jo Blanden, Marco Mello, Giuseppe Moscelli and Melisa Sayli

20 October 2023

CentrePiece article
Geopolitics and the electric vehicle revolution

Rising demand for electric vehicles (EVs) is changing the geopolitical landscape, as the world pivots away from fossil fuels towards the green minerals critical to the EV supply chain. Benjamin Jones, Viet Nguyen-Tien, R...Read more...

Robert J.R. Elliott, Gavin Harper, Benjamin Jones and Viet Nguyen-Tien

20 October 2023

CentrePiece article
The trouble with inactivity

Concerns about a recent rise in economic inactivity have prompted new policies aimed at discouraging early retirement and encouraging the labour force participation of women with young children. Stephen Machin and Jonath...Read more...

Stephen Machin and Jonathan Wadsworth

20 October 2023

CentrePiece article
Low investment Britain: policies to promote foundations for growth

The UK investment ecosystem needs rewiring across the board to increase firms' desire to invest in productive and sustainable assets, and to enhance their ability to do so. Paul Brandily, Mimosa Distefano, Krishan Shah, ...Read more...

Paul Brandily, Mimosa Distefano, Krishan Shah, Gregory Thwaites and Anna Valero

20 October 2023

CentrePiece article
CEP Insights: Gender and...

CEP research on gender and factors such as family, work and Covid-19....Read more...

20 June 2023

CentrePiece article
In brief... How citizens help expose environmental wrongdoing

Does enabling citizens to complain about public services provide an effective way of improving government services, or should we be concerned about the accuracy and reliability of such reports? Jonathan Colmer, Mary Evan...Read more...

Jonathan Colmer, Mary F. Evans and Jay Shimshack

20 June 2023

CentrePiece article
School qualifications and youth custody

Youth custody has severe long-term consequences for detained young people. Stephen Machin, Sandra McNally and Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela investigate the relationship between GCSE qualifications and youth custody, and find t...Read more...

Stephen Machin, Sandra McNally and Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela

20 June 2023

CentrePiece article
Superstar firms: how the shift from manufacturing to services affects local concentration of sales and jobs

The leading US firms in many industries have increased their national market share substantially over the last four decades - making these industries more concentrated. But locally the picture is more complex. David Auto...Read more...

David Autor, Christina Patterson and John Van Reenen

20 June 2023

CentrePiece article
In brief... The wellbeing costs of inflation inequalities

Some people face sharper increases in the prices they pay than others - and since inflation makes everyone miserable, they also experience greater loss of happiness. Alberto Prati assesses the costs of such inflation ine...Read more...

Alberto Prati

20 June 2023

CentrePiece article
Wellbeing: science and policy

What produces a happy society and a happy life? In the first textbook on wellbeing, Richard Layard and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve explain how wellbeing can be measured, what causes it and how it can be improved. They conclude ...Read more...

Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and Richard Layard

20 June 2023

CentrePiece article
Slavery and Britain's industrial revolution

To what extent did the wealth derived from slavery contribute to Europe’s economic growth? Stephan Heblich, Stephen Redding and Hans-Joachim Voth find that slaveholding areas of Britain were less agricultural, closer to ...Read more...

Stephan Heblich, Stephen J. Redding and Hans-Joachim Voth

20 June 2023

CentrePiece article
Improving the lives of low-paid workers

The ramping up of the national minimum wage since 2015 has more than halved the share of low-paid employees in Britain. But it is far from job done: too few low-paying jobs offer dignity, respect and security to the peop...Read more...

Nye Cominetti, Rui Costa, Charlie McCurdy and Gregory Thwaites

20 June 2023

CentrePiece article
CEP Insights: Wellbeing

The CEP carries out policy-focused research on the causes of economic growth and effective ways to create a fair, inclusive and sustainable society. The Insights series highlights the contributions that CEP research has ...Read more...

21 February 2023

CentrePiece article
Women in the workplace: 50 years of change

Decades of progress have seen greater opportunities for women in the workplace, but sizeable gender gaps remain in most indicators of economic achievement. Stefania Albanesi, Claudia Olivetti and Barbara Petrongolo revie...Read more...

Stefania Albanesi, Claudia Olivetti and Barbara Petrongolo

21 February 2023

CentrePiece article
Growth and immigration: unpicking the confusion

More people in a country leads to a bigger economy, but not necessarily an improved standard of living. Alan Manning unpicks the complexities in the debate....Read more...

Alan Manning

21 February 2023

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