In the Summer 2006 edition of CentrePiece:

In this edition:

Urban sprawl

New research by Henry Overman and colleagues provides a detailed picture of how land is used in US cities ? and challenges conventional wisdom about urban sprawl. Read more...

What future for European jobs?

In a world of rapid technological progress and increasing international competition, how can European countries improve their poor employment performance? Christopher Pissarides argues that much needs to change in the lo... Read more...

New technology in schools: is there a payoff?

Economists have typically been sceptical that computers improve educational outcomes. But research by Stephen Machin, Sandra McNally and Olmo Silva finds evidence that new technology can have a positive effect on pupils'... Read more...

The gender pay gap

In its recent report on how to make further progress in closing the gender pay gap, the Women and Work Commission emphasises policy interventions before women enter the labour market. Alan Manning is sceptical about thei... Read more...

Gay pay in the UK

Has recent anti-discrimination legislation made a difference to the pay and employment prospects of gay men and lesbian women in the UK? Reza Arabsheibani, Alan Marin and Jonathan Wadsworth investigate. Read more...

Work-life balance: the links with management practices and productivity

Does good management and higher productivity come at the expense of work-life balance? Or is good work-life balance an important component of the management of successful firms? New research by Nick Bloom, Tobias Kretsch... Read more...

Child labour in 1920 urban America

When poor children are working rather than going to school, do their parents work less? And what happens to their siblings? Marco Manacorda looks for answers in the experience of child labour in urban America at the dawn... Read more...

Trade unions in China

China apparently has more trade union members than the rest of the world put together. But as David Metcalf and Jianwei Li have found, Chinese unions function very differently from unions in the West. Read more...

Cycles of disadvantage

More than a quarter of Britain's children are growing up in poverty. New research by Jo Blanden and Steve Gibbons measures the extent to which children's experience of relative financial hardship increases their chances ... Read more...