Education and management practices

The empirical management literature has found that the education of both managers and the workforce more generally appears to be an important driver of better management practices. This article sets out how such relationships might be conceptualised, and suggests that in a complementarities framework, modern management practices can be thought of as a type of skill-biased technology. It then summarises the literature that has explored the relationships between human capital and surveyed management practices in manufacturing firms and other sectors, highlighting the handful of papers that have found a positive correlation between management practices and measures of local skills supply. It concludes with a discussion of the policy implications that stem from what we know so far, together with avenues for future research that could shed more light on the causal mechanisms at play

Why have energy bills in the UK been rising?

The UK is particularly exposed to the energy crisis sweeping across the world – partly due to its dependence on gas for heating and electricity generation and poorly-insulated housing stock. After predictions that annual household bills were due to rise from around £1,000 to £3,500 in October 2022, the government announced it would provide support for households and businesses. LSE’s Anna Valero explains why there is now a need to double down on our efforts to build resilience through investment and meet net zero targets

Budget 2021: while important steps have been taken, bolder and better coordinated action is needed for a sustainable recovery

Anna Valero writes that the underlying and urgent issues that were facing the UK economy before the pandemic, such as high levels of inequality and weak productivity, are still present, and are indeed more pressing than ever. She assesses the extent to which the 2021 budget addresses them

UK economic performance since 1997: growth, productivity and jobs

A common view is that the performance of the UK economy between 1997 and 2010 under Labour was very weak and that the current economic problems are a consequence of poor policies in this period. In this report, we analyse the historical performance of the UK economy since 1997 compared with other major advanced economies and with performance prior to 1997, notably the years of Conservative government, 1979-97. We focus on measures of business performance, especially productivity growth. This is a key economic indicator as in the long run, productivity determines material wellbeing - wages and consumption. Productivity determines the size of the 'economic pie' available to the citizens of a country

A clear growth strategy would steer the UK away from short-term solutions to its productivity puzzle

Anna Valero suggests ways to deal with deficits in skills, infrastructure and innovatio

Investing in the future of the UK: LSE relaunches its Growth Commision

The LSE Growth Commission was set up in 2012 to provide authoritative and evidence-based policy recommendations that target sustainable and inclusive long-term growth in the UK. In 2013 the Commission published a Report, Investing for Prosperity: A Manifesto for Growth, which focused on three main areas where the UK has persistently underperformed: human capital, infrastructure and innovation

Autumn Statement does little to dampen fears for the economic health of the UK

Brexit and the uncertainties surrounding it present an unprecedented challenge, writes Anna Valer

Productive Labour? How a Labour government would address the productivity challenge

Anna Valero thumbIn this post, Anna Valero assesses Labour’s key policies for raising productivity, the main problem facing the UK economy. She finds that claims that the party is “anti-business” are exaggerated; on the whole Labour appear serious about addressing the productivity challenge and the party’s certainty in terms of staying in the EU is good for business

Budget 2017: productivity is the focus, but ‘fixes’ are unlikely to be enough

The danger is not making a real difference to productivity when the country needs it the most, writes Anna Valer

Summer budget: High hopes for the productivity plan – is enough being done?

In the 2015 summer budget, George Osborne at last identified the UK’s productivity performance as an important issue that needs to be tackled. Here, Anna Valero reviews some of the measures ahead of further detail on the government’s productivity plan due out tomorrow