• Event

Productivity Commission: call for evidence

We are seeking written evidence submissions for the second sitting of The Productivity Commission on the topic of international best practice.

Your submission should be:

• No more than 3,000 words long
• Include a short introduction to you and/or your organisation
• Be a single Word, ODT or RTF document

Please send your submission to productivity@niesr.ac.uk by 17:00 on Friday 14 January 2022

Terms of Reference

• Which sectors and firms in which countries are at the global frontier of productivity?
• How can international best practice in relation to productivity be best defined? What are the standards by which we can measure it?
• What are the main drivers (e.g. capital, labour, technology, institutions) of internationally excellent productivity performance?
• How does the UK’s productivity performance compare internationally?
• Is the so-called ‘long-tail problem’ worse in the UK than in other comparable economies?
• How does the level of capital investment in the UK compare to other countries?
• How does the quality of the UK workforce compare internationally?
• How does evidence on R&D investment and spillovers (domestic and international) compare?
• Which other intangible sources of productivity differentials can be identified?
• How does the dispersion of firm-level productivity in the UK compare to other countries?
• What role has the state played in countries that have successfully improved productivity?
• What specific policies have been implemented around the world to improve productivity that the UK could also implement, and what policies should the UK avoid?
• What role have organisations like productivity boards and productivity commissions played in different countries?
• How can the state encourage knowledge diffusion from productive firms to those that are less productive?
• How does knowledge diffusion in the UK compare to other countries?
• What can the UK learn from countries with better diffusing outcomes?
• How have the public and private sectors interacted in countries that have successfully improved productivity?
• How does public/private interaction in the UK compare to other countries?
• What has been the role of local/regional institutions/policies, like regional innovation systems and smart specialization policies?
• What effect can trade have on productivity, and how does the effect of the UK’s trade policy on productivity compare internationally?
• What effect can migration have on productivity, and how does the effect of the UK’s migration policy on productivity compare internationally?
• What meso-level institutions do other countries have in place to improve productivity and how do they function?