The Productivity Puzzle: Lessons Learned and What’s Next?

Productivity is the key to economic growth and living standards. But has the productivity puzzle been solved yet? Have we been asking the right questions? And what’s next? After five years of research at The Productivity Institute, we’re kicking off season 4 of the podcast with reflections from our recent International Research Conference on Productivity, held at the University of Manchester on the 4-5 September 2025. Five big themes. And still, big questions ahead.

Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by:

• • Josh Martin, Economic Advisor at the Bank of England and Research Associate with the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence.
  • Mary O’Mahony, Research Director at The Productivity Institute and Professor of Applied Economics at King’s Business School.
  • Catherine Mann, External member of the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England and Honorary Professor at Alliance Manchester Business School and The Productivity Institute.
  • Chander Velu, Professor of Innovation and Economics at The University of Cambridge.
  • Kate Penney, Research Fellow at The Productivity Institute.

Read the transcript

For more information on the topic:

• Bart van Ark, Jim Pendrill, Kate Penney, James Wilson and Raquel Ortega-Argilés (2025), Regional Productivity Agenda, The Productivity Institute.
• Bart van Ark, Stephen Millard, Adrian Pabst, Andy Westwood et al. (2025) Joining Up Pro-Productivity Policies in the UK, The Productivity Institute and National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
• Diane Coyle, Bart van Ark, Jim Pendrill (2023), The Productivity Agenda, The Productivity Institute.
• Josh Martin (2025), The UK Productivity Slowdown: A Review of Timing, Magnitude, and Drivers, International Productivity Monitor Number 48, Spring 2025.
• Institute for the Future of Work (2025), Final Report of the Pissarides Review into the Future of Work and Wellbeing, Institute for the Future of Work.
• Chander Velu (2024), Business Model Innovation: A Blueprint for Strategic Change, Cambridge University Press.
• The Productivity Institute, Productivity Research Conference 2025 programme.
• TPI Productivity Lab website.

About Productivity Puzzles:

Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research body involving nine academic institutions across the UK, nine Productivity Forums throughout the nation, and a national independent Productivity Commission to advise policy makers at all levels of government. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.