Productivity Research Conference  4th – 5th September 2025 Find out more

A diverse community of leading experts, policymakers and practitioners

The Institute’s key research themes are led by ten academic partners spread across the UK.

Investment in Places research project

Working closely with policymakers

We’re a UK-wide research organisation exploring what productivity means for business

Businesses are crucial to solving the UK’s productivity problems.

Research

Geography & Place

Geography & Place

The low productivity levels of some regions or areas of the UK, and the consequent disparities in income and broader wellbeing, are widely documented. There are lessons to be learned concerning the effectiveness of local economic development strategies, infrastructure investment, land use and housing policy, educational and social interventions, and their interactions.

Theme lead

Professor Philip McCann

Co-Investigators

Professor Anthony Venables
Professor Anthony Rafferty 

Collaborators

Dr Patricia Rice
Assistant Professor Steven Bond-Smith
Miriam Fritzsche
Professor Nikolaus Wolf
Ana Rincon-Aznar (when at NIESR)

Regions, cities and finance: The role of capital shocks and banking reforms in shaping the UK geography of prosperity

This paper examines the role played by financial markets in shaping UK regional growth fortunes.

Research
Nov 25, 2024
View of Rochdale

Framing a place-based investment strategy for Rochdale

An overview of results from the Investment in Productive Places study for Rochdale

Research
Nov 13, 2024

Regional productivity differences in the UK and France: from the micro to the macro

Constructing two large datasets spanning the entire population of French and UK firms with at least an employee to investigate discrepancies in firm-level and regional-level productivity

Research
Nov 15, 2023
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