Productivity Puzzles

• Will We Get a Productive Budget?

  The Chancellor’s Budget is on the horizon. Will it bring higher taxes, deeper cuts, or more borrowing? Does the Budget really matter for productivity? And how does productivity shape the Budget? This episode of Productivity Puzzles looks into these big questions for this important fiscal event, as well as examining where public spending and investment should go to help boost productivity. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Tera Allas, Honorary Professor at Alliance Manchester Business SchoolLouise Hellem, Chief Economist at the Confederation of British IndustryStephen Millard, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research For more information on the topic: The Productivity Institute (2025) Joining up Pro-Productivity Policies.Confederation of British Industry (2025) Autumn Budget Submission.National Institute of Economic and Social Research (2025) Economic Outlook: Stability First.Health Foundation (2025) From diagnosis to delivery: A framework for accelerating NHS productivity growth.UK Government (2025) UK Infrastructure: A 10 Year StrategyOffice for Budget Responsibility (2025) Economic and fiscal outlook – March 2025. 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.

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• 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, TPI Research Director 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. 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.

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• Trade and UK Productivity: From Global Markets to Local Gains

  This episode explores the vital link between international trade and the UK's productivity challenges. Host Bart van Ark is joined by three experts as they discuss why trade matters for productivity, the current state of UK trade post-Brexit and COVID and the structural issues impacting trade and productivity. The conversation also looks at potential trade policies and agreements to strengthen the UK’s position and boost productivity. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Jun Du, Professor of Economics at Aston Business School & Director of the Centre for Business Prosperity.Emily Fry, Senior Economist, the Resolution Foundation.Alan Lowry, CEO, Environmental Street Furniture, Newtownabbey. For more information on the topic: J. Du., Shepotylo, O., & Yuan, X. (2025). How did the Brexit uncertainty impact services exports of UK firms? Journal of International Business Policy.Emily Fry, James Smith and Gregory Thwaites (2025), Trump Tariff turmoil: The impact of higher US tariffs and the risk of a global recession, Spotlight, The Resolution Foundation, 14 April.Emily Fry and Sophie Hale (2024), Trading blows. How should Britain buy and sell in a turbulent world?, The Resolution Foundation.Anton Spisak (2025), A perfect storm: Britain’s trade malaise, weak growth and a new geopolitical moment, Centre for European Reform, 21 May.Matthew Ward (2020), UK trade, 1948-2019: statistics, House of Commons Library, Number CBP 8261, 10 December.Halima Jabril and Stephen Roper (2022), Of chickens and eggs: Exporting, innovation novelty and productivity, The Productivity Institute, Working Paper No.027.Holger Breinlich and Martina Magli, Changes to firms’ service delivery post-Brexit, 7 November 2024. VoxEU. About Productivity Puzzles: Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research body involving nine academic institutions across the UK, eight Regional 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.

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• Books Festival: Diane Coyle & Jan Mischke

  This episode explores new insights into the productivity puzzle from two fresh pieces of work. First, Diane Coyle discusses her book The Measure of Progress, explaining why what we measure is profoundly important but increasingly difficult. Then, Jan Mischke from the McKinsey Global Institute shares a striking finding from their report The Power of One: a relatively small number of "standout firms" deliver a very big share of a country's productivity growth. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Diane Coyle, Bennett Professor of Public Policy and Co-Director of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy.Jan Mischke, Partner at McKinsey Global Institute. For more information on the topic: Diane Coyle (2025), The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters, Princeton University Press.Jan Mischke et al. (2025), The power of one: How standout firms grow national productivity, McKinsey Global Institute May.Kate Barker (2025), Review of The Measure of Progress, The Society of Professional Economists, 14 April.McKinsey Global Institute (2025), Online summary of The Power of One.The Productivity Institute (2023), The Productivity Agenda. A blueprint for boosting the UK’s productivity.The Productivity Institute (2024), Productivity Primer. Why productivity matters for the economy, business and places.Diane Coyle and Leonard Nakamura (2021), Time Use, Productivity, and Household-Centric Measurement of Welfare in the Digital Economy, The International Productivity Monitor.Diane Coyle (1999), The Weightless World: Strategies for Managing the Digital Economy, MIT Press.Diane Coyle (2021), Cogs and Monsters: What Economics Is, and What It Should Be, Princeton University Press.Zvi Griliches, Productivity, R&D, and the Data Constraint, The American Economic Review Vol. 84, No. 1 (Mar., 1994), pp. 1-23. About Productivity Puzzles: Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research body involving nine academic institutions across the UK, eight Regional 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

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• A Regional Productivity Agenda for England

  Regional growth is a key component for improving productivity growth in the UK. The gaps in productivity between English regions are unusually large compared to other countries. Why is that? What can be done about it? Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Andy Westwood, Professor in Public Policy, Government and Business at The University of Manchester & Policy Director at The Productivity Institute.Jennifer Williams, Northern England Correspondent at The Financial Times.Jack Shaw, Senior Advisor at Labour Together and Policy Fellow at The Productivity Institute's Policy Unit. 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 and Andy Westwood (2025), The Productivity Agenda Needs to be Joined Up and Scaled Up Across Regions, The Productivity Institute, 27 JanuaryJennifer Williams (2025), Need more joined up thinking on the north, The Financial Times, 3 April.Andy Westwood (2025) Regional growth, Labour and the biggest decisions still to come, Policy Brief, The Productivity Institute, 5 March.Jack Shaw (2024), Devolution: the importance of scale and coterminosity, Policy Brief, The Productivity Institute, 28 November.JP Spencer (2025), Nation Rebalanced: How do we create a country that works for all places?, Labour Together.Michiel Daams, Colin Mayer and Philip McCann (2024) Regions, cities and finance: The role of capital shocks and banking reforms in shaping the UK geography of prosperity, Productivity Insights Paper No. 041, The Productivity Institute.Michiel Daams, Philip McCann, Paolo Veneri and Richard Barkham (2023) Capital Shocks and UK Regional Divergence, Working Paper No. 035, The Productivity Institute. About Productivity Puzzles: Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research body involving nine academic institutions across the UK, eight Regional 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.

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