ESRC RCUK Innovation Fellowships
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Department Name: Centre for Economic Performance
Abstract
As outlined in the Government's White Paper on the Industrial Strategy, and its Digital Strategy, the world is becoming increasingly digitalised, and digital connectivity has rapidly become an essential requirement for the way people live and do business.
Over the course of the three-year fellowship I plan to investigate technology-driven growth in the UK, and expect to produce work on the following three areas:
- Prices, wages and the labour market;
- Productivity, IT uptake and supply chain management;
- International comparisons.
Over the course of the three-year fellowship I plan to investigate technology-driven growth in the UK, and expect to produce work on the following three areas:
- Prices, wages and the labour market;
- Productivity, IT uptake and supply chain management;
- International comparisons.
Planned Impact
The aim would be three major workstreams aligned with the themes I have identified. Each one would have a peer-reviewed journal paper at its core. But I will also put together short-term multimedia outputs (blogs, videos, tweets) and short 3-4 page articles. I am used to presenting at BEIS, HM Treasury and the Downing Street Policy Unit, and this fellowship will allow me to build on these relations. I will provide briefings for policymakers at key institutions (as set out in Pathways to Impact).
The fellowship rightly emphasises corporate engagement and international comparisons. I would take this seriously and have investigated the idea of setting up a secondment / knowledge exchange with Chief economists at various potential partners in the UK including Spotify, Google Deepmind, LinkedIN, Public, and KMPG. In terms of corporate collaboration, out scoped partners the CBI and KMPG may be useful here in that both of these institutions hold information on significant networks of companies.
In terms of international links it is going to be vital for the UK to learn from other countries. As with the above I will seek knowledge exchange with other countries seeking answers to these questions including academics in America, Japan and Estonia.
The fellowship rightly emphasises corporate engagement and international comparisons. I would take this seriously and have investigated the idea of setting up a secondment / knowledge exchange with Chief economists at various potential partners in the UK including Spotify, Google Deepmind, LinkedIN, Public, and KMPG. In terms of corporate collaboration, out scoped partners the CBI and KMPG may be useful here in that both of these institutions hold information on significant networks of companies.
In terms of international links it is going to be vital for the UK to learn from other countries. As with the above I will seek knowledge exchange with other countries seeking answers to these questions including academics in America, Japan and Estonia.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Richard Davies (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Besley T
(2020)
Formulating Industrial Policy
in National Institute Economic Review
Correa-Jimenez A
(2024)
Macroeconomic modelling: A Review
Richard Davies
(2021)
Prices and inflation in a pandemic - a micro data approach
Richard Davies
(2021)
Prices and inflation in the UK - A new dataset
| Description | A new data set on micro - level pricing for the UK has been built. This allows an anlaysis of real i.e. inflation-adjusted wages at a regional level, and by age group. In a second paper, new facts on birth death, growth and productivity rates have been genearted. These are important part of the UK productivity puzzle. |
| Exploitation Route | The price data has been uploaded to a public repository so that other researchers can look at the data, to answer their own questions on localised UK inflation rates. The results have been reported in the Times (of London) and the Financial Times. The data have already been used as a teaching aid at the LSE, UCL, Bristol and Imperial universities. Students have used the data as part of a ONS competition on using resarch data sets. The results from the research are now being used by a number of groups, including the LSE/Resultion Foundation Economy 2030 project, and a pan-EU project (UK lead is Prof Neil Lee) looking at wage inequlaity. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Financial Services and Management Consultancy Retail |
| URL | https://www.niesr.ac.uk/publications/formulating-industrial-policyhttps://richarddavies.io/research/prices |
| Description | The fellowship experience has been used to inform the shape and scope of the future shape of HMT-academic fellowships for 2025 and 2026. These learnings have impacted how the Treasury seeks to engage and benefit from the academic community The analysis produced using the OLG model has been used in meetings and presentations with teams outside Fiscal Group e.g. Economics, Enterprise and Growth Unit and with Special Advisors. The fellowship training materials have been of interest to HMT officials and the learnings have been discussed and shared with HMT colleagues at team meetings. The network into the academic community, particularly at LSE, has facilitated policy meetings with HMT teams requiring expertise on policy questions. These topics have included measurement of inflation, firm dynamism and tax modelling. The materials and academic networks have supported HMT officials develop new ways of working, including improvements to their policy writing with a writing masterclass, support with GES recruitment and a forthcoming OLG workshop. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Economic Policy & public services |
| Title | UK CPI micro data |
| Description | I have built a new database of corrected UK consumer prices. The price data come from monthly records of prices known as 'price quotes' that are recorded by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The price quote files contain information on the item sold, its location, the shop and shop type (the size of the establishment) it is sold in, and whether it was offered at a sale or regular price. The files cover the months between January 1988 and July 2020. After appending the historical files the final raw dataset has 40m price observations. Extensive preparatory work on the data has been undertaken to make it useful for research purposes. This includes cleaning and manually amending the data where errors were found. I also impose assumptions and assertions in order to improve the time-series properties of the data (in practical terms I 'knit together' many items that the ONS regards as different but I asset are the same, in order to create longer time series). These steps have been discussed with the ONS who concur that these data are now corrent. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The data provide number steps forward in our understanding of inflation. In particular, local CPIs for the UK region allow for an improved assesment of real wages. Because the data is updated monthly, I update the file monthly and provide this via my web site. |
| URL | https://richarddavies.io/research/the-uk-consumer-basket |
| Description | Policy seminars/meetings |
| Organisation | Civil Service |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Respond directly to questions from policy-makers. Assemble panel of academic experts based on the content of the enquiry. These include 'public' seminars, which are designed for policy audiences, as well as closed-door events which can enable more open engagement and discussion. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Lead editors contribute to these seminars as speakers and in terms of organisation, and advise on relevant research and other academic experts to invite/consult on policy questions. Teams from across government inform ECO on topics and research questions for discussion. The research questions provided by the team are fed into the publication pipeline together with other questions and topics that arising during the seminar. ECO also invited to contribute to closed policy discussions by University of Bristol and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). |
| Impact | Policy Seminars and Collaborations The demand for closed policy seminars between government departments and academic networks has exceeded expectations. Interest spans multiple levels of seniority within institutions, engaging both national government departments and devolved administrations. ECO's policy engagement-ranging from closed-door discussions to public events-brings leading experts from universities and research institutions together with policymakers. These sessions focus on live policy issues, drawing on evidence from the UK and internationally. Collaborating Partners Scottish Government, Irish Fiscal Council, Welsh Centre for Public Policy, Welsh Treasury, Public Health Wales, Centre for Public Policy (University of Glasgow), HM Treasury, Government Economic Service, Information Commissioner's Office, Office for National Statistics, Office for Statistics Regulation, Competition and Markets Authority, Financial Conduct Authority, and more. Policy Seminars and Roundtables March 2023 - Policy Roundtable on Economic Inactivity, hosted in collaboration with the International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO), with ECO lead editor contributing to an online IPPO event. March 2023 - Policy Seminar on Rural Economies and Tourism. Speakers and attendees from University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde, Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal, Dumfries and Galloway Council, The Usual Place, Economic Development Association Scotland, Better Lives Partnership, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), University of Swansea, South of Scotland Destination Alliance, National Centre for Resilience, South of Scotland Enterprise. May 2024 - Policy Seminar on Inequality and Education. Speakers and attendees from Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, Scottish Government, Institute for Education, University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde, University of Surrey, Scottish Centre for Social Research, University of Sheffield, University of Bristol, University of Essex, University of Dundee, Department for Education, Scottish Government Learning Directorate, Big Urban Data Centre. June 2024 - Macroeconomic Modelling: A Review published. Roundtable held with senior civil servants and academics in November 2024. A technical roundtable scheduled for May 2025. August 2024 - Supply Side Model Review, Special Advisors Office, with John Van Reenen and Anna Valero. September 2024 - Policy Seminar on Fiscal Rules and Frameworks. Speakers and attendees from Scottish Fiscal Commission, Irish Fiscal Council, Office for Budget Responsibility, Birkbeck University of London, Institute for Government, University of the West of England, Centre for Economics and Business Research. September 2024 - UK Growth Diagnostics Seminar, Enterprise & Growth Unit. Followed by discussions with Fiscal Group (September 2024) and Economics Group (September 2024). November 2024 - LSE Masterclass Workshop, Economics and Fiscal. Training GES economists on writing and data visualization skills; led to plans for a second session in 2025. November 2024 - Macroeconomic Modelling Roundtable, Economics, with HMT discussing research priorities. Attended by the Director of Economics Group (HMT) and David Miles (OBR). December 2024 - OLG Presentation, Special Advisors Office. Presenting an OLG extension paper to John Van Reenen. January 2025 - OLG Project Group Meeting, Fiscal, Economics, Enterprise & Growth Unit. Presenting initial findings of the OLG report. January 2025 - FCA Paper and Conference, paper delivered under a formal agreement. January 2025 - GES Trade Seminar, GES. Thomas Sampson presenting on trade policy. February 2025 - ARI Dissemination, Economics. Engaged with Economics team to disseminate the ARI new document across LSE. February 2025 - OLG Seminar, Fiscal Group. Presented OLG findings to Jennifer Gray (Deputy Director, HMT). February 2025 - Tax Modelling Discussion, Economics Group. Meeting with Andy Stuckey (HMT). February 2025 - GES Green Finance Seminar, GES. Matthew Agarwala presenting on green finance. March 2025 - Dynamism Workshop, Economics Group, Enterprise & Growth Unit, DBT. Richard Davies workshop with officials in Economics Group (HMT), EGU (HMT), and DBT on dynamism and growth impacts. March 2025 - GES Housing Seminar, GES. Eric Protzer giving a talk on UK growth diagnostics. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Closed policy seminars |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Connect cutting edge contemporary research and academic thought with policy audiences working on live policy projects, prioritising themes related to new government's 'pillars of growth'. Monthly seminar series to bridge the gap between both groups and encourage evidence informed policy-making. Civil servants from GES across UK government departments and international academics. Knowledge exchange between academics and civil servants working on live policy issues. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Policy seminars |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Policy Seminars and Roundtables March 2023 - Policy Roundtable on Economic Inactivity, hosted in collaboration with the International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO), with ECO lead editor contributing to an online IPPO event. March 2023 - Policy Seminar on Rural Economies and Tourism. Speakers and attendees from University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde, Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal, Dumfries and Galloway Council, The Usual Place, Economic Development Association Scotland, Better Lives Partnership, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), University of Swansea, South of Scotland Destination Alliance, National Centre for Resilience, South of Scotland Enterprise. May 2024 - Policy Seminar on Inequality and Education. Speakers and attendees from Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, Scottish Government, Institute for Education, University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde, University of Surrey, Scottish Centre for Social Research, University of Sheffield, University of Bristol, University of Essex, University of Dundee, Department for Education, Scottish Government Learning Directorate, Big Urban Data Centre. June 2024 - Macroeconomic Modelling: A Review published. Roundtable held with senior civil servants and academics in November 2024. A technical roundtable scheduled for May 2025. August 2024 - Supply Side Model Review, Special Advisors Office, with John Van Reenen and Anna Valero. September 2024 - Policy Seminar on Fiscal Rules and Frameworks. Speakers and attendees from Scottish Fiscal Commission, Irish Fiscal Council, Office for Budget Responsibility, Birkbeck University of London, Institute for Government, University of the West of England, Centre for Economics and Business Research. September 2024 - UK Growth Diagnostics Seminar, Enterprise & Growth Unit. Followed by discussions with Fiscal Group (September 2024) and Economics Group (September 2024). November 2024 - LSE Masterclass Workshop, Economics and Fiscal. Training GES economists on writing and data visualization skills; led to plans for a second session in 2025. November 2024 - Macroeconomic Modelling Roundtable, Economics, with HMT discussing research priorities. Attended by the Director of Economics Group (HMT) and David Miles (OBR). December 2024 - OLG Presentation, Special Advisors Office. Presenting an OLG extension paper to John Van Reenen. January 2025 - OLG Project Group Meeting, Fiscal, Economics, Enterprise & Growth Unit. Presenting initial findings of the OLG report. January 2025 - FCA Paper and Conference, paper delivered under a formal agreement. January 2025 - GES Trade Seminar, GES. Thomas Sampson presenting on trade policy. February 2025 - ARI Dissemination, Economics. Engaged with Economics team to disseminate the ARI new document across LSE. February 2025 - OLG Seminar, Fiscal Group. Presented OLG findings to Jennifer Gray (Deputy Director, HMT). February 2025 - Tax Modelling Discussion, Economics Group. Meeting with Andy Stuckey (HMT). February 2025 - GES Green Finance Seminar, GES. Matthew Agarwala presenting on green finance. March 2025 - Dynamism Workshop, Economics Group, Enterprise & Growth Unit, DBT. Richard Davies workshop with officials in Economics Group (HMT), EGU (HMT), and DBT on dynamism and growth impacts. March 2025 - GES Housing Seminar, GES. Eric Protzer giving a talk on UK growth diagnostics Connect cutting edge contemporary research and academic thought with policy audiences working on live policy projects, prioritising themes related to new government's 'pillars of growth'. Monthly seminar series to bridge the gap between both groups and encourage evidence informed policy-making. Civil servants from GES across UK government departments and international academics. Knowledge exchange between academics and civil servants working on live policy issues. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023,2024,2025 |