Productivity Puzzles
by The Productivity Institute
Latest episode
What Will It Take to Raise UK Productivity?
What Will It Take to Raise UK Productivity?
About this podcast
Join Bart van Ark, Professor of Productivity Studies at the University of Manchester, and the managing director of The Productivity Institute as he brings you discussions with leading minds from the UK and abroad about how to improve productivity for almost everything: from health care to car manufacturing, at national and regional levels, for business and for your own personal productivity.
This podcast series investigates why UK productivity is lower than in many other countries and why are there such large differences in productivity across and within the regions and devolved nations. We’ll also get the best insights from research on smart policies and effective business practices to increase productivity and find out how this will drive prosperity, wellbeing and inclusive sustainable growth.
Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research project involving nine academic institutions across the UK, eight regional productivity forums throughout the nation, and a national independent Productivity Commission to advise policymakers at all levels of government.
Find out more about at www.productivity.ac.uk
The Productivity Institute is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 57 episodes
- What Will It Take to Raise UK Productivity? · 50 min · Season 4 Episode 7Is the UK’s recent productivity recovery a sign of lasting improvement? How could AI, technology adoption and shifting global economic conditions shape the country’s future…
- The Productivity Impetus from Generative AI · 50 min · Season 4 Episode 6Generative AI has moved from curiosity to everyday tool with remarkable speed. But the big productivity question is not simply whether people are using it; it is whether firms…
- Why do Firms (not) Invest? · 52 min · Season 4 Episode 5Why do firms invest when they do and not necessarily when they should? Are firms too cautious to invest? Or just realistic about uncertainty? Is the real investment gap about…
- Ask the expert on… keeping Britain working: health, work and productivity · 28 min · Season 4If one in five working‑age people are inactive, what does that say about the UK’s productivity problem? Why does ill health push so many people out of work in the UK, but not in…
- Ask the expert on… skills, education and regional productivity · 31 min · Season 4If universities are engines of growth, why isn’t productivity accelerating? What’s the point of educating graduates if regions can’t keep or use them? Skills are central to…
- Ask the expert on… what is productivity? · 30 min · Season 4Do we need to rethink how we measure productivity in the age of digital technologies and AI? Productivity is a fundamental measure of how effectively people, firms and places…
- Ask the expert on… making digital technologies deliver productivity · 30 min · Season 4Why doesn’t digital technology always translate into productivity growth? What if the technology and your business model don’t quite fit? Despite unprecedented advances in…
- Ask the expert on… regional productivity and place-based growth · 31 min · Season 4Why do places matter for productivity? If productivity is local, why is policy still so centralised in the UK? Productivity varies widely across regions, shaping economic…
- What Does it Take to Improve NHS Productivity? · 51 min · Season 4 Episode 4Why does productivity vary so widely between NHS organisations? Can new technologies like AI and remote monitoring help the health service seize the opportunity to redesign care…
- Place-Based Policy Making in Modern Times · 51 min · Season 4 Episode 3What does it really mean to grow a place? This episode unpacks the concept of place-based productivity and explores how it differs from traditional regional development. The…
- Will We Get a Productive Budget? · 46 min · Season 4 Episode 2The 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…
- Lessons Learned and What’s Next? · 46 min · Season 4 Episode 1Productivity 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…
- Trade and UK Productivity: From Global Markets to Local Gains · 53 min · Season 3 Episode 12This 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…
- Books Festival: Diane Coyle & Jan Mischke · 57 min · Season 3 Episode 11This 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…
- A Regional Productivity Agenda for England · 58 min · Season 3 Episode 10Regional 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…
- A Productivity Agenda for the Devolved Nations · 1 h 1 min · Season 3 Episode 9In this episode of Productivity Puzzles, we examine the productivity performance of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. How do the three devolved nations perform on…
- Strategic Productivity: Unlocking the UK’s Productivity Potential · 55 min · Season 3 Episode 8How do different leaders within a firm think about productivity? This can vary significantly between the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Human Resources Officer, and the Chief…
- Wrapping Up 2024: Is there a productive growth path forward? · 50 min · Season 3 Episode 72024 has been quite a year. A new government, big plans, but a growth and productivity revival isn’t visible yet. These things take time. Is the UK still on track for a reset of…
- Industrial Strategy: What To Do and What Not To Do? · 53 min · Season 3 Episode 6With a new government in town, industrial strategy is back. Why now? How will it help growth and productivity? How do we get it right? And, perhaps equally important, how do we…
- Business model innovation and strategic productivity · 52 min · Season 3 Episode 5Why is business model innovation the key to an organisation’s productivity? What does it take to do it right? New technologies and new business practices don’t just come out of…
