Centre for Economic Performance 2020-25

The Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) studies the determinants of economic performance at the level of the individual, the firm, the community, the city and region, the nation and the global economy. In a technologically turbulent world where the longstanding trend of global integration may be reversing, CEP's research will confront two major economic and social questions: how to improve economic performance and how to share the gains from greater prosperity more effectively. These issues affect us all - at home, at work, in our schools and public services, and in our local communities - as well as being crucial for businesses and governments, locally, nationally and internationally. How can economic performance be improved without worsening inequality? It is vital to study the key drivers of both, including technology, skills, institutions, globalisation and policy. To do this we have put together an ambitious research agenda of inter-related projects across six work programmes (growth, trade, education, labour, urban and community wellbeing). We want our research on these critical questions to be world class, published in the best academic journals and to have wide-ranging impact. We view part of our leadership role as an Institute to be setting the framework for thought and for our work to define what further research is needed to respond to social and economic shocks. The new Institute work programme will help to address the big issues facing the UK, including austerity, the legacy of the financial crisis and Brexit. It will tackle key economic and social issues by providing robust evidence and policy advice on questions such as: the impact of artificial intelligence and robotics on workers and firms; trade policy design in a post-Brexit UK; the impact of policing on crime; and the consequences of the rising market power of global firms for competition, innovation and inequality. Many of the research challenges to be tackled - such as poor economic performance, high and rising inequality, poor basic skills and low social mobility - were issues long before the financial crisis, the new US protectionism and the vote to leave the EU. We plan to further our understanding of the basic economic forces at work, using new methods and data and drawing on the latest social science developments. We need to provide robust evidence on how the economy functions in order to understand dysfunction, and how to craft policies to rectify these problems. Making an impact is core to our mission. We want to inform public debate in a 'post-truth' world that is increasingly vulnerable to fake news. Effective communication is an integral part of our impact strategy. CEP will continue to use a range of tailored communication and outreach activities. But we recognise that achieving impact requires more than just effective dissemination. We will therefore prioritise activities with more senior leadership aimed at increasing the visibility and impact of our research and events, deepening our policy and media networks, and extending our collaborations and partnerships. As an ESRC Institute, we plan to continue our record of building capacity for the social sciences and offer broad leadership to researchers and non-academics in the study of economic performance and policy in the UK and internationally. Themed workshop series open to early career researchers and others open to the entire academic community working in cognate areas, will be organised jointly with specific partners such as IFS and CAGE with key sessions recorded and made available online. We will also run events with a diversity of users, practitioners and places. CEP has shown it can deliver world-class research and impact. Core funding from ESRC has played a crucial role in attracting matched co-funding from elsewhere. The new ESRC Institute status provides a great opportunity to build on this record.