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.

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

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

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

Productivity Commission: call for evidence

We are seeking written evidence submissions for the second sitting of The Productivity Commission on the topic of international best practice.

Your submission should be:

  • No more than 3,000 words long
  • Include a short introduction to you and/or your organisation
  • Be a single Word, ODT or RTF document

Please send your submission to productivity@niesr.ac.uk by 17:00 on Friday 14 January 2022

Terms of Reference

  • Which sectors and firms in which countries are at the global frontier of productivity?
  • How can international best practice in relation to productivity be best defined? What are the standards by which we can measure it?
  • What are the main drivers (e.g. capital, labour, technology, institutions) of internationally excellent productivity performance?
  • How does the UK’s productivity performance compare internationally?
  • Is the so-called ‘long-tail problem’ worse in the UK than in other comparable economies?
  • How does the level of capital investment in the UK compare to other countries?
  • How does the quality of the UK workforce compare internationally?
  • How does evidence on R&D investment and spillovers (domestic and international) compare?
  • Which other intangible sources of productivity differentials can be identified?
  • How does the dispersion of firm-level productivity in the UK compare to other countries?
  • What role has the state played in countries that have successfully improved productivity?
  • What specific policies have been implemented around the world to improve productivity that the UK could also implement, and what policies should the UK avoid?
  • What role have organisations like productivity boards and productivity commissions played in different countries?
  • How can the state encourage knowledge diffusion from productive firms to those that are less productive?
  • How does knowledge diffusion in the UK compare to other countries?
  • What can the UK learn from countries with better diffusing outcomes?
  • How have the public and private sectors interacted in countries that have successfully improved productivity?
  • How does public/private interaction in the UK compare to other countries?
  • What has been the role of local/regional institutions/policies, like regional innovation systems and smart specialization policies?
  • What effect can trade have on productivity, and how does the effect of the UK’s trade policy on productivity compare internationally?
  • What effect can migration have on productivity, and how does the effect of the UK’s migration policy on productivity compare internationally?
  • What meso-level institutions do other countries have in place to improve productivity and how do they function?

Date(s)

  • 1 December 2021 - 14 January 2022

Time(s)

  • All Day
FIND OUT MORE