Spatial disparities in SMEs productivity in England
Research Paper No 84
Improving productivity is critical to increasing economic growth and prosperity in the long-run and a key objective for UK national, regional and local policy. However, a long tail of low productivity businesses and significant spatial variations in productivity characterise the UK economy. This report presents an analysis of the determinants of Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME) labour productivity, with a particular focus on how place and productivity interact. The analysis draws on data from the UK Government’s Longitudinal Small Business Survey (LSBS) for the years 2015 to 2017. It employs a multilevel regression analysis to understand determinants in enterprise labour productivity in different localities and regions and effectively account for the contextual environment.
Maioli, Sara
Tiwasing, Pattanapong
Gorton, Matthew
Phillipson, Jeremy
Newbery, Robert
Read the full paper here
Pathways to efficiency, pathways to growth: Evidence from the UK Innovation Survey
Research Paper No 83
Previous studies have suggested there is little correlation between efficiency – measured by sales per employee - and growth at firm level.
Here, using data from successive waves of the UK innovation survey we consider two questions.
- Do different types of innovation have different effects on efficiency and growth?
- We consider whether the source of firms’ R&D finance matters.
Together our results suggest the importance of aligning innovation investments with broader corporate and policy objectives and the potential value of policy support for process innovation to achieve positive growth and efficiency outcomes.
Turner, Joanne
Roper, Stephen
Hewitt-Dundas, Nola
Read the full paper here
The Role of Innovation in Small Business Performance: A Regional Perspective
Research Paper No 82
The Longitudinal Small Business Survey (LSBS) allows for more consistent SME analyses for the UK than ever before by tracking the same firms over time. Our research looks at the regional context, as well as firm specific variables, that are associated with labour productivity outcomes for SMEs. The paper considers the role of City-Region characteristics, as defined in terms of labour market, business dynamics, R&D spend and City-Region agglomeration on labour productivity, alongside firm-level associations.
Robinson, Catherine
Garcia, Marian
Ko, Guihan
Read the full paper here
Determinants of demand and participation in cultural events
Insight paper
The research on the determinants of demand and participation in cultural events is still rather sparse and fragmented today. Whereas there is already an established empirical evidence with respect to the standard determinants such as admission price, education and income, more research is required to explore the impact of other important factors affecting visits at cultural events. This applies, among others, to socio-economic and socio-demographic characteristics of the visitors, both subjective (perceived) and objective quality of the cultural event, habit and rational addiction, and time-allocation decisions of individuals.
Zieba, Marta
Read the full paper here
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Let's stop talking about 'Innovation'
The term ‘innovation’ is widely used and abused. What do you imagine when you think of ‘innovation’? Something new? New technology? New drugs or the latest app?
Any or all of these could be innovations each of which will have very different impacts on society and the firms and consumers they touch. A new edition of Candy Crush may provide lots of pleasure but is not going to change the world. An innovative vaccine for the new Corona virus may do just that. And, innovation does not just relate to products and services. Digitisation is leading to changes in the way we buy and use products and services and changes in the way firms’ do business. On-line shopping or
e-commerce is a boon for many but has high street consequences as we have seen.
Stephen Roper
Read the full Blog here
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Vicki Belt and Stephen Roper took part in a development workshop held at Warwick University in early February with partners involved in the Mental Health Productivity Pilot programme being funded by the Midlands Engine. The ERC are currently undertaking a large survey of firms in the Midlands as part of this programme, exploring employer attitudes, activities and support needs on the mental health and wellbeing of their employees.
Find out more about the broader programme here
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Vicki Belt participated in the latest Board Meeting for the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) on February 12th in London. The Creative PEC is led by Nesta and provides independent research, insights and advice that will aid the development of policies for the UK's creative industries. There are linkages with areas of the ERC’s work, particularly on the creative and digital sectors.
Find out more about the PEC here
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Dr Neha Prashar attended a meeting with the Northern Powerhouse (NPH) in Manchester on February 13th to present the latest findings from a forthcoming Local Growth Dashboard for the Northern Powerhouse area. Representatives from 11 LEPs that form part of the NPH area were in attendance and there was a discussion on the implications for each LEP as well as the NPH overall.
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Health in the workplace
In January, our two research fellows based at Aston University, Neha Prashar and Anastasia Ri, took part in a bingo fitness challenge hosted by the Sir Doug Ellis Woodcock Sports Centre (Sport Aston). Both Neha and Anastasia successfully completed all 16 classes and Neha was the lucky winner of the voucher! Well done to both our research fellows for completing the challenge.
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Innovation Readiness in Foundation Industries
ERC researchers, this month, kicked off an important project investigating the innovation readiness of companies in six sectors that make up the ‘foundation industries’. The research, commissioned by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will explore how firms manufacturing metals, cement, ceramics, chemicals, glass and paper develop and adopt new innovations. Due for completion in Summer 2020 and involving discussions with industry players and quantitative analysis, the research will provide insights into current competencies across these sectors to adopt new technologies, the characteristics they share and the differentiating factors between them. It will also consider barriers to adoption, which could include leadership, supply chain and business model factors.
For more information on the project contact Lee Hopley
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ERC Monthly Seminar
Tuesday March 3rd
Room 2.007
WBS
This month the presentation will be made by Akunna Oledinma and Stephen Roper.
What’s in a name? The impact of Geographical Indications of Origin on producer growth and food heritage.
Post-Brexit the UK government has committed to the implementation of a new UK system of Protected Food Names (PFNs). These will replace the EU Geographical Indications of Origin (GI) regulations for sales in the UK market. GIs, and potentially PFNs, can have significant benefits. Here, we combine case study and econometric methods to consider GIs’ impact on preserving and strengthening food heritage and producer growth. Our case study analysis suggests that GIs can play an important role the heritagisation of food products although this depends critically on a range of operational factors. Our econometric analysis uses a Propensity Score Matching-Difference in Difference approach and suggests that the GIs we consider have had no significant growth effects over two years but may have longer term employment growth effects over four years. We find no evidence of any significant longer-term sales effect. Significant caveats apply but our results suggest there is little justification in terms of producer growth for any significant increase in the number of GIs through the Protected Food Names scheme post-Brexit. More persuasive arguments for increasing the number of PFNs in the UK relate to the preservation of food heritage and, when combined with other local support mechanisms, their potential contribution to local food and drink tourism.
If you are interested in attending this seminar please email the Centre Manager
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ERC State of Small Business Britain Annual Conference 2020
The Shard,
July 9th, 2020
Further event details and registration will be available on the ERC webpage
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