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Productivity Puzzles

Productivity Puzzles

De : The Productivity Institute
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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.

All Rights Reserved 2021 Economie Politique et gouvernement Sciences politiques
Épisodes
  • Why do Firms (not) Invest?

    Why do Firms (not) Invest?
    Jun 25 2026

    Why 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 money or about mindset?

    This episode of Productivity Puzzles explores why the UK has invested less than its

    peers, drawing on two brand-new studies from The Productivity Institute: one looking

    at how firms invest, the other at how managers think.

    Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by:

     Tera Allas, Honorary Professor at Alliance Manchester Business School,

    Chair Advisory Board, at The Productivity Institute.

     Stephen Roper, Professor of Enterprise at Warwick Business School,

    founding Director of the Enterprise Research Centre, Co-Director of the

    Innovation Research Caucus, and Research Programme Lead on “Firms in

    Transitions” at The Productivity Institute.

     Catherine Mann, Honorary Professor at Alliance Manchester Business

    School, External Member of the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of

    England, Programme Lead on “Finance and Investment” at The Productivity

    Institute.


    For more information on the topic:

     E. Golubova, S. Roper (2026) Understanding productive investment

    decisions: Investment patterns and decision-making processes, The

    Productivity Institute and Enterprise Research Centre.

     T. Allas, S. Roper (2026) Ambitious but risk averse: UK manager attitudes

    and the investment gap, The Productivity Institute.

     C. Mann (2026) Finance, Investment, and Productivity: Distillation and

    Synthesis of TPI Research Programme on Finance. Productivity Insights

    Paper No. 085, The Productivity Institute.

     T. Allas, D. Zenghelis (2025) The UK’s capital gap: a short-fall in the trillions

    of pounds that will take decades to bridge. Productivity Insights Paper No.

    055, The Productivity Institute.


     C. Mann (2024) UK Business Investment: Economists, Managers, Financiers.

    An Integrated Framework to Analyse the Past and Underpin Prospects.

    Productivity Insights Paper No. 036, The Productivity Institute.

     Productivity Puzzles podcast, Business Dynamism: is turbulence good for

    productivity?, The Productivity Institute.

     Y. Xue, C. Mann (2026) Cost of Capital and Investment: Evidence from the

    UK. Working Paper No. 072, The Productivity Institute

     S. Roper, R. Owen (2026) The early-stage, equity-finance journey of potential

    high-growth companies in the UK, Department for Business and Trade.


    About Productivity Puzzles:

    Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research body

    involving nine academic institutions across the UK, nine Productivity Forums

    throughout the nation, and a national independent Productivity Commission to advise

    policy makers at all levels of government. It is funded by the Economic and Social

    Research Council.
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    52 min
  • Ask the expert on… keeping Britain working: health, work and productivity

    Ask the expert on… keeping Britain working: health, work and productivity
    May 1 2026

    If 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 peer countries?


    Rising economic inactivity linked to health has become a major challenge for the UK economy. In this discussion, Charlie Mayfield draws on insights from the Keep Britain Working review to explore the role employers can play in supporting people to remain in work. The conversation examines how workplace practices, health support and collaboration between employers, government and communities can help strengthen workforce participation and productivity.


    Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by:


    • Charlie Mayfield, Chair, Keep Britain Working Review, and Former Chair, John Lewis Partnership


    For more information on the topic:


    • Keep Britain Working: final report, independent report for the UK Government.
    • George Williams, How to keep Britain working: Making the Vanguard Phase a success, Lancaster University, (05/03/2026).
    • Sam Atwell, How to Keep Britain Working, Health Foundation (28/10/2025).
    • CIPD, Keep Britain Working review makes employee wellbeing impossible for business to ignore, says CIPD (11/11/2025).
    • Productivity Puzzles podcast, Business model innovation and strategic productivity.
    • The Productivity Institute, Working ‘on’ the business not just in it (21/06/2021).



    About Productivity Puzzles:

    Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research body involving nine academic institutions across the UK, nine Productivity Forums throughout the nation, and a national independent Productivity Commission to advise policy makers at all levels of government. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
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    28 min
  • Ask the expert on… skills, education and regional productivity

    Ask the expert on… skills, education and regional productivity
    Apr 30 2026
    If 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 regional economic performance, but translating the supply of graduates into broader workforce productivity remains a challenge. In this session, Duncan Ivison discusses the relationship between higher education, further education and place-based development. Using Greater Manchester as an illustration and drawing on international examples, the conversation explores how policy can strengthen skills systems, support graduate retention and migration, and better connect education with regional economic growth. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor, The University of Manchester For more information on the topic: Duncan Ivison: higher education is a system, not a market, Times Higher Educational Supplement (17/10/2024).Aadya Bahl and Henry G. Overman (2026) Hive of talent: what would it take to raise skills and productivity in Greater Manchester? Centre for Economic Performance.Recording of Skills, Talent and Productivity in Greater Manchester event, The Productivity Institute YouTube channel (29/04/26).Redouane Sarrakh, Jason Heyes (2026) Training Practices and Skills Needs in Yorkshire, the Humber and the North East, Yorkshire, Humber and North East Productivity Forum Paper 2026, The Productivity Institute.Damian Grimshaw, Mary O’Mahony, Anthony Rafferty (2026) Skills, Organisations and Worker Engagement: Summary of People Research Programme, Productivity Insights Paper No. 083, The Productivity Institute.Athene Donald, Joe Peck and Andy Westwood (2025), Prioritising Skills for Regional and National Growth, in Bart van Ark et al, eds., Joining Up Pro-Productivity Policies in the UK, The Productivity Institute and National Institute of Economic and Social Research, pp. 91-101.Lessons for UK universities from the Australian experience by Duncan Ivison, Financial Times (23/09/24).Free speech, the Fallowfield Redevelopment, and catching the 142: An interview with Duncan Ivison, by Ella Logan-Wilson and Miles Davenport, the Mancunion (09/10/24).University of Manchester launches Unit M to supercharge inclusive growth, The University of Manchester (08/10/24).Unit M launches first deep tech accelerator cohort to fast-track innovation across Greater Manchester (2026) The University of Manchester. About Productivity Puzzles: Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research body involving nine academic institutions across the UK, nine Productivity Forums throughout the nation, and a national independent Productivity Commission to advise policy makers at all levels of government. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
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    31 min
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