To them that hath: economic complexity and local industrial strategy in the UK

Penny Mealy, Diane Coyle

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Divergent economic performance in many countries has led to renewed interest in place-based policies, such as the UK’s local industrial strategies at the level of Combined Authorities or Local Economic Partnerships. However, an analysis of employment data using methods from the economic complexity literature demonstrates great heterogeneity in industrial strengths and future growth opportunities within those jurisdictions, raising challenges in designing common policies suited to all sub-geographies. Moreover, the ‘related’ industries into which low-complexity, low-wage local authorities could potentially diversify are also low-wage. Incremental policies building on existing local capacities are therefore likely to amplify divergence between prospering and left-behind areas.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)358-377
Number of pages20
JournalInternational Tax and Public Finance
Volume29
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Economic complexity
  • Industrial strategy
  • O25
  • Place-based policy
  • R10
  • R58
  • Regional economic development
  • Relatedness

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