This episode explores the vital link between international trade and the UK's productivity challenges. Host Bart van Ark is joined by three experts as they discuss why trade matters for productivity, the current state of UK trade post-Brexit and COVID and the structural issues impacting trade and productivity. The conversation also looks at potential trade policies and agreements to strengthen the UK’s position and boost productivity. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Jun Du , Professor ...
Jun 19, 2025•53 min•Season 3Ep. 12
This episode explores new insights into the productivity puzzle from two fresh pieces of work. First, Diane Coyle discusses her book The Measure of Progress, explaining why what we measure is profoundly important but increasingly difficult. Then, Jan Mischke from the McKinsey Global Institute shares a striking finding from their report The Power of One: a relatively small number of "standout firms" deliver a very big share of a country's productivity growth. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined...
May 29, 2025•57 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Regional growth is a key component for improving productivity growth in the UK. The gaps in productivity between English regions are unusually large compared to other countries. Why is that? What can be done about it? Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Andy Westwood , Professor in Public Policy, Government and Business at The University of Manchester & Policy Director at The Productivity Institute . Jennifer Williams , Northern England Correspondent at The Financial Times . Jack Shaw ...
Apr 16, 2025•58 min•Season 3Ep. 10
In this episode of Productivity Puzzles, we examine the productivity performance of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. How do the three devolved nations perform on productivity? What are the differences and the similarities between them? How do they compare to England? The discussion features insights from Melanie Jones, John Turner, and Graeme Roy. Together, they discuss the economic indicators influencing productivity in the devolved nations and explore how regional and national policies ca...
Jan 30, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 9
How do different leaders within a firm think about productivity? This can vary significantly between the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Human Resources Officer, and the Chief Information Officer. How do they work with their teams on productivity-related issues? What are the opportunities and barriers they face? Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Irena Teneva, Associate Director of Research & Development team at AICPA/CIMA, which amalgamates the American Institute of Certified Prof...
Jan 23, 2025•55 min•Season 3Ep. 8
2024 has been quite a year. A new government, big plans, but a growth and productivity revival isn’t visible yet. These things take time. Is the UK still on track for a reset of policy to boost growth and productivity? Or is there something fundamentally wrong with how we're thinking about these subjects? Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Diane Coyle, Bennett Professor of Public Policy, University of Cambridge & Director at The Productivity Institute. Richard Jones, Vice-President fo...
Dec 19, 2024•50 min•Season 3Ep. 7
With a new government in town, industrial strategy is back. Why now? How will it help growth and productivity? How do we get it right? And, perhaps equally important, how do we make sure we don’t get it wrong this time? Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Dame Kate Barker , Chair of the Universities Superannuation Scheme and Chair of The Productivity Institute’s Governing Council. Giles Wilkes , Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government and Specialist partner at Flint Global. Andrew We...
Oct 03, 2024•53 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Why is business model innovation the key to an organisation’s productivity? What does it take to do it right? New technologies and new business practices don’t just come out of the blue. They happen because firms embed them in their processes so they can create a valuable proposition for their customers. This episode explores the challenges and opportunities for both large incumbents and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in adopting new business models, particularly in the context of dig...
Jul 18, 2024•52 min•Season 3Ep. 5
The election manifestos published in the second week of June 2024 sparsely recognise the importance of productivity. This is perhaps because it's not the most glamorous topic for voters to be excited about being canvassed on their doorstep. But for any incoming government, productivity will need to run through the core of the policy agenda in the coming years. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Sir Anton Muscatelli , Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow. Dame Diane C...
Jun 27, 2024•52 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Why should firms care about productivity? How does it add to the bottom line? What exactly drives productivity? And how can you get better at it? This episode is a conversation with three current and former business leaders talking about how they think about productivity, what it means to them, and what practical productivity measures their firms use. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Katy Davies , Managing Director of Evolve Your Future. Lou Cordwell , Special Advisor to the Office of t...
May 30, 2024•54 min•Season 3Ep. 3
What is the best thing government can do to help improve business productivity? Provide more business support? Create better conditions for doing business? Or simply, get out of the way. In other words, can government policy and business growth ever become a happy marriage? Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by a co-host: Stephen Roper , Professor of Enterprise at Warwick Business School, founding Director of the Enterprise Research Centre , Co-Director of the Innovation Research Caucus , and...
Apr 11, 2024•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 2
What is business dynamism? Do we need a bit more turbulence in business creation, growth and change to get productivity up again? This episode, the first of three on the productivity of firms, looks at the mechanism between productivity and business dynamism, whether there are big differences between countries, and whether and how we can get a bit more turbulence. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by a co-host: Rebecca Riley , Professor of Practice at King’s College London; Director of the E...
Mar 14, 2024•53 min•Season 3Ep. 1
The final episode of Productivity Puzzles Season 2 examines whether 2023 has brought us closer to putting the productivity puzzle together. What are some of the most important insights from this season of the podcast? And what can we learn from The Productivity Institute's Productivity Agenda? The conversation covers the challenges in institutional decision-making, the diffusion of technology and skills, and diversity in firm performance, investment and the adoption of good practices, as well as...
Dec 20, 2023•43 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Is the UK Productivity Puzzle anywhere closer to being solved? Where do we see progress? And what are the pieces of the jigsaw that still need to be found? This episode of Productivity Puzzles, released during National Productivity Week, examines the outlook for productivity growth and the best policies that will lead to better outcomes. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Ed Balls, Former Secretary of State and Shadow Chancellor; Professor of Political Economy at King’s College, London, a...
Nov 30, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 11
How do we measure innovation and compare it across countries? And how can it be that the UK is doing so well as an innovation nation, while we seem to be underperforming on productivity? This episode of Productivity Puzzles takes a deep dive into the latest 2023 Global Innovation Index (GII) and its implications for the UK's productivity. The UK ranks fourth on the Global Innovation Index, showcasing strengths in R&D, scientific output, and intangible asset intensity. But why does that not t...
Nov 09, 2023•55 min•Season 2Ep. 10
What makes a business productive? Do businesses have a sense of what they’re good at and where to improve? This episode of Productivity Puzzles looks at the Productive Business Index produced by Be The Business, one of The Productivity Institute’s strategic partners. The index, which has been published since 2020, serves as a barometer on how business leaders think their organisation is faring. The discussion looks at what UK businesses can do to catch up with peers in the G7 and how governments...
Oct 12, 2023•51 min•Season 2Ep. 9
What have policies to boost science, technology and innovation done for productivity? Which policies are most effective? Which countries have been most successful in using them? This episode of Productivity Puzzles steps away from the usual panel format to engage in a reflective conversation between Bart van Ark and Dirk Pilat, a seasoned expert with over three decades of experience in shaping science, technology, and innovation policies. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by Dirk Pilat , Res...
Aug 31, 2023•48 min•Season 2Ep. 8
How have some troubled cities overseas turned themselves around? What did they invest in? How did they organise themselves? Cities are concentrations of economic activity where businesses tend to locate, not just because many of their customers are there, but also because that’s where most of the skilled workers live and where – more broadly – innovation is happening. Economists call this agglomeration effects. But these benefits do not come automatically. Some cities have successfully reinvente...
Jul 27, 2023•51 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Will artificial intelligence rescue us from the productivity demise? If humans cannot get productivity up, can intelligent machines bring about the productivity revival? While certainly not the only digital technology that has come along in the past few decades, AI perhaps speaks to our imagination more than all those before it as it directly impacts on the daily activities of many listeners to this podcast. This episode analyses various facets of AI, including generative AI, its potential appli...
Jun 29, 2023•53 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Can we make the economy greener and still be productive? Or even better, can productivity help us to make the economy greener? This episode of Productivity Puzzles examines what climate change and the transition to a Net Zero means for productivity, and whether the challenges to green the economy make it even harder to raise productivity. Crucially, can productivity help to make the economy greener? Can green technology and innovation be used more productively than other technologies? Host Profe...
May 25, 2023•53 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Is the five-day work week becoming something of the past? Does working less make us and the organisations that we work for better off? Could it even make us more productive? This episode explores the four-day work week, which has become a popular topic in the media, chats at the water-cooler, and, more recently, in boardrooms. With more firms committing to a shorter work week without a noticeable cut in workers’ wages, Bart and his guests look at how we could maintain productivity while reducing...
Apr 27, 2023•53 min•Season 2Ep. 4
How do Further Education Colleges contribute to the provision of skills needed for innovation and productivity in regions, cities and towns? How do they identify what businesses need, and how do they work with firms, local government and other schools? This episode of Productivity Puzzles focuses on the findings of a summary report looking into these issues, which was commissioned by The Productivity Institute and supported by the Gatsby Foundation. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Jen ...
Mar 16, 2023•54 min•Season 2Ep. 3
There is a new UK government department for science, innovation, and technology. Will the new standalone entity turn Britain into the science superpower that it hopes to become? Will the new department lift productivity growth during the hard times that the country is currently facing? This episode of Productivity Puzzles investigates these issues and more. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Richard Jones, Vice-President for Innovation and Regional Economic Development and Professor of Ma...
Feb 16, 2023•55 min•Season 2Ep. 2
What do we know about where productivity is heading? What will happen to productivity in the UK, around Europe, and even around the world? This episode takes a forward-looking perspective on future productivity and what needs to be done to realise that productivity potential. What policy changes can be made and what measures can businesses implement to improve the productivity outlook. Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Catherine Mann, External member of the Monetary Policy Committee at t...
Jan 19, 2023•54 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Should the next Prime Minister embrace productivity as a cornerstone of the policy agenda for the new UK government in September? Can it help to get us through the economic winter ahead of us, and onto a path of sustained recovery? What policies are most critical, what should be continued, strengthened or perhaps stopped? The final episode of Season 1 of Productivity Puzzles looks at the policy agenda for the new government, with discussion on the key elements that will help productivity to reco...
Sep 01, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Despite showing slow productivity growth over the past decade, the public sector has performed better than the private sector and there is quite a bit of scope for further improvement. This instalment of Productivity Puzzles delves into how and why productivity could grow in the public sector. This episode is a prelude to the publication of the Making Public Sector Productivity Practical report, which is soon to be released by The Productivity Institute and Capita. You can pre-register to access...
Jul 20, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 19
How can productivity benefit not just business and the economy, but also ourselves? What does it take for a society to grow productivity and raise well-being? Can digital technology make us happier, as well as more productive? In this episode, we look at which investments are needed to create more well-being and what role social factors, such as trust, play in raising productivity and well-being. The discussion is varied, with conversations about how we measure well-being effectively and what fu...
Jul 06, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Did you know that the manufacturing sector in Wales accounts for a larger share of the economy than elsewhere in the UK? That the Welsh economy is also developing exciting new activities in arts and culture and tackling the difficult balancing act between raising productivity and improving health and well-being head on? In this episode, we take a deep dive into the productivity performance of Wales and how it stacks up against the rest of the UK. We’ll discuss the key drivers, sectors and resour...
Jun 15, 2022•52 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Are economies making the most of their human and material resources? Through most of modern history, we've assumed that progress in technology and efficiency will make every person employed and our work more productive over time. Is this a hopeful trend? Is it still holding true? Will it hold true throughout the 21st Century? This special episode of Productivity Puzzles has been produced in conjunction with The Conference Board, a non-profit business membership and research group organisation ba...
May 11, 2022•30 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Why has economic growth slowed down? Have we already exhausted the benefits from the digital revolution? Are the trusted institutions of the 20th century now failing in the investments most needed for future growth in productivity? This episode takes a deep dive into the book Restarting the Future: How to Fix the Intangible Economy, which provides a new explanation for why growth has slowed and why we need a reset of institutions and policies. The topics covered include R&D, software, design...
Apr 27, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 15
