Long-term increases in prosperity and living standards depend on sustained growth in labour productivity (output per worker or output per hour worked). In recent decades, the level of labour productivity in the UK has been low compared with that in similar countries such as the USA, France and Germany.

Our research looks at the factors that underlie the UK and other countries’ productivity performance, including entry of new firms, management methods, changes in economic institutions or the adoption of information and communication technologies affect productivity and economic performance.