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PODCAST

Productivity Puzzles

The Productivity Institute

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

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All Episodes

00:45:39

Will We Get a Productive Budget?

Productivity Puzzles ·

2025/11/18

The Chancellor’s Budget is on the horizon. Will it bring higher taxes, deeper cuts, or more borrowing? Does the Budget really matter for productivity? And how does productivity shape the Budget? This episode of Productivity Puzzles looks into these big questions for this important fiscal event, as well as examining where public spending and investment should go to help boost productivity.Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by: Tera Allas, Honorary Professor at Alliance Manchester

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00:45:39

Lessons Learned and What’s Next?

Productivity Puzzles ·

2025/10/23

Productivity is the key to economic growth and living standards. But has the productivity puzzle been solved yet? Have we been asking the right questions? And what’s next? After five years of research at The Productivity Institute, we’re kicking off season 4 of the podcast with reflections from our recent international research conference on productivity, held at the University of Manchester on the 4-5 September 2025. Five big themes. And still, big questions ahead.Host Professor Bart van

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00:53:16

Trade and UK Productivity: From Global Markets to...

Productivity Puzzles ·

2025/06/19

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,

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00:57:21

Books Festival: Diane Coyle & Jan Mischke

Productivity Puzzles ·

2025/05/29

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

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00:58:18

A Regional Productivity Agenda for England

Productivity Puzzles ·

2025/04/16

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

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01:01:37

A Productivity Agenda for the Devolved Nations

Productivity Puzzles ·

2025/01/30

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

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00:54:59

Strategic Productivity: Unlocking the UK’s...

Productivity Puzzles ·

2025/01/23

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

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00:50:07

Wrapping Up 2024: Is there a productive growth path...

Productivity Puzzles ·

2024/12/19

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

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00:53:07

Industrial Strategy: What To Do and What Not To Do?

Productivity Puzzles ·

2024/10/03

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

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00:52:18

Business model innovation and strategic productivity

Productivity Puzzles ·

2024/07/18

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

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00:52:20

UK Election 2024: A Productivity Plan

Productivity Puzzles ·

2024/06/27

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

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00:53:33

How do business leaders think about productivity?

Productivity Puzzles ·

2024/05/30

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

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00:59:31

Government policy and business productivity: does it...

Productivity Puzzles ·

2024/04/11

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

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00:53:23

Business Dynamism: is turbulence good for productivity?

Productivity Puzzles ·

2024/03/14

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

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00:43:05

Wrapping up Productivity Puzzles 2023: brief...

Productivity Puzzles ·

2023/12/20

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

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01:14:06

Revisiting the UK productivity puzzle: national and...

Productivity Puzzles ·

2023/11/30

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,

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00:54:34

Why does the UK do so well on the Global Innovation...

Productivity Puzzles ·

2023/11/09

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

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00:51:05

What makes firms productive? Lessons learned from...

Productivity Puzzles ·

2023/10/12

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

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00:47:50

Science, Technology, Innovation and Pro-Productivity...

Productivity Puzzles ·

2023/08/31

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,

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00:50:37

Turnaround Cities: Lessons learned for the UK

Productivity Puzzles ·

2023/07/27

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

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