Cities, Jobs and Economic Change

The programme is organised around four core problems:

1. First is the problem of managing growing spatial economic inequality. Central governments have policies to manage the national economy, but what can help poorer cities and towns?  

2. Second is strengthening the link between increased aggregate demand and quality employment. Some of our fastest-growing, most ‘successful’ cities also contain the most precarious and poorest workers. How do ‘good’ jobs get created, and how can labour market inequalities between men and women or across ethnic groups be reduced?  

3. Third, how can successful, growing urban areas ensure a strong link between economic growth and individual human welfare? This will include investigating the relational aspects and lived experience of inequality in urban areas, and the relationship between inequalities and social mobility.  

4. Finally, to what extent is growing spatial inequality leading to social division? In particular, processes of selective migration are both a cause and a consequence of political divisions between richer and poorer places. We are working to unpick the implications of these processes and how they can be understood. 

The programme aims to produce the following outputs:

Ethnographic solutions to inequalities in South Asian advicescapes

This project led by Professor David Lewis is part of the Atlantic Equity Challenge organised by the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity.

The provision of business advice is an important, yet little studied, aspect of contemporary social and economic change in the Global South, with important implications for the reproduction of rural-urban and social inequalities. An extensive industry of business advice-giving exists in South Asia, involving public and non-governmental sectors, and increasingly, private firms. This shift reflects a growing private sector emphasis in development, towards economic growth driven initiatives, entrepreneurship, and a focus on small and medium enterprises. This transformation has altered streams of business advice and finance: steering microfinance into business finance, and shifting informal lending towards formal debt.

The context for this study is the expanding un- and under-employed youth demographic that exists against the backdrop of business and entrepreneurship that is increasingly central to development initiatives. The focus of the study is the practice of giving business advice to young people aged 18 to 25 as potential entrepreneurs. Such advicescapes are more complex than they appear to formal advice-delivery agents, and entangle kin, religious leaders and elders as informal advice agents as well. The presence of discriminatory practices in advicescapes are less visible to these formal advice providers, who may be unwitting perpetrators of bias. Attitudes and other subtle aspects are neither monitored nor measured. These issues lend themselves to the ethnographic approach to be taken in the proposed research. The project’s overarching research question is: “Can entrepreneurial advice-giving address inequalities of access and outcome for young people in rural and urban south Asia?”

Read more about the project here

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Social media and the crisis of urban inequality: transnational analyses of humanitarian responses across the Middle East, South Asia and Africa

This project led by Dr Romola Sanyal is part of the Atlantic Equity Challenge organised by the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity.

Spanning three sites in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, this project will examine how social media is used to navigate the terrain between humanitarianism and inequality in the Global South. Inequality should not only be studied in humanitarian crisis settings, but should itself be seen as a humanitarian crisis, especially in cities. The inequality of the social and legal conditions of the urban poor, migrants and refugees, which limit their access to jobs and housing, are multidimensional, produced vertically through income/wealth, horizontally through ethnic identity, migration status, gender and age, and through space and institutional practices.

The project will consider how social and communications media play a key role in alleviating and exacerbating inequalities. Social and communications media are tools of self-organisation that help displaced people and migrants arrive in cities, and access housing, jobs and transportation. But they also entrench inequalities, with a disconnect between the kinds of information that migrants, displaced and other community members receive and that are available to civil society, state and humanitarian actors. Thus information and communication can shape support and livelihoods, and also continue the exclusion of people as surplus populations. This role of social media as both enabler and excluder in conditions of crises remains underresearched, and is an area requiring policy development to improve rapid responses to urban shocks.

Read more about the project here

 LSE-based members: 

 

External programme members:

 

 

 

 Arman, H. Iammarino, S. Ibarra-Olivo, E and Lee, N. (2022) Systems of innovation, diversification, and the R&D trap: A case study of Kuwait. Science and Public Policy 49(2), 179-190.   

Arman, H. Iammarino, S. Ibarra-Olivo, J and Lee, N. (2021) Breaking out of the innovation trap? Towards promoting private R&D investment in Kuwait. LSE Middle East Centre.   

Bandeira Morais, M. Swart, J and Jordaan, J. (2021) Economic Complexity and Inequality: Does Regional Productive Structure Affect Income Inequality in Brazilian States?. Sustainability 13(2).  

Brain, I and Prieto, J. (2021) Understanding Changes in the Geography of Opportunity Over Time: the case of Santiago, Shile. LSE III Working paper 63.  

Brain, I and Prieto, J. (2021) Understanding changes in the geography of opportunity over time: the case of Santiago, Chile. Cities, 114.   

Bukowski, P and Novokmet, F. (2021) Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892-2015. Journal of Economic Growth, 1-53.  

Bukowski, P. Clark, G. Gaspar, A and Peto, R. (2021) Social Mobility and Political Regimes: Intergenerational Mobility in Hungary, 1949-2017. LSE III Working Paper 67.  

Casadei, P and Iammarino, S. (2021) Trade policy shocks in the UK textile and apparel value chain: Firm perceptions of Brexit uncertainty. Journal of International Business Policy 4(2), 262-285.  

Coe, N. Iammarino, S. Kerr, W. Patacchini, E and Robert-Nicoud, F. (2021) Into a third decade. Journal of Economic Geography 21(2), 165-168.  

Cowling, M. Brown, R and Lee, N. (2021) The geography of business angel investments in the UK: Does local bias (still) matter?. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 53(5), 1180-1200.   

Denti, D and Iammarino, S. (2021) The geography of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG): support services and the reporting of sexual crimes in England and Wales. Women, Peace and Security.  

Denti, D and Iammarino, S. (2022) Coming out of the woods: do local support services influence the propensity to report sexual violence? Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation 193, 334-352.  

Diemer, A. Iammarino, S. Perkins, R and Gros, A. (2021) Technology, resources and geography in a paradigm shift: the case of critical and conflict materials in ICTs. Department of Geography and Environment 29.  

Diemer, A. Iammarino, S. Rodriguez-Pose, A and Storper, M. (2022) The regional development trap in Europe. Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography 2209.  

Evenhuis, E. Lee, N. Martin, R and Tyler, P. (2021) Rethinking the political economy of place: challenges of production and inclusion. Cambridge Journal or Regions, Economy and Society 14(1), 3-24.   

Evenhuis, E. Lee, N. Martin, R and Tyler, P. (2021) The task of governments is not simply to build ‘back’ better after COVID-19, but to rebuild forward better, towards an inclusive model of economic growth. British Politics and Policy at LSE.  

Feldman, M. Guy, F and Iammarino, S. (2021) Regional income disparities, monololy and finance. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 14(1), 25-49.  

Feldman, M. Guy, F. Iammarino, S and Ioramashvili, C. (2021) Gathering round Big Tech: how the market for acquisitions reinforces regional inequalities in the US. Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise Research Paper 21(1).  

Fransham, M and Koch, I. (2021) Social polarisation at the local level: why inequality must be re-politicised from within different localities. British Politics and Policy at LSE.   

Fransham, M. Herbertson, M. Pop, M. Banderia Morais, M and Lee, N. (2022) Level best? The levelling up agenda and UK regional inequality. LSE III Working Paper 80.  

Gagliardi, L. Iammarino, S and Rodriguez-Pose, A. (2021) Exposure to OFDI and regional labour markets: evidence for routine and non-routine jobs in Great Britain. Journal of Economic Geography 21(5), 783-806.  

Gonzalez, P. Sehnbruch, K. Apablaza, M. Mendez, R and Arriagada, V. (2021) A multidimensional approach to measuring quality of employment (QoE) seprivation in six central American countries. Social Indicators Research 158(1), 107-141.  

Haus-Reve, S. Cooke, A. Fitjar, R and Kemeny, T. (2021) Does assimilation shape the economic value of immigrant diversity?. Journal of Economic Geography 97(2), 117-139.  

Hopkin, J and Voss, D. (2022) Political Parties and Growth Models. Oxford University Press.  

Hopkin, J. (2021) Brexit e il capotalismo Britannico. Il Mulino 70(2), 69-78.  

I, Koch. Fransham, M. Cant, S. Ebrey, J. Glucksberg, L and Savage, M. (2021) Social polarisation at the local level: a four-town comparative study on the challenges of politicising inequality in Britain. Sociology 55(1), 3-29.  

Iammarino, S and Casadei, P. (2021) Brexit and the UK textile and apparel value chain: a crisis foretold. LSE Business Review.  

Iammarino, S. Sodano, T and Vittorino, G. (2021) Firms’ Perceptions of Barriers to Innovation and resilience: The Italian Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia during the Crisis. ScienzeRegionali 20(1), 25-54.  

Iddawela, Y. Lee, N and Rodriguez-Pose, A. (2021) Quality of sub-national government and regional develipment in Africa. LSE III Working Paper 59.   

Kemeny, T and Storper, M. (2022) The changing shape of spatial inequality in the United States. SocArXiv.   

Kenny, M and Luca, D. (2021) The urban-rural polarisation of political disenchantment: an investigation of social and political attitudes in 30 European countries. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 14(3), 565-582.  

Lacey, N. Soskice, D. Cheliotis, L and Xenakis, S. (2021) Tracing the relationship between inequality, crime and punishment: space, time and politics. Oxford University Press.   

Lee, N and Rodriguez-Pose, A. (2021) Entrepreneurship and the fight against poverty in US cities. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 53(1), 31-52.   

Li, G. Ascani, A and Iammarino, S. (2022) The material basis of modern technologies: a case study on rare metals. Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research Working Papers 59  

Linsi, L. Hopkin, J and Jaupart, P. (2021) Exporting inequality: US investors and the Americanisation of executive pay in the United Kingdom. Review of International Political Economy, 1-27.  

Luca, D and Modrego, F. (2021) Stronger together? Assessing the causal effect of inter-municipal cooperation on the efficiency of small Italian municiplaities. Journal of Regional Science 61(1), 261-293.  

Luca, D and Proietti, P. (2022) Hosting to skim: organised crime and the reception of asylum seekers in Italy. Regional Studies, 1-15.  

Luca, D. (2021) National elections, sub-national growth: the politics of Turkey’s provincial economic dynamics under AKP rule. Journal of Economic Geography.  

Luca, D. Terrero-Davila, J. Stein, J and Lee, N. (2022) Progressive Cities: Urban-rural polarisation of social values and economic development around the world. LSE III Working Paper 74.   

McNeil, A and Haberstroh, C. (2022) Intergenerational social mobility and the Brexit vote: how social origins and destinations divide Britain. European Journal of Political Research.  

McNeil, A. (2022) Intergenerational social mobility and anti-system support: the journey matters. LSE III Working Paper 75.   

McNeil, A. Lee, N and Luca, D. (2022) The long shadow of local decline: birthplace economic conditions, political attitudes, and long-term individual economic outcomes in the UK. LSE III Working Paper 76.   

Mitsch, F and McNeil, A. (2022) Political Implications of ‘Green’ Infrastructure in One’s ‘Backyard’: The Green Party’s Catch-22. LSE III Working Paper 81.  

Mitsch, F. Lee, N and Morrow, L. (2021) Faith no more? The divergence of political trust between urban and rural Europe. LSE III Working Paper 64.   

Osman, T and Kemeny, T. (2022) Local job multipliers revisited. Journal of Regional Science 62(1), 150-170.  

Prenzel, P and Iammarino, S. (2021) Labour force aging and the composition of regional human capital. Journal of Economic Geography 97(2), 140-163.  

Prieto, J. (2021) A Multidimensional Approach to Measuring Economic Insecurity: the case of Chile. LSE III Working Paper 70.  

Prieto, J. (2021) Poverty traps and affluence shields: modelling the persistence of income position in Chile. Research on Economic Inequality: Poverty, Inequality and Shocks.  

Prieto, J. (2022) A multidimensional approach to measuring economic insecurity: the case of Chile. Social Indicators Research, 1-33.  

Reeves, A. Fransham, M. Stewart, K and Patrick, R. (2022) Does capping social security harm health? A natural experiment in the UK. Social Policy and Administration 56(3), 345-359.  

Rodriguez-Pose, A. Lee, N and Lipp, C. (2021) Golfing with Trump: Social capital, decline, inequality, and the rise of populism in the US. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 14(3), 457-481.  

Scandura, A and Iammarino, S. (2021) Academic engagement with industry: the role of research quality and experience. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 1-37.  

Sehnbruch, K. (2021) Measuring the Quality of Employment (QoE): A multidimensional approach. 33^rd Annual Meeting 2021.   

Sehnbruch, K. Gonzalez, P. Apablaza, M. Mendez, R. Apablaza, M and Arrigada, V. (2021) A multidimensional approach to measuring quality of employment (QoE) deprivation in six central American countries. Social Indicators Research 158, 107-141.  

Sehnbruch, K. Mendez, R. Gonzalez, P and Apablaza, M. (2022) Regional inequality in multi-dimensional quality of employment (QoE): insights from Chile, 1996-2017. Analisis.   

Soskice, D. (2021) Transformations of advanced capitalist democracies in the digital era. European Review of Labour and Research 27(4), 527-539.  

Soskice, D. (2022) Rethinking Varieties of Capitalism and growth theory in the ICT era. Review of Keynesian Economics 10(2), 222-241.  

Suss, J. (2021) Local economic inequality in the UK: patterns, determinants, and behavioural consequences. PhD thesis.   

Suss, J. (2021) Measuring local, salient economic inequality in the UK. SSRN 3958731.  

Suss, J. Angeli, M and Eckley, P. (2021) Gender, age and nationality diversity in UK banks. Bank of England Working Paper 929.  

Suss, J. Bholat, D. Gillespie, A and Reader, T. (2021) Organisational culture and bank risk. Bank of England Working Paper 912.  

Yang, Y and Kemeny, T. (2022) Are mixed neighbourhoods more socially cohesive? Evidence from Nanjing, China. Urban Geography, 1-21.