Cities, Jobs, and Economic Change
This programme has now ended, but continues as a network. The III networks are former research programmes that continue to be active in research, collaboration, and impact in their subject area.
This research network is led by Professor Neil Lee.
This network takes an internationally comparative, cross-disciplinary, and multidimensional approach to analysing economic and technological change, polarised labour markets, and geographic divides in education, employment opportunities, political attitudes, and cultural values. It engages quantitative and qualitative researchers to understand both broad economic processes and everyday lived experiences.
The information technology revolution has led to huge changes in society, reshaping social relationships, the type of work we do, and patterns of consumption. Many countries have seen a decline in mid-skill, mid-wage jobs, with polarisation between high skill, high pay employment and low skill, low pay (and often precarious) work. One striking feature of this economic change has been its tendency to concentrate economic prosperity in selected locations. Once-thriving urban areas are ‘left behind’, struggling to replace their historical economic purpose. Discontent with this uneven geography of opportunity is manifest in the rise of populist politics across Europe and the United States, challenging the stability of democratic societies.
Our research network ties together academics from the LSE and elsewhere who are interested in developing an internationally comparative, cross-disciplinary and multidimensional approach to these issues, and what the implications are for public policy. Other strands will investigate the institutional responses to technological change, such as the failure of education systems to meet the increased demand for high skilled labour and sub-optimal investment in research and development. We will engage quantitative and qualitative researchers to understand both broad economic processes and everyday lived experiences.
The network 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.
- Linking National and Regional Income Inequality: Cross-Country Data Harmonization and Analysis
- Mapping wealth inequality in the United States
- The LSE-DBT Industrial and economic policy seminar series
- Conference: Innovation and inequality in Europe and the United States
- Professor Neil Lee, Cities, Jobs and Economic Change Programme Leader and Professor of Economic Geography, Department of Geography and Environment, LSE.
- Dr Pawel Bukowski, Faculty Associate, LSE III, Assistant Professor of Economics, at UCL School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies, Visiting Fellow in the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE, and adjunct at the Institute of Economics, Polish Academy of Sciences.
- Dr Mark Fransham, Visiting Fellow, LSE III, and Senior Research Officer and Departmental Lecturer in Quantitative Methods, Department for Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford.
- Max Herbertson, Policy Officer and Research Assistant, LSE III.
- Professor Jonathan Hopkin, Professor of Comparative Politics, Department of Government, LSE.
- Professor Simona Iammarino, Faculty Associate, LSE III, and Professor of Applied Economics, Department of Economics and Business, University of Cagliari, Italy.
- Dr Beatriz Jambrina Canseco, Research Officer, LSE III.
- Dr Tom Kemeny, Visiting Senior Fellow, LSE III, and Associate Professor, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto.
- Pedro Llanos, Department of Geography and Environment Doctoral Programme Candidate, LSE.
- Dr Davide Luca, Visiting Fellow, LSE III and Assistant Professor of Economic Geography, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge.
- Dr Andrew McNeil, Research Officer, LSE III.
- Dr Frieder Mitsch, Research Officer, LSE III.
- Margarida Bandeira Morais, Department of Geography and Environment Doctoral Programme Candidate, LSE.
- Martina Pardy, Department of Geography and Environment Doctoral Programme Candidate, LSE.
- Yorga Permana, Department of Geography and Environment Doctoral Programme Candidate, LSE.
- Mihaela Pop, Research Assistant, LSE III and Centre for Economic Performance, and Doctoral Programme Candidate, University of Oxford.
- Dr Joaquín Prieto, Visiting Fellow, LSE III.
- Professor Kirsten Sehnbruch, British Academy Global Professor and Distinguished Policy Fellow, LSE III.
- Professor David Soskice, Faculty Associate, LSE III, and Emeritus Professor and Fellow of the British Academy, Department of Government, LSE.
- Professor Michael Storper, Centennial Professor of Economic Geography, Department of Geography and Environment, LSE.
- Dr Joel Suss, Visiting Fellow, LSE III, and Research Data Scientist, Bank of England.
- Javier Terrero, Research Assistant, LSE III, and Junior Economist, OECD.
- Hillary Vipond, Department of Economic History Doctoral Programme Candidate, LSE and Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity, LSE III.
- Jingyuan Zeng, Department of Geography and Environment Doctoral Programme Candidate, LSE.
- Professor Carola Frege, Department of Management, LSE.
Bandeira Morais, Margarida, Iammarino, Simona and Lee, Neil (2023). Economic Complexity, Exports and Natural Resources in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Geography and Environment Discussion Paper Series, Paper No. 41.
Born, Anthony Miro (2023). The Long Shadow of Territorial Stigma: upward social mobility and the symbolic baggage of the old neighbourhood. Urban Studies, 60, 537-553.
Fransham, Mark , Herbertson, Max, Pop, Mihaela, Bandeira Morais, Margarida and Lee, Neil (2023) Level best? The levelling up agenda and UK regional inequality. Regional Studies. ISSN 0034-3404
Jambrina-Canseco, Beatriz (2023) The Stories we Tell Ourselves: local newspaper reporting and support for the radical right. Political Geography, 100.
Lee, Neil (2023) Inclusive innovation in cities: From buzzword to policy. Regional Studies
Luca, Davide, Terrero-Davila, Javier, Stein, Jonas and Lee, Neil. (2023) Progressive cities: Urban–rural polarisation of social values and economic development around the world. Urban Studies, 0(0).
Randolph, Gregory F. and Storper, Michael (2023) Is urbanisation in the Global South fundamentally different? Comparative global urban analysis for the 21st century. Urban Studies, 60 (1). 3 - 25.
Randolph, Gregory F. and Storper, Michael (2023) Is urbanisation in the Global South fundamentally different? Comparative global urban analysis for the 21st century. Urban Studies, 60 (1). 3 - 25.
Suss, Joel H. (2023) Measuring local, salient economic inequality in the UK. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 0(0).
Arman, Husam, Iammarino, Simona, Ibarra-Olivo, J Eduardo and Lee, Neil (2022) Systems of innovation, diversification, and the R&D trap: A case study of Kuwait. Science and Public Policy, 49(2), 179-190.
Bandeira Morais, Margarida, Iammarino, Simona and Lee, Neil (2023) Economic complexity, exports and natural resources in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Geography and Environment Discussion Paper Series, Paper No. 41.
Bathelt, Harald and Storper, Michael (2022) Related Variety and Regional Development. Utrecht University Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography.
Casadei, Patrizia, Vanino, Enrico and Lee, Neil (2022) Trade in creative services: relatedness and regional specialization in the UK. Regional Studies.
Crescenzi, Riccardo, Ganau, Roberto and Storper, Michael (2022) Does foreign investment hurt job creation at home? The geography of outward FDI and employment in the USA. Journal of Economic Geography, 22 (1). 53 - 79.
Crescenzi, Riccardo, Ganau, Roberto and Storper, Michael (2023) Outward FDI and Home Country Employment. Columbia FDI Perspectives, no. 350.
Diemer, Andreas, Iammarino, Simona, Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés and Storper, Michael (2022) The regional development trap in Europe. Economic Geography, 98 (5), 487-509. .
Fransham, Mark, Herbertson, Max, Pop, Mihaela, Bandeira Morais, Margarida and Lee, Neil (2022) Level Best? The levelling up agenda and UK regional inequality. Regional Studies, ISSN 0034-3404.
Hopkin, Jonathan and Voss, Dustin (2022) Political Parties and Growth Models. Diminishing Returns: The New Politics of Growth and Stagnation, 375-400.
Hopkin, Jonathan (2022) The Politics of Tax Justice in Democracies: Redistribution Beyond the Median Voter Theorem. LSE Public Policy Review, 2(4).
Kemeny, Tom, Petralia, Sergio and Storper, Michael (2022) Disruptive innovation and spatial inequality. Regional Studies, 1-18.
Lee, Neil (2023) Inclusive innovation in cities: From buzzword to policy. Regional Studies
Luca, Davide, Terrero-Davila, Javier, Stein, Jonas and Lee, Neil (2022) Progressive Cities: Urban-rural polarisation of social values and economic development around the world. Urban Studies.
McNeil, Andrew and Haberstroh, Charlotte (2022) Intergenerational social mobility and the Brexit vote: how social origins and destinations divide Britain. European Journal of Political Research, 62(2), 612-632.
McNeil, Andrew, Lee, Neil and Luca, Davide (2022) The long shadow of local decline: birthplace economic conditions, political attitudes, and long-term individual economic outcomes in the UK, Journal of Urban Economics, 163, 103571
Permana, Muhammad Yorga, Izzati, Nabiyla Risfa and Askar, Media Wahyudi. (2022) Measuring the Gig Economy in Indonesia: Typology, Characteristics, and Distribution. Jurnal Manajemen Teknologi, 21(3), 339-358
Prieto, Joaquin (2022) A multidimensional approach to measuring economic insecurity: the case of Chile. Social Indicators Research, 1-33.
Prieto, Joaquin, Sehnbruch, Kirsten and Vidal, Diego (2022) A dynamic counting approach to measure multidimensional deprivation in jobs. Applied Economics Letters, 1-6.
Randolph, Gregory F. and Storper, Michael (2023) Is urbanisation in the Global South fundamentally different? Comparative global urban analysis for the 21st century. Urban Studies, 60 (1). 3 - 25.
Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés and Storper, Michael (2020) Dodging the burden of proof: a reply to Manville, Lens and Mönkkönen. Urban Studies 59(1), 59-74.
Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, Terrero-Davila, Javier and Lee, Neil (2023) Left-behind versus unequal places: interpersonal inequality, economic decline, and the rise of populism in the USA and Europe. Journal of Economic Geography, 00, 1-26.
Schneider, Benjamin and Vipond, Hillary (2023) The past and future of work: how history can inform the age of automation. LSE Economic History Working Papers, No. 354.
Siavelis, Peter M., Sehnbruch, Kirsten, Barozet, Emmanuelle and Ulloa, Valentina (2022) Public appointments as informal institutions: lessons from the Cuoteo in Chile, 1990-2018. Revista de Ciencia Politica, 42 (3). 537 - 563
Soskice, David and McNeil, Andrew (2022) Relational inequality in a (deeply) educationally polarised society: feasible strategies in the longer term. Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Soskice, David (2022) Rethinking Varieties of Capitalism and growth theory in the ICT era. Review of Keynesian Economics, 10(2), 222-241.
Soskice, David (2022) The technological revolution, segregation, and populism – a long-term strategic response. Origins and Alternative Policy Responses, 127.
Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés and Storper, Michael (2020) Dodging the Burden of Proof: a reply to Manville, Lens and Mönkkönen. Urban Studies 59(1), 59–74.
Beyond the Divide: Early-Career Conference on Political Dimensions of Urban and Rural Life
23 – 24 April 2026
We invite submissions for the Early-Career Conference on the Political Dimensions of Urban and Rural Life co-hosted by the LSE International Inequalities Institute and the LSE Department of Government. This conference is designed to support the development of early-career scholars (PhD students, post docs and assistant professors) working in political science, geography, sociology, urban studies, economics, and other related fields. The conference welcomes research examining urban politics, rural politics, or comparative analyses between contexts.
Please complete the submission form by Friday 13 February 2026. Notifications of acceptance will be sent in early March 2026. Draft papers are due by 6 April 2026 for pre-circulation.
Complete the submission formLocal Economic Development Policy
Following the turbulent period in UK politics and economic policy in September and October 2022, the III’s Cities, Jobs and Economic Change Research Programme realised there was a greater opportunity to influence the debate on economic development policy. This started with the production of a briefing note on Investment Zones, which was a core part of Liz Truss’s growth agenda. III academics then presented their recommendations as an LSE public blog post which focused on providing evidence on what works, and how Investment Zones should be reformed. This led to significant interest from the Civil Service and in December 2022 a seminar was held with senior civil servants from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLHC) to discuss the Investment Zone agenda. Alongside this, a seminar series was developed and hosted at the Department for Business and Trade; these brought key LSE academics together with senior civil servants and other stakeholders to discuss areas of policy development. The team has also engaged with policymakers within the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, with a project member travelling to Manchester to meet about devolution policy in the UK.
Devolution and Regional Economic Development Policy
The largest part of the policy impact work for the Cities, Jobs and Economic Change research programme in 2023 consisted of collaborating with Lisa Nandy MP and Shadow Secretary of State for the DLHC, and her team to assist in the development of the Labour Party’s response to levelling up and devolution in the UK. The team worked closely with one of Nandy’s top special advisors; this has allowed the team to tailor its work specifically to the questions Nandy and her team have. The programme researchers have written 10 short, focused and evidenced briefing notes on a range of topics. One of these briefing notes was focused on the importance of including places in any economic development strategies the Labour Party develops. Nandy then used this briefing to ensure that Labour’s first mission – for the UK to be the highest growth country in the G7 – included reference to the distribution of this growth between places and people.
Alongside these short briefings, the programme’s researchers were asked to flesh out in more detail policy agendas for two areas of Nandy’s remit: regional economic growth and devolution. They based these on LSE research, the wider academic and public policy research base and discussions with over 30 experts. These papers were used to structure two workshops, which III researchers collaborated with the University College London’s Policy Lab to organise. The papers will be published in early September 2023 by Labour Together, which seeks to develop policies that are underpinned by consensus.