Max Herbertson

Max is a PhD candidate in economic geography whose work spans innovation, diffusion, economic growth, and inequality.

In his PhD, he investigates how the build-out of data centres and cloud compute has shaped the map of AI – where research, companies and patents emerge, and which places benefit. A second strand asks how Europe and the UK can navigate the Fourth Industrial Revolution with greater technological sovereignty, focusing on how countries can become frontier innovators and turn innovation into broad-based prosperity. A third line of work compares place-based policy in the European Union and the United States; a paper from this project is published as an NBER Working Paper.

Before commencing his PhD, he earned a BSc from University College London and an MSc from LSE, and was a Policy Analyst at the International Inequalities Institute. He has also worked with public and private organisations - including the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, and UK think tanks-translating research into practical policy.

Expertise

Economic Development, Spatial Inequality, Labour Markets, Inclusive Innovation

Supervisors

• Professor Neil Lee
• Professor Andrés Rodríguez-Pose

Conference papers/working papers/publications

• Investments Zones can drive innovation if we learn from past mistakes. Read blog post.
• Level best? The levelling up agenda and UK regional inequality. Read paper.
• What next for English devolution? Read blog post.
• Place-based policies of the European Union: contrasts and similarities to the US experience. Read paper.

Research interests

• Data centres and compute infrastructure
• Artificial intelligence
• Technological sovereignty
• Innovation policy