The first research collaboration of the Growth Co-Lab is a research agenda in South Africa. This is a two-year policy engagement focusing on the formulation and implementation of policies to boost inclusive growth with particular emphasis on reducing unemployment.
Launched in 2006, the Growth Lab at Harvard Kennedy School pushes the frontiers of economic growth and development policy research, collaborates with policymakers to design actions, and shares its insights through teaching, tools, and publications, in the pursuit of inclusive prosperity.
You can view the work of the Growth Lab at Harvard here.
The Ukraine Reconstruction Forum
The reconstruction of Ukraine will be a daunting challenge, involving multiple stakeholders such as governments, international financial institutions, private sector, civil society, and academia in and out of Ukraine.
To facilitate coordination across key stakeholders, the School of Public Policy and the Growth Co-Lab at LSE organized and hosted the Ukraine Reconstruction Forum, an in-person meeting that occurred on Thursday 26th and Friday 27th of May.
Learn more about the Forum here.

Events
Launch Event
Knowledge Diffusion as a Cornerstone of Economic Recovery in the Post-COVID World
In this public event celebrating the launch of the Growth Co-Lab at the London School of Economics (LSE), a panel of high-level government officials and academic experts will discuss knowledge diffusion as a cornerstone of economic recovery and growth in the Post-Covid 19 world. The panel will be chaired by Andrés Velasco, Dean of the School of Public Policy at the LSE, taking place 21 March 2022, 6.30-8pm GMT.
Over the previous fifteen years, the Harvard Growth Lab, based at the Harvard Kennedy School, has become one of the world’s leading research hubs developing policies to accelerate sustainable and inclusive growth. The Harvard Growth Lab has recently collaborated with the School of Public Policy at the LSE to launch the Growth Co-Lab at LSE. The strategic goal is to bring together the capacities, expertise, and reach of two top academic institutions to expand the activities of the Growth Lab globally. Learn more about the event here.
Research and News
The Ukraine Reconstruction Forum
The SPP and Growth Co-Lab at LSE have jointly held the Ukraine Reconstruction Forum in May, attended by 50 government, private sector, financial and academic representatives.
Learn more about the Forum and its goals on our dedicated webpage.
What economic complexity theory can tell us about the EU’s pandemic recovery and resilience plans
Ricardo Hausmann, Miguel Angel Santos, Corrado Macchiarelli and Renato Giacon write that economic complexity theories can provide a useful tool for evaluating whether the recovery and resilience plans submitted by EU member states to receive this funding are well-designed.
Assessing the case of Greece, they argue that investments should be tailored toward export-oriented sectors and aim to help close the country’s product complexity gap with other EU states. Read the full article here.