Productivity and the Pandemic: Challenges and Insights from Covid-19

This forward-thinking book examines the potential impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on productivity. Productivity and the Pandemic features 21 chapters authored by 46 experts, examining different aspects of how the pandemic is likely to impact on the economy, society and governance in the medium- and long-term. Drawing on a range of empirical evidence, analytical arguments and new conceptual insights, the book challenges our thinking on many dimensions. With a keen focus on place, firms, production factors and institutions, the chapters highlight how the pre-existing challenges to productivity have been variously exacerbated and mitigated by the pandemic and points out ways forward for appropriate policy-thinking in response to the crisis. An important read for scholars and students interested in the impact of the pandemic, this book will also be an invigorating read for economists and policy-makers looking for more information on how the pandemic and resulting economic recession is affecting productivity.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction xiii Philip McCann and Tim Vorley 1 The Covid-19 shock: the UK national and regional implications in the light of international evidence 1 Philip McCann and Raquel Ortega-Argilés 2 Frontier and ‘laggard’ firms: will there be significant changes to the distribution of productivity post-Covid-19? 16 Richard Harris 3 Firm strategies under Covid-19 induced uncertainty: implications for policy 32 Vania Sena and Sumon Bhaumik 4 Implications and impacts of the crisis on micro businesses and their future 46 Andrew Henley, Tim Vorley and Cristian Gherhes 5 The impact of Covid-19 on entrepreneurial ecosystems 59 Colin Mason and Michaela Hruskova 6 Financing an entrepreneur-led economic recovery: the impact of the coronavirus on business angel investing 73 Colin Mason 7 The implications of a crisis-driven societal shift to online consumption 88 Stuart Mills, Richard Whittle and Gavin Brown 8 The Covid-19 crisis and implications for skills development and the skills system 104 Anne Green 9 Good work and mental health in the post-Covid era 119 Daniel Kopasker 10 Business models, innovation and employees’ experiences in the workplace: challenges for the post-Covid-19 economy 132 Patricia Findlay, Colin Lindsay and Graeme Roy 11 Transport, the economy and environmental sustainability post-Covid-19 147 Iain Docherty, Greg Marsden, Jillian Anable and Tom Forth 12 Sectoral and spatial impacts of the Covid-19 recession 160 Ben Gardiner, Richard Lewney and Ron Martin 13 Cities, innovation and behavioural change: how the machine is evolving 173 Robert Huggins and Piers Thompson 14 Raising productivity and housing the economy 191 Duncan Maclennan, Julie Tian Miao, Linda Christie and Jinqiao Long 15 The paradox of efficiency: why the second-best may help us hedging risks in uncertain times 205 Ekkehard Ernst 16 Seeing the Covid-19 crises through a Minskyian lens: austerity, stratification, and productivity 219 Gary Dymski and Hanna Szymborska 17 How will the effects of Covid-19 on macroeconomic demand and supply affect firm-level productivity? 237 Don Webber and Gary Dymski 18 From systems change to systems changed: assuming a systems-based approach in response to crisis 250 Jen Nelles, Tim Vorley and Adam Brown 19 Active labour market policy in a post-Covid UK: moving beyond a ‘work first’ approach 263 Katy Jones 20 Recovery and resilience: how can innovation policy support the response 277 Jonathan Cook and Tim Vorley 21 Understanding a pandemic: the power of administrative data 289 Elizabeth Waind, Felix Ritchie, Nick Bailey and the Administrative Data | Agricultural Research Collection project team: Paul Caskie, Sian Morrison-Rees, Sarah Lowe and Nick Webster Index 293

About the Author :
Edited by Philip McCann, Sir Terry Leahy Chair in Urban and Regional Economics, The Productivity Institute, Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester and Tim Vorley, Co-Director, Innovation and Research Caucus and Pro-Vice Chancellor, Oxford Brookes University, UK

Review :
‘It is no question that this new monument book will help economists, scholars, and students alike to engage in this new research field. Meanwhile, this book will also be an invigorating resource for policymakers seeking more information on how the pandemic and resulting economic recession are affecting productivity.’ ‘I highly recommend the reading of the expert and rational minutiae in the splendid analysis that constitutes this most worthy and scholarly work.’ 'The Productivity Insights Network has been building huge insight and credibility in the past two years and with this collection of papers, is leading the way on identifying potential new patterns in our economy.' 'If ever there was a timely book on an important question this is it. The need to address the spatial and human aspects of Britain's low productivity had no sooner reached the top of the political agenda than COVID-19 struck, plunging us into radical uncertainty. This well-focused collection of data-rich studies begins to illuminate how COVID-19 has altered and compounded the productivity problem.'