IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/122224.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Spatial labour market inequality and social protection in the UK

Author

Listed:
  • Lee, Neil
  • Fransham, Mark
  • Bukowski, Pawel

Abstract

Spatial inequality in economic outcomes is increasingly seen as a problem for national economies. This paper considers spatial inequality in the UK labour market, its causes, and potential policy solutions. Relative to other European countries, the UK is highly spatially uneven, but it is not as unequal as the United States. The most common explanations for growing spatial inequality are economic, in particular the linked processes of manufacturing decline, the rise in knowledge-based services, and London’s growth as an international service hub. However, these explanations ignore the importance of spatial labour market institutions on different local economies. In this paper we argue that labour market institutions are one of the key missing explanations for the changing patterns of spatial inequality in the UK, and that the impact of labour market policy is likely to dwarf the limited funding provided for local economic development policy. We conclude with some suggestions for how policy might better address spatial labour market inequality in the UK and start to create good jobs across the country.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Neil & Fransham, Mark & Bukowski, Pawel, 2024. "Spatial labour market inequality and social protection in the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 122224, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:122224
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/122224/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patricia G Rice & Anthony J Venables, 2021. "The persistent consequences of adverse shocks: how the 1970s shaped UK regional inequality," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 37(1), pages 132-151.
    2. Rice, Patricia & Venables, Anthony J. & Patacchini, Eleonora, 2006. "Spatial determinants of productivity: Analysis for the regions of Great Britain," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 727-752, November.
    3. David Bailey & Lisa De Propris & Alex De Ruyter & David Hearne & Raquel Ortega-Argilés, 2023. "Brexit, trade and UK advanced manufacturing sectors: a Midlands’ perspective," Contemporary Social Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 250-265, March.
    4. Bauluz, Luis & Bukowski, Pawel & Fransham, Mark & Lee, Annie Seong & López Forero, Margarita & Novokmet, Filip & Breau, Sébastien & Lee, Neil & Malgouyres, Clément & Schularick, Moritz & Verdugo, Greg, 2023. "Spatial wage inequality in North America and Western Europe: changes between and within local labour markets 1975-2019," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121290, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Patricia Rice & Anthony J.Venables, 2022. "Tradability, Productivity, and Regional Disparities: theory and UK evidence," Working Papers 021, The Productivity Institute.
    2. Anna Stansbury & Dan Turner & Ed Balls, 2023. "Tackling the UK’s regional economic inequality: binding constraints and avenues for policy intervention," Contemporary Social Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3-4), pages 318-356, August.
    3. Yang, Zhiwei & Li, Can & Jiao, Jingjuan & Liu, Wei & Zhang, Fangni, 2020. "On the joint impact of high-speed rail and megalopolis policy on regional economic growth in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 20-30.
    4. Gibbons, Stephen & Silva, Olmo, 2008. "Urban density and pupil attainment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 631-650, March.
    5. Peter Mayerhofer & Oliver Fritz & Dieter Pennerstorfer, 2010. "Dritter Bericht zur internationalen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit Wiens," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 42430, August.
    6. Tubiana, Matteo & Miguelez, Ernest & Moreno, Rosina, 2022. "In knowledge we trust: Learning-by-interacting and the productivity of inventors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    7. Zenou, Yves & Patacchini, Eleonora, 2007. "Ethnicity and Spatial Externalities in Crime," CEPR Discussion Papers 6130, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Jorge Pérez Pérez & José G. Nuño-Ledesma, 2024. "Workers, Workplaces, Sorting, and Wage Dispersion in Mexico," Working Papers 2024-06, Banco de México.
    9. Renjith Ramachandran & Ketan Reddy & Subash Sasidharan, 2020. "Agglomeration and Productivity: Evidence from Indian Manufactuaring," Studies in Microeconomics, , vol. 8(1), pages 75-94, June.
    10. Rizov, Marian & Oskam, Arie & Walsh, Paul, 2012. "Is there a limit to agglomeration? Evidence from productivity of Dutch firms," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 595-606.
    11. Martin Andersson & Johan Klaesson & Johan P. Larsson, 2016. "How Local are Spatial Density Externalities? Neighbourhood Effects in Agglomeration Economies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(6), pages 1082-1095, June.
    12. World Bank, 2014. "Regional Economic Impact Analysis of High Speed Rail in China : Main Report," World Bank Publications - Reports 19996, The World Bank Group.
    13. Barros Antunes Campos, Rodger & Azzoni, Carlos Roberto, 2019. "Estimating the Intra-Urban Wage Premium," TD NEREUS 4-2019, Núcleo de Economia Regional e Urbana da Universidade de São Paulo (NEREUS).
    14. Cheshire, Paul, 2009. "Urban land markets and policy failures," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 30837, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Artis, Michael & Moreno, Rosina & Miguelez, Ernest, 2009. "Assessing agglomeration economies in a spatial framework with endogenous regressors," CEPR Discussion Papers 7267, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Martin Andersson & Hans Lööf, 2011. "Agglomeration and productivity: evidence from firm-level data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(3), pages 601-620, June.
    17. Vickerman, Roger, 2008. "Transit investment and economic development," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 107-115, January.
    18. Bryn Battersby, 2007. "Does distance matter?: The effect of geographic isolation on productivity levels," OECD Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2006(1), pages 205-225.
    19. Paul Verstraten & Gerard Verweij & Peter Zwaneveld, 2017. "Understanding employment decentralization by estimating the spatial scope of agglomeration economies," CPB Discussion Paper 342, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    20. Südekum, Jens, 2008. "Convergence of the skill composition across German regions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 148-159, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    public policy; labour markets; inequality; regions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • N90 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:122224. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.