West Midlands Weekly Economic Impact Monitor – 26th February 2021

This week the Prime Minister announced a roadmap out of the Covid-19 lockdown which has been welcomed broadly by businesses. It provides some degree of clarity. However, in the immediate term issues persist – particularly for industries unable to open as normal. One local Growth Hub has received a months’ worth of calls, webchats, emails … Continue reading “West Midlands Weekly Economic Impact Monitor – 26th February 2021”

Economic Resilience to Shocks: Implications for Labour Markets

In this blog, Tasos Kitsos introduces the latest output for the WM REDI project Economic resilience to shocks: implications for labour markets. The term economic resilience has become popular during the 2008 crisis and remained at the forefront of research and policymaking since. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic makes resilience more relevant than … Continue reading “Economic Resilience to Shocks: Implications for Labour Markets”

University Incubators as Part of a Wider Regional Innovation System

Dr Juliane Schwarz looks at the differences between incubators and accelerators, how they support fledgling businesses to grow, and the role universities can play in this process. This blog is an introduction to the WM REDI project “University Incubator: Comparative Analysis, Pathways to Impact and Relative Regional Effects“. The project investigates university incubators and, as … Continue reading “University Incubators as Part of a Wider Regional Innovation System”

Embedding Local Community Engagement in University ‎Strategy Development: Reflections From Universities in Birmingham – WM REDI Policy Briefing

In this policy briefing Dr Magda Cepeda Zorrilla, Dr Abigail Taylor, Dr Sara Hassan, and Professor Anne Green report on the findings from a research project that analyses university strategies within Birmingham. This briefing builds on work undertaken by WM REDI in conjunction with the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) as part of a … Continue reading “Embedding Local Community Engagement in University ‎Strategy Development: Reflections From Universities in Birmingham – WM REDI Policy Briefing”

West Midlands Weekly Economic Impact Monitor – 19th February 2021

This week we continue to see the success of vaccine rollout. The Midlands has successfully provided the most 1st and 2nd doses of the vaccines out of any region in England, which is particularly important given the region has the highest reported hospital admissions. The region has recently published its Digital roadmap – research carried … Continue reading “West Midlands Weekly Economic Impact Monitor – 19th February 2021”

Economic Justice in Birmingham and the Black Country Shows That Levelling-up Needs to Focus on People Not Areas

In this blog, Peter Kenway, Director for the New Policy Institute discusses their new report looking at the state of economic justice in Birmingham and the Black Country.   NPI’s new report on economic justice, published by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, assembles the statistics to tell a story that people who live in Birmingham and the … Continue reading “Economic Justice in Birmingham and the Black Country Shows That Levelling-up Needs to Focus on People Not Areas”

The Imbalanced Game of Economics in Times of International Turbulence – New Publication

In this blog, Dr Deniz Sevinc and Dr Edgar Mata Flores discuss their new paper looking at economic and financial shocks and the impact they have across regions. If there is one thing that economic history keeps reminding us about, it is that times of severe turmoil are a recurrent feature in the international economic … Continue reading “The Imbalanced Game of Economics in Times of International Turbulence – New Publication”

Harnessing the Digital Economy: The Role of Early Adoption of Digital Technologies

In this blog, Tasos Kitsos, Emmanouil Tranos and Raquel Ortega-Argiles discuss their most recent publication on the impact of early engagement with the digital economy on regional productivity. There is hardly a need to argue the importance of digitisation and the digital economy on our everyday lives. The fact that virtually every governance level (from … Continue reading “Harnessing the Digital Economy: The Role of Early Adoption of Digital Technologies”

West Midlands Weekly Economic Impact Monitor – 12th February 2021

This week the impacts of EU exit and transition continue to unfold in the news, and the UK and regional PMI has gone back into contraction. As predicted by many forecasters, the ongoing lockdown continues to have a negative impact on the economy, but there are some good news stories in the region with £20 … Continue reading “West Midlands Weekly Economic Impact Monitor – 12th February 2021”

International Evidence on Levelling Up

A new report co-authored by the Industrial Strategy Council (ISC) and City-REDI researcher, Abigail Taylor, was published recently examining international evidence on what it takes to “level up” places. Watch clips from the event and view more work from this project.  The report analyses experiences in four international case study areas (Estonia, San Antonio, Greater … Continue reading “International Evidence on Levelling Up”