Covid-19 and the Future Business District

In this blog, Anne Green, Rebecca Riley, Alex Smith, Ben Brittain and Hannes Read examine the long-term impact of Covid-19 on business districts. How can they continue to be successful places attracting business and people and contributing to vibrant city centres? This blog is the summary from the Future Business District report – visit the … Continue reading “Covid-19 and the Future Business District”

Looking Ahead: The Future Business District Study and the Future of the Office

Hannes Read discusses a study looking at the impacts of COVID-19 on business districts and working practices, and what the way forward might be.  The Future Business District Study Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many people and businesses have been required to work from home rather than the office. The sudden shift away from working in … Continue reading “Looking Ahead: The Future Business District Study and the Future of the Office”

City-REDI Policy Briefing: Improving Understanding and Measurement of Productivity

In this policy briefing, Dr Magda Cepeda Zorrilla, Professor Anne Green, Dr Chloe Billing, Professor Simon Collinson and Dr Fengjie Pan report on the findings of their study which collected data from 300 firms across the West Midlands, examining what managers at these companies understood productivity to be, the policy implications of their varied understanding … Continue reading “City-REDI Policy Briefing: Improving Understanding and Measurement of Productivity”

Supporting Regional Resilience Through the Pandemic and Beyond

Welcome to REDI-Updates. REDI-Updates is a bi-annual publication which will get behind the data and translate it into understandable terms. In this edition, WM REDI staff and guest contributors will discuss some of the key topics when trying to understand the long-term economic impacts of the pandemic. In this article, Professor Simon Collinson discusses the role … Continue reading “Supporting Regional Resilience Through the Pandemic and Beyond”

How Can the UK Learn From Different International Skills Systems to Develop Post-Compulsory Education?

In this blog, Dr Abigail Taylor discusses her new report “Skills System International Case Studies” which identifies the key features and challenges of different international skills systems. For the third paper resulting from my recent ESRC-funded secondment to the Industrial Strategy Council, I produced case studies of the post-compulsory education systems in Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands … Continue reading “How Can the UK Learn From Different International Skills Systems to Develop Post-Compulsory Education?”

Optimising Entrepreneurial Development Processes for Smart Specialisation in the European Union

Optimizing entrepreneurial development process for smart specialization in the European Union by Laszlo Szerb, Raquel Ortega-Argiles, Zoltan Acs and Eva Komlosi.  This paper published in Regional Science demonstrates how the Regional Entrepreneurship and Development Index (REDI) can be used to optimize local entrepreneurial discovery processes, in a manner which can support the construction of regional … Continue reading “Optimising Entrepreneurial Development Processes for Smart Specialisation in the European Union”

Response to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee Inquiry on the Impact of COVID-19 on Businesses and Workers

City-REDI / WMREDI have collated information from a range of contributors as a response to the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee inquiry on the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and workers. It covers a variety of topics from identifying the complex and far-reaching impacts of the crisis to economic modelling … Continue reading “Response to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee Inquiry on the Impact of COVID-19 on Businesses and Workers”

The Long-Term Impact of Homeworking Arising From the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Crisis

The ‘Legoland discovery centre’ replica of Birmingham City Centre has had thousands of mini-figures removed to reflect the city’s empty streets, as the COVID-19 crisis means that millions are asked to stay at home. The abandoned City Centre scene reflects how 1 in 3 of all businesses have closed under the COVID-19 regulation (1 in … Continue reading “The Long-Term Impact of Homeworking Arising From the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Crisis”