Research Teams

Introduction

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High levels of quality employment and a dynamic inclusive economy are central to achieving social justice. The ippr's Economics team researches this crucial area.

We aim to encouraging innovative thinking and challenge the accepted wisdom on a range of subjects.

Key activites of the Economics team have included:

our Commission on Public Policy and British Business, which showed how business and politicians could develop a shared agenda for national economic renewal
our Commission on Public Private Partnerships, which examined how to balance involvement of the private sector in providing public services with public interests.

Current Projects

Risk and Resilience - Poverty brings an increased risk of income drops and unexpected expenses. Exposure to risk can deepen the persistence and severity of poverty, requiring expensive coping strategies and defensive decision-making. This project will examine, first, how the state contributes to risk, including through labour market policies, benefit transitions and the creation of uncertainty. Second, it will look at how the negative impact of risk can be reduced, strengthening resilience through, for example, innovative savings mechanisms and financial education. The project will propose policy solutions for the problems identified.

Previous Reports

Population Politics by Mike Dixon and Julia Margo (19 February 2006). “In Britain, the phrase ‘population policy’ has become synonymous with China’s one-child policy. This is a shame. Population policies allow governments to pre-empt and address demographic challenges, and can be as innocuous as providing better childcare.”

The Citizen's Stake, Edited by Will Paxton, Stuart White, and Dominic Maxwell (11 January 2006). Can and should asset-based policies such as universal capital grants become a new pillar of the welfare state? Can they form the basis for a more egalitarian form of market economy? The citizen's stake throws open the debate by bringing together the ideas of leading thinkers in academia and policy to explore the future scope of asset-based policies in Britain.