POID

The Programme on Innovation and Diffusion (POID) carries out cutting-edge research into how to improve productivity through nurturing innovation - ideas that are new to the world - and then diffusing these ideas across the economy

Learn more

Featured

Man virtual writing. Shutterstock license https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hands-businessman-virtual-innovation-business-process-2124967913

Skills for growth

The skills system in England needs a stronger sectoral focus and place-based pilots to encourage firms to invest in staff.

Screenshot of poidcast visual. Credit: POID

Latest episode on The Innovation and Diffusion Podcast

A new episode is out with Alexander Whalley from the University of Calgary - we talked about his academic journey, fav econ papers, Cold War and space race between the US & USSR, large R&D programs and more. Read more....

Blue lake and green shore. Photo by Andreas Gücklhorn on Unsplash, https://unsplash.com/photos/birds-eye-view-photography-of-trees-and-body-of-water-mawU2PoJWfU

Environment Week: September '26

EEE, IGC and GSoS within LSE are convening the fifth Environment Week at the LSE on 21-24 September 2026. Join us! Find out more...

NBER Working Paper

The Equilibrium Impact of Credit Frictions: Evidence from Default Risk Using Firm-Level Data. By Timothy J. Besley, Peter John Lambert, Isabelle A. Michalski-Roland & John Van Reenen. Read more....

Chris Pissarides giving a lecture. Credit: Eugene Kaspersky in Flickr under a CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0 licence. https://www.flickr.com/photos/e_kaspersky/35296694892/in/photolist-VmvkGy-VM3MF3-VmvkFG-VmvjZ1-VGeWLf-UHpU44-VKLWZ1-VmKc1Y-UEgFW3-VWX31F-UEvZXA-UHaZfV-VKvBxe-VWXZjh-VWX1eV-VWXXBj-UJ7t1C-VWXYUQ-VWXXPU-VKM1P5-VKvAZR-UEgGaj-VGeT45-Vmvkt7-VTtd7Y-VmK9kh-VTtf1Y-Vmvmuq-UEvZdE-UHpUP2-VTtf81-VWWZvF-VKvCa6-UHq5LX-VWX5qa-VWX6AB-VmKbb1-VmKbJq-VmKbnJ-VKvEW8

Christopher Pissarides' Presidential Address at the Royal Economic Society

AI disruptions in the labour market: Christopher Pissarides opened the Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2026 by examining how artificial intelligence is affecting jobs, skills and workplaces, and what governments and employers should do next. Read more....

A military attack helicopter over rural landscape. Credit: Photo by DON JACKSON-WYATT on Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/military-attack-helicopter-over-rural-landscape-sbhubyl7lWI

VoxEU Talk

Making Defence Spending Pay. John Van Reenen interviewed by Tim Phillips. Read more....

Latest

The Hill

Cancel the commute: We need new ways to measure productivity at work

In a randomized trial of 1,612 employees at Trip.com, Stanford’s Nicholas Bloom and co-authors found that a two-days-at-home schedule reduced quit rates by one-third without damaging performance. Nicholas Bl... Read more...

04 August 2026

Business Insider

Tech firms are bringing job interviews back in person to stop AI use, RTO guru says

Nick Bloom, a Stanford economics professor known for his research on remote work, says AI is undermining the virtual coding tests and interviews that tech firms have long used to assess candidates. Click to open. ... Read more...

31 July 2026

Newsweek Polska

Fool Britannia: Behind the Crown, the UK Is a Country Struggling To Keep Up (C1)

John Van Reenen, Ronald Coase School Professor at the London School of Economics, echoed that hope. "I think the declinist narrative is ridiculously overblown," he told Newsweek. "The most damaging, self-harming ec... Read more...

30 July 2026

Financial Times Free Lunch Newsletter

Why wages and productivity look set to diverge further

But less competitive market environments, which are evident in rising mark-ups and have come about for reasons such as “superstar” companies, create conditions for wage and productivity growth to diverge. The... Read more...

26 July 2026

Financial Times

The five fiscal challenges facing John Healey

Haskel fired a warning shot in testimony to MPs last week, saying he expected somewhat higher interest rates and weaker GDP growth than most analysts had been predicting. Click to open. ... Read more...

21 July 2026

Cyprus Business News

Labour Minister: social security coordination during Cyprus? EU Council Presidency was a landmark achievement

He also referred to the contribution of Nobel laureate economist Professor Christopher Pissarides to the debate and to Cyprus' initiative securing an opinion from the European Economic and Social Committee on job quality... Read more...

21 July 2026

theedgemalaysia.com

The New Global Economy: The Mismeasure of Europe?s Economy

Fellow Nobel laureate Philippe Aghion and his co-authors, for their part, contend that at constant prices, Europe has steadily lost ground since the 1990s. Click to open. ... Read more...

19 July 2026

O Globo

Expectations, Production Functions, Productivity, Input demand

The winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics, Christopher Pissarides, stated that the fear of mass unemployment caused by artificial intelligence is not confirmed by macroeconomic data. Click to open. ... Read more...

17 July 2026

HR Executive

Top economists, Nobel laureates issue urgent AI warning for employers

The list includes key researchers who have helped build the evidence base HR draws on for workforce planning:… Christopher Pissarides of the London School of Economics, who won his Nobel for research on labor mark... Read more...

16 July 2026

DW

AI - Why Europe is falling behind, and how it can catch up

"More than ever, AI will bring creative destruction," Aghion told DW on the sidelines of this year's Brussels Economic Forum. "There will be job destruction. And there will be job creation. If you manage creative destruc... Read more...

16 July 2026

Financial Times

VAT is Andy Burnham's best tool if UK public finances go off track, says OECD

Its report came as Jonathan Haskel, who is set to be the next chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, the UK fiscal watchdog, warned that the continuing threat of inflation meant the government could not afford to... Read more...

15 July 2026

Reuters

France faces debt surge unless spending curbed, report says

The report, prepared by economists Xavier Jaravel, Xavier Ragot, Jean-Luc Tavernier and Natacha Valla, projected that France's budget deficit would widen from 5.0% of gross domestic product in 2026 to nearl... Read more...

15 July 2026

Malaysia Edge

AI won?t bring back era of rapid growth, says Nobel Prize winner

Christopher Pissarides, who specialises on the impact of automation in work, said as many as four in 10 US and UK jobs would be largely unaffected by AI and cited areas such as nursing and hospitality. Click to open. ... Read more...

07 July 2026

Harvard Business Review

Want workers to reskill? Show them who they can become

In Italy, where public employment agencies offer short, free reskilling classes to equip job seekers for in-demand occupations, so few people have signed up that the government asked Harvard Business School Professor Raf... Read more...

06 July 2026

Insurance Business

Brexit Bregret? Insurance professionals have their say

A Bank of England-backed study published as The Economic Impact of Brexit estimated that, had the referendum produced a different result, the UK economy would now be around 6% larger, with some methodologies suggesting t... Read more...

02 July 2026

Financial Times

Letter - Why Burnham should keep Reeves as chancellor

As Andy Burnham weighs up his chancellor choice, here’s a radical thought: what about keeping Rachel Reeves? John Van Reenen argues the case for continuity. Article in pdf: "Who should be the next chancellor?" by ... Read more...

29 June 2026

The Critic

Haskel's challenge

On Tuesday, Rachel Reeves nominated Professor Jonathan Haskel to be the next chair of the Office of Budget Responsibility. In doing so, she has made him one of the pivotal figures who will determine the parameters within... Read more...

29 June 2026

Financial Times

Can the IT sector solve the UK's growth problem?

John Van Reenen, a London School of Economics professor and former chair of chancellor Rachel Reeves’ council of economic advisers, says that the country is particularly well placed to capitalise on AI because of i... Read more...

29 June 2026

BBC

Brexit cost 6% of UK economy, Bank of England company data suggests

Co-author of the study, British professor Nick Bloom from Stanford University, said the UK was growing fast in the years before Brexit and could have at least partially kept up with the US without the disruption. ... Read more...

19 June 2026

Aboutict.nl

VivaTech - AI leaves the screen, becomes a force in the physical world

The sluggishness the rest of the continent is struggling with has a recognizable history, according to Xavier Jaravel, professor of economics at the London School of Economics. Europe is losing momentum in productivity g... Read more...

19 June 2026

Daily Express

Economists' inflation warning as it urges BoE to hold rates

Mr Haskel said survey reports showed there was some evidence of wage growth mounting again, which could lead to “secondround effects” where prices and wage pressures spiral. Click to open (via Press Reader) ... Read more...

17 June 2026

Forbes Mexico

Nobel laureate in economics argues that AI will destroy jobs but will eventually create growth

Artificial intelligence (AI) will destroy jobs in the first phase, but it will end up generating new jobs and more economic growth if governments accompany the transition with appropriate education and labor policies, Fr... Read more...

16 June 2026

Financial Times

Is the UK enjoying a productivity rebound?

Professor John Van Reenen of the London School of Economics, highlighted the possibility of a rebound in a recent blog post, suggesting economic performance was much better than people thought. Click to open. ... Read more...

10 June 2026

Project Syndicate

Why Is Europe?s Economy Falling Short?

The geopolitical shocks of the past few years, particularly Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s assaults on the postwar order, have brought Europe’s economic and strategic vulne... Read more...

10 June 2026

Wall Street Journal

Economists Weigh In on the Future of Work and AI

Raffaella Sadun, Professor, Harvard Business School and co-chair of HBS's Project on Managing the Future of Work. I think it's workers who can ... Click to open. ... Read more...

09 June 2026

View all news

CEP report

Skills for growth: what the UK can learn from international approaches for incentivising employer-based training

This report reviews international evidence on approaches to increasing employer investment in training, focusing on three broad models: coordination between employers and training providers; sector-based employment and t...Read more...

Aadya Bahl, Sandra McNally and Anna Valero

23 September 2026

POID Working Paper

Geopolitics and Export Miracles: Firm-level evidence from U.S. ware procurement in Korea

How did geopolitics shape East Asia's economic development? We find that U.S. military procurement during the Vietnam War - a shock which peaked at nearly 3% of South Korean GDP, rivalling the Marshall Plan - catalyzed K...Read more...

Philipp Barteska, Oliver Kim, Nathan Lane and Seung Joo Lee

26 August 2026

CEP occasional paper

UK national productivity trends: getting the data right - August 2026 update

We compare standard productivity estimates of UK output per worker derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) with newly released estimates based on more reliable "Real Time Information" (RTI) administrative data. LFS-ba...Read more...

Niki Barbas, Anna Valero and John Van Reenen

24 August 2026

POID Working Paper

Defense Promotion and Industrial Development

Major economies are rearming, and rearmament is itself industrial policy. I ask whether defense promotion - especially innovation policy - can drive industrial development beyond the defense sector. I synthesize evidence...Read more...

Nathan Lane

21 August 2026

POID Working Paper

Industrial Policy in the Global Semiconductor Sector

The resurgence of subsidies and industrial policies has raised concerns about their potential inefficiency and alignment with multilateral principles. Critics warn that such policies may divert resources to less efficien...Read more...

Pinelopi Goldberg, Reka Juhasz, Nathan Lane, Giulia Lo Forte and Jeff Thurk

18 August 2026

CEP discussion paper

Defense promotion and industrial development

Nathan Lane

12 August 2026

CEP discussion paper

Is data privacy a losing game? Evidence from Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy

We study the impact of Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy, which requires apps to obtain explicit user permission before cross-app tracking, on the mobile gaming industry. Using SensorTower US data on the top...Read more...

Nestor Duch-Brown, Christos Genakos and Blair Yuan Lyu

12 August 2026

Blog

Project Syndicate:

Silicon, Not Software, Will Decide the AI Race

The AI race is no longer just about building better models. As competition shifts from scientific discovery to deployment, success increasingly depends on computing power, advanced semiconductors, physical infrastructure...Read more...

Antonin Bergeaud and Robin Rivaton

31 July 2026

Blog

The Economics Show with Soumaya Keynes (podcast):

Will AI solve the productivity puzzle? With Nick Bloom

Productivity has been a problem for the past 15 years. In developed countries, weak demand, a lack of competition and a paucity of new ideas have all been blamed. Could AI finally reverse that trend? Soumaya speaks to St...Read more...

Nicholas Bloom and Soumaya Keynes

31 July 2026

CEP discussion paper

The equilibrium impact of credit frictions: evidence from default risk using firm-level data

This paper examines the impact of credit frictions arising from firm-level default risk on aggregate economic performance. We build a micro-to-macro model with heterogeneous firms and sector-specific production functions...Read more...

Timothy Besley, Peter John Lambert, Isabelle Michalski-Roland and John Van Reenen

29 July 2026

POID Working Paper

The Equilibrium Impact of Credit Frictions: Evidence from default risk using firm-level data

Timothy Besley, Peter John Lambert, Isabelle Michalski-Roland and John Van Reenen

27 July 2026

CEP occasional paper

UK national productivity trends: getting the data right

Niki Barbas, Anna Valero and John Van Reenen

20 July 2026

Blog

Polytechnique Insights:

Europe is falling behind, can it pick up the pace when it comes to innovation?

Philippe Aghion writes for Polytechnique Insights on how Europe must prepare its own AI strategy if it wishes to make up ground lost to the U.S. in terms of GDP per capita, productivity and disruptive innovations....Read more...

Philippe Aghion

1 July 2026

Journal article

American Economic Review:

Nobel lecture: The economics of creative destruction

The expression "creative destruction" was coined by Joseph Schumpeter to describe the process whereby new innovations displace old technologies. Schumpeter himself would acknowledge a filiation with Karl Marx, and more p...Read more...

Philippe Aghion

1 July 2026

Blog

VoxEU:

When trust in official statistics declines

Trust in official economic statistics has become an increasingly salient policy issue, including in the US where the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics was dismissed in August 2025 amid allegations that agenc...Read more...

Nicholas Bloom, Erica Groshen, Duncan Hobbs and Michael Strain

28 June 2026

View all publications

POID External Event

Becker Friedman Institute, Chicago

Institutions, Organizations and Growth Program (IOG) Conference

John Van Reenen (LSE), Various speakers

Friday 02 October 2026 - Sunday 04 October 2026 00:00

POID Research Seminar

TBC

TBC

Tuesday 06 October 2026 11:00 - 12:00

POID External Event

Chicago Booth London Campus

Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets

Economic Experts Conference

John Van Reenen (LSE), Various speakers

Thursday 08 October 2026 - Friday 09 October 2026 00:00

POID External Event

Policy Capital (previously ELGINAdvisory)

Roundtable on fiscal policy

This panel will examine the scope for fiscal policy to drive higher levels of growth across the U.K.... Read more...

John Van Reenen (LSE), Various speakers

Wednesday 14 October 2026 09:00 - 10:00

POID External Event

Global Talent Fund/Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance

Talent Economic Conference

John Van Reenen (LSE)

Thursday 22 October 2026 - Friday 23 October 2026 00:00

POID Research Seminar

TBC

TBC

Tuesday 03 November 2026 11:00 - 12:00

POID External Event

University of Oxford

Department of Economics

Macroeconomics seminar

John Van Reenen (LSE)

Thursday 05 November 2026

POID External Event

Imperial College London

Department of Economics

Seminar

John Van Reenen (LSE)

Tuesday 17 November 2026 - 00:00

POID External Event

University of Oxford

Department of Economics

Applied microeconomics seminar

John Van Reenen (LSE)

Tuesday 01 December 2026 - 00:00

POID Research Seminar

Who captures the value of public innovation?

Publicly funded innovations create social value, but the welfare consequences depend on who captures that value. This paper develops a framework for measuring the incidence of public innovation and applies it to R&D fund... Read more...

Eugenie Dugoua (LSE), joint with Todd Gerarden, Kyle Myers, and Jacquelyn Pless

Wednesday 02 December 2026 11:00 - 12:00

POID Public Event

University of Basel

Lecture Series: Innovation in the Global Economy

This lecture series has been running for the past four years. Prof. John Van Reenen will join our list of previous speakers such as Prof. Bradford Jensen (Georgetown), Prof. Gene Grossman (Princeton), Prof. Dave Donaldso... Read more...

John Van Reenen (LSE)

Monday 07 December 2026 18:15 - 19:45

POID Research Seminar

Business Dynamism and Innovation: Evidence from a novel 19th century micro-data

We construct a novel establishment-level dataset combining the nineteenth-century U.S. Census of Manufactures (1850?1880) with patent records from CUSP to examine how innovation shaped firm performance in early industria... Read more...

Ruveyda Nur Gozen (Cardiff University)

Tuesday 12 January 2027 11:00 - 12:00

POID Research Seminar

TBC

Hadar Avivi (University College London)

Tuesday 02 February 2027 11:00 - 12:00

Tuesday 09 February 2027 - Wednesday 10 February 2027 00:00

Monday 22 February 2027

View all events