How is Regional Policy Made: A Critical Look at the Role of Think Tanks?

1. How is Regional Policy Made: A Critical Look at the Role of Think Tanks? Professor Peter Wells Sheffield Hallam University CURDS/ONE North East Regional Insights Seminar University of Newcastle 5 November, 2008

2. Overview • Think Tanks in the UK • Rise of Think Tank regional policy activity • Assessing Think Tanks Role in Regional Policy • Conclusions

3. What is a think tank? Essentially, think tanks seek to bridge the gap between knowledge and power … The role of think tanks is to link the two roles, that of policymaker and academic, by conducting in-depth analysis of certain issues and presenting this research in easy-to-read, condensed form for policy makers to absorb (McGann and Johnson 2005, p. 12).

4. Think Tanks in the United Kingdom • Wide definition: over 100 organisations • spanning public policy, health policy, strategic/international relations and religion, and including political networks and forums • Narrow definition of active public policy research institutes: ~ 30 organisations

5. Rise of Think Tank activity and output on regional policy • Over 50 reports, pamphlets and working papers published since 2002: • Work Foundation: 22 reports • Including 15 Ideopolis City Region Reports and 4 working papers • IPPR/IPPR North: 14 reports • Including ones on Devolution, and Social Capital in the North East • The Smith Institute 9 reports and pamphlets • NLGN: 4 reports • Policy Exchange: 3 reports • The Cities (un)limited series • SMF: 2 reports • Reform: 1 report • NEF, Fabian Society, Demos, ASI and IEA: 0 reports.

6. A Typology of Think Tank Outputs • Agenda setting research • IPPR: A New Regional Policy for the UK (2003) • Policy Exchange: Cities (un)Limited (2007/8) • Position Papers • Reform: Whitehall’s Last Colonies • SMF: Economic Nationalism or Progressive Globalisation? • Agenda Reinforcing • Smith Institute: various edited volumes and pamphlets • Policy Development Programmes • IPPR North: Northern Economic Agenda Project • Work Foundation: Ideopolis: Knowledge City-Regions

7. Conceptual Coherence of Think Tank Outputs • Review focused on: • Anatomy of the Regional Problem • Timing • Issues considered • Evidence • Policy recommendations • Reports considered • IPPR (2003) A New Regional Policy for the UK • Work Foundation (2006)Ideopolis: Knowledge City-Regions • Policy Exchange (2007/8) Cities (un)limited reports

8. IPPR (2004): A New Regional Policy for the UK? • Anatomy of the regional problem: weak employment, output and productivity

9. IPPR (2004): A New Regional Policy for the UK? • Timing: influence of 2004 Spending Review, issues picked up through Northern Economic Agenda Project • Issues covered: • The Scale of the Challenge • Employment and regional policy • The regional skills, education and training agenda • Science, innovation and the regions • Enterprise policy • Public spending and investment • Governance issues • A modern regional economic policy • Evidence: top-down regional statistics (GVA, employment, skills etc) with wide ranging literature review • Policy recommendations: • Territorial justice: proactive national regional policy required to reduce disparities • Cross-cutting and multi-level government action required • Progressive devolution of powers

10. Work Foundation (2006):Ideopolis: Knowledge City-Regions • Anatomy of the regional problem: lack of knowledge intensive businesses and employees

11. Work Foundation (2006):Ideopolis: Knowledge City-Regions • Timing: ongoing research projects conducted in sponsoring cities • Issues covered: • Knowledge matters for success in globalisation and for national competitiveness, but of more importance is endogenous growth theory and that this permeates HMT positions on skills, innovation and enterprise • Increasing the volume of knowledge intensive activity is essential if developed economies are to remain prosperous • Knowledge intensity drives productivity growth • Cities matter to business in the knowledge economy: they are places that offer organisations access to highly skilled workers, affluent consumers and the opportunity to innovate and exchange ideas • Evidence: • selective review of literature and strong use of economic development theories (NEG, EGT, agglomeration economies) • use of composite indicators (e.g. tipping points for knowledge intensive occupations) • Lesson drawing from success stories of cities achieving a ‘critical mass’ • Policy recommendations: • Broad definition of innovation (not just science and technology) • Joined-up action and local control over key domains (planning, transport) • Engage with universities as ‘key players’ • Leadership at regional and local level matters

12. Policy Exchange (2007/8): Cities (un)limited reports • Anatomy of the regional problem: failure of urban policy to follow the market (labour/migration and capital)

13. Policy Exchange (2007/8): Cities (un)limited reports • Timing: three reports over 2007/08 (analysis of problem, review of practice and policy recommendations) • Issues covered: • Starting point: persistent economic disparities between select towns and cities • Focus: critique and ‘macro evaluation’ of UK urban policy • Rationale/theory: (new) location theory of neo-classical economics, institutional analysis, agglomeration and firm location. Urban policy intervention leads to sub-optimal outcomes. • Evidence: • Derived from a literature review with theoretical and methodological assumptions drawn out • Evaluation considers a set of urban areas using limited data • Focus on urban/neighbourhood policies. • Selective lesson drawing • Policy recommendations: • Expand London and select South East/East Anglia locations (Oxford, Cambridge … and Swindon). Focus on growth locations in the north (Leeds) • Localise funding allocated previously to national programmes and give more power to elected members whilst increasing local accountability • ‘Manage’ decline in the north • A hidden agenda? reduce public spending through fiscal decentralisation

14. Conclusions • Political Dividing Line: • Territorial Justice through a proactive regional policy vs • Territorial Selection based on recent growth and deregulated planning • Audience • National government and national party politics – dominant (national) institutional structures matter • Almost silent on EU Regional Policy, technological change and globalisation • Documentary analysis – only a starting point • Evaluating rationale and coherence… but • Unclear how used by policy actors • Cannot comment on other forms of think tank activity (workshops, informal networks etc) • Reports as organising narratives? • Except for the Ideopolis reports, they did not construct heuristic devices • Limited use of rhetorical imperatives

15. How is Regional Policy Made: A Critical Look at the Role of Think Tanks? Peter Wells Sheffield Hallam University CURDS/ONE North East Regional Insights Seminar University of Newcastle 5 November, 2008