Centre for Economic Performance


The Centre for Economic Performance is an interdisciplinary research centre at the London School of Economics Research Laboratory dedicated to the study economic performance at the levels of the firm, national economy and global economy. Currently led by Prof. Stephen Machin, it is one of the world's most prestigious economic research institutes, being the most important economic research institute in the United Kingdom after the Centre for Economic Policy Research. Its research performance has been particularly strong in the research areas of labour economics, productivity, happiness economics, human capital, the knowledge economy, ICT, innovation, and European microeconomic issues.

History

The Centre for Economic Performance was founded in 1990 at the London School of Economics with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council to conduct research on the determinants of economic performance, especially in Britain. From 1990 to 2003, CEP was led by Prof. Richard Layard, followed by Prof. John Van Reenen. Since 2016, it has been headed by Prof. Stephen Machin, with a staff of about 100 researchers. CEP's programme on macroeconomics became a separate part of the newly-founded Centre for Macroeconomics in 2012.

Organisation and activities

The Centre for Economic Performance is led by a director. Its work is supervised by the Policy Committee, which comprises 15 members drawn from business, academia and government and is chaired by Michael McPherson. CEP's research is structured into seven research programmes.
Additionally, CEP participates in a number of self-standing programmes that aren't necessarily funded by ESRC, e.g. the Centre for the Economics of Education or the Skills for All Programme.