CEP is receiving £9.2 million institute funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to continue its work developing innovative and world-leading policy-focused research.
CPP is receiving over £10 million for its microeconomic research and policy analysis to increase understanding of how government policy decisions affect the behaviour of individuals and businesses.
Improving lives and livelihoods through their research
ESRC Executive Chair Stian Westlake said:
For over thirty years, both CPP and CEP have made invaluable contributions to economic policy and debate in this country, spurring a greater understanding of the ways economic decisions influence behaviour and vice versa.
CEP and CPP have an exemplary track record of improving lives and livelihoods through their rigorous, impactful research.
Understanding the economy and the people who power it is an essential basis for restarting growth, reviving the public finances, and promoting human flourishing.
ESRC’s investment in these two centres demonstrates our confidence in the continuing quality of their work.
The continued funding for both centres lasts until 2030.
CEP
CEP’s new programme will analyse how to bring about the economic and social change needed to escape from more than 15 years of economic stagnation and political polarisation.
It will also address concerns around inequality and environmental sustainability.
Since it was founded in 1990, at the London School of Economics, CEP has been instrumental in:
- the introduction of a national minimum wage
- improving access to psychological therapies
- understanding what drives productivity
- highlighting the barriers to social mobility
Research at CEP has a reputation for academic excellence, impactful policy work, and providing leadership and support to the wider social science community.
Ensuring a sustainable and more prosperous economy
Stephen Machin, Professor of Economics and Director of CEP, said:
The UK faces long-standing structural barriers to improving economic performance and delivering inclusive and sustainable growth which our wide-ranging research and policy work seeks to address.
CEP has a track record of undertaking research on real-world issues that affect us all – at home, at work, in our schools and public services, and in our local communities – as well as being crucial for businesses and governments, locally, nationally and internationally.
Institute funding from ESRC plays a crucial role in achieving this impact, and we look forward to continuing to set policy agendas, working with policymakers, other stakeholders and our partners in the social science community to inform, understand and ensure a sustainable, fairer and more prosperous economy.
CPP
Based at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the CPP ensures that IFS’ work has sustained impacts on public policy and practice while contributing to informing high-quality public debate.
CPP gained ESRC research institute status in 2018.
It has been influential on economic and fiscal policy, including in the fields of:
- taxation
- the labour market
- education
- welfare
- pensions
- public finances
It has also made a vital contribution to building technical and policy capacity among a new generation of highly skilled researchers.
The impact and authority is evident from its high profile across academia, public policy and the media, with its work presented as evidence to UK government committees 23 times in 2024 alone.
Strengthen ties between economic research and policy
Imran Rasul, IFS Research Director and CPP Director, said:
We are delighted to receive this continued support from ESRC for the CPP.
This core funding is critical to our work, enabling us to pursue research in longstanding areas of importance for public policy in the UK and overseas, as well as develop new agendas in emerging areas.
It also underpins all of our work on wider engagement with non academic stakeholders, and to build capacity within the UK to continually strengthen ties between economic research and policy.
We look forward to working with ESRC as we take forward our plans.