Capital Markets, Transmission Mechanisms and Institutions: The UK Experience and Potential Lessons for Reform from International Comparisons

The UK economy has become characterised by low economic growth and low levels of investment with respect to both historical and international comparison. NIESR and The Productivity Institute (TPI) are convening a one-day workshop to examine capital markets, macroeconomic and monetary transmission mechanism across the regions of the United Kingdom.

The workshop will start with three short presentation on current TPI-NIESR research, which will be followed by a discussion of the UK landscape regarding the city and regional access to market funding for both firms and institutions (national and sub-national).

Following the presentations, a discussion will delve into the UK's market failures, bottlenecks, and institutional misalignments in capital flows and credit creation. The focus will include the skewed nature of the UK's financial system and the roles of institutions like the British Business Bank and UK Infrastructure Bank. The workshop aims to understand why capital markets and financial systems are geographically concentrated and explore potential remedies.

The workshop will also incorporate international perspectives, drawing lessons from countries such as Germany, France, Denmark, and Australia on governance, fiscal settlements, and funding mechanisms. By identifying gaps and proposing improvements based on these comparisons, the workshop seeks to inform future research and policy directions to enhance economic development across the UK.

Please note that this is an invite-only workshop.