Bayes awarded significant funding to enhance public sector economic data
A significant grant to help the UK government’s delivery of economic data has been awarded to a team of 15 academics across the country, including John Forth, Professor of Human Resource Management at Bayes Business School.
The grant of more than £2 million has been awarded by Administrative Data Research UK (ADR UK) and will enable the consortium of academics to provide expertise to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on how these departments can maximise use of their operational data for economic research.
The project has several core aims for supporting economic growth in the UK, including strengthening research and researcher skills, delivering continuous improvement to how key policy questions are addressed though data, engaging more researchers to use publicly available data, and expanding and enhancing impactful use of economic figures.
Professor Forth will lead on Linked Employee-Employer Dataset (LEED), one of three assigned work packages that also includes scaling up research use of DWP’s RAPID datasets on employment, benefits and pensions data, and improving overall public engagement.
The LEED project aims to give researchers access to a comprehensive LEED infrastructure that will enable new research into productivity growth, employment, earnings, career progression, inequality and tax policy. It builds on Professor Forth’s recent research work that includes exploring wage and employment dynamics, and the development of employer-employee data. He will work alongside experts at UWE Bristol, University College London (UCL), the University of Birmingham, the University of Sterling, the University of Bristol, King’s College London and the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
On receiving the funding, Professor Forth said:
“I’m delighted and proud to be co-leading on part of such a vital project aiming to improve accessibility and interpretation of key economic data.
“The work represents a continuation of research we’ve been carrying out in the last five years to improve linked data for labour market research, and we are very grateful for the extended support of ADR UK to help make this possible.
“The project will deliver a much-needed step change in how economic, employment and wage data is handled and distributed for research, in a way that will shine a light on labour trends and support business leaders, policymakers and economic growth in this country.”
Professor Feng Li, Associate Dean for Research and Innovation at Bayes, said:
“This award is recognition of Professor Forth’s expertise and an example of the research Bayes is carrying out at the edge of professional practice.
“One of our four overarching research themes explores how we are adapting to a transforming world. Professor Forth’s ongoing work around employer-employee dynamics and mobility, and the impact they have on future job creation, management, employment regulation and domestic wage policy is an excellent example of the importance of this theme.”
