--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-39/productivity-and-the-uks-industrial-strategy-a-systems-approach/" title: "Productivity and the UK’s Industrial Strategy: A Systems Approach" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T07:53:16+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T07:53:16+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Fall 2020" ipm_keyword: - "agglomeration" - "industrial strategy" - "investment" - "management" - "Productivity Insights Network" - "regional" - "skills" - "systems approach" - "UK productivity" - "van Ark" - "Venables" ipm_research_theme: - "Policy and institutions" ipm_country_focus: - "International" - "United Kingdom" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Productivity and the UK’s Industrial Strategy: A Systems Approach Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-39/productivity-and-the-uks-industrial-strategy-a-systems-approach/ # Productivity and the UK’s Industrial Strategy: A Systems Approach [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-39-1-van-Ark-Venables.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: van Ark, Bart, and Anthony Venables. 2020. “Productivity and the UK’s Industrial Strategy: A Systems Approach.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 39 (Fall 2020): 3–15. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-39/productivity-and-the-uks-industrial-strategy-a-systems-approach/ ## Authors: - Bart van Ark University of Manchester / The Productivity Institute - Anthony Venables University of Oxford ## IPM Issue 39 Fall 2020 pp. 3–15 ## Related IPM articles [IPM Issue 49 Editors’ Overview Andrew Sharpe, Bart van Ark, Paul Schreyer Fall 2025 | IPM Issue 49 | pp. 1–2](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-49/) [Data Appendix: International Comparison of UK Productivity John Van Reenen, Xuyi Yang Spring 2024 | IPM Issue 46 | pp. 38–82](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-46/data-appendix-international-comparison-of-uk-productivity/) [Appendix: Investment/Value Added Shares and Capital Stock Growth by Country Bart van Ark, Klaas de Vries, Abdul Erumban Spring 2024 | IPM Issue 46 | pp. 66–82](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-46/appendix-investment-value-added-shares-and-capital-stock-growth-by-country/) [A Critical Juncture: Assessing Canada’s Productivity Performance and Future Prospects Carlos Rosell, Kaleigh Dowsett, Nelson Paterson Fall 2023 | IPM Issue 45 | pp. 61–92](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-45/a-critical-juncture-assessing-canadas-productivity-performance-and-future-prospects/) [Putting Together the Pieces of the Productivity Puzzle: Review Article of Productivity Perspectives and Productivity and the Pandemic Bart van Ark Spring 2021 | IPM Issue 40 | pp. 118–133](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-40/putting-together-the-pieces-of-the-productivity-puzzle-review-article-of-productivity-perspectives-and-productivity-and-the-pandemic/) [Digitalization and the Future of Productivity: Possibilities and Measurement Eric Santor Fall 2020 | IPM Issue 39 | pp. 81–90](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-39/digitalization-and-the-future-of-productivity-possibilities-and-measurement/) [Investment Trends and Productivity Growth: A Cross-Country Comparison of G-7 Countries Jianmin Tang, Weimin Wang Fall 2020 | IPM Issue 39 | pp. 33–52](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-39/investment-trends-and-productivity-growth-a-cross-country-comparison-of-g-7-countries/) [Productivity Performance, Institutions, and Policy: A Review Article Mary O’Mahony Spring 2020 | IPM Issue 38 | pp. 145–154](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-38/productivity-performance-institutions-and-policy-a-review-article/) [IPM Issue 39 Editor’s Overview Andrew Sharpe Fall 2020 | IPM Issue 39 | pp. 1–2](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-39/) [Japan’s Prefectural-level KLEMS: Productivity Comparison and Service Price Differences Joji Tokui, Takeshi Mizuta Spring 2019 | IPM Issue 36 | pp. 142–160](https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-36/japans-prefectural-level-klems-productivity-comparison-and-service-price-differences/) ## Abstract ## Résumé EN FR Copy link Email LinkedIn This article proposes a systems framework for analyzing the UK productivity puzzle, arguing that piecemeal policy initiatives have failed because productivity performance emerges from the complex interaction of multiple factors — technology adoption, management practices, skills, investment, market competition, and regional agglomeration — rather than any single bottleneck. Drawing on evidence from the UK Productivity Insights Network and international comparisons, the authors argue for a comprehensive industrial strategy that addresses complementarities across these factors simultaneously, with place-based components to address regional productivity gaps. Cet article propose un cadre systémique pour analyser l’énigme de productivité du Royaume-Uni, soutenant que les initiatives politiques fragmentées ont échoué parce que la performance de productivité émerge de l’interaction complexe de multiples facteurs — adoption des technologies, pratiques de gestion, compétences, investissement, concurrence sur les marchés et agglomération régionale — plutôt que d’un seul goulot d’étranglement. S’appuyant sur les données du Réseau d’analyse de la productivité du Royaume-Uni et des comparaisons internationales, les auteurs plaident pour une stratégie industrielle globale qui aborde simultanément les complémentarités entre ces facteurs, avec des composantes axées sur les lieux pour remédier aux écarts de productivité régionaux. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-39-1-van-Ark-Venables.pdf)