Public policy for addressing the low-skills low-wage trap: Insights from business case studies in the Birmingham city-region, UK

Anne Green; Paul Sissons; Kevin Broughton; Amir Qamar

doi:10.1080/00343404.2020.1802005

Public policy for addressing the low-skills low-wage trap: Insights from business case studies in the Birmingham city-region, UK

Anne Green, Paul Sissons, Kevin Broughton, Amir Qamar

University of Birmingham

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

353 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The idea that some local areas are characterised by a low-skills equilibrium trap is prominent in academic and policy debates in the Global North. Factors shaping this position and associated implications for local economic development are only partially understood. This article provides new evidence examining employers’ decision-making around investment and workforce management in the hospitality and retail sectors in the Birmingham city-region, UK, and their experience of the low-skills low-wage trap. The findings highlight intersecting sectoral and place-based factors in the emergence of, and barriers to escape from, this position. Responses require policy actions at firm, local and national level.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	333-344
Number of pages	12
Journal	Regional Studies
Volume	55
Issue number	2
Early online date	18 Aug 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2020.1802005
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2021

Bibliographical note

This is an Accepted Manuscript version of the following article, accepted for publication in Regional Studies, 'Public policy for addressing the low-skills low-wage trap: Insights from business case studies in the Birmingham city-region, UK', Regional Studies, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 333-344. It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Funder

Joseph Rowntree Foundation [grant number APE003 001]

Keywords

Skills
Wages
Economic performance
Business models
Low-skills low-wage trap
Institutional theory
business models
skills
wages
economic performance
low-skills low-wage trap
institutional theory

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Environmental Science(all)
Social Sciences(all)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1080/00343404.2020.1802005

Post PrintAccepted author manuscript, 1.34 MBLicence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

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title = "Public policy for addressing the low-skills low-wage trap: Insights from business case studies in the Birmingham city-region, UK",

abstract = "The idea that some local areas are characterised by a low-skills equilibrium trap is prominent in academic and policy debates in the Global North. Factors shaping this position and associated implications for local economic development are only partially understood. This article provides new evidence examining employers{\textquoteright} decision-making around investment and workforce management in the hospitality and retail sectors in the Birmingham city-region, UK, and their experience of the low-skills low-wage trap. The findings highlight intersecting sectoral and place-based factors in the emergence of, and barriers to escape from, this position. Responses require policy actions at firm, local and national level.",

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note = "This is an Accepted Manuscript version of the following article, accepted for publication in Regional Studies, 'Public policy for addressing the low-skills low-wage trap: Insights from business case studies in the Birmingham city-region, UK', Regional Studies, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 333-344. It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ",

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AB - The idea that some local areas are characterised by a low-skills equilibrium trap is prominent in academic and policy debates in the Global North. Factors shaping this position and associated implications for local economic development are only partially understood. This article provides new evidence examining employers’ decision-making around investment and workforce management in the hospitality and retail sectors in the Birmingham city-region, UK, and their experience of the low-skills low-wage trap. The findings highlight intersecting sectoral and place-based factors in the emergence of, and barriers to escape from, this position. Responses require policy actions at firm, local and national level.

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Public policy for addressing the low-skills low-wage trap: Insights from business case studies in the Birmingham city-region, UK

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funder

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Kevin Broughton

Cite this

Public policy for addressing the low-skills low-wage trap: Insights from business case studies in the Birmingham city-region, UK

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funder

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Profiles

Kevin Broughton

Cite this