Scotland has a population of 5.4 million, with 70% living in the central belt, between the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom’s land area, consisting of the northern third of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent islands. Once dominated by shipbuilding, coal mining and steel industries, Scotland’s key economic areas are now oil and gas, financial services, life sciences and tourism.
The Scotland Productivity Forum is led by the University of Glasgow. It is involved in the implementation of research insights, the design of practical business and policy interventions, and in providing input to the development of the Institute’s future research agenda.
Members include stakeholders from policy, community and business leaders from local, national and multinational enterprises.
Soar
Glasgow City Council
Prosper Scot
Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow
Morgan Stanley
Beauty Kitchen
Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow
Business in the Community
University of Glasgow
Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow
Radiant and Brighter
Scottish Council for Development and Industry
University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
Scotland’s productivity performance is one of puzzles and apparent contradictions, with strength in some areas but below average performance elsewhere. For example, Scotland has one of the most educated workforces in the OECD through its renowned group of world-leading universities. At the same time, Glasgow is in the bottom 10 UK cities for the highest percentage of its working age population with no qualifications. Scotland has had great success in high productivity sectors such as energy, finance and other knowledge intensive service industries. however, highly productive firms account for a small number of employment and employers report various skills gaps that hold back their growth potential.
Under devolution, responsibility for improving productivity in Scotland is shared across different tiers of government. Key macroeconomic, industrial, innovation and fiscal levers are controlled by the UK central government, impacting on business tax policies, policies to support internationalisation, access to finance and regulatory levers. The Scottish Government controls more of the microeconomic levers to support productivity. This includes the education and skills system, support for business start-ups and broader economic development, infrastructure, and small business growth.
